Barcelona:
24th - 26th April:
Day 1:
On Tuesday morning at one o'clock we left the school to travel to Dublin airport. Thank god we didn't have school today because packing took me for forever. We went through security and set off for Barcelona at quarter past six in the morning. I didn't mind the flight it was relaxing and I think I even fell asleep for a bit
We arrived in Barcelona at quarter to ten. We met our guide and transported to our first place on our agenda, the Cosmo Caixa Museum. I enjoyed it as there were lots of interesting things to do. You could also walk through an Amazon Forest reproduction which was very realistic and pretty to look at.
After that we drove through Barcelona and got told interesting facts by our guide. One thing we drove past was a bull fighting arena. Since bull fighting was banned in 2012 it was since remodelled into a shopping centre. We then got to walk around the Gaudi Sagrada Familia Church which began building in 1882 and is still not finished to this day but they hope to finish it in 2026. We also saw the Gothic Quarter and Cathedral which was lovely to look at. We also got to go around on our own for a while to shop and looked around the town.
Before going to the hotel, we travelled to the Cable cars which go up to Montjuic mountain. I don't mind heights and I found this really fun and the views were amazing and you could see all the built-up area of Barcelona. The view at the top of the mountain was also beautiful. There was a castle on top of the mountain but we didn’t go into it we just went around it when we got off the cable cars at the top for a while before we had to go back down again.
We got to hotel at half six in the evening exhausted from the day. We settled in and ate. At half eight we went bowling which I enjoyed playing. I was glad to get to bed because I was so tired and needed sleep to be able to function the next day.
Day 2:
Early Wednesday morning, we travelled to the Gaudi centre where we learned all about Antonio Gaudi and what he did in his life. The museum wasn’t as intersting as the last but we got to look at a video about Gaudi. It was cleverly made as you sat on spinning chairs. You moved around to the video as it switched walls every so often. We listened to facts about Gaudi on a phone they gave us which was programmed with the audio.
We then transferred to Port Aventura theme park. I went on 3 roller coasters as the ques were mad long but I still enjoyed it. The theme park was so big and it was divided into different countries with different rides according to that country. For example, in China they had a roller coaster called the Dragon Khan. After the day we could either go to the beach or relax at the hotel pool. I chose to go to the beach amd then after that we got to go back to the pool anyway so we got the best of both worlds.
After dinner we were allowed down town to shop for an hour before going to bed I walked around shopped a bit and got a lot of things which I was scared at that stage wouldn't all fit into my suitcase. I bought souvenirs at the shops and enjoyed looking at the town at night. We all had showers that night because of being at the beach and in the pool, their showers were just amazing nothing like irish hotels!.We had to pack our bags before going to bed as it was our last night to stay and we were leaving at 9am in the morning.
Day 3:
On Thursday morning we realised how easy it was to make such a mess in two nights but very hard to clean it up. We got on the bus to visit the Tarragona Cathedral and The Roman Amphitheatre. It was nice to look at and the view of the sea was gorgeous. We then got to go around the town on our own and do whatever we wanted. I went to a café then to an ice-cream parlour with my friends. It was lovely to take a break from the long walking around all day.
Next on the agenda was Camp Nou Stadium. The tour was long and if you were interested in soccer it would have been very interesting but I wasn’t that pushed to look at all the trophies and used soccer boots in the glass cases. Its a popular and very large stadium so at least I can say I was there.
The last thing we went to before the airport was Maremagnum shopping centre for just over an hour. The shopping centre was full with all expensive shops, even some not in Ireland. I bought clothes which I really shouldn't have because I was so running out of space in my suitcase I had to sit on it to close it. Then we got on the bus to go to the airport. We got the flight at quarter past nine and I talked the whole journey home the flight went so so fast. It was a long few days but very enjoyable overall. I couldn’t wait to get back to my own bed and catch up on all the sleep I missed. We got home at 2:30am and I needed a lot of sleep so thank god we didn't have school Friday.
On Tuesday morning at one o'clock we left the school to travel to Dublin airport. Thank god we didn't have school today because packing took me for forever. We went through security and set off for Barcelona at quarter past six in the morning. I didn't mind the flight it was relaxing and I think I even fell asleep for a bit
We arrived in Barcelona at quarter to ten. We met our guide and transported to our first place on our agenda, the Cosmo Caixa Museum. I enjoyed it as there were lots of interesting things to do. You could also walk through an Amazon Forest reproduction which was very realistic and pretty to look at.
After that we drove through Barcelona and got told interesting facts by our guide. One thing we drove past was a bull fighting arena. Since bull fighting was banned in 2012 it was since remodelled into a shopping centre. We then got to walk around the Gaudi Sagrada Familia Church which began building in 1882 and is still not finished to this day but they hope to finish it in 2026. We also saw the Gothic Quarter and Cathedral which was lovely to look at. We also got to go around on our own for a while to shop and looked around the town.
Before going to the hotel, we travelled to the Cable cars which go up to Montjuic mountain. I don't mind heights and I found this really fun and the views were amazing and you could see all the built-up area of Barcelona. The view at the top of the mountain was also beautiful. There was a castle on top of the mountain but we didn’t go into it we just went around it when we got off the cable cars at the top for a while before we had to go back down again.
We got to hotel at half six in the evening exhausted from the day. We settled in and ate. At half eight we went bowling which I enjoyed playing. I was glad to get to bed because I was so tired and needed sleep to be able to function the next day.
Day 2:
Early Wednesday morning, we travelled to the Gaudi centre where we learned all about Antonio Gaudi and what he did in his life. The museum wasn’t as intersting as the last but we got to look at a video about Gaudi. It was cleverly made as you sat on spinning chairs. You moved around to the video as it switched walls every so often. We listened to facts about Gaudi on a phone they gave us which was programmed with the audio.
We then transferred to Port Aventura theme park. I went on 3 roller coasters as the ques were mad long but I still enjoyed it. The theme park was so big and it was divided into different countries with different rides according to that country. For example, in China they had a roller coaster called the Dragon Khan. After the day we could either go to the beach or relax at the hotel pool. I chose to go to the beach amd then after that we got to go back to the pool anyway so we got the best of both worlds.
After dinner we were allowed down town to shop for an hour before going to bed I walked around shopped a bit and got a lot of things which I was scared at that stage wouldn't all fit into my suitcase. I bought souvenirs at the shops and enjoyed looking at the town at night. We all had showers that night because of being at the beach and in the pool, their showers were just amazing nothing like irish hotels!.We had to pack our bags before going to bed as it was our last night to stay and we were leaving at 9am in the morning.
Day 3:
On Thursday morning we realised how easy it was to make such a mess in two nights but very hard to clean it up. We got on the bus to visit the Tarragona Cathedral and The Roman Amphitheatre. It was nice to look at and the view of the sea was gorgeous. We then got to go around the town on our own and do whatever we wanted. I went to a café then to an ice-cream parlour with my friends. It was lovely to take a break from the long walking around all day.
Next on the agenda was Camp Nou Stadium. The tour was long and if you were interested in soccer it would have been very interesting but I wasn’t that pushed to look at all the trophies and used soccer boots in the glass cases. Its a popular and very large stadium so at least I can say I was there.
The last thing we went to before the airport was Maremagnum shopping centre for just over an hour. The shopping centre was full with all expensive shops, even some not in Ireland. I bought clothes which I really shouldn't have because I was so running out of space in my suitcase I had to sit on it to close it. Then we got on the bus to go to the airport. We got the flight at quarter past nine and I talked the whole journey home the flight went so so fast. It was a long few days but very enjoyable overall. I couldn’t wait to get back to my own bed and catch up on all the sleep I missed. We got home at 2:30am and I needed a lot of sleep so thank god we didn't have school Friday.