Three Knights and The Black Sheep

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We have finally arrived in Spain! Our first stop was to one of my favorite museums that I have ever been in. It was the Dali museum in Figueres. Salvador Dali was a Spanish surrealist painter and had many very interesting, intriguing and fun works in his museum. My favorite was the Abe Lincoln painting, which doesn't look like Lincoln except when looked at from a distance. Close up it looks like a painting of a women from behind. In the museum also, was his famous clocks painting.

We arrived in Barcelona late in the afternoon. The city is quite big, surrounded by multiple hills and the ocean. It is incredibly modern and very much alive. Our hotel was in a absolutely perfect location one street away from the famous Las Ramblas near the University metro stop. After a quick orientation of the city, we were ready for dinner!

Barcelona is famous for it's seafood dishes, especially Paella (a rice, jambalaya like dish). We were told of a really good place to eat Paella and drink sangria that was "very close" to our hotel. This was told to us by our director Paul, who walks about twice as fast as I do. Somehow, I became the guide to get us to this place for a rather large group of very hungry people. After walking for almost 20 minutes, asking for directions from multiple people, and suffering through endless "where the heck is this place", we finally arrived at The Three Knights Restaurant (translated) in Place Real. But I would never describe this place as very close. Anyways, we arrived to a line of about 50 people waiting outside, which kind of disheartened us a little bit, but when we saw the line moving fast, we realized this place was ready for a crowd. It was well worth the effort as we all got full on paella and sangria for only 10 euros.

After dinner, we realized we had a while before we were ready to go out for the evening (this is at like 10, thinking we weren't going out till at least midnight or 1). Paul had also recommended a "very close" place for cheap drinks that all the locals go to. We thought we would give him one more chance, and it turns out this place was a great find. It was called The Black Sheep pub (again translated) and was found in an alley, slightly of La Rambla. Sounds sketch, but was a great place, with a fun, young atmosphere inside a cave like setting. The sangria and beer was really cheap and if you could survive the rather hot sitting area, it was a great place to start the night at.

Later in the evening, we explored the Barcelona nightlife, which gets going around 1 or so. All along the streets there are countless people trying to give you flyers for free drinks or entrance to their clubs. So being the tourists, we took a couple of these and tried them out. For the most part, they were actually quite worth it and helped narrow down places to try. We checked out Roxy for a little salsa on the bottom floor (I had to have a couple of the Latin girls try to teach me... I am) and later met up with a lot of our group at Club Hyde. When we went back around 4:30 that night, I managed to get lost again! It really frustrates me getting lost, as I usually am really good with directions. Turns out, we were just one street off and we eventually made it back.

INTERESTING FACT:Catalonia, the region of Spain where Barcelona is, considers itself its own state, and doesn't like to associate itself with the rest of Spain. The distinct Catalan language and outlawing of bull fighting are two examples how they are trying to keeping their individuality and independence.

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Photos

Abe Lincoln
When looked at from afar or through a camera you can see Abe. Otherwise it simply looks like a women from behind.