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.