Barcelona!

Last weekend we took a spur of the moment trip to Barcelona. On Wednesday we decided to go, made the reservations in between classes and left on Thursday. There were two groups from our program that went and we all took the same bus straight from Bilbao to Barcelona overnight on Thursday. We arrived at 6 am in the dark and the rain, terrified that we were going to get robbed because we had heard so many horror stories about Barcelona. We took the metro together as one big group but eventually had to split up because we were staying at different hostels. Our group (me, selma, molly, garrit and ben) made it to our metro stop and decided to go to a cafe to try to wait out the rain. We got some coffee and directions from a local and we were off to find our hostel (unfortunately, still in the rain). We found it really with no problem other than we overpacked and were lugging around enormous backpacks. Luckily, there was no one in the room so they let us check in early. We dried off, locked up our stuff and immediately went to the Sagrada Familia which was only about a 15 minute walk from the hostel. We stopped at a little pastry shop and had a real breakfast and talked to the elderly couple who owed it. They were so nice and so excited that we were studying spanish. When we made it to La Sagrada Familia, it was breathtaking. It is the most intricate building I've ever seen, no wonder it's not done after 100 years!

Unfortunately the line to go inside was hours long so we decided not to do it, but if I ever go back I definitely will. Gaudi is buried inside and once the church is finished, it should be so beautiful. From there, we took the metro to a stop near Las Ramblas. We passed some Roman remains on the way to the Barcelona Cathedral. The Cathedral was also beautiful and the line was short, so we went inside and I'm so glad we did. I took way too many pictures but it was just too pretty! After the cathedral, Selma, Garrit and Ben went back to the hostel to siesta and Molly, Murphy (a girl who took the sixth bed in our room) and I stayed to explore some more. We walked through the market, ate lunch and made our way to the Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar. I've seen pictures of the inside of this church that are gorgeous, but unfortunately it was closed to the public and the outside wasn't nearly as impressive. Still, we bought some ice cream and sat on the steps for a while before heading back. We took a quick nap, showered and met up with the other group for an overpriced dinner. From there, we went to Villa Olimpica (basically just where the olympic athletes were housed in 1992) which was rumored to have amazing nightlife. Too bad we're still not quite used to the Spanish schedule and when we got there at 11, absolutely nothing was open. We walked along the shore of the Mediterannean Sea for a while until 1 when things finally started opening. We ended up getting into a club for free, danced and took a cab home way too late because Saturday morning we woke up at 9 for continental breakfast. Then, with every intention of going right out and exploring....we fell back asleep until 12:30. Finally, we went to Las Ramblas, where we stopped for paella and sangria. Again we were overcharged but it was so delicious we didn't mind much. We then shopped, watched the street performers, took lots of pictures and saw the world's largest farmers market. We were too scared of getting robbed to go inside, but it was cool to see, even from afar. We spent all day (or what was left of it) on Las Ramblas and then went to a supermarket and bought baguettes, turkey and cheese and made our own sandwiches. We met some guys from Seville who were in the room next to us and hung out with them for a while before heading over to the other groups hostel. Their hostel was so much fun! They had invited pretty much everyone into their room, so we had an international party! There were people from France, Italy, Germany, Australia, etc and it was awesome. I had a conversation with this Italian guy, with him speaking Italian and me speaking Spanish we were able to communicate pretty well. It was a really, really cool experience. Then one of the hostel employees was also a promoter for the same club we had gone to the night before, so she could get us in for free again. Therefore, later that night we all went together and had so much fun!
Sunday morning we woke up early again for breakfast and to check out of the hostel. Luckily, they allowed us to lock up our stuff in the office so we could go out all day without having to lug our backpacks around. We left around 10 for Park Guell, one of Gaudi's masterpieces and my new favorite place on earth. Granted, I haven't been a lot of places, but so far, it really is my absolute favorite. We spent about 3 and a half hours there. We explored the houses that look like they're straight out of a Dr. Seuss book and the mosaic tiles everywhere....from the top of the park you could see the whole city and the Mediterranean Sea glistening. It was beautiful.

 We met a Colombian man making jewelry to fund his trip across Europe. His stuff was awesome so we all bought bracelets and he made the clasps right in front of us using scrap metal and pliers. He was so talented and so nice! We then went on some trails through the park and listening to the many people singing, playing the guitar, etc. The guys got their picture taken with a belly dancer haha. I would go back in an instant and if anyone goes to Barcelona, I highly, highly, highly recommend visiting it. Once we left, we went straight for some more paella before heading to the beach. We got to the beach around 3 and stayed until 9. We layed out, got mojitos, played volleyball, ate sandwiches, and watched the sunset.

Two of the french guys we met the night before came with us as well, and we met some other people from Australia, Canada and Denmark. Hanging out with so many different people was amazing, but unfortunately we didn't speak Spanish pretty much all weekend. Part of the reason is that in Barcelona the primary language is Catalan and we speak Castilian, so besides asking for directions and ordering food, we mainly spoke english. Anyways, around 9 we went back to the hostel to grab our bags before going to the bus station. Our bus came at 11:30 and I got a horrible night's sleep before arriving back in Bilbao at 7. I ran home to quick shower and lay down for a minute before my class at 9 and ended up waking up in time for my class at 11. Oops! Haha
Anyways, I saw a lot this weekend and it was all beautiful. But, I realized that traveling with friends is a lot different than traveling with your family. Not everyone is as accommodating and I was one of the lucky ones in the group who got to see everything on my list. There was some drama here and there, but I learned a lot about how to handle those kinds of situations and it was worth it. I have 250 pictures, but even without them, I know this was a weekend I'll never forget.
<3


ps. i know this sounds strange, but while in barcelona, there were times when i got really homesick for bilbao. now i'm nervous that when the program is over and i'm back in the US i'll be homesick for somewhere that isn't really my home. it's weird...