2/16/13

On Wednesday we met bright and early at the Knapp’s house to catch the bus to head up to Barcelona-for my birthday! When we arrived we got checked into our hotel then that night we went and explored a bit. We went and saw where the old Bullfighting Ring was, which is now a big shopping mall. Bullfighting was banned in Catalunya so they converted it into a mall. While we were there, three other girls and I got our feet eaten by little fish! Supposedly they eat all the dead skin off your feet and stuff. It sounds really weird but it was so fun! It tickled and was kinda weird, not gonna lie, but it was a way fun experience! Definitely worth the 5 Euros. After that we met with the rest of the group to go see “The Burying of the Sardine” which is some holiday/ritual/ceremony for the night before Lent. They burned a wooden figure and gave out fire-roasted fish on bread. It tasted a lot better than it looked. That was a fun local thing we did! On our way to the beach we stopped and got some way yummy gelato in that same mall we went to earlier. It was so delicious! Better than Sammy Q’s Gelatoland for sure. Then we went to the beach! On my birthday-which I don’t think has ever happened. The water was freezing and it was kinda chilly but it was way fun being in the sand and playing in the water. Our group is so fun to be with it was fun having the beach to us.

For Valentine’s Day we started off by riding the bus up the mountain to get a view of the city. We could see the Sagrada Familia Cathedral poking up above the city, as well as the huge port. Then we were able to go to the Sagrada Familia, which was amazing. We had stopped there really quickly when Mom, Dad, and I were in Barcelona for a day, but I really enjoyed it when I went back even more. I was able to see a lot more of the detail and decoration and everything. We even were able to go inside which I liked even better than the exterior. It was extremely tall when you walked in. The stained glass was beautiful too. We were able to ride an elevator up one of the towers then climb the tiny spiral staircase downwards. I loved that part; it was so fun to see from way up high. And the spiral staircase was so cool! We then went to the park that was by Gaudi’s house and had the architecture and the famous ceramic mosaic benches he designed. They really were more comfortable like he wanted. Gaudi was known for his artwork being one with nature, therefore not having perfectly straight lines or shapes and stuff so he made a bench that wasn’t perfectly straight and rigid since people aren’t that way. It was beautiful and comfortable! I don’t quite know why we haven’t learned from this yet. When we had some free time we went back to the beach, of course. When we were there we got our picture taken by a beautiful Italian and we ended up telling him that he looked like our friend “Michael” just so we would have an excuse to take a picture with him. Haha it was so funny. But it was worth it, he ended up being way cool and he showed us around a little bit. On our way to dinner we ran into a dance studio having a charity performance and they were so cute I’m glad we were able to watch them dance. After that, Nate and Andy, the two boys in our group, surprised all of us with roses! It was so cute; they seriously are so sweet I love them. We got really lucky with the people in our group. After that a few of the girls and I went to a Vietnamese restaurant that was way yummy. After eating dinner I realized how I haven’t had much food from other places, like Italian food or Mexican food or Chinese food or anything, so it was good eating there.

Friday we went up to Montserrat, which is a mountain where there is an old Monastery. It was a little chilly up in the mountains, but the Monastery was beautiful against the mountain. We were able to ride a little tram up the mountain then walk down and see a ton of beautiful view of the mountain and out in the valley. We also were able to catch the Boys’ Choir performance. They literally sounded like angels. Then we saw the Virgin Mary that was found up on the mountain and were able to kiss the ball she was holding in her hands and ask Mary for help with something. When we got back to the city we went to this big market with fruits, vegetables, nuts, candy, bars and all kinds of sea fish. I absolutely loved it. I wanted to look at and try everything! I think it would be so fun to work somewhere like that, or get your daily groceries there or something. Taylor and I got a cup of fruit that was so delicious! Then before we left we got a taco that was so good! We had to attend to our Mexican food cravings. After the market some of us went and rented bikes and rode them down the boardwalk and beach. It was so fun!! I loved that too! It was a beautiful day, the beach was so pretty, fun people surrounded me and I just really like bike riding too! It was great. We ended up going for about 3 hours it was so fun. After that we got some food to eat in a little café place in the middle of the street. Taylor and I got some seafood paella that was delicious. We all got tapas to share too that was a lot of fun as well. We were able to hurry down by our hotel to watch a fountain show in front of this big museum. We ended up meeting up with the rest of our group and we didn’t even plan on it! That always seems to happen haha. After the show we of course had to go get some more gelato from the yummy place in the mall. Unfortunately while we were there, a girl in my group named Emily had her purse snatched while she was sitting there eating her gelato. That was scary since we were all sitting there and having fun. It had her credit card, license, camera and phone and everything in there so that was a bummer for sure. They went and talked to security and the police and everything but no luck so far. I feel so bad for her; I know I would be freaking out if that happened to me. So a few of us ran to the grocery store in the mall before it closed to get her some treats for her.

Today we all got up to see the sunrise on the beach, but when we went outside it was cloudy and raining. So some of us went back to bed, and some of us decided we still wanted to go. I mean we were already up and out of bed we might as well. So we booked it to the metro station and the beach. We didn’t see the sunrise really but it was so beautiful there that early in the morning. There were very few people there, the colors were beautiful and it was just an amazing time to be there. Then Liz was our instructor and led us in a yoga routine on the beach. I seriously felt like I was in one of those videos with the waves in the background doing yoga early in the morning. It was way fun I loved it! While we were out on the beach I was just in awe with how beautiful this world is that we live in. I love being outside and in nature it is so peaceful I love it. I am so grateful for this beautiful world I live in and how blessed I am. Especially being here in Spain! What an opportunity. And I have loved every minute here. It has increased my love of traveling and seeing other places and cultures. After our yoga session we rushed back to get breakfast before it closed. So good, yet so many pastries it kinda gave me a tummy ache. But it was worth it:] haha Then we just rode the bus home back to Alcala. Blanca was going out to dinner with her friend so she left us out her summer salad she makes that I love. It has tomatoes, potatoes, onions, hard-boiled eggs, green peppers, cucumbers, tuna, and olive oil it is so delicious. I really like the tuna they cook with here it’s good. And I think I’m going to start using a lot more olive oil and salt when I come home too because I have grown to love it. This weekend was such an amazing and fun trip to Barcelona I loved it, but it is definitely good to be home:]