Gracias, Barcelona.

Our time in Barcelona has come to an end. We have been so active here, with every moment being used to experience some new thing in the city. So now I finally have time to catch up on everything we did there since.

The morning after we arrived, we tried to go to Montserrat, a monastery an hour outside the city, but we didn't realize how long the walk was and we missed the bus. We ended up in a new part of town, so we decided to walk around. We stumbled upon this everyday market, where vendors sell their everyday goods. No one spoke english, but I am proud to say that my spanish was well enough for me to taste and purchase some olives, order cappucinos, and ask for medicines for a stuffy nose. We were directed to la farmacia, where you can get everything you need pertaining to your health (there are no "over-the-counter" medicines that you can buy at the grocery store). We stumbled around a couple more stores and streets, and finally walked back to our hostal, where we waited for our friend Stephanie to arrive from the Netherlands. While we waited, we talked with the bartender in our hostal, who is from Australia; he ended up in Barcelona because he was traveling around, loved the city, decided to stay, asked for a job, and was given one. He has been there six months, and doesn't have any intention of going back to Australia soon. It's a tempting lifestyle.

Once Steph arrived, we walked through El Raval neighborhood, up through Las Ramblas to La Boqueteria, a huge outdoor market where they sell everything from interesting fruits to every part of an animal you could ever wish for. We were told that this market is famous for juice, and there is an obvious reason why. Fresh juice made from all different types and combinations of fruit - so delicious I bought two. We continued to walk up through Las Ramblas to La Plaza de Catalunya, where we stopped in Zara and did some shopping. From there we walked across the city to the  bullfighting stadium, which is now being used as a theater since bullfighting was outlawed in Catalonia, the spanish state Barcelona is in. From there we walked to La Sagrada Familia, a HUGE church designed by Gaudi. It was incredible, there are not enough words to describe how immense and mesmerizing it is- there will be video and pictures soon, but they will not do it justice either. From there we walked to Pasieg de Gracia, where the other Gaudi houses are, and more shopping. Gaudi was truly an architectural genius.

From there we walked across the city again to The Magic Fountain, a show with music and lights that plays along with this huge fountain in front of a palace or museum or something. After the show, we walked back to our hostal, where I took una siesta. When I woke up to eat dinner, it was about 11 pm. We happened to find a tapas bar still open at 12am (it wasn't that hard) and so we ate. We ordered jamon bodega (thinly sliced ham), gambas planchas (crawdad-looking things), bombas (balls of mashed potatoes fried), and alitas de pollo (fried chicken). Everything was delicious. From there we walked down to the water and found this local bar. It is known for making interesting shots, and they had a menu of over 2000 options. Two interesting ones were the Harry Potter, where the bar tender sprinkled something on it to make it burst into flames, and the Boyscout, where the bartender handed us sticks with marshmallows on it, lit small pool of the bar on fire, and we roasted our marshmallows in the flame. These Barcelonians are quite creative.

The next day we rented bikes, and rode them down to the boardwalk and beach, where we rode past the olympic village and the mediterranean. From there we went to the post office (the most beautiful post office I've seen) to send some postcards, and then we rode into La Barrica Gotica. We stopped at this little cafe and ordered churros con chocolate, where they give you a cup of melted chocolate that you dip your churros in, and then drink the chocolate: muy delicioso! We walked around the area, saw La Catedral and the christmas markets (where they only sell christmas figurines and decorations), then continued to ride through the city to Parque Guella. It was definitely a hike to get there, but it was so worth it because we got several views of the whole city. From there we rode our bikes to Camp Nou, the stadium that F.C. Barcelona plays in! On the way, I have to confess, I totally fell on my bike (twice), once into a parked car to avoid a group of people, and then sequentially into the group of people I was trying to avoid. Everyone and everything was totally fine (except my pride got a little bruised) and the rest of the biking was successful.

By this time it was freezing cold, and we still had to ride across town to get to our hostal, so we stopped in Starbucks for some warm drinks. It was the local teen hangout- reminded me so much of America. After trying a last minute attempt to find the Olympic Stadium, which we were not successful in, we went back to the hostal, and I took another nap. For dinner we ordered pizza through the hostal, then took the metro to this artsy, hip part of town, followed this group of spaniards to whichever bar they were going to, and had the bartenders special drink. After some good conversation and people-watching, we got back on the metro and went to bed. Needless to say, I was pretty spent.

The next morning we woke up, had one last cafe con leche and got on the bus back to the airport, time for our adventure in france.

Overall I absolutely loved the people of Spain- everyone was so kind and we were voluntarily offered help several times, and no one was ever annoyed that we did not speak great spanish- and Barcelona is truly a vibrant and colorful city- one that I hope to visit again sometime. Adios.