Barcelona

Hey everyone!

I hope you all had a great weekend! I went to Barcelona and I absolutely loved it. We had to leave our apartment at 2:45 Friday morning in order to catch the 3:30 bus. Melissa and I almost didn’t make it on to the bus. We didn’t think it was going to be that packed at that time in the morning, but luckily we were the last people allowed on. We made it to the airport, checked in and flew out at 6:45. We landed in Girona that is a city outside of Barcelona, so we had to take a bus into Barcelona. We got into the city and had to ask around for directions to our hostel, then checked in and met our friend Amy from SNC. She’s studying in Toledo, Spain this semester and she was visiting Barcelona with some of her friends, so we met up and shared a hostel with them. It was so great to see her! It was also very helpful that they all spoke Spanish. In Barcelona, they speak Catalan, which is a little different, but most people understand both Spanish and English, as well.

We walked around the streets and found a few of Gaudi’s buildings, and ended up at the Sangrada Familia. It’s a church that Gaudi designed and they started building it in 1898 and it’s still under construction because they haven’t finished yet. The church is so detailed; I feel like we could’ve stood there and looked at it for hours. The whole front side depicts the Stations of the Cross. There are lots of pictures for you to look at. They don’t do it justice, but maybe you’ll get a little bit of an idea. We went into the church and got to see all of the construction, then went up to the top. We got to walk out onto the balcony and we got a great view of the city. It was so beautiful! We also got a chance to see more of the detail of the building. Afterwards, we walked to the 1992 Olympic Stadium and found a park on the way that was so beautiful. The stadium was so huge and there were fountains everywhere. We got to watch the sunset from there and it was absolutely gorgeous! I took a lot of pictures of it ☺ Next we went to the Magic Fountain light show. It’s a gigantic beautiful fountain that lights up and each fountain goes on and off along with the music. It was so beautiful! Then we went to a Spanish restaurant and had tappas and paella. Tappas are little appetizers (little potatoes with spicy sauce, bread with meat on it, and a type of potato salad with tuna). Paella has rice and either chicken, seafood, or veggies. I had veggies because it was Friday, but it was so good! We had a pitcher of sangria too, which was fabulous ☺ Then after dinner, we went back to our hostel because we had all been up all night traveling and went to sleep.

Saturday, we got up early and went to the market. It was so busy and there were so many stands with every kind of food. Then, we walked through the city to Guell Park, which was designed by Gaudi. It was so beautiful! We got to climb above the park and got a great view of the city. We had to climb up 325 steps, but the view was totally worth it! Next, we tried to find another park, but couldn’t find it, so we asked an old Spanish lady for help. She was so confused that we were trying to walk there, because it was really far, so she offered to show us how to get there. She walked with us to the bus stop and rode the bus with us. She told the driver when to tell us to get off. She was so nice and sweet! She spoke in Spanish, but I understood her pretty well. The whole weekend, I felt pretty good with my Spanish. I could understand people for the most part, but I just couldn’t think on my feet fast enough to be able to respond. I was pretty proud of myself for understanding it for the most part. We found a little grocery store by the park and picked up a baguette and some salami and had a picnic lunch in the park. We walked around it, and it was so beautiful. Then, we took the metro to the beach and put our feet in the Mediterranean Sea! We walked along the boardwalk for a couple hours because it was so long! Next, we walked back and found a band singing Spanish music by the port. We sat on the steps and listened and the sun was setting in the background. It was such a surreal moment. We went to a small Italian restaurant for dinner, and then got gelato for dessert. After, we went to a couple small bars for sangria. It was so much fun chatting with the girls about their study abroad experiences in Spain. Their program is so much different from ours, so it was interesting to hear about it. We went back to the hostel and then had to check out at 6:30 in order to catch the metro, bus, plane, bus, and walking back to our apartment. It’s a long day of traveling, but totally worth it!

Overall, it was a great trip. The weather was pretty good, but it’s been so nice this week in Ireland, it was hard to leave. It was about 60’s and 70’s, but very cool when the sun went down and windy on the beach.

Here’s the link for my pictures:

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=254695363/a=157881010_157881010/t_=157881010

Other news: Ireland won the Six Nations Rugby game and every one is crazy here! We went to mass tonight, and the priest talked for so long about how the country is blessed with a great team. It’s so cool how patriotic they are when it comes to sports. So many houses and apartments have Irish flags hanging outside of the windows now. It’s so great! Today is Mother’s Day in Ireland, so Happy Mother’s Day to everyone! ☺

Other than that, not much is going on here. I’ll be working on getting papers done this week, and anticipating my family’s arrival in 10 days!! I’m so excited to see them and show them around Galway ☺ I hope you all have a great week! Love you!!!