Experiencing Barcelona.

Tube. Bus. Plane. Train.  And I finally got there.  It was quite the process, especially when your as excited as I was!  Traveling alone wasn't scary at all, in fact I kind of liked it.  But it was nice when I got in line for my plane and spotted someone I knew who happened to also be meeting friends coming from Seville.  So upon arrival to the Barcelona airport, I had someone there to wait with and distract me from my excitement!

I spotted Meagan and Alex coming from the baggage claim and screamed and ran over to hug them!  It was so amazing to see them both!  New familiar faces :)  We made our way to the train to go to our hostel talking 100 miles a minute.  We got to our hostel which was way more like a hotel, really nice for the price and right on Passage de Gracia.  After we dropped our stuff off, we asked the hostel for a suggestion of a nearby bar we could grab a drink at and talk.  We ended up at a cute Mojito bar where we chatted and shared stories.  I also got to see my friends Spanish speaking skills at work when some people approached us and conversed with them in Spanish.  I was shocked how fluent they were!  I was also surprised that I could get little bits and pieces of the conversation, considering I haven't had Spanish in over 4 years.  

The next day we got up and headed to Las Rambas and the market.  We walked down the famous street past several Gaudi structures that were incredibly impressive, and made our way through the crowds to the market.  The market was the most colorful array of foods I've ever seen.  And the best was the bright, fresh fruit and juices!  After wandering through the colors and fresh (as in live!) fish, we bought some juice and fruit salads for lunch and made our way over to a sunny plaza to sit and eat in the Barcelona sunshine.  We enjoyed our fruit and listening to some outdoor piano music, it kind of reminded me of the plaza in Venice only much smaller.

Next we made our way down to the water, first the dock and boardwalk then the beach!  Both were absolutely beautiful and the water was bright blue.  We sat and watched the waves and boats until our appointment for the Arabic Bath Spa... yes the spa... thanks to Meagan's work at the company in Seville, we got two hours in the baths for free!  So we soaked in a jet pool, sea salt pool, hot pool, and an ice cold pool.  They had the best tea there I think I've ever had also!

After we finished, we went for a meal back by the beach.  We got the 3 course daily special.  So we got 3 appetizers to share and our main dish.  They brought out our appetizers, all looking delicious except the fried fish... which was full mini fish... you had to eat the whole thing... I did it though!  Then they brought out our payaya... which was good but I'm not really sure how I feel about so much sea food.  After our meal we went to see some of the boys from IU who were also in town.  We chilled with them for the evening and went to a little bar with really cool drinks, it was almost more of a entertaining show than just ordering drinks.

The next morning we woke up and did a little shopping until we got a hold of the boys so we could meet up and tour together.  We meet up at Gaudi's Park Guell.  This park is probably the coolest park I've ever been too.  It over looks the city, which is cool, but the best is the mosaic, marble design structures.  It also helped that the sun was bright and warm, I got a little sun burnt from it.  I don't think I can even attempt to describe this park so check out the pictures instead:

After the park we went for Tapas for some much needed food.  The owner was so excited that Americans were coming in, probably because they were trying to cheat the 10 of us, but luckily we had people who knew what they were doing while ordering and guided us through it.  After lunch we all walked down Las Rambas again to grab more juices!  And it was great, because there were more craft markets open on the street.

Next we all headed to Sagrada Familia, which is a church, also part of Gaudi's work, that was never completed.  It was a very interesting structure to see because the new part of the building (they were finishing it) was not like the old.  But the structure as a whole as incredible carvings that you stare and wonder how anyone completed it.

By now it was the later afternoon, so we walked to the beach and sat for a few minutes until we got far to cold since the sun was setting.  So we made the trip back to our hostel to pack and get ready for the evening.  We meet up with the other guys for (a late) dinner at a local sandwich place that is very popular among those living in Barcelona.  It was actually really good, kind of a Chipotle style but on bread instead of tortilla.  

After our filling dinner we went to a beer hall to hang out and wait until 1 am when the clubs open.  Yes 1 am.  I cannot handle that lifestyle: eating so late, staying up until the morning, and napping... not me at all!  But it was fun for one night!  The clubs are right on the beach, so after dancing all night we walked along the beach before heading back the the hostel.

Unfortunately, the Spanish lifestyle left me with exactly one and a half hours asleep for my travels back on Sunday, but the train plane bus tube cycle took me back to London :)

On my trip back to London, the bus passed a lot of famous areas in London, and I was suddenly struck with the fact that I am only here for another month.  What!  When did that happen?  I feel like there is so much of Europe that I still want to see on this trip and haven't; even a lot of London I still want to see and haven't.  So today I spent some time planning out the rest of my time- including traveling, homework, and sight seeing- making sure I'm making the most of every minute I have left in this fast pace place!

Hanging in Wales.

Lucy and I arrived at Cardiff, Wales Saturday around noon to stay the weekend. Why Wales? Well why not. I will never go to Wales if I don't go now. After all there is not too much to do there. Which we did discovered.

However, it was a great little get away.  Relaxing and chill, my roommate swears my face got tan... though I dont know how.  We lucked out with the weather though, it only rained a little Sunday morning.  Anyways, we arrived and had some great English pancakes (aka crepes) at a pancake house. Then walked through city center seeing the st David cathedral which was cool since Thursday was st Davids day (I saw it because Google changed it's homepage for it!). We also went into a little market place with lots of goodies.

It was about 1:30 so we set off to find our hostel across town. And yes it was all the way across town like 20 minutes, what a joke compared to London! We checked in and it was a nice and clean hostel.

Now that we had a place to store our bags, we walked to the bay to see the ocean, a main reason why we came! It was a good 40 minute walk but it was nice and warm and sunny. However of course as soon as we got there the clouds turned dark and rainy... Which lasted a whole five minutes.

We stood on the dock then walked pretty far down the bay until we found the park where we could sit right next to the water. Obviously I was happy even though it wasn't much, it was ocean :)

Once the extreme wind and cold got to us we walked back to warm up with a cappuccino at a cafe. Followed by a little shop with welsh cakes... If you don't know what welsh cakes are, they are basically fluffy cookies made on a flat top stove. They are amazing. I am totally finding the recipe and making them!

Since it was still light out we walked on back to City Center to check out the castle and park briefly before dinner.  The Castle was closed, but we heard it was a tourist trap anyway. Across from the Castle was a cute little Italian restaurant that we had dinner at with amazing pizza!  We took our time a dinner then headed back to the hostel.  We were back around 8:30 and decided to continue our relaxing with a night in, reading and writing.  I hadn't brought any homework so for 3  hours I sat, wrote, and read my sisterhood of the traveling pants book, guilt free until I fell asleep.

It was nice because no one was in our 12 person room until 5 dorm mates came in at 2... but they were quite entertaining to listen to so I didn't mind as much as I could have.  However, at 8 am another one who apparently never came home the night before came in and woke the whole room up telling everyone her story of the night...

That was actually good though because it got us up and moving... we left by 9:30, carrying our packs (looking like real backpackers!), we went to the national museum since it was raining.  It was cool, pretty similar to most... I'm getting quite tired of museums now a days, but it was a good way to spend the rainy morning.  By the time we left the sun was peaking out and it was lunch time.  We stopped an a little eatery that had a fantastic apple and walnut grilled cheese!  We ate so well in Wales, not necessarily Welsh food but we just did a great job picking restaurants!

After lunch we still had 3 hours so since the sun and blue skies reappeared we went back to the park by the castle and explored for a long time.  Watching the dogs run free and the birds fly around.  We had nothing else to do.  The castle is really neat, its just this massive structure in the middle of the city so its a pretty unique site, I really enjoyed starring at it for a while.

Once we were cold from being outside, we still had an hour so we went to a mall... yes a mall... but lets be real here what relaxing weekend does not include a trip to a mall.  It was weird walking into one, since I haven't been in a real mall since home.

The bus ride back was smooth, I stayed up to watch the scenery go by. Overall it was a very nice trip and I had a great time.  It was a nice change after over three straight great weekends in London.  Wales was a great start to my next weekends of travels, next weekend Barcelona and the following Brussels! For that reason I've been a little stressed with school and time. It's just a big push to perfect my time management skills! But last weekend I did do a little homework to get ahead.

Besides homework, last weekend I wondered around alone fora day... walking through Covent Garden where I saw a street performer and went to some markets.  It reminded me of one of my days in Boston where I say a street performer at the main market there.  They are always so entertaining to watch.  This one put himself through a tennis racket, while riding a 7 foot tall unicycle!  I also went to m&m world which reminded me so much of an over rated Disney store.

Last weekend I also had lunch with my dad's friend, Dag and his family at their house.  It was nice to be around some Americans that have lived in London for so long!  And then I walked around Hyde park because the weather was so nice!  I really hope that sticks around!

The past 3 weekends have honestly blended together because the weeks have been going so fast.  Between school and work it just flies!  Work has been much better, I've been getting actual client work and started to understand the agency as a whole better now; it makes the work day go much quicker. 

Anyways I have a short week ahead of me but boy is it full!  Its already March, and at this rate it will be April in no time at all.