This morning we hopped on the bus at 6:30am for our trip to Barcelona. I woke up with a cold which was not the best way to start the trip, but I started taking medicine and had a cup of tea with honey. The bus ride is eight hours long and we had one 45 min break in the middle. During that break I found the spanish equivalent of gatorade called "Aquarius"and bought two which was a great choice. We got to Barcelona in the afternoon and checked into our very odd hotel that had a great location (right on the corner where Las Ramblas meets Plaza Catalunya). The whole place was covered in green floral wallpaper and the rooms are all pink. Pink towels, pink comforters, pink wall paper, pink everything! It is a very odd place. I am rooming with two girls Anna and Madie who I don't know well but they seem very nice. We put our stuff away and then went out to a nice market on Las Ramblas where they have fruit, fish, meat, and all kinds of fun things to look at! After wandering around there we walked down all of Las Ramblas and ended up at the Christopher Columbus statue/the port were we got to take some pictures.
At the end of the port there is a nice little mall where we went to shop for a while. After that we were all pretty tired so we walked back to the hotel where we attempted to eat dinner. The hotel has a 24/7 buffet that consisted of fruit (which was good), bread, cereal, and a few main dishes that were the same at every meal and were always cold. I avoided all of the "real food" because a lot of it had meat and it just looked scary. So after that a few of us decided to go for a short walk outside and then we got some ice cream. I got crema catalana ice cream which was wonderful! A lot of people decided to go out at night but since I'm sick, I decided that it would behoove me to go to bed.
Saturday
Today was our big touring day of Barcelona. We meet up with the bus in the morning and it took us to a nice monastery. It was really cool looking because it used to be a palace! There are only a few monks that live there today but I think it would be cool to live there. The building was a square shape with a set of gardens in the middle, all nice old architecture. Most of the students were not interested (as usual) but I hung out with Gladys and she explained everything to me as we went along which was fantastic! After that tour we went outside to meet the bus, but the bus was missing! Gladys called the driver 10 times before we decided to just start walking towards our next destination. After about 15min of walking the bus driver called and we reconnected with him. He took us to the Sagrada Familia where we had to wait in line for over an hour to get in! But it was worth it, the basilica never ceases to be breathtaking. There is something so special about it there. I think it is great!
With a little bit of time before needing to meet the group, Katie DSA and I went to the old Hultgren apartment/school and said hello! It was fun to see it again. It seems like the stores nearby change all the time.
On our way back we stopped and got stuffed churros (stuffed with cream) from a place that we had gone to several times before (most recently a few years ago with Krisp and Kels, they are the best churros ever).
It was then time to reconnect with the bus and go back to the hotel for lunch where I again ate basically fruit and bread. We then got back on the bus and it took us to Park Guell which is the famous park by Gaudi with the Mosaic lizzard and huge bench. I learned that Gaudi turned an ancient aqueduct into part of Park Guell which was really cool because I never knew that before. The Romans built so many aqueducts and hardly any (except Segovia) are still around. But it was cool of Gaudi to turn crumbling aqueduct into a piece of art. It was fun to see it there in the winter, there were a lot less people which was nice!
On our way back to the hotel the bus stopped at the foot of Mont Juic where there is a fountain/light show which was really fun to watch. The water and the lights moved with music!
Gladys then walked a group of us (those interested) into the gothic quarter where they were having celebrations for some saint whose name I don't remember. After wandering around we found a parade with giant puppets and a laser show which were both really fun! We then got ice cream with Gladys, I got the same flavor again (too good). Like last night, people went out tonight, but I still need my rest because I'm still sick. So I chatted with Katie DSA, Tara, and Katelin for a while and now off to bed it is!
Sunday
This morning we went into the gothic quarter to go see the Picasso museum. When we got there we found out that they changed the times of when the museum is free and that it was only free after three. So we shifted our schedule and decided to do the full tour of the gothic quarter. We went into a gothic style church and a gothic style cathedral which were both beautiful. There was mass going on in the Cathedral, but they let people in to see it anyways because it is so big that people coming in and taking pictures in the back didn't bother mass at all. We then went to some ancient ruins of Roman pillars which was anti climactic, it was three pillars inside of a courtyard of a building that smelled like urine. But the fact that something so old has been preserved is really cool! We then started walking to the teleferic (gondola) but stopped on the way for a brief snack (I was impressed that 28 people could just stop for a snack but it was great). I got a giant heart shaped chocolate chip cookie which was delicious!
The teleferic is quite a walk away, it is right by the Barcelona beach which was beautiful to see. Too bad it is so cold! The gondola goes from the beach up to Mont Juic which is a mountain in Barcelona with the best views. The views from the gondola were spectacular because it went over the ocean and offered a 360 degree view of Barcelona. Once we got to the top we didn't stay long because it started to rain and it was really cold. Luckily I was wearing my NEW rain jacket that I got for my birthday!
Once down we all went our separate ways to find some food that wasn't from the hotel. I went in a small group with Gladys to a place that she had eaten at the day before that she said was good. I got some pizza which was delicious and very reasonably priced! It was a successful lunch, I had been craving a real meal that would fill me up. A few of us then decided to go for a walk which took a lot of motivation because our feet were hurting and we were tired! But we stumbled across the Arc de Trionf which was a great find and then we turned back to the hotel.
While a big bunch of the group was getting ready to go out/pre gaming, Katie DSA, Tara, Katelin and I decided to go out for tapas and drinks. We found a place with cheap tapas and decent wine! I got a salad with tomatoes (weird for me, I know), mozzarella cheese, oregano, and olives with a glass of white wine. I was in heaven. We chatted there for hours and it was really nice. I really like those girls! It was then time for our nightly trip to the ice cream stand where I branched out and got spanish cookie flavor ice cream. When we got back we went up to the boys room to chat with them before they went out. Katie DSA was on the balcony and some freaky chain of events happened that ended up with her phone falling 4 stories down off the balcony onto Las Ramblas. She went sprinting downstairs and I followed her. When we got down there luckily it hadn't been stolen but it was shattered. We all decided to then go to bed and let Katie have some time because she was really upset.
Monday- Free Day
The thought of having a free day in a city where we had already done so much and had had so much free time already was intimidating. But we set out and decided to just take the day as it came. Tara, Katelin, Mariah and I started the morning off by going shopping near the hotel, hitting up all of the sales that were going on. I didn't need anything but ended up buying two skirts, one for two euro and one for six euro. How could I turn down such good deals!? After wandering around and seeing all the stores we went to the hotel to eat and drop our bags off before heading out again. We took the metro to the bull fighting stadium that two years ago was converted into a shopping mall because bull fighting is now illegal. The outside looks the same which is cool but on the inside is a mall! There weren't very good stores but we had fun walking around and there is an outside observatory on the top floor with beautiful views of the city.
We then took the metro back to the hotel and walked around Las Ramblas again because it is always fun! I taught the girls about shell games because we ran into one while we were walking. We decided we should start a shell game to raise funds for our study abroad trip! When it started getting late we went back to the hotel to meet up with Gladys and a few other students to go out to dinner. We stumbled across a Mexican restaurant in the university neighborhood that had cheap food and drinks. I got ceviche which was delicious! It hit the spot. The white wine I got was terrible and undrinkable but at least the food was good. It being our last night and all, we stopped to get our last crema catalana ice cream. We stood and watched some street performers on Las Ramblas, it was a group of men breakdancing and they were really good! When they had a pause in their show Katie DSA hopped in and did a cartwheel and a breakdance move which was hilarious! The crowd went wild. Then we decided it was time for us to leave because we had been watching them for a while and their show just repeated. We were having our nightly pillow talk, I was almost asleep, when people come in and say "you're going out". And just like that I was going out! I put on my new two euro skirt and was ready to go! We took a cab to a club on the beach that was free to get into. For a Monday night, there were a decent amount of people there and it was a really fun time! In Spain, clubs are free for girls but they make boys pay which is the case in some places but not all. The boys got in free tonight but couldn't other nights. I guess it just depends! We got back and in bed by 5am which is a sign that we had a wonderful night. I'm really glad I was feeling up to going out on our last night!
Tuesday
Today consisted of waking of early and then hopping on the bus. I slept for the full four hours before we had our lunch stop and then I slept most of the second leg of the trip as well! I was tired after such a long night. The bus ride was awful for a lot of people because at least half the group is sick with either the stomach flu or a cold. People were throwing up at the hotel all night before the bus, but luckily no one threw up on the bus. Everyone on this trip is so sick all the time! I feel like it is worse than the first year of college! I got home and felt gross after being on a bus for 8 hours with all of these sick people. Puri greeted me so nicely, like she does, and we chatted for a few minutes before she told me to go shower, unpack, and rest up and that we could chat at dinner. I really appreciated that! So I did all of that and then had time to finally write this beastly blog that took forever to write. We did so much and when I can't write everyday, I struggle to remember all that we did! Overall it was such a blast being in Barcelona, but I couldn't imagine having been there for another day. It was quite sufficient and I am very happy to be home :)
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