Friday was a fun filled, sunny day in Barcelona! We woke up early to go to the Sagrada Familia, which is a Basilica dedicated to the Holy Family, and was probably the most amazing building I have ever seen in my life. Gaudi, a Spanish architect, is the one that designed the Sagrada Familia. It was started in 1882, and is still under construction today to be completed. Both the inside and the outside of the church was incredible. It would be neat to return to Barcelona one day when it is finished and compare it to how it looks today.
After leaving the Sagrada Familia, my friends and I explored the city some more and looked around some of the shops before meeting the group for lunch. After lunch we had a little bit of free time before going to the Picasso Museum that afternoon. Picasso's works are very unique and it is pretty neat what he did in some of them.
We were really tired after the museum, so we all went back to the hostel to relax for a few hours and take a nap before getting ready to go out for the evening. We did a lot of walking and my feet were killing me.
After resting and getting ready for the evening, we took the metro to La Rambla, where we had dinner at a sports bar and then went to a Flamenco dancing show. Flamenco dancing was very interesting, and was something I have never seen before. It is not your typical American dance at all. I am really glad that I got to experience flamenco dancing while I was in Barcelona. The talent that those dancers have is just unbelievable, especially this little girl, who was probably only 8 years old. After the show it was getting late, so we took the metro back to the hostel, and called it a night. We had another early morning on Saturday.
Saturday morning we had to meet up around 9:30 AM to go see the Joan Miro museum, another art museum. We went to a lot of art museums because they were for the art history class I am taking for credit. We have an exam tomorrow (Monday) on all the museums/other works of art and architecture that we saw in Barcelona.
After the art museum, we walked to a huge park and hiked up a hill and around the park. It was a very beautiful, sunny day in Barcelona while we were at the park. There were many people there. Katie and I sat inside the park for a little while and took time to enjoy the peaceful and gorgeous day outside. It was very relaxing as we seemed to be constantly on the go in Barcelona. After walking through the park, Katie, Jen, Rachel, and I got a taxi from the park exit to the closest metro, which we took back to the part of the city where our hostel was and we got lunch with the entire group.
After lunch, we went back to the hostel, took off our hiking shoes, then traded them in for flip flops. My group of friends and I were headed to the beach for the afternoon! It was a little more cloudy in the afternoon, but was still pretty warm outside. It was so cool to be at the beach in the middle of February! I went into the waves up to my mid calf, but that is it. Some people on the beach were actually swimming in the water. I thought the water was very cold, so none of my friend or I got into the water. It was just neat to stick my feet in the Mediterranean Sea! There were some really neat sandcastles on the beach too! They had fire in the middle of them, which is something I have never seen before! We also walked the boardwalk along the beach and went out onto the rock pier. It was a very very fun day, to say the least. I loved the beach and it was one of my favorite parts of Barcelona! Before leaving the beach for the day we stopped and got ice cream at one of the shops along the street.
We then headed back to the hostel to get ready for our last evening in Barcelona. After getting all "pretty," we once again got back on the metro and took it to the port in La Rambla. We ate dinner outside at a restaurant right along the water. It was very nice and very pretty. I had really good seafood pasta for dinner there. Sadly, after dinner we had to head back to the hostel to pack for the trip back to Ambialet.
Sunday morning, we left Barcelona around 9 AM. We traveled about an hour and a half, then stopped at Dali Museum, the last art museum of the trip. This was the most interesting museum of the trip. I really liked some of Dali's pieces of artwork. After the museum, we went to lunch before getting back onto the bus and traveling the rest of the way home. After such a busy weekend, I was very tired and slept most of the trip back to Ambialet.
It was nice to recognize some of the language and use what Spanish I know, as I took several years of Spanish in high school. I was able to have a conversation with a lady at a restaurant the one night in Spanish. A short conversation, but a conversation in another language none the less! Most people actually spoke Catalan, but it is very similar to Spanish.
I learned a lot about the metro while I was there, and I would like to think that my friends and I were almost becoming pros at navigating the metro to the different parts of the city. It was good preparation for when we are completely on our own during spring break, which in in just a few weeks!!!
Overall, the place we stayed in Barcelona was just okay. I am glad we got an apartment for spring break instead of staying in a hostel. It was kind of crowded in a small room and small bathroom. It was also very loud at night and was very hard to sleep, which is my only complaint about the trip.
I am now back in Ambialet. Although I am sad to have left Barcelona, it is nice to be back to my "home away from home." It will be nice to get a good sleep and to get back in a regular routine. I have a lot of exams this week, so I have a lot of studying to do.
I would like to say Happy Birthday to Denae Mobus today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE! I love and miss you and hope you have a wonderful birthday!
Have a good week everyone!
Buenos Noches!
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