Barcelona!

Hello everybody Happy Spring!

This weekend I had the amazing opportunity to go to Barcelona, Spain for 2 days and it was so beautiful! Spain is a country that I never actually thought I would ever make it to, and I am so happy I used my time in Europe to go there. I have a friend who is studying in Toledo, outside of Madrid, and she and a few friends came to Barcelona and we got to spend time with them which was SO nice. I always love seeing anyone from home, it is always so crazy to be able to say we were in Europe together!

Our flight left Friday morning at 6:45am out of the Shannon Airport which is an hour and a half from Galway, and we had to be there early for check in, so we took a short nap and got up and left the apartments at 2:45am to make it to the 3:30am bus. We thought we would have plenty of time because the bus station is about a half an hour walk, but it turns out there were a lot of travelers this weekend because we had to wait in a long line. I was so nervous we weren't going to get on the bus, and when we got to the front of the line he told us that we were the last people on the bus! We were so lucky, I have no idea what we would have done if they would have turned us away! When we finally got to the airport we took the two hour flight and got to Barcelona very easily, and after traveling for about 9 hours we finally got to our hostel and met up with Amy and her friends. We took off right away and walked the streets of Barcelona. D'Antonio Gaudi was a famous artist/architect in the early 1900's and he designed a lot of the buildings and famous sites in the city, so we got to see a few of his buildings on our way to his most famous one, the Cathedral Sagrada Familia! It is a huge Cathedral that Gaudi designed and started, but died in the middle of building it in the 1920's before it was finished. Since then it has been continued to be built, and when it was damaged during the Spanish Civil War restored. It is very, very intricate and crazy looking. The front of the building is centered around the crucifixion and the back is centered around the Nativity. Everywhere you look there is some new thing to see or interpret, I loved it! We decided once we got in that we wanted to pay the 2.50 Euro they were asking for to go up to the top, and it was totally worth it. The city looked so beautiful from the top of the church and it gave it such an older feel! Very Spanish looking from the top haha. After that we wnated to go find the Olympic Stadium from the 1992 Olympics, and we wandered around the city until we finally started seeing signs! It was a very beautiful part of town, they went all out for the Olympics and a lot of the fountains and other special monuments are there which were beautiful. We made our way to the "Dancing Waters" show outside of one of the Plaza's which was beautiful. It reminded me a lot of the one at Epcot in Disney World. We thought it was going to be much warmer then it was the whole weekend so it got pretty chilly sitting by the fountain in the cold weather, but it was still definitely warmer then Ireland! After the show we were all hungry and we headed to a Spanish restaurant where those of us not studying in Spain could try Paella, Tapas and Sangria! SO Yummy! My love of food definitely includes Spanish food, I didn't have anything I didn't like! I fell in love with Sangria, totally wonderful, hopefully the girls studying there will figure out how to make it!

The next day we were in no real hurry to go anywhere or do anything specific, it was a really relaxing day. I feel like the past few times I have traveled I have been so stressed with seeing everything I want to see that I didn't take time to really enjoy it! We walked down the street our hostel was on, Las Ramblas one of the biggest streets in Barcelona, toward the amazing city market. It is an everyday market that was HUGE! I know I mention these in almost every city that I visit, but I love the idea of buying things so fresh and yummy everyday. Something I definitely wish I could do at home more often. After our fix of the market we walked across the city to one of Gaudi's most famous structures, Park Guell. It is a big park where a lot of the buildings look like gingerbread houses haha. The park was beautiful and the view was even more amazing. We found some steps and we decided to see where they led. After 325 stairs we were at the top of the park with an AMAZING view of the city all the way to the Mediterranean! It was totally worth the steps! The man who worked at our hostel told us there was another pretty park that we thought we might try and get to but we didn't know where we were going and the map was kind of confusing. A few of the girls went into the Pharmacy to ask for directions, and a little old Spanish lady told her that we couldn't get there by foot we had to take a bus, and she would show us (all in Spanish of course!) This woman was SO adorable, and one of the nicest ladies I have ever met. I had no idea what she was saying, but I still love her haha. She walked us through this neighborhood all the way to the correct bus station then got on the bus and told the conductor where we were headed and asked him to make sure we got off at the right stop. She offered us her bus pass, but already had one so we said we were fine. She was so genuinely nice and wanted us to have such a good time, it was so comforting! It also helped that all of the girls I was with spoke very good Spanish so I just got to follow haha. If it wasn't numbers or colors I was pretty much out of luck. Once we got off the bus we found a little supermarket and bought baguettes, cheese, meat, chips, and pop and walked to the park for a picnic. It was so beautiful and so relaxing just to sit and enjoy where we were. Probably one of my favorite moments of the weekend. We then decided we were ready for the beach!

It was only about 60 degrees tops, but we were bound and determined to sit on the beach, even if that meant sitting there in our long sleeves and jeans. It was SO beautiful sitting and watching the waves and the surfers and just taking it all in. We walked along the beach for a while and touched the water (BRR! It was like Lake Superior!) and then walked on the sidewalks along the ocean once it got a little too cold to be in the water. It was such a nice relaxing afternoon with no agenda and no time limit. We walked and found a Spanish band playing by the port and sat and watched them for a little while, then found dinner at a little Italian restaurant with more Sangria! It was a great weekend with great friends!

This weekend my friend Angie who I stayed with in London is coming to visit just for one night, but it is always nice to have visitors! I only have this week and next week left of classes, then a nice long break before my two finals! I will keep you updated when anything else exciting happens, next weekend I am going to Nice, France for another relaxing weekend so that should be great! I miss you all so much!! Write if you get the chance!!