At first, we were thinking about going to Madrid, which is 320 km away and about a 3.5-hour drive. In the end, we decided to visit Barcelona instead. It is 300 km from Zaragoza, which is roughly a 3-hour drive. The distance wasn’t the only factor; one of our coworkers, Jorge, offered to drive us if we chose Barcelona. It was a great decision because it was cheaper, faster, and we had a lot of fun with him. Plus, having a car meant we could see more of the city without relying on public transportation.
Our first stop was the Basílica de la Sagrada Família. It is a massive church that they started building in 1882, and it is still under construction today. Even though it’s not finished, it is one of the most famous landmarks in the world. The crowds were huge! To go inside, you need a ticket that costs around 30€, but everything was fully booked weeks in advance. That is why we could only admire the incredible architecture from the outside.
While exploring, we saw cultural dances and visited local food markets. This is where we learned more about the local pride; many people in Barcelona want Catalonia to be its own country. They even have their own language, Catalan. While it sounds a bit like Spanish or French, it is a distinct language with its own rules, and locals are very proud to use it in their daily lives.
Then we walked toward the sea, where we saw the Columbus Monument. It’s a 60-meter tall statue of Christopher Columbus, the man who “discovered” America, pointing toward the New World. The statue was built in 1888 for the Universal Exposition to honor his first voyage.
Next to the sea, there were many shops and a great atmosphere. After walking around, we went to a restaurant Jorge recommended. The food was amazing and reasonably priced at about 35€ per person, which is a good deal for the center of Barcelona.
To finish the day, we went to a viewpoint on top of a hill. The walk up was a bit steep, but it was no trouble at all once we saw the view. We watched the sunset over the entire city, which was absolutely beautiful. After the sun went down, we slowly walked back to the car and drove back to Zaragoza.
