Further beyond the glass wall of the rooftop terrace, the city of Madrid expands in all directions; terracotta roofs atop whitewashed buildings nestle close to one another, and TV antennae and chimneys ascend like minarets. The horizon plunges occasionally to reveal the narrow streets of colonial apartment buildings, ornamented with wrought iron balconies, and decorated with potted plants or drying underwear; each one a square of originality quilted into the tapestry of the city.

INOUT hostel

 The following morning Amy and I began the groggy trek to INOUT Hostel, our home for the next five nights. Situated in Parc Natural de la Serra de Collserola - a national park of over 8,000 hectares on the outskirts of the city - INOUT was a short train ride away, and what was advertised as a ‘300 metre walk’ from the station. The website failed to mention, however, that the 300 metres ascended a steep, winding road, which was relatively interesting to navigate, what with each of us sporting a rucksack on both our back and front, resembling a somewhat hungover rucksack sandwich.

Upon checking in, we began to notice some rather peculiar aspects of the hostel. For instance, the reception desk had temporarily relocated to the restaurant, so we were checked in amongst tables of guests eating their lunch. The restaurant (which had been signposted at least six times at regular intervals down the hill) was really more of a cafeteria, with a large buffet style serving bar at one end, and tables surrounded by several chairs; more than we initially thought could ever be filled. We each paid €9.80 for two soggy breadcrumbed fish fillets, a miscellaneous battered vegetable, iceberg lettuce with pickled grated carrot, and lentil and tuna salad. It was bleak.

            However, we discovered that we had chosen to eat on a particularly bad day, and for the rest of the week we observed patatas bravas, roast chicken and pizza on offer. We quickly learnt that the reason for the cafeteria style service was because INOUT hostel was a popular venue for school trips, after our pool session was rudely interrupted by thirty loud, French teenagers flinging their belongings onto sun-loungers and bombing into the water. On another occasion, my reading and Amy’s peaceful napping were interrupted by a group of slightly older Spanish kids smoking a huge joint and blasting a techno remix of ‘Bongo Cha Cha Cha’. The expression of pure bewilderment and repulsion on Amy’s face as she jolted awake from her nap was almost enough for me to forgive the teenagers’ antisocial behaviour.

We spotted a bizarre sign repeated across the grounds, with the image of an outstretched hand, a pig, and a red circle with a line crossed through it over the top. In our hungover and exhausted state, we were completely stumped by the meaning of the icon at first, until the following night we heard, before seeing, the snuffling and snorting of a large, black, hairy pig. The pigs traversed the property at all hours, but it was strictly forbidden to feed them, unless you weren’t particularly bothered about possessing all ten of your fingers. Another strange sign was above the ‘reception’ desk, emblazoned with the claim that INOUT employs ‘99% special staff’ and a picture of a man with down’s syndrome. Despite the unfortunately translated terminology, the intended sentiment was there, and INOUT did indeed provide employment for many neuro-divergent people in the area.

Despite the steep uphill climb, dubious food and the chaos of the school children and the pigs (grouped in the same clause, note), our stay at INOUT was highly successful and I would recommend it to anyone visiting Barcelona who enjoys both nature and city. It was clean and happy, and the pool was a luxury during the intense heatwave.

museu nacional d’art de catalunya

Although I typically enjoy an art museum, I sheepishly admit that my main priority when suggesting we check out the Museu Nacional D’art Catalunya was to escape the heat of the midday sun and enjoy the refuge of some air-con, a luxury that was sorely missed at INOUT. After avoiding the steep climb up the hill the gallery was perched upon by making use of the conveniently placed escalators, we paused to take in the breath-taking architecture of the museum.

A huge central dome bloomed among steeples and parapets, nestled into the hillside, and ornamented with huge fountains cascading alongside the dual staircases. Detailed railings and columns studded the sandstone structure, and we admired the view of the city over freshly squeezed orange juice under a shaded canopy on the stone plaza in front of the entrance. Inside the museum, the exhibits were organised chronologically. One of my favourite exhibitions was ‘Maternasís’, featuring work from Núria Pompeia’s book of the same name, published in 1967. The exhibition explores the representation of personal intimacies of womanhood, such as pregnancy, whose invasion by masculine hegemony contorts and dictates the expectations and realities of their experience. Amy and I enjoyed Pompeia’s series so much, we actually ended up getting matching tattoos of a bunch of flowers from one of her images to commemorate our trip to Barcelona. If you’d like to hear more about the exhibitions and artwork I’ve enjoyed so far on my trip, let me know, and keep your eyes peeled for a follow-up blog post!

I could write for hours about everything we got up to in Spain, but to save this blog post becoming reams upon reams of boring details, I’ll suffice to summarise the rest of our week! We visited the Sagrada Familia, the architecture of which was completely surreal. Mirroring the city’s ecological approach to the environment, the structure seemed at once urban and natural; in some places resembling a termite hill in its sheer feat of impossibility, while enormous, symmetrical columns demonstrated Antoni Gaudi’s ambitious vision and, over one hundred years later, immense technological and human labour. We visited the Bunkers del Carmen, from which the sunset and view of the city was spectacular; we relaxed at the Olympic swimming pool and enjoyed delicious food and wine from Denassus restaurant. Once in Madrid, we explored Museu Nacional del Prado and El Retiro Parque, where, the following morning, we enjoyed a run with magnificent views.

Overall, we had such an adventure-packed week, that had it been the end of our travels I would have felt that no time was wasted! But, alas, such is not the case, and we still have many an adventure to enjoy. I hope you enjoyed reading this (rather long and rather delayed) account of the first week of our travels, and stay tuned to hear all about the next chapter . . .  Mexico!