Barcelona

So I've noticed that my post titles have gotten lamer for every post...oh well. It 's a lot of stuff to come up with, you know! Anyway. Last weekend I went to Barcelona! This was one of those places I had wanted to see but kind of just felt, eh, and finally just thought, why not?? and booked a flight. Thank goodness I did, because Barcelona is beautiful! It definitely reminded me of Valencia (I mean, same country), but bigger and more interesting. I was by myself, and just spent the days wandering around the city. It's a lot like Rome in that there's a lot of really unique, beautiful architecture and interesting shops and people, but the streets are broader and more sunny. The weather was excellent, and I wore t-shirts the whole time. I think I may have even tanned a little on my arms! I wasn't really sure what to see when I went, but it turns out that the city has some really cool modern architecture. They're currently building a cathedral by a local architect, Gaudi, and it's absolutely amazing. See below, lol:

La Sagrada Familia

Like I said, the weather was gorgeous. I spent the whole day outside; and I actually had a frappuccino from Starbucks in celebration of spring! Also because it had been a really, really long time, lol. It was glorious. Friday night, at the end of the first day, I hung out with some people from the hostel. We all made our own dinners and ate together, and then tried to go out. It didn't really work, though, since none of us really knew where to go! We ended up having a drink at some bar at 2 am and then taking taxis (which was an ordeal because none of them would take 5 people and it took a while for us to accept that) home. It was pretty fun, though. Oh, so I think my favorite story took place while we were wandering around downtown. We were going down a side street and all of the sudden these Spaniards start yelling and coming up to us. I was a little ahead with my friend Edmund and I tried to glance back, but he kept telling me to hurry up and go! So there was this guy back there basically humping another guy who was with us, trying to get his wallet. It was absolutely hysterical! I mean, maybe not for him, though. Lol, that night I also saw a transvestite and what must have been a hooker. I mean, why else would she have been sitting on that bench like that, alone at 3 am? Oh, and I forgot to mention. I made my own dinner Friday and Saturday. Yay me!

So the next day I woke up and met up with a local girl I had actually met in Greece, on Corfu Island at the hostel. She had been working there and was the only person remotely near my age who spoke English, and we hung out and talked the whole 2 days. Her name is Lina, and she's adorable! I had mentioned to her back in January that I was thinking about visiting Barcelona in March, and luckily we were able to see each other! We had coffee in a calmer, less touristy area, which was very cute, and she gave me some tips on stuff to do. Later that day we met up a second time and went to a free museum featuring an exhibition on a modern Catalan artist. The exhibition, on Joaquim Mir, was fantastic, and it was really cool to see a different kind of art and learn about the Catalan culture. Apparently it's a local thing, and Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia. A lot of the locals speak both Spanish and Catalan, though no one speaks just Catalan. It's just an ongoing effort to keep the culture alive. It's great that there are still people who recognize that kind of thing, and how important it is to keep it going.

So between coffee and the museum, I spent the day wandering around again. I ended up sitting in a park reading for a good part of the afternoon. It was so peaceful; I kept thinking that maybe despite my complete lack of knowledge of the Spanish language and my love of Rome, I could live in Barcelona just to go to that park all the time!

The park! I don't know the name, lol...

The view from where I sat to do my reading! Gorgeous, isn't it? I was sitting there on a bench and all these people came by with their cute Spanish kids, lol. Plus a lot of Spanish tweens...kill me, lol.

I found this little path worn into an area near a church. It kind of felt like the jungle!! Okay, probably not. I think I shame all the jungle explorers by saying that. But I liked it!

There's a famous street market on Las Ramblas where they have souvenirs and random things for sale, and I spent some time each day walking there. They had some absolutely amazing human statues, like gargoyles and headless people, that really put all the mummies and Greek statues here in Rome to shame. They also had flower stalls (again with the flowers, lol) with really cute little mini bouquets and €1 cacti, and there were stalls selling pets! I saw turtles, bunnies, fish, birds, hamsters...it was AWESOME. Well, mostly, since I kept thinking about all the creepy people who can easily buy the animals and mistreat them, and then I was wondering about how the vendors treated the animals during the night. But anyway, lol, cute!!

Flower stall with mini flowers and...

cacti! I cannot imagine how crazy I would go over these if I lived in Barcelona...

Once again, I'm getting this posted right before I leave again, since we're going to Cinque Terre (with my study abroad program) tomorrow. It's basically the Italian equivalent of the French riviera, and is supposed to be breathtaking. But we'll see, especially with all the rain! Ahh, I want Barcelona weather!