When we arrived we were in the middle of no where. However, it was so nice to see mountains! (I cannot wait for those sweet TN mountains!). After we arrived, we took a shuttle and a train to get to our metro stop, which was conveniently at the train station. We were talking on the phone with the lady about how to get to our apartment. I'm not going to lie, as we were walking to our apartment, I was a little nervous. Almost everything in Barcelona has graffiti on it and we were on a very small street. (Little did I know this is totally normal for Barcelona). Although we did hear a huge boom/crack before we got to our aparment...yeah it definitely sounded like a gunshot and we all jumped out of our skin (no worries it was only a fire cracker from the children celebrating some sort of fiesta in the streets. Still, our apartment was SO nice and only cost 50 euros for everyone for the whole weekend! We had a livingroom/kitchen, as well as a bathroom with shower, sink, 2 toilets, AND a towel warmer (a very nice investment), as well as two rooms with two twin beds and a fold couch. We were set. After we arrived, we decided to explore a little and check out Las Ramblas. This is a street where there are many people selling things like jewelry, flowers, bags, etc. It was much like the Rastro here, but better quality. We only saw a bit before we headed down toward the water. There was a beautiful port with a really neat bridge, lots of sailboats and restaurants, as well as a small mall. As we were relaxing and looking for a place to eat we actually ran into a few girls from our group and decided to follow their advice and eat at the restaurant. It was open, near the water, and beautiful. Althought it was a bit on the more expensive side it was definitely worth the price. I tried my first paella and it was PHENOMENAL! I ate seafood that I never would've though I would've eaten. I ate calamari (which I normally don't like), shrimp, and muscles (my first time). All of this was mixed with a spiced rice, peas, and corn. Increĺble! I loved it! I also had Sangria de Cavo, which is basically "sangria with champaigne." It is supposedly a Barcelona thing. It is white as opposed to red. This was also very good. Very strong, but very good.
After dinner, we took a few pictures by the water, of course, and decided to finish the night off with some crepes. I had banana and chocolate... MMM. Something to add about Barcelona is that they do not Speak "Spanish" as we know it which is Castellano. They speak Catalan. This is a completely different language with a mix of Spanish and French. One of the girls had been to say Merci instead of Gracias. I asked our little crepe man and he said "We are not French? We say gracias." I felt pretty dumb but at least then we knew. Still the languages are different and I almost felt like I was insulting them to speak Spanish. Therefore, I spent much of the time speaking English as the majority of people there do due to all the tourism that keeps the city thriving. After crepes, we took another stroll down las ramblas and headed for bed. That night something was wacky with the air, as I honestly cannot remember the last time I was so cold. It was all I could do to get out once to find warmer clothes (which I did not have but I found blankets) as well as get out another time to try to find the AC. Horrible! Still, I fixed the problem with the AC and then all was fine. Anyways, the next day we got ready and went to a little market near our house to buy fruit for breakfast as well as a pastry place to get muffins! They were so good. We needed energy as we did not know the day we had ahead of us. We went on a bicycle tour of the city! It was so fun! If i went back I would love to do a bus tour too, however, the bike tour was great, a we could get into very small streets that busses cannot. I knew our tour would be legit when we pulled up and our guide had dreads down to his but, a beat up bike, and a sight written on notebook paper that said "bike tour." It turned out he was really a "sub" and had not been able to get into the shed. Still, he was a lot of fun and we were with a few other people as well, like the Indian couple from the US. The dad pushed his sons in a special bike with a cab on front the entire time (he deserves something). We saw so much of the city on the tour. First we went La Iglesia de Santa María.
This has a neat story, as the cit of Barcelona was closed off by a wall. The rich lived inside the poor working class lived outside. Therefore, they did not have funding for a church so they build their own by hand brick by brick. What a beautiful story of devotion. Supposedly it's "simple." Still, it is beautiful for me. Unfortunately because it was not protected, much of the original insides were burned during the civil war. After the church, we went to the Olympic port. And of course as we were riding our bikes, did this stop me from taking picture? No! Duh! From what I understood, they added more building and beach for the Olympics in 1992. Our guide said that in the summer, you are lucky to find a place, as it very much resembles a barbecue. We then stopped for a drink, included in our tour. I had a KAS which is very similar to a Fanta (So good). Our guide explained that he was a guide by day and DJ by night. He also said that he felt people in Madrid are more friendly than in Barcelona (It's funny b/c people in Madrid say the opposite). After a little rest, we rode past the plaza de toros. However, next year corridas de toros will be illegal in Catalan. This will be the first province to make the "sport" illegal. We then went to the Catedral de la Sangrada Familia. This is the famous Catedral that began with the famous architect, Gaudĺ. Unfortunately I don't know much about him other than he was famous in Spain, and all of Europe. The Cathedral was started by the private "group" Sangrada Familia. Construction began in 1882 and will not be finished for about another 40 years! Everything is made by hand. It is made in the gothic style and incredible the details! It is also interesting, as one side is from Gaudi, while the other is from someone who followed after him and and is completely different. As I said, they have 40 more years to work. It is really neat, however, I don't understand spending that much time. It is so beautiful but there are always cranes there. After that we saw a few more important sites on our bike tour, having to do with music, an atrium from the first exposition in Spain, as well as their equivalent of the plaza mayor. After our tour, we were trying to decide what to do to make everyone happy (a difficult task with 7 people). I am a nerd, therefore I tend to get upset inside if I feel like I'm not soaking up some kind of culture. However, many girls wanted to ride on a catamaran sail boat around the port. They convinced me and honestly it was probably my best decision of the weekend. Once I calimariwas on that boat, all I could do was sit there and relax. They also had live jazz music! It was a beautiful view, and for me forced relaxation which is probably the best way to get me to do it. I fell asleep a little while and I woke up the same way I do after a massage. Ay phenomenal! After our boat ride, we hit the beach! Now... this was an experience. I had my first encounter with people walking around topless... yes... it was incredibly strange, an a bit uncomfortable. It was so weird to see people from the back and in your mine you thought "boy" because they had no suit on. What an experience.... Anways, we were only there a small amount of time, as we wanted to try to see Gaudi's house before dark. We made our way over on the Metro and up the hill (which had escalators by the way... definitely a tourist city but I appreciated them). As we were trying to find Gaudi's house and the famous mosaic benches, we walked right through the National Reggae Festival...BOO YA! That was worth it. We were surprised to not see our tour guide there. After a bit of searching we finally found the benches as well as Gaudi's house. Unfortunately, Gaudi's house and the museum was closed, however it was so neat to have been there. We decided to start making up our own tour with false/predicted information. So fun! I was elated and I felt so accomplished! 
We saw so much Saturday! Afterwards, exhausted, we headed back to our stop via bus (allowing us to see more of Barcelona). That night we got ready for dinner (which took a while as the hot water was in short supply). Still we were so Spanish. By the time we were eating, it was midnight. All of the restaurants were closing. Thankfully one let us in and fed us a tapa plate! He asked them to give us more and it was so good. I actually ate the most and this is very different for me. Afterward, we went for helado, of course, and afterwards headed back to pass out in bed after some good girl talk with our helado (sharing first kiss/date stories, etc). That night we slept great and got up early again to pack our stuff and head out. Unfortunately we had to bring all of our stuff with us. Therefore, our backpacks were a bit heave after a while, but what can you do. Still, we went to the Olympic stadium! So neat! I can now say I have been to 2 (Sydney and Barcelona). This was SO neat! Seeing the torch was my favorite part!
After our tour, we wanted to check out the famous fish and fruit market, however, when we arrived off of Las Ramblas it was closed :( We were a bit sad, but you cannot always get what you want, and it was Sunday. Therefore, we decided to find some lunch and spend a little time at the beach. We found incredible Empanadas. Think bread folded over with meat, etch. Mine was with salami, brie, and lettuce. PHENOMENAL!
We then ate them down by the shore and watched the water. Morgan and I sat on some steps and listened to an incredible bland play! They were having such a blast playing. The girl was doing the salsa while playing guitar for goodness sakes! They had a CD so I boughtit after 20 minutes of falling in love with them. After this I had a very influential point in my life. I was relaxing by the pier before we left, when I look up and think to myself "surely no." Oh yes... it was a man riding his bike completely nude towards me... yes. I always wanted the first naked man I see to be old and riding a bike. Oh my it was quite an experience. Of course no one els was alarmed but us. Oh Europe. Anyways, after that we grabbed some gelato (mango and raspberry...mmm!) and headed to the beach. A few of the girls had to leave for the airport after a while, however, three of us laid out for about an hour. We saw one family and they were all almost completely nude. We felt sorry for the girl that was enjoying the sand with her bare little but and later was digging pretty hard to get that sand out (TMI?). Sweet girl, so sad but so funny. Anyways, then we headed back to the train station (after buying huge waters) to freshen up. We then got some tapas for a snack and hopped on the train to make sure we had time before our flights. My flight was earlier than the other girls but they wanted to make sure they knew where to go (and there is plenty to do in the Barcelona mall). So we headed over smoothly and I got through everything like a pro. I sat and journaled a bit in a cafe so not to forget all the adventures of Barcelona, mingling with my friends when I wanted to. Thankfully, then, my flight left on time and I returned safely to my house. I returned alone as I bought my tickets separately. Again, I felt so old and grown up! I'm such a big girl! Carmen of course was waiting for me and actually had a bit of paella left to give me from the weekend! Las night was definitely the best sleep I have had in SO long! To sum up a bit of Barcelona, I loved the pace of the city. It was so much more relaxed and slower than Madrid. Also, the people just seemed much more casual and laid back, even in their clothing. There also seemed to be a lot of artists there. I feel that it may be a more "liberal" city, due to their banning the corridas de toros, as well as just the atmosphere there as well. I love the city, however, I would not want to stay there long, as I said before, it is definitely a tourist town. still, it would be great to meet people from different countries in Europe. It is better farther away from the center of the city. I love the small back streets. I had a blast this weekend and was literally giddy this morning because I was so relaxed. The Vitamin D probably did me some good too :) Now I am exhausted so I will need to re-cap today, tomorrow. We are going to the Palacio Real tomorrow! I cannot wait!
TMI.
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