Lala In Italia: Barcelona!

So, I think now is the time to write about Barcelona! Barcelona was one of my favorite weekends. We had a really good group. Our flight was at 7:50a.m, I think, and our shuttle came and got us at 3:45a.m. Chels and I walked to the other girls apartment (my apartment now) on Giulio Cesare at about 3:30. We were a little iffy about it because that is usually the time people start to end their night. Chels was actually really iffy because this guy on a mo-ped was behind us and turned the corner really fast and she freaked out, which obviously caused me to freak out too. I didn't really realize why she freaked out but her freak out really caused me to panic for a second, "my stomach felt like it was going to fall out my butt" but seriously it did. We screamed and jumped a little because we just don't trust men on mo-peds in this country. The poor guy's face was mortified because he actually was just trying to turn the corner and not mug/kidnap us. It was just too close for comfort and brought me back to the Naples incident…drama. Besides that, we ended up getting to the airport about three hours before our flight. We met a group of Aggies that were studying in Barcelona. Not to hate on school groups, but personally I don't think that is the best way to study abroad. I have loved meeting new people from all around the country. It just makes this experience so much more exciting.

We flew RyanAir and I was a little freaked out by the whole thing. I have flown with the airline twice now and it still makes me feel a little uneasy. Chels, Alycia, Caroline, and Maggie definitely got a little taste of how bad of a flyer I am. Thanks for helping me through it guys! Once we landed in Barcelona, I was a very, very happy girl. Everything was a little more familiar because of my spanish background (spanish classes not heritage or ethnicity, obviously). The airport was extremely nice and there were no little inconveniences and that was very refreshing. Our hostel was right off the main street of Rumbla, which has never been the case before. It was a little sketchy but it was a great location and only 18 euro. We were in a room of 6 and our other roommate was from Australia. She had been traveling by herself for months so she kind of kept to herself.

After we settled into our hostel, we went to lunch and I finally got to try tapas. Tapas are basically a variety of appetizers and are usually pretty cheap. I, of course, got the fried chicken and potatoes dishes and it was very yummy. Then, I got to have a little taste of heaven/home. We stumbled upon a Starbucks and I had to have my frap fix. I couldn't find java chip on the menu, so I couldn't really indulge in my SBVJCF fix but I went back to my roots and ordered a caramel one instead. It was quite delicious! It wasn't really worth the money and exchange rate, but oh well. Since we were only in Barcelona for two days we decided to do one of those bus tours. It was actually pretty legit and worth the money. I accidently fell asleep for a little bit but according to Maggie, I didn't miss anything big. We planned on just riding the bus until we saw something that we just absolutely had to get off and see close up. Caroline's ticket was actually taken away by the wind once we got onto the bus, so she wasn't allowed to get off ever unless she never wanted to get back on.Poor Caroline. We only got off at the Sagrada Familia and Tibidabo. It was gorgeous up there but it would have been a little better if it was 20 degrees up there. We were freezing and couldn't really enjoy it - except for Alycia, who found her future crazy son :).

Caroline is our little food connoisseur. She is obsessed to say the least. She had been talking about Paella for a while and we were all very eager to try it. It was pretty good and the restaurant that she took us to was really fun. Chels and I split our chicken paella because I'm not really a fan of seafood. I thought I really liked it, but here it is either too expensive or too fishy. We went to a little convience store and got ourselves some cheap refreshments after dinner. I was a little confused because it cost 5 euro total for two normal sized bottles and only 2 euro total for two huge bottles? So, I definitely used my noggin and got the two huge bottles for only 2 euro of my Coca Cola :). We went to the marina and chilled for a while. We found these statues in the water that were attempting to do "The Bernie", so Alycia took pictures of me trying to show them up. Later on that night, we went to this club called Opium. It was probably the coolest place I had ever been too and it was a GREAT place to people watch. Alycia and I had a blast!

Monday was our last day in Barcelona, so we decided to dedicate the day to Dunkin Donuts and the beach :). The beach was very relaxing though - minus the fact that Maggie's wallet magically disappeared. Thankfully, Maggie had taken out everything important for some reason. The only thing that was really valuable was the wallet itself and it was really cute. Oh well, it could have been a lot worse. Everyone got a little red from the sun and in the most awkward ways. Alycia got a massive sunglass tan, Chels had the most random burn marks on her face, and I put SPF 40 on my face but missed part of my forehead and was red in just that one place. Again, I was a terrible flyer on the way home too. I actually might have been worse. Alycia, Chels, and Maggie sat behind me and they said that every time there was the slightest movement my little blonde head would pop up like a meerkat. I'm sure that was exactly what I looked like considering people have always compared me meerkats since high school.

Well, that pretty much sums up our little trip to Spain. I really wish I could go back there before I leave but I don't think that is a possibility, but who knows?!