Barcelona

Barcelona!

What a an amazing city. I do not know if it was the combination of warm weather, a beautiful ocean, and great friends that made me fall in Barcelona or if it was just the wonderful city itself. Barcelona this past weekend was warm, in the 60s, which compared to the Milano and Louisville it is an extreme change. I left Milano with Jordain and Gabrielle quite early Friday morning...I'll admit I like to be on time to foreign airports it makes me nervous and I would be so angry at myself if I missed my flight. The bus ride to the airport was around an hour and we got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Jordain, Gabrielle, and I checked out the local McDonald's before heading over to our gate. Luckily, or not, our flight was delayed an hour...so it besides getting there earlier than we expected we had a while extra hour to sit around. Boarding the plane, I realized to was my first solo adventure...I had been with the International group but this was my first trip! Ryanair, the airline we used, was very interesting. There are not any seating assignments so it is first come first serve. People all group around the entrance to the gate and will start lining up 35 minutes before you actually will walk through said gate. The flight flew off and before I knew it we were landing in Barcelona...I wouldn't call it the best flight ever because there was turbulence, or our pilot was drunk and was trying to fly through every cloud they could, and because of the small children that surrounded our aisle... Whenever the plane landed everyone clapped and cheered...it was such a strange flight because of the easy going nature of everyone people stood during the whole flight, walking up and down the aisles to talk to their friends... it was noisy and loud the whole time, I was glad to have made it to Barcelona :)
Stepping off of the plane was amazing, the sky was blue and it was wonderfully warm outside of the plane.
Arriving in Barcelona was great...I was a little nervous because I was meeting Sarah Hess, who I go to school with at Bellarmine, and I couldn't get a hold of her. I know that anytime I told anyone I was going to Europe everyone says watch your purse....Barcelona's subway was has been the only time that someone has tried to pickpocket me. Luckily, whenever I felt someone near me I pulled in my purse to my body and the woman sitting down across for me was trying to tell me that someone was trying to steal from me...I am glad that I am aware of whats going on and I am thinking that my red jacket, blond hair, and duffel bag marks me.
The hostel we stayed at was pretty nice. We had sheets included along with a breakfast (corn flakes, toast, bagged pastries) ...not too bad for 14 Euro a night. Jordain, Gabrielle, and I met up with Sarah and we then proceeded to wander the streets looking for a restaurant a friend suggested. We ate a Hispanic restaurant that tasted like Qdoba :) and after went for Sangria(A Spain favorite). Even though the group did not do a lot that Friday night just walking around Barcelona and eating took several hours so it was late before we went too bed.
Saturday morning came very early! We set out in the morning to take a bike tour of the city. It was awesome. Our tour guide, JJ from South Africa, joked with us all morning and told funny stories about the city and buildings. I got to see the Barcelona Cathedral, a church Gaudi designed(which is still being built and will continue for about 50 more years at least), fountains, the ocean(beautiful!!) and much more. The biking, even though not too taxing, definitely wore everyone out so lunch at the beach with sangria was a must. The rest of the day was spent walking and browsing through different shops. Barcelona really is a beautiful city. It is clean and has beautiful architecture. I cannot say enough good things about it and I know that my description falls short of how great the city was. I truly believe I have fallen a little in love with Barcelona and cannot wait too go back. I am hoping that I do not say that about every city I visit...