Today was a free day. So, I decided to have a walk around the city. They have a nice system here of tours around the city called “Free Walking Tours”. Being an Indian and top of that a Gujarathi (:p), I had to try anything that is free. What they do is collect as many tourists from all the hostels and then show them around the central parts of the city. Traditional architecture is shown along with some stories about the history of the city. At the end, you can pay how much ever you like. If you do not like it, you can even not pay. Being the MBA man, I started thinking if such a thing could work in India, and that is when a fellow Indian tourist offered only 1 Euro for a very nice tour. I got my answer J
After that tiring yet refreshing tour of the city where I learnt a lot about the history of Barcelona (I would have told you but, you can just Google it up J) it was time to HIT the beach. Wooooooohhoooooo!!!!! While walking towards the beach, it somehow just struck me how used to I am to having the beachside just besides my house in Mumbai. I never loved the beach so much. However, one and a half year away from Mumbai has made me realize my love for the beach. The brushing of the cold breeze past your ear coupled with rushing of the waves is simply marvelous. It is amazing how distance makes things fonder. Until you lose some things, you never realize how important they are to you. One of my biggest lessons learnt after leaving for XLRI. Anyways, back to the BEACH!!! What an awesome beach it is. I just felt back home and was reminded of all the memories that I have with beaches, and let me tell you there are many of them.
I came to know afterwards that the entire beach is made of artificial sand from Egypt which was imported during the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. That was money well spent, whoever did it. I so wanted to swim in the beach, but did not have a towel or anything. It is one thing I will definitely do during my stay here.
After the beach, I was kind of on a high (these are some of the things that give me immense pleasure) and that’s when I saw another thing I love so much, an adventure park. There was one breathtaking ride which I saw. I have sat in many thrilling rides in Dream World and Disney World (Paris) and so on but this one was right up there among the best. To add to the fun, I just let me hands out as if I were flying and it was one of the most thrilling experiences for a very long time.
It was sort of a double bonanza with the beach and that ride. Exchange friends from Europe, this is one super evening that I promise you once you come here to Barcelona.
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