Barcalona, Spain :)

HI! So I am awful because I haven’t updated my blog in forever! I guess that’s because I’ve been running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off wondering why in the world I am going to have to leave this amazing city in 21 days! Yes I only have 21 days here in London left! 3 weeks! I can’t believe it the time has absolutely flown by.  So as much as I know you love hearing me talk about how I’m not ready to leave… I’ll get to the point of how life is going over here.

            Last weekend I went to another part of Spain, Barcelona!  Although I had a good time I’m glad I’m not studying abroad there because it just wasn’t my scene.  Barcelona was very touristy, dirty and the people weren’t as nice either (at least those that we encountered).  We left Regent’s Thursday night and got on the plane- landed around 930 and got to our hostel around 10:15.  The guy at the desk was a complete and total idiot and no I’m not being mean or exaggerating…he really was an idiot.  Upon arriving the first thing he said was your going to have to wait 5 minutes…and then another five minutes after that because those guys there have to check in before you.  So we said okay and went and sat down in the lounge.  25 minutes later he still hadn’t gotten us so Emily went up to the counter & asked if he was ready.  He had forgotten about us and said oh sorry please wait 5 more minutes and I’ll be ready.  So were like this has got to be a joke…but finally he was ready. We go up to get our rooms and pay and of course the guy can’t do math.  We wanted to pay separately on credit cards and it was like we asked him to fly to the states to get some tea or something.  I mean I’m not kidding it took at least 15 minutes and liz and I ended up calculating it for us and explaining to him how to split the check.  So when we finally got it done he showed us to our room and which beds were ours.  He looked at liz’s bed and said “oh it looks like someone might have slept on your bed today would you like me to change the sheets?”  WELL DUHHH. Okay people there was long black hairs all over her sheet.  How freaking disgusting is that and your asking us if we want the sheet changed?  So he said he would in….you guessed it! 5 minutes.  We came back downstairs about 20-30 minutes later and reminded him because of course he still hadn’t been up.  We sat in the lounge because there was a creepy guy in our room staring at us and we needed to charge electronics.  So he finally comes back down and tells liz he changed the sheets but funny story! (you had to have known this was coming) the clean sheets were actually dirtier than the dirty sheets so he had to change them twice.  Okay first of all we didn’t need to know that and second of all that’s still disgusting… so that was the start of our first night in the hostel.  We didn’t go to bed until 2am once everyone else was asleep and then we were up at 930 the next morning for breakfast.

            Breakfast consisted of toast or cornflake cereal but it was free so that worked for us.  We headed to the metro to meet Bri (our friend studying in Sevilla) and she got there around 11.  We took her back to the hostel and told her about our previous night and told her we were ready to get out in the town!  So we dropped her things off and headed toward “La Rambla” street.  This is a popular street in Spain that is lined with market vendors, souvenir shops and restaurants.  So we shopped around for a while and then went down a side street to get lunch at a small café.  It wasn’t authentic Spanish food though and our meals were just alright.  Afterwards we kept walking and passed the Casa Lleo Morera which was a house designed by Gaudi.  We decided not to go in though because we wanted to go in his other casa.  So we continued to walk and went through Catalunya Square and some other areas until we came upon La Casa Pedrera.  The line to get in was about a 30 minute wait though so we went next door to this dessert place and got a treat to eat while waiting in line.  I had an apple crumble and it was delicious!

            When we finally got into the house there wasn’t much to see inside except a museum on one floor.  But the neat thing was the roof of the building that was full of really neat statues and architectural design.  So we hung up on top for a while before walking through the museum and back outside.  At this point it started to rain a bit so we were heading back towards the hostel in case it poured but luckily it was just cloudy for a little bit and cleared back up.  We went to the Cathedral, which had a very gothic look.  The area was packed with a lot of people walking around and sitting on the steps of the Cathedral so that was a fun atmosphere.  At this point, 2 guys that Bri had met on the plane (also studying abroad) had texted her and asked if we wanted to meet up for a little bit.  So we met them at a Metro stop and then hung out with them for about 2 hours.  They took us to the beach and we walked along there and then stopped at a bar for a drink.  Afterwards we split up with them and started walking around again deciding where we wanted to eat (looking for a tapas place).  We finally found “Lonja de Tapas” and the food was delicious!  We had croquettes, paiya, grilled veggies, a chicken teriyaki skewer, sangria & break!  It was really nice and there were heating lamps outside so we were able to sit out and people watch. 

            After dinner we were exhausted and ready to head back to the hostel.  We got back around 1030 and showered.  Liz and I pushed our twin beds together so Bri could sleep with us because she was put in a separate room and the hostel was not the place where you’d want to be alone.  So we had a little sleepover and were in bed by 1230 or so!

            Saturday morning was also another packed day! We got up around 930 again and had breakfast before grabbing the metro to go to Plaza d’Espanya.  Here we walked around, looked at the fountains and looked at the arena that used to be an old bull-fighting arena (now it’s a shopping center with restaurants).  Afterwards we headed around and climbed up the hill to see where the Olympics were held.  We toured the stadium and grounds for an hour or so and then had Icees outside at a small café. 

            Next we headed to Park Guell which was another design by Gaudi.  Before we climbed the steep hill to the entrance of the park we grabbed sandwiches at a café to take with us.  When we got to the park it’s like nothing you’d imagine a park looking like. I was thinking I would sit in a patch of grass with architecture statues around or something…no its this spiral concrete hill you climb to the top that has different paths leading off into different directions.  We walked the square inside the park and saw the old marketplace.  We also went into Guell’s home.  The park was originally supposed to be a square but they turned it into a park because things went wrong with the design or something.  So it was really neat to see and we spent quite a long time walking around there.  On the way back to the metro we stopped at a dessert place and I had my first waffle with chocolate ice cream. It’s a big thing there but I had yet to try one…woods will definitely be benefitting from my experience with that when I get home! Haha.  But anyways, we grabbed the metro for one last stop to see the Sagrada Familia (another large church).  The wait was 3 hours though so we just walked around the circumference of the building.  We also walked through another nearby market before heading back to the hostel.  We dropped souvenirs off and rested for about 30 minutes.  Then we went to a water fountain show in Plaza d’Espayna.  It was really cool and the plaza was packed with people so we had a good time.  Afterwards we crossed the road and went back in the arena for dinner.  We were going to meet the guys for drinks afterwards but that fell through so we went to a convenient store, grabbed some drinks and went back to the hostel for the night to hang out.  So we had a great day very exhausting though.

            Sunday was our last day there and since we had done the majority of tourist stuff we decided to go to the beach!  We had to be checked out at 10 am but we could leave our things at the hostel until our flight.  So we did that and stayed on the beach until about 3 in the afternoon.  We also had lunch somewhere along there.  It wasn’t super hot out but it was warm enough for us to sit outside with a tank top and shorts so we enjoyed ourselves. 

            At 3 we headed back because Bri’s flight was at 6. The tamers were exhausted but I decided to go out on my own and walk around some more.  I went up and down La Rambla again and was hoping one of the markets off that street would be open because it had been closed all weekend.. but it wasn’t.  I still enjoyed being alone and walking around.  It was a really nice day.  I came back around 5 though and we had dinner near our hostel at a tapas restaurant and then headed towards the airport.  On the way there I get a text from Bri saying her flight was at 6am not pm and she missed it! Haha…so she ended up having to stay another night there and catch a flight home the next day so that really sucked for her… But luckily we were able to get home.  We waited for over an hour to get through customs so we missed our national express bus back that takes you into London but luckily we were able to get on a later one.  We also met two guys in line that had been in Barcelona for the weekend and were going to Amsterdam this weekend, which is our next trip too! So we might meet up with them sometime too.  It’s funny you shouldn’t trust people you meet and just go out with them but here most everyone is college students and everyone is always looking to meet up and have a good time! I have met so many people from all over the world through our hostels, tours and malfunctions in airports so it’s been really interesting meeting people and learning about what they are doing here because most college students are studying abroad or working here. 

            But anyways… so this week I have been frantically catching up on papers. We have at least one in every class that is due by finals week! Tuesday night I went out to a bar called Rocket and had a great time!  We hung out there until it closed and then went to a friend’s apartment for a few hours after that.  Other than that though I have just been trying to enjoy every minute! We are going out tonight for a friend’s birthday for dinner but not staying out.  We have to leave here at 330am to get a bus to get to the airport for a flight in the morning.  Amsterdam should be quite the experience so I hope to update you about that much sooner than later like this blog.  Hope that catches you guys up with everything! I hope everyone had a great Easter.  Seeing as I was on the beach all day it didn’t feel like Easter, but I enjoyed getting lots of Easter cards so thank you to everyone who sent me something! Miss & love ya’ll J I’m outta here.

Y.O.L.O -- court :)

“Cause I am not a word, I am not a line; I am not a girl that can ever be defined” --Nicki Minaj