FC Barca 2 - 0 Osasuna

After we enjoyed a great meal at Tapas 24, I took my friends to Camp Nou, this was my second time watching a game live. We won 2 - 0 on scores from Ibrahimovic and Bojan. My friends really enjoyed watching the best team in the world and were really happy that they got to see Leo Messi, even despite not getting to see him score a goal.

Tapas 24

I also took my friends out to a traditional Spanish dinner. They had never eaten Spanish food so I decided to take them to one of my favorite restaurants in all of Barcelona. Tapas 24 is located on Carrer de la Diputacio, right next to Passeig de Gracia.

This restaurant is extremely popular and it is often hard to get a table; it is always packed.

We ordered patatas bravas, carne con chimichurri sauce, alitas de pollo, hamburguesas, ensalada rusa, and much more. Along with a bottle of wine, this is truly one of the best places to eat in Barcelona.

Friends Visit During Spring Break

This week I had several friends visiting me in Barcelona for their Spring Break. We took them to many of the main attractions in the city including Parc Guell and Parc de la Ciutadella.

In Parc Guell we viewed all of the Gaudi sculptures and architecture and went to the top of the mountain to see the city from one of the highest points possible. The top of Parc Guell offers a truly beautiful view.

Poble Espanyol

After visiting the Olympic Stadium and the Olympic museum it made sense to continue on to the nearby Poble Espanyol. It is the Spanish village that was constructed in 1929 for the Barcelona International Exhibition. It is an architectural museum that is meant to model and portray what the many different cities in Spain look like architecturally. Each section represents a different area in Spain and contains many different styles of buildings and materials. It was very interesting to see and I recommend that everyone who visits Barcelona but does not get a chance to tour other parts of the country go see it.

Plaza Espanya & Montjuic

Plaza Espanya is at the base of Montjuic mountain and is one of the nicest areas in all of Barcelona in my opinion. There is so much great architecture and the area appears to be very clean. The area is home to many of Barcelona's greatest attractions including the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, the Magic Fountain of Montjuic and Mies van der Rohe's German Pavilion.

The top of Montjuic Mountain is where the Castell de Montjuic is located. The castle offers gorgeous panoramic view of the city and a great view of the harbor. The Olympic Stadium is also located lower down on the mountain, it is where many of the 1992 Olympic events took place, it was also the home of the RCD Espanyol football team until a few years ago.

Praha

On March 5th my friends and I arrived in Prague. We met up with our friends from Rome in Wenceslas Square and watched the Astronomical Clock show which was pretty nice. We only had two whole days in the Czech Republic so it was important that we did not waste any time in order to see everything we wanted to see.

We walked over Charles Bridge and were able to admire the city and river from the beautiful bridge. We saw the Lennon Wall and made the long trip up to the castle on top of the hill. The castle was so extravagant and large; the amount of detail that went into the building of the castle is amazing.

I was also able to taste some of the great food of the Czech Republic which was very unique given my background in eating preferences; it was very good.

Unfortunately it snowed for most of the second day so we retreated to the Beer Factory which is a huge beer hall that has large tables that have taps that continuously pour beer. After the Beer Factory we went to a club called Lucerna which was quite odd. The club only played music from the 1980's and although it was not my favorite place to spend a night, the fact that drinks were cheap made the night much better.

Prague was definitely fun for the duration of my visit, but due to the fact that its quite small compared to Barcelona I don't think I would enjoy spending an entire semester there. So after my third trip in Europe I can honestly say that Barcelona is the most fun and interesting place I have ever visited.