Maddie’s Europe Travel Diaries: Day 3

Happy Easter if you celebrate! Today was AMAZING. We woke up at 7 and had another bomb breakfast. Boarding the bus, we met our tour guide for the day, Eva, who shared the history of the area we drove through. We learned all about  Antoni Gaudi and saw some buildings he designed, including one that only had round walls which was neat. We made our way through the city and to Parc Güell, another one of Gaudí’s creations. This was originally supposed to be a neighborhood of 60 homes, but the project was abandoned in 1914 after just one home was built. This was due to the affordability of the area being comparable to that of homes closer to the city. Nonetheless, the town square and other areas were built prior to the housing plots being sold, so we walked around this gorgeous area with a view of the city and the Mediterranean.

After visiting Parc Güell, we stopped by a local mall for lunch and ate at Pan, a European sandwich place similar to Panera. After our quick stop, we jumped back on the bus and took an hour bus ride to Montserrat, a beautiful town up in the mountains. Our tour guide shared some local history with us as we explored the town and the Basilica. We learned all about the lore of the Black Madonna, a stone statue in the church that we were able to see and touch! We also checked out some local vendors and walked through the fog on the way out which was eerie. After a couple hours in Montserrat, we boarded the buses and headed back down to Barcelona. We arrived around 5:30pm, and had time to go back to the hotel and get ready for our dinner reservations at 8pm (and take an afternoon siesta!) We took a short walk to dinner from our hotel. For dinner, we had some bread and a mediterranean style salad for appetizers, then our main course was a chicken and wild rice meal topped with curry. For desert we had Crema Catalunya, a local dessert similar to crème brûlée. After dinner, we walked along Las Ramblas, and before heading back to the hotel we grabbed gelato! It was amazing, I’m going to compare it to Italian gelato later! Then back to hotel for showers and sleep, check back for an update later on our last day in Spain!