Barcelona!

Barcelona was by far one of my favorite places to go so far. I'm not sure if it had to do with the fact that I was spending an entire weekend with two of my best friends, or if it was because I got to see a beach for the first time in 3 months and it was very refreshing; nevertheless, it was quite an experience. My expectations of Barcelona and Spain in general were completely different than the reality. I was expecting a lot more poverty, a lot and it to be a lot more dirty I guess is the right word? I've never been to Mexico, but i've seen pictures and i've seen it in movies, and I think that was what I was expecting Spain to be more like. The beaches, the sights, the statues, even the clubs...exceeded my expectations to the fullest.

Like every other trip that I have gone on so far while studying abroad, this traveling experience was no different from the others. Our flight left at 7 a.m and my friend, Courtney, and I had to take the 1 a.m bus in order to get to Luton Airport before our flight took off. I described a bit of our experience in my last blog so I won't go through it all again, but once we got off the plane and onto the Aerobus to get to my friend's, Allison, apartment, the adventures began.

Luckily, we did not make the "common traveler mistake" of taking a nap before we did some exploring because we were ready to see all of Barcelona. We started out at this really good sandwich and salad shop that had very cheap prices for a good amount of food. (Forgive me because my spanish is not too great so the names of places may either be spelt wrong, or forgotten) I don't remember the name of the place but Allison said that it was usually a very popular spot for people to come and eat.


After dropping our bags off at Allison's room and meeting all of her roommates, Courtney, Allison, her friend, and I went on a scooter tour ride. They were only about 15 euro for 2 hours which was definitely not too shabby, and we had our own two free tour guides to show us around the city. Riding the scooters reminded me of riding the Vespas in Tuscany, Italy, but I think the vespas still take the cake. We scootered all the way down the beach boardwalk, passed the statue of Christopher Columbus, passed the Aquarium, passed some street performers, passed people trying desperately to sell us shirts, purses, and other knickknacks on the sides of the streets. We made it all the way down to the end of the beach where the sun was setting and it was one of the most fantastic things I have ever seen in my life. I even had a chance to touch the Mediterranean Ocean for the first time in my life! (cross that one off my bucket list) Although the scooters didn't go very fast, I sort of liked that about them, it gave me a chance to catch up with Allison since I hadn't seen her since Oktoberfest and a chance to really look around and soak in all of the beauty around me.

Once our two hours of scootering was up, we were all starving and decided to go to a restaurant right across from the beach with a big stripped blue awning. (Once again, I apologize about the bad memory on the name of the place) This place had a really good deal of a three course meal and a drink for only 15 euro each. I decided to try out this appetizer that had salmon and cristinis and butter on them. Unfortunately, the first food that I had eaten in Spain was not the best, but once I got the chicken it changed my opinion on Spanish food completely. Courtney, Allison, and her other friend go a very classic spanish dish called Paella. (not sure on the spelling) I got a chance to try it, but it was a little too fishy for me, plus i am not a huge fan of muscles which is what the dish was covered in. Courtney and I decided to buy the two girls a pitcher of Sangria as a "Thanks" for allowing us to stay with them and show us around even though they have already done/seen everything historical over there. The sangria was probably one of the best that I have ever had, and I definitely recommend it to anyone that decides to go to Spain because that's one of the things that Spain is known for.

Another thing that Barcelona is known for is their night life. The clubs are all underground and any bar you go into there is usually at least a 10 minute wait to get in. The place that we went to was really cool, it had a bunch of different rooms and played really loud techno american music. It was packed downstairs and when you went through the doors from the dance floor, it would lead right out onto the beach. We did not end up going home until 5 in the morning which is absolutely insane to me because I never stay out that late!

The next day, as my friend put it, was a "typical saturday in Barcelona" where everyone slept in until about 2 in the afternoon, got up to eat food, rested all day, and got ready to go back out for another night of partying. I was so tired that I was about to say everyone just go without me, but my friends were not about to let me stay in on a night in Barcelona. Allison brought us to this really cool bar that only gave out shots, but not any type of shots, they had about 500 different ones to choose from ranging from Boy Scout shots (which were lit on fire and we were told to chase with a marshmallow on a stick) to willy wonka shots (which tasted just like candy), to Diablo shots that tasted awful but were lit on fire in the sign of a cross.

Our last day in Barcelona was spent doing all of the touristy things such as seeing Park Guell, La Familia Sagrada, Arch De Triumph, Statue of Columbus, and a huge park that had a bunch of beautiful fountains with sculptures in the middle of them. On our way to Park Guell we stopped at all of the touristy souvenir shops which were selling hand painted animals in the same porcelain-type of clay that was used to make Park Guell. I got my sister a little spanish doll that was dressed up like a Flamanco Dancer, and I got my dad one of the hand painted bulls. Later that night we went to a bar called George Payne which is an Irish bar, but the most American place to go in Barcelona. We went to watch the Patriots game (which they happened to beat the Colts - an extra bonus) and sang karaoke to "sweet caroline".

I did not want to leave Barcelona, it was so much fun, absolutely beautiful, and everyone was so nice! Now I understand why Allison was raving about it all of the time when we would Skype. The only downside to living there is the fact that you have to take the metro everywhere, which is not the cheapest form of transportation, and the fact that there are not that many people that speak english. I feel as though I would get so frustrated if I studied over there because although I have 4 years of spanish education, they talk so fast and I don't have a whole lot of patience when I can't understand someone...

Next on the travel list is Prague in 2 weeks and I am so so sooo excited for the christmas market! Christmas is by far my favorite time of year and I am very anxious to see what they do differently to celebrate it over here.