The hostel we stayed in was great. It was right on the outskirts of the old city. A block away from us was Gaudi's Cassa Batilo house (pictured below). We were also right near a metro station where almost all the metro lines in the city stopped. In addition, the hostel had a great terrace bar on the 7th floor where we enjoyed some sangrias after checking in.
Since we arrived at the hostel before our allowed check in time, we decided to take a stroll down La Rambla which is a long pedestrian zone that leads down to the port.
The coolest thing we found along this street was a huge semi-covered market where all sorts of seafood, fruits, vegetables, chocolates, and lots of other food was being sold. The seafood was so fresh that many of the crabs and lobsters were still alive and wiggling around on the ice. This market put Amsterdam's markets to shame.
After making it to the ocean front we headed back to the hostel where we checked in, grabbed a sangria, then headed to the beach to take advantage of what we thought would be our only really nice day.
While it was nice out, it wasn't quite warm enough to justify spending more than a minute or so in the Mediterranean at any given time. We spent most of the afternoon laying out in the sun, throwing a frisbee, and drinking 1 euro beers that were being sold by the numerous vendors walking up and down the beach.
After our delightful afternoon on the beach, we headed into the old city to find some delicious Spanish food. We ended up getting Paella, a traditional Spanish dish made with rice and a variety of different vegetables and meat all mixed together.
After dinner we wandered around the narrow winding streets of the Old City. We even briefly stopped in a very old church where we watched the beginning of a Catholic mass. After we got back to the hostel we decided it was best to rest up before heading out for some nightlife. On the recommendation of my friend who studied in Barcelona, we went to a bar called Pipperment where you can order up to 6 liter beers, margaritas, and sangrias to share. We decided to "take it easy" and stick with a couple 2 liter beers to split. This was probably not the best idea as we ended up stumbling back to the hostel and promptly passing out.
Friday we were expecting heavy rain all day so we slept in. When we did get up we decided to head to La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's most famous and ambitious project which has been under construction since 1909 and is not expected to be completed for at least another 12 years. Upon arriving we quickly realized that standing in line to get inside would be a grand waste of our day. Instead we headed back into the Old City to go to the Picasso Museum. On the way we decided to try and get tapas for lunch. We found what looked like a decent cheap place to get tapas. After an hour and half of waiting for food, getting food (only to find most of it was still frozen inside), returning food, getting food back (of which some was still cold) we gave up and headed to the museum hungry and in not so great spirits. Thankfully the torrential rain that had been predicted never prevailed, and instead it remained cloudy with only a few showers here and there. The Picasso museum was very cool. The collection was enormous and the building it is housed in is very interesting as well.
After spending a few hours wandering around the museum we stopped in a couple of shops and re-energized with some free samples of really good tea.
We then headed to Parc de la Ciutadella which is a nice large park that has a very cool fountain in it. Apparently it is also the local stray cat hang out.
After wandering around the park for a while we headed back to the hostel to grab some dinner before heading out for the night. We were determined to redeem our pathetic tapas experience earlier in the day and found a nice tapas place near our hostel that more than made up for it.
After resting up we headed first to Chupitos (a highly recommended fun shooters bar) then to Oshoko (one of the many clubs that sits right on the beach). Thanks to my friend we were able to get into the club for free. After a lovely early morning stroll on the beach, we finally made it back to the hostel a little before 5AM.
After a full three and a half hours of sleep, we got up, checked out, and headed to La Sagrada Familia in order to avoid waiting in line for hours. This plan worked, and we managed to get inside relatively quickly. La Sagrada Familie is Gaudi's most astonishing and impressive piece of architecture. While he was only alive to oversee roughly 20 years of its construction, the plans he left are so detailed and precise that they are still being followed to the T today. Eventually the church will have 18 towers (currently only 8 are complete). While the outside is remarkable, the inside is unlike any church I have ever been in. While the space is cavernous, it is not intimidating. In fact it is very welcoming, bright, and uplifting. Trying to do it justice with pictures is almost impossible, but hopefully these will at least give you a sense of what it is like. Unfortunately since it was Easter Weekend there was some big event happening in the back of the church so the the tower lifts were closed.
After La Sagrada Familia we headed to Park Guell, Gaudi's other major architectural accomplishment. Thankfully the weather cooperated and the day turned out be absolutely gorgeous. Park Guell was originally designed to be a wealthy modern neighborhood, but people at the time didn't like it so it was turned into a public park. At it's peak you can get an extraordinary panoramic view of the city. Below I have embedded a low quality video I took, but if you want to see a great panoramic shot check this out:
It was taken by one of our friends here who is an amazing photographer.
After our lovely afternoon lounging about Parc Guell we headed back to the hostel to grab our bags before making our way back to the airport for our flight back. All in all it was an awesome few days even though we only got about 10 hours of sleep while we were there. Our flight back was smooth, and we got back to Funen a little before 1AM, which was quickly followed by a very restful nights sleep.
Yesterday was beautiful and hot here in Amsterdam. Kelly and I decided to check out the NDSM boat yard in Amsterdam Noord. The NDSM boat yard is where the Netherlands Ship Building Company used to be. In recent years it has turned into somewhat of a art and culture center. One of the old warehouses has been converted into a way cooler Torpedo Factory type art studio space. Inside the warehouse there are at least a half dozen multi-story buildings that have been turned into art studios. the public can wander around and see what everyone is up to. In addition, they have built a second story skate park in part of the building. Unfortunately my "shockproof" camera met its demise while we were there when it fell off a table. So these may be the last pictures of my adventures you get to see for a while.
Abandoned submarine
Old shipping containers that have been recycled and turned into apartments.
Inside the "Kunstsatd" (art city). The skate park is in the glass thing in the top left of the picture.
After wandering around the "Kunststad" Kelly and I wandered over to one of the two cafes in the old boat yard. The one we went to was called Cafe Noordlicht and was very hip and funky. It was clearly where all the artists hung out. There were little tables/benches spread out in the grass where you could sit and order drinks and snacks, a live DJ playing nice beach music, and a bunch of funky sculptures spread about.
Last night Kelly and I went to the fair that was set up in Dam Square for the weekend. There was a ferris wheel, a swing thing, a haunted house and a bunch of other stuff too. We decided to go on the swing thing. It lifted us above the city and spun in a circle while we sat in baskets. It was an interesting to see Amsterdam from above at night. Not nearly as bright as I would have expected.
