And moving on to Barcelona

We arrived in Barcelona late at night again, only to receive the friendliest welcome from our hostel's receptionist. Almost too friendly. Worn out, about all I could think about was bed, but instead I got a 30 minute description of Barcelona and everywhere I needed to go. Well good thing when it was all over there were about 25 circles on my map when I was only going to be there for 2 days... hmmm.

Then, we received another nice surprise when one of the girls in our room told us they saw a bed bug on one of the beds last night. Thank the lord I'm not sleeping in that bed is all I thought. But still terrified of being bitten, I slept with all my clothes on on-top of the covers.

The next day, we started off on the journey our hostel receptionist had laid out for us. Since we hadn't done any research on this city, it seemed like the best idea. We began at Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, still a work in progress after 120 years of construction. And just named a World Heritage Site even though it's not even done.

Sagrada Familia, still in consrtuction:

The front:

A model of the finished building:

After, we just walked along the streets. I wasn't super impressed because Barcelona looks just about like any other European city I've been to. I could've been in Paris for all I knew. We ended up at Gaudi's Casa Mila. Another unique building that had what looked like a play gym at the top.

Walking along the street:

Gaudi's Casa Mila:

In the afternoon, we went to Gaudi's Park Guell (good thing Gaudi lived in this city). This park is my favorite from all the ones I've been to in Europe. There are ginger bread houses at the entrance, amazing views of the city, and countless ways to walk/ climb around it. I don't think you could ever get bored here. Maybe just hot - I was covered up after all that sun exposure in Lisbon.

They have escalators in the middle of the sidewalks leading up to the park!!:

The entrance to the park:

Ginger bread houses:

View of the city (kindof hazy):

Park Guell:

Again you can climb anywhere!:

After the park, I was running back to my hostel to register for classes. And by running, I mean illegally piggy backing onto a metro with one of my friends. Good thing they were checking tickets when we got off. Which means a 50 euro fine for us. Or not. Playing the dumb American card works like a charm. While acting confused and pretending like we didn't understand the guard, we were set free. And with 5 mins to my registration time, it was such a relief. And I got all the classes I wanted!

That afternoon we spent on the rooftop of our hostel getting to know everyone else in our room. Their life stories were fascinating. One girl from Canada had been doing mission work in South America and then in India and decided to stay over here and backpack across Europe by herself for the semester - she's 19. Another guy from Alaska was also over here just traveling by himself. He had studied abroad and now, addicted to traveling, came back to Europe. I think that's going to be me in a few years.

Later that night, we had another family dinner with people from Manchester. We were on the hunt for the famous Spanish dish of payaya. What I learned - always order the squid ink one. Delicious. We also got our first taste of sangria on the trip. Perfect dinner to lead up to a night out in Barcelona.

Cheers!:

Now, Barcelona is known for its nightlife, which doesn't start until around 2am. So sitting there, twirling our fingers, getting coffee at 11:30pm, and finally starting to predrink, we made it to the club by 2:30am (getting in free by the code "Michael Jordan" - and I made sure to tell everyone which university he went to).

The club was beyond fun. Just as crazy as Manchester nightlife, but just add in a beach. I think I was more excited that the club was on the beach than anything. We went out onto the sand, putting our feet into the ocean - definitely a great first view of the Mediterranean Sea. Now, no one leaves until the metro opens back up at 5am. Let's just say the next morning, checking out of my hostel by 10am, was rough.

Club Opium:

In the Mediterranean Sea:

The next day, we made our way out, only realising that it is all of a sudden FREEZING. What happened in one day? Getting sunburnt yesterday to wearing my coat today. But we headed to Las Ramblas, a famous shopping street. However, it's also where most of the infamous pick pocketing Barcelona is commonly known for happens.

Las Ramblas:

The market right off Las Ramblas has all kinds of food. Fruits I've never seen before, of course we had to try a pink kiwi looking one. Live crabs struggling to crawl away. Pigs' heads with eyes still in them. Every possible type of candy, nut, and smoothie.

The market:

So with our fruit and nuts in tow, we headed down to see the Mediterranean Sea in the daytime. Definitely a world of difference. There were tons of people sitting on the beach, which was beautiful. But what was not so great were all the hagglers coming up to you asking you to buy beers, a back message, or countless other things. I'm just trying to enjoy the beach!

The Mediterranean Sea:

After, we met our friends for another fam dinner of tapas. We all tried 10 different tapas - everything from squid to olives to potato salad. Then, we found one of Gaudi's other masterpieces - Casa Batllo.

Tapas:

Gaudi's Casa Batllo:

Here's where the interesting part began. We had decided to spend the night in the airport since our flight left at 7am and the train took about an hour to the airport. So instead of paying to sleep for 4 hours, we saved money and slept in the airport. Which wouldn't be a big deal, if A. we could get through security, or B. if all the benches didn't have hand railings so you couldn't lay down. Come on Barcelona. Thank god we had 3 flights the next day to catch up on our sleep.

Starting it off in Lisbon

Now, as I finally get around to relaying my Easter break experience.. I'll start all of you at my first point of arrival: Lisbon.

Portugal is the most underrated country. I never thought I'd venture there on my travels while I was on study abroad, but one of my friends convinced me to go because there's supposed to be amazing seafood, so I thought, "Why not?"

I packed my perfectly sized 56x45x25cm luggage - consisting of only 5 shirts (what was I thinking right) - and boarded the plane being able to carry my baggage on (saving probably about 100 pounds in the long run). Our flight left from London, so we started off on a 5 1/2 hour bus ride at 8am. Then our flight was delayed 2 hours. But finally we were in the air and off to Lisbon.

Arriving after dark, we received our first taste of one of Lisbon's seven hills. Basically we're walking vertical up this hill, carrying our luggage, not really knowing where we are or 100% sure of where we're going, surrounded by the native Portuguese ("Hey want some meat?"), all of which lead to the sketched out feeling of  "What am I doing here?!!!" But as always, we were going the right way the whole time, and finally made it to our accommodation!

Our first meal in Lisbon was at a hole in the wall place down the road from our hotel. We guess ordered by trying to point and using a combination of English/Portuguese/Spanish. Hole in the wall restaurants really did become my favorite during this trip, less touristy, more homemade. Oh and did I say you can get a jug of wine here from 3 euros? Finally starting to realise why we came...

Our hotel was superb. It was an old guest house and from our window we had a small view of the ocean (okay, it's really a river that leads to the sea). We even had three individual beds to sleep in! (You'll understand the grandeur of this later...).

Our hotel:

Mine and Julie's room:

Our view of the "ocean" (it's in the way background):

Our first day we spent exploring the town. Which meant going up and down a lot of hills. They actually have trams that will take people up and down the hills, but we mostly decided to walk. During the day, we took an elevator left up to the top of a national monument and received amazing views of the city. We ate lunch by the river and afterwards, just sat with our feet in it.

Making our way down the stairs we weren't allowed to climb after dark - never did find out why:

The trams:

Their tracks.. we're still walking, but at least it's downhill at this point:

A national monument:

View of the city from the top:

Oh and we found out the guards carry swords:

The plazza where we ate lunch:

Made it to the river!:

Later, we made our way to St. George's Castle located on the highest point of the city. This castle was the best one we've been to yet. It was literally a playground for adults. You were allowed to climb ANYWHERE. There were no barriers or guards yelling at you and telling you to stay off the walls like there always is in England. We went all around the castle, climbing onto narrow walkways without hand railings and only the hillside to catch you. I must say I did get yelled at once.. walking over an excavation of ancient ruins.. apparently I got a little to excited by all the freedom.

St. George's Castle:

The ruins I wasn't allowed to walk on:

That night we made it out to the club district in Lisbon. We stayed at one with a live band, lots of dancing, and huge mojitos. And can I tell you the cab ride home was less than 5 euros? Loving this country more and more after spending the pound all semester.

The next day, we didn't do much beside walk by the sea and get sunburnt. And I mean completely burnt. Pretty sure my hands and feet had first degree burns from this day on. After 4 weeks, they're just starting to look normal again. But who's feet and hands get sunburnt in the first place? So random.

Started off in the shade:

And moved into the sun:

That night we met up with some of our other friends from Manchester for dinner and after dinner drinks. At dinner, we all ordered this scallop/ veil dish, thinking it was a combination of fish and meat right? We soon found out that a scallop is a type of meat slice, not an actually scallop like we though. After dinner, we went to get port, the traditional drink of Portugal. Analysis: very thick, sweet, must drink slowly, definitely more of a dessert/ after dinner drink.

At our fam dinner:

Awaiting our port in the cutest alleyway: 

The next day, Julie and I decided to go to the beach. And don't worry, we finally invested in a 15 euro bottle of sunscreen (yes, it really is that expensive in Europe, pack extra if you ever go!). We took the metro to a ferry to a bus to the beach. We've become public transportation experts.

On the ferry:

When we finally made it to the Atlantic Ocean, it was beyond worth it. It was amazing to be on the other side of the Atlantic, I felt as if I could send a message in a bottle right on over to everyone back at home. I liked the beaches here because it was a very local environment.

Atlantic Ocean:

It was also our first experience at a European beach. And what you've heard is true, women of any age rarely wear tops. Some wear thong bottoms. Men squeeze themselves into tiny speedos. But hey, at least they don't have body image issues like we do in the US.

Over at the beaches, we received more of Portugal's amazing food with fresh strawberries, more hole in the wall meals, and margaritas on the beach. This is definitely the life. I kept thinking to myself - I should be in class at real school back at home. Oh well, I'd take this any day.