Barcelona Continued...

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Sooo I know you have all been waiting in suspense to hear the rest of the Barcelona adventure...

Saturday actually was a really good day to be honest... which was well deserved after Friday night. First we all met for STARBUCKS!! I miss it soo much, and mostly because you can get it To Go. Places here just do not do that, even when you have food left over at a restaurant, they give you a dirty look if you ask for a box.

Sooo anyways, after that much needed caffeine, we began our day. In the heart of Barcelona there is a place called Las Ramblas, and if you wanted to compare it to anything it would be like mixing Time Square with an open-air market.... not the best comparison but o well. So you have the street with cafes and stores along each side and then an island in the middle. The middle has more outdoor cafes, flower vendors, food vendors, street performers, and many jewelry stands (that was my favorite part).

There are people painted like statues and if you put money in their container they will perform for you. All 7 of us are cheap, so we would wait until some other person put money in and then watched the show. Also, we watched some really cute break dancers, and then this guy who had a skeleton puppet that he could make dance by moving strings. It was actually really hilarious, because he was dancing to songs like "you ain't nothing but a hound dog" etc... Don't worry I got it all on video, so you can see it when I return!

I bought some people presents in Madrid and the cool jewelry vendors, so you will have to wait and see who gets them!

Next we went to Starbucks again... this was a whole hour later, so we needed more caffeine. Then we saw the main Cathedral of Barcelona, but it was being restored so the front was covered by scaffolding and tarps, kind of a bumber. While we were there we got to see this ritual for the Corpus Cristi Festival that was supposedly going on... they have water fountains that shoot water up the middle and it keeps an egg suspended in mid-air. Not really sure what this has to do with the festival or religion, but it was cool to see.

After this everyone wanted to do different things. Some people wanted to go to the Picasso museum, but it was 85 and sunny with a breeze and there was no way I wanted to be inside. Kate, Jill, and I decided to go see the Sagrada Familia. It is a Church designed by Gaudi, who was a very strange artist. He had the plans all done for it, but died before he could finish it. So for last 100 years or so, they have been trying to finish it according to his plans. It is rather hard because his designs were so abstract and he frequently changed his mind. But it was cool to see the different parts of the Church, because they are made out of different materials (so they are different colors). My favorite part was inside, one section had huge pillars, but not just any old pillars. They looked like trees and at the top had branches and windows where light can enter. So you really feel like you are in a forest. There was some incredible stained glass windows. I especially liked them because they didn't depict religious figure, they were more abstract shapes in stunning colors.

After this we played on some swings in a park across the street, where we could still admire the church. It is the simple, fun times that really make a trip. I mean there is nothing special about swings, but we were laughing like little girls and it was a nice bonding time.

We took the Metro back to Las Ramblas and it wasn't as scary as I had imagined. We actually made friends with a guy and a girl from England. It is soo funny here, in cities where everyone speaks Spanish, when you hear someone speak English you get really excited. They overheard us talking and started up a conversation with us. It is just fun to meet people like this and several times we have exchanged emails and keep in touch. I mean you can never have too many friends from England or Ireland right?

We had lunch in the Plaza Real, where they were displaying an artist's work. There were hundreds of statues made of recyled goods, cans, etc... Kate and I shared vegetable paella and we all had a pitcher of Sangria... it was a great time overall. It was one of the first truely Spanish meals we've had. We tend to stick to ordering chicken and stuff we recognize.

Later that night after we showered we walked down to the marina and sat with our feet in the water. It was very relaxing and it is always fun to people watch. Next we had some more Sangria before we started our night out! Don't worry we really are no alcoholics, it is just what you do here. We had a nice time going out, but had an early night, because we were all still exhausted from Friday night. I love going out here, but I mean going to a bar is like going to a bar in the States and I didn't come all the way to Spain to get drunk everynight?!

Sunday was a pretty chill day. A couple of us went on a boat ride. So we thought it was going to be a nice way to see Barcelone from the water. Noooo, we got a nice little tour of the industrial park, very scenic, don't worry I took pictures anyways. But it was nice to be on the boat, getting some sun, and the water was nice, even if the scenery wasn't.

Kate, Jill, and I ate at Hardrock Cafe for lunch, because we were craving American food, ketchup, and ranch. Apparently Spain doesn't have those two amazing condiments? We pigged out, I had a spinach burger with seasoned fries!

We all met up at the hostel and took the Metro to the "bus station" to catch our bus back to San Sebastian. So we get there and think everything is fine. When the bus gets there, the driver will not let us on, because our tickets are for 3:15 and was the 3:30 bus... He told us we were at the wrong station. We all freaked out for a couple minutes and when we tried to ask the lady at the desk for help, she completly ignored us, it was very nice of her. So we had no idea where this other station that we were supposed to be at was and finally another bus came. It was going to San Sebastian too, we talked to the driver and he explained to us that this bus was at the other station at 3:15 and then comes to this station at 3:45 to pick up more people. So we got on the right bus eventually, just at the wrong station.

The bus ride home was fun, we all recounted our many adventures in the lovely city of Barcelona. And of course we slept about half the time. So we learned a lot this weekend. Friday night was a mess but it really taught us a lot about traveling. Usually our parents handle everything, so it was a good learning experience. I think it brought all of us closer. All in all it will be a trip I never forget!

Hope y'all enjoyed the story, don't worry too much, we were competely safe the whole time.

I miss everyone, but this is the trip of a lifetime. My spanish is improving so much and I'm just learning a lot about life. The world outside of the US is very different and it is good for me to see this, because the US is very sheltered. I have met some great people and can see being friends with them for the rest of my life. But don't worry I love everyone at home and won't forget about you guys. I can't wait to see everyone and don't worry I will come bearing gifts!!

¡Muchos Besos!
(and if I never explained this, it means 'many kisses' kind of like XOXO)

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