Barcelona!

Today I was dropped off in Barcelona for a day of doing whatever I wanted to do in Barcelona whilst my boyfriend was in a meeting. I started off by walking around the Gaudi park, which had lovely views over the city and gives a sense of how ginormous it is. I then impressed myself by a) managing to find a metro station (following signs, but I'm not always good at this!) and b) correctly identifying the station that would bring me to La Rambla (it was the one where all the lines converged). Success! I then walked for literally miles: all the way down La Rambla to the sea, all the way along the beach and then up a main road to the Sagrada Familia. Barcelona was very hot and touristy; it was quite strange to see and hear English people as there aren't really any where we're staying. Unfortunately my navigational prowess had to end eventually: when the time came to use the metro again, I got confused and put my ticket in the wrong side of the barrier; thus letting someone else through for free but totally invalidating my own ticket and causing a queue to build up behind me :( oops.
When I met my boyfriend after his meeting, he showed me a nicer, quieter side of the city (probably because I told him I thought Barcelona was 'big, sweaty and touristy'): we walked through some nice squares and backstreets and finished off with some lovely Japanese sushi at the top of the old bullring - where this picture was taken. We timed it well and saw all the fountains and lights coming on; all very impressive and a nice, calm end to a busy day.