CATFACE knows barcelona.

What a blast having Catlan McCurdy, my best BTown friend and her 3 Irish companions in town to discover in Barcelona! I was able to play tourguide for the second weekend in a row as I showed them all the neat and fun things to do here.
Catlan, Guiliana, Meredith, and Becky arrived from Paris on Friday afternoon around 6pm. First things first, I showed them around Barceloneta and took them on a walk down the boardwalk to Port Olimpico. The weather was a little grey and rainy but then again, they are used to much worse in Dublin. Later, we stolled through the Gothic Quarter where I pointed out some of the famous historic sights. Dinner was tapas at Bilboa. That night we heard a live Cuban band at The Harlem Jazz Club. So much funk...
Saturday we made a nice breakfast for ourselves at the flat, then it was off to find rental bikes. On our second attempt we rented from Fat Tire and I took them on a similar route to the one I had gone on with Nate the week before. We went all over: Parc Ciutadella, Sagrada Familia, Paseig de Gracia, Casa Mila, Casa Batllo... the only problem was the yucky rain! On the way back to drop off our bikes, we crossed paths with a rally/protest against the unfair and extremely high housing prices in Barcelona. There must've been at least 1000 people blocking off the main square and therefore the roadways at Plaza Catalunya. Crazy Spaniards! That evening we did some window shopping and then had a high class meal at Els Quatre Gats (4 cats), a historic restaurant established in 1897 and where Picasso used to hang out. We stopped back at the apartment to chill out and get ready for our night out on the town, but on the way home we ran in to the sardena dancers at the catedral, probably about 30 circles of old people and a really good Catalan band. I made the executive decision to start out at Chupitos shot bar and then head to the oh-so-euro discoteca Razzmatazz. This place literally is 5 clubs in one that everyone must pay a 15euro cover and has access to all 5 levels. What a crazy party. We made it home by 4am, but with the time change it was really 5am... oyy
Sunday we took the cable cars up to Montjuic with a spectacular view of the city. I think the Dublin girls where really amazed at how big Barcelona is compared to Dublin. We had a nice time prancing around the gardens and taking pictures of ourselves, and weird Spaniards doing dances with boas to "Last Dance."
That night I got Maoz with Cat and Guiliana, as we got spit on and called "putas" by a passing gypsy freak. Luckily she was on the other side of the glass. Sunday night called for some good flamenco dances, so we headed for Taranto, my third visit.
On Monday, I met up with the girls for some hardcore shopping and checking out all the latest euro trends... they are so much more fashionable then us shlumpy Americans... oh well.
We had a nice long Spanish lunch and then headed for Park Guell. Basically, the 5 of us could entertain ourselves anywhere with stories and funny comments.. leave it to Catlan to find quirky and unique friends! Monday night we walked around the Las Ramblas area and then hung out at a cerveceria in Plaza Reial. Then it was time to say goodbye and hope to see them again soon! (we might meet up again in May- can't wait!)

CATFACE knows barcelona.

Barcelona, Spain