This weekend I was in Barcelona with two friends who I met here but who also go to BC. Barcelona is by far my favorite place so far. It was just the coolest and most interesting city and the most fun! Half of the city was really weird and funky like something out of Alice and Wonderland and the other half was old and pretty. It was just so charming. I just related to the vibe there more than in Paris.
I got there Thursday night. I was a little nervous about my Spanish because I haven't taken spanish is so long. But I wasn't as rusty as i thought. It wasn't as easy as maybe two years ago. But my taxi driver from the airport to my hotel was probably the only person I encountered who didn't speak English and we had a nice little conversation in Spanish. He asked me the usual about where Im from and what Im studying and of course he had to ask about Obama. haha. After that I was really excited about speaking Spanish there and trying it out but everyone was to speak English and they didn't let me practice!
People in Barcelona don't really start their night until very very late. So once I dropped my things at the hotel me, katie, and ryan got a very late dinner of tapas. Then we went to this whole in the wall bar called La Oveja Negra (the Black Sheep). It was this really cool place with wooden furniture and barrels everywhere. It just had a very cool vibe and it was right by our hotel, which was on Las Ramblas. During the day Las Ramblas is really neat. Kind of like Venice Beach with street performers and stuff. At night its more like Hollywood Blvd, not as cool.
Friday was our Gaudi day. It was also my favorite day for that reason. Our first stop was La Sagradda Familia. This is a cathedral that became Gaudi's obsession later in his life. It is still not finished and has had several different architects trying to compete it. It is so complex and beautiful and unique that even with modern technology it stil isn't finished, not even close to finished. The outside looks like kind of like a sand castle or like dipped mud on one side. And has a smoother more modern facade on the other side. And the inside is suppose to feel like a forest. I felt like I was in a forest of flowers. The ceiling looks like giant diasies. And there are long pillars all throughout the inside made from different materials that look like gaint stems of flowers or tree trunks. And the stain glass windows reflect different colors all over the pillars. It was amazing. And we took the elevator to the top where we had a stunning view of all of Barcelona and the ocean.
Next we went to the Parque de Guell. This is a park that Gaudi also designed. You are greeted by two buildings that look like cupcakes or ginigerbread houses. And then there is a huge staircase with gorgeous tile on the walls and a tiled lizard in the center. The park is full of really cool tile mosaics and structures. I know my parents would have loved it. There were also palm trees and stone archways and a winding tiled bench that goes along this cliff where you can seen another stunning view of the city and the ocean. Definately my favorite place in Barcelona. If i lived there I would totally go there every day.
After that we went to one of the apartments that Gaudi designed. It was called La Pedrera. This building was so interesting. The best part was the roof. It was the most like Alice and Wonderland. It had all these stairs leading in different directions and all these gaint tiled chimneys. The best parts was that we went at sunset. The sunset illuminated the roof in warm light and the profile of these odd shaped cimneys against barcelona at sunset was amazing.
Later that night we got some paella for dinner. And then we went to this bar we had heard about. It was suppose to be like the NEw York Stock Exchange. The prices of drinks fluctuated and every once in a while there was a crash and the prices would plummet. It was amusing. The funny thing was that coincidentally every other person from BC who happened to be in Barcelona that weekend showed up at this place. It was so weird. There were probably like 20 of us there. Some of them I had never met before. Then all of us went to the most famous club in Barcelona. We got there at like 2 and there was still no one there. They really don't start their night until really late!! I wasn't until like 3 that people started to trickle in.
Saturday we went to the beach. We had perfect weather all weekend. I never saw a cloud. IT was so nice to feel warm again. haha. We walked around the beach for awhile and then walked back into the city through the Gothic Quarter and other charming neighborhoods. We finished the night at La Plaza Espana. There is a giant fountain there. Like the biggest fountain I've ever seen. And every thirty minutes there is a light and music show. It was beautiful.
My descriptions of Barcelona don't do it justice. I hope I can get my computer fixed soon so I can show you pictures because it ws really amazing. But even pictures don't do it justice! I hope can go back a million times. And I would totally recommend it to everyone else.
Well I'm off to Bruge and Amsterdam this weekend!
And I'll be home in one month! its very bittersweet.
La Sagrada Familia. Still under construction after all these years.
Inside la sagrada famila.
inside la sagrada familia. looks like a forest of daisies. 
