Barcelona, Baby!

Yet another absolutely incredible week! Well to start off, Tuesday a bunch of us found this shop called Taste of America. They have Dr. Pepper, Reece's, Gushers, everything my heart could ever desire! I stocked up, for sure! I don't even know why, but when I drank my Dr. Pepper I cried a little bit. I was just so happy! That's kind of embarrassing, but really it made my day.

Then, Wednesday we took off for Barcelona! It was basically a nine-hour-bus-ride of a day. When we finally got there, our hotel was a dump. Pretty much the hotel of death. The water wasn't working, the heat wasn't working, and it looked like a murder had recently taken place in our kitchen. What an experience that was! But our directors took us all out for ice cream, so it was well worth it. Check out this ice cream! They scoop it to make it look like a flower. Oh it was just what the doctor ordered after a long bus ride and a disappointing hotel room.



Thursday morning we woke up for a very LONG, but incredible tour. It started in the Parc Guell, a park designed by Gaudi. Everything that man does is amazing! The benches were made to curve back and forth for better conversation, the buildings are all super surreal. I felt like I was in Candyland!

After the Parc Guell, we found out we were switching hotel rooms. THANK GOODNESS! So we ran to the hotel got our stuff and then headed out to see the Sagrada Familia. Seriously, who knew Spain had so many mind blowingly beautiful places. Between the Sagrada Familia and the Alhambra, Spain has most definitely stolen my heart and has my vote for the most beautiful place on earth. The Sagrada Familia was also designed by Gaudi. The front side tells the story of Christ's birth. There isn't an inch of this facade not covered in detail. I was in awe the entire time! 

After being so awe struck, the rest of the day was kind of a blur, I'll be honest. We went to the Picasso museum, ate some authentic Mexican food, and looked around at the mall. But Friday was our free day, and man did I have plans for that! To start out, we went to the Barcelona Cathedral. In the cloister of the cathedral, 13 geese live there in honor of a 13 year old girl who was tortured and killed because of her faith. The geese were funny; they would get right up in your face. 

Alright so it's mid-February. And after the cathedral, I WENT TO THE BEACH! The Mediterranean Sea! In all honesty, it wasn't that warm, but the fact that I wore a swimsuit in February is awesome, none the less. The beaches in Spain are different than they are in the US. For one, it's perfectly normal to be naked on the beach. We ran into that a couple times, and now I may be scarred for life. Also, Indian men come around every two seconds to try and sell you beer. So it's not so relaxing. But walking in the water and chilling by the sea made for a great day!

That night, we went to none other than Hard Rock Cafe, Barcelona. I got myself a big, juicy bacon and onion ring cheese burger! It tasted just like home! It was fantastic! Then a big group of us went out to another Discotecha. It was awesome! We all just danced around like crazies and had no one in the world to impress. They only listen to American music here, so that's always great. This particular discotecha was bringing back the nineties. We got a lot of Destiny's Child, BaskStreet Boys, stuff like that. it was SWEET! The next morning we woke up and headed back to Alcala. What an incredible week!