gaudi, flamenco, and on to france!!!

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i just realized that i haven't written anything about barcelona! i'm actually in nice, france now... just enjoying a cup of tea while i catch up on emails. lets see.... barcelona.... i was only there for like 3 days. that's definitely not enough time time to experience all there is to do and see in barcelona. i will say this, if you ever get the chance to visit this amazing city, please please please go! and plan on staying for a good 4 or 5 days! the first day we arrived we walked down la rambla, the main street of the city that has shopping, restaurants, even pet shops on the street... haha it was amusing. unfortunately, all of the shops and restaurants on la rambla are very expensive, but there are hundreds of tiny winding streets and alleys in the gothic area that have some really great places to eat and shop. i was pretty tired and still recovering from my cold so we went back to the hostel after dinner.. didn't do any heavy drinking. the hostel was called gothic point... pretty cool place and cheap to stay at... good location in the gothic district too. anyway i sat down at a table downstairs and met all these guys from brazil. everyone staying in the hostels are sooooo nice! they shared their wine with me and we exchanged traveling stories and what not. the next day tim and i headed out pretty early to see la sagrada familiglia. woowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!! i've never seen anything like it!!!! it was antoni gaudi's life project.. and he only lived to see 15 percent of it completed! they say it should be finished sometime this century... some say 2020... some say 2080.. who knows! i could go on and on about it but i won't... look it up on the web and you can learn some more about it. i will say this though, when it's finished, there will be enough room for over 5000 people and the balconies are large enough to fit a choir of 1000 children. i will definitely come back to see it when it's done!.... hopefully i'll still be alive!

ok so afterwards the sun came out and the weather was sooo nice! we went to the beach and ate lunch on a patio restaurant right on the ocean and this guy with an according came up and played spanish music. it was like in the upper 70s and the sun felt so great! later on i met a guy named joe in the same room as me and he took me to the super market to get food and medicine. haha that was interesting!! i was like... por favor! neccessito..... medicine..... ummmm... congestion! help! as i'm pointing at my nose and throat. lol! well he got the idea and gave me this stuff that like completely knocked me out but man it works! that night a bunch of my roommates invited me to eat tapas and watch flamenco with them. it was pretty cool. this time it was two women dancing. not quite as good as the one in madrid but definitely worth seeing! the next day i went to see casa batllo... another building designed by gaudi. beautiful! look that one up too.. i don't have time to really describe it. after that i walked around the city... saw the arc de triomf... i think that's how they spelled it. walked around a park and discovered some things i didn't even know were in the city!! that's the best part about letting yourself get lost in a new city! don't worry mom... i wasn't too lost. all you have to do is hop on the metro and you can get anywhere in the city from there. ok i met this guy from australia and he and i went to park guell where gaudi designed a lot of the walk ways and benches.... so much to see!! we walked all the way to the top and had a great view of the city!

the next day i left for nice... took 2 trains and about 11 hours to get here but i'm loving the hostel i'm in! it's great! i'm in a room with only one other girl and downstairs there's a restaurant and bar! this is honestly the best hostel i've stayed in so far! met some cool people last night from all different places and now i'm just getting ready to go out and explore! sorry this was so long!! i'll write again soon!

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Comments

[Stephanie]

i cant wait until you get back so i can hear everything in full detail!! im so excited!!!!! i miss you!!!