La diligencia es madre de la buena ventura, y la pereza, su contrario, jamás llegó al término que un buen deseo.
[Diligence is the mother of good fortune, and idleness, its opposite, has never bred a sense of personal achievement.]
—Miguel de Cervantes
Experiences in Spain
- Barcelona
-
Joy has been to Barcelona
On Spain
Spain was Joy's second stop on her first solo vacation of her life when she was 16 studying abroad in Germany. The Eurail Flexipass that the Community Prep faculty gifted Joy took care of all her travel legs via train between four countries, including this leg from Geneva to Barcelona.
Joy put her 1994 edition of Let's Go Europe to good use yet again. Alberg Juvenil Palau in Barri Gòtic would be her new home base in Barcelona. Joy remembers feeling dwarfed by the giant buildings as she passed beautiful garden patches lining the sidewalks of La Rambla.
Joy learned many lifelong lessons throughout her first solo vacation, and her time in Barcelona proved no exception. One afternoon Joy decided to climb a tower at Sagrada Família. She took panoramic pictures of the sunset at the top of the tower, only to realize she would have to descend the windy steps of the tower in complete darkness. To escape feelings of claustrophobia, Joy pretended she was blind. Lesson learned: timing is everything.
Joy also explored Montjuïc and made a pit stop at the Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, where the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1992 Summer Olympics were held just two years prior.