Nice
Nice was absolutely heavenly. For some reason, I went into Nice thinking it was going to be cool but a little seedy, like a French Coney Island or Viareggio. But man, I was wrong. It was really lovely, with the the bluest ocean ever on one side and hills on the other. The buildings were all pastel and had terraces, the streets were cobblestoned and the sidewalks wide. We went to the Matisse Museum and the Contemporary Art Museum (where I might have been the only one actually enjoyed myself...oh Contemporary Art. Thou art not for the masses).
We also spent a ton of time on the beach, lying out and eating French bread and brie. And pastries. OH GOD THE PASTRIES, I MISS THEM.
After Nice, we went on to Barcelona, via Dublin. Yeah, it makes no sense why a ticket to Dublin then to Barcelona cost less than a train to Barcelona...
Barcelona
But Barcelona was wonderful, in a completely different way from Nice. It has a long history, and a beautiful old section. But at the same time, it expanded and modernized, allowing it to stay relevant on a world-wide level. That's my main complaint about Florence...it's beautiful and had a fantastic and illustrious Renaissance. But name one important thing that has happened since. Hence why I could live in Barcelona, but definitely not in Florence.
We went to Sagrada Familia, the famous cathedral that Gaudi started and is still being built 100 years later, Park Guell, the Picasso Museum, the Chocolate Museum (by which time I was definitely going through diabetic shock and couldn't eat any more sugar), Santa Maria del Mar, La Boqueria, and the Miro Museum.
We ate chocolate, tapas, strange tropical fruit from La Boqueria, Catalan food, some of the best macarons outside of Paris, drank absinthe with Hemmingway's ghost, and ate bad paella.
Best of all, it was WARM and sunny and smelled nice. Really, I loved Barcelona so much. I'd go back in a heartbeat.
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