Barcelona

           So we got home from our trip to Burgos and León at about 8 pm.  Michael (my roommate) and I got back to our host home and unpacked, ate dinner, and repacked.  We went to the bus stop and waited for nearly twenty minutes!  We hadn’t planned on that, and everyone was supposed to meet us at the train station at eleven and by this time it was about 10:55!  So we race back to our host and luckily her son agreed to take us to the station in their car.  We got there in time to catch the last train to Madrid, but everyone else was very stressed since Michael and I were in charge of a lot of the plans and we were late and we had already been traveling all day in León.  But that isn’t the end either.  One of the girls that was planning on coming hadn’t purchased her bus fair yet!  We called our director and he was working online while we were waiting the last two minutes for our train.  Online it said that no tickets were available but the girl decided to go to Madrid with us and see if she could get a ticket at the office or something.  Well, guess what happened.  We did get there, all of us nervous, and time running out, and the bus was full.  It is 12:45 now and the girls were crying and everybody was frustrated and tired.  We couldn’t do anything for that girl, and had to board our bus, so we had to leave her, and she ended up getting a taxi and going back to Alcalá.  So frustrating!! But we made it, after an eight hour bus ride!  

Our Bus

          Luckily when we got there all agreed with me that we should only plan on going to the beach and walking in shops and such! There is a long strip of street venders, restaurants and shops in Barcelona called Las Ramblas.  We walked down Las Ramblas and saw street performers and looked at the cool stuff the street vendors were selling.  We got to the bottom of the Ramblas which ended at the bay to the Mediterranean Sea!  Then we walked maybe a mile or so along the bay until we got to a beach!  It was all so beautiful!  Perfect temperature and a slight breeze!  It was gorgeous the whole time!  

The start of Las Ramblas

Las Ramblas

          So we got into the water, and even built a little sand castle.  When we were done, we went back to the Ramblas and ate paella, a native Spanish dish that consisted of rice, vegetables, and the form of meat that you chose.  It has a rich flavor and is very satisfying to eat.  We were all so exhausted after thirty-six hours of tourism and only a few hours of sleep we could get on the bus, so we called it a night.

I'm in the Mediterranean Sea!

          The next day, now Friday, we decided to go to the Picasso museum.  Picasso spent most of his youth right there in Barcelona! This museum showed original artwork even from the time that Picasso was thirteen years old until his death.  All of his more famous artwork was not in this museum as they are located in other museums throughout the world.  But it was very interesting to see how he progressed over the years and how he changed a lot of his style based on events that had happened in his life or in the era.

The Gang (Loren, Chantelle, Dottie, Katie F, Scott, Andrew, Eric, Michael)

Arc de Triumf (on the way to the museum)

It's really big!

Leaving the Picasso Museum (Dottie, Katie F, Loren, Michael, Eric, Scott, Andrew)

After we went to the museum we went to the Sagrada Famila, a ginormous, modern cathedral designed by the famous architect Antoni Gaudí. I have a link here to a one minute clip of the dedication in 2010.  It shows a bit of the Catholic culture as well as many good views of the cathedral.  Sagrada Familia  It was absolutely amazing.  All of his designs are based on shapes that you find in nature.  The pillars inside are tree trunks with canopies way at the top, stained glass everywhere, spiral staircases, very intricate stone carvings and designs.  It really is breathtaking.  It is still under construction and will be until about 2025.

          We also went to the Parque Güell, a park at the top of a hill, with hanging shelves, columns, covered walk ways, a view of the city, balconies, and all kinds of cool plants.  When we got back we watched the movie “Enredados” (Tangled) in Spanish of course.

Parque Güell

We only had a few hours Saturday morning and a few of us went to hike Mount Monjuic, where the 1992 Olympics were held.  When you get to the top of the mountain there is a castle with an amazing view and some pretty awesome modern cannons to attack ships in the bay.  Barcelona is so beautiful! We all had such a great time! It is an interesting culture; a big city in the middle of Spain where everyone speaks Spanish as a second language.  The regional language is called Catalan, and is easy enough to read, but sounds more like a mix of Italian, Portuguese and French. Luckily everyone else did speak Spanish or we would have been in trouble!  Because of the different languages, the accents of most of the people we pretty strong, and not like any other Spanish accent I have ever heard.

Modern cannon at Catillo Montjuic

1992 Olympic Stadium

 If I was to pick a favorite place that I had been while here in Spain so far, hands down it would be Barcelona!  It was absolutely incredible!