Sadly Lauren and I had to say goodbye to Elaina who was staying in Morocco for her Arabic course. But Barcelona was our next destination! We reversed our trip back to Casablanca to hop on our short flight to Europe.

Seeing as we had just spent a few days running around Morocco, we decided to spend our first full day in Barcelona relaxing on the beach.

This is the Columbus Monument that stands at the end of the central street, La Rambla.

We strolled along the water until making it to Barceloneta, a triangular neighborhood that is lined by the Mediterranean Sea.

This sculpture, L 'Estel ferit (The Wounded Shooting Star), by Rebecca Horn has become an icon of the Barceloneta coastline.

We claimed a spot on the sand and jumped in!

Please forgive my lack of tan! This was my first beach day of the year!

We refueled at one of the many beachside bars and restaurants.

And continued along the stunning shore to explore!

That bronzed ~~God~~ sculpture in the distance is by Frank Gehry. It's in the shape of a goldfish with each of the scales made from a piece of gilded stainless steel, thus creating that shimmery effect when the sun hits it. Gehry built this piece for the 1992 Olympic Games that were held here.

This beast is the ultra glamorous and sleek W Hotel! It sits at the end of the beach with a pretty commanding presence.

One thing we had to adjust to was the late sunset time in Barcelona! Since the Spaniards take their famous siestas in the afternoon, restaurants don't open until around 9:00 for dinner!

As we hit the streets later that evening, we passed by one of Gaudí's famous pieces of architecture, Casa Batlló.