BARCELONA

When we left for Barcelona I wasn't entirely sure what to expect but I absolutely loved every minute of the trip! Barcelona is such a unique city and I've never traveled anywhere like it. We booked our flight leaving early Friday morning on RyanAir, a low-cost European airline, and had reservations to stay in a youth hostel for the weekend. The weather in Barcelona was amazing--65 degrees and sunny both days! The flight landed promptly at 1:00 on Friday and we caught the metro to the hostel. The hostel turned out to be nicer than I expected and was definitely fun experience. My friends and I had our own room with two sets of bunk beds and a tiny bathroom. It felt a little bit like summer camp!

Taking a break in the Equity Point Centric hostel.

After getting settled in, I didn't waste any time getting out to see the sights. We spent the afternoon walking down La Rambla, a main street in Barcelona, filled with locals and tourists alike and lined with charming shops, kiosks and restaurants. Someone left a "Barcelona Top 10" tour book in my room in Sevilla which I kept handy the entire trip. I was the self-appointed tour guide of the trip, using my trusty tour book to plan our daily itineraries and impart interesting tidbits of information to my friends. I usually try to blend in with the locals in Spain but in Barcelona I assumed the role of the ultimate tourist with maps and guidebooks in hand! On the first day of touring, the most impressive things I saw were the views from the top of the Christopher Columbus monument, Cathedral of Barcelona, and the Mercat de Sant Josep. After heading back to the hostel to freshen up, we ate dinner at this adorable Italian restaurant and ventured down to the discotecas by the water. I must say, the nightlife in Barcelona is sensational--much more ritzy and posh than in Sevilla. The music was awesome, the people were fun, and the atmosphere was excellent.

Mercat de Sant Josep or La Boqueria

Enjoying smoothies from the market!

View of La Rambla from the top of the Christopher Colombus Monument

In front of the Cathedral of Barcelona (it's currently undergoing restorations)

Dancing in "Catwalk" discoteca

Group photo!

I plotted out a detailed itinerary for our second day of touring, beginning with a surprisingly adequate breakfast at the hostel comprised of cereal (they had Cocoa Rice Krispies!), fruit, muffins and fresh coffee. I was somewhat shocked that I got everyone up, ready and out the door by 10 am--quite an accomplishment when you're traveling with a group of college students running on 4 hours of sleep! Our first stop was La Pedrera, an apartment building designed by Gaudi and converted into a museum of sorts. I think this was my favorite thing in Barcelona! After exploring the Pedrera, the next stop on our itinerary was the famous Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's colossal church scheduled to be completed in 2030! I was dying to go inside but the line for tickets appeared to be about 1/2 a mile long and unfortunately, we just didn't have time to wait. The facades of the church were exquisite and worth the walk. Next, we figured out the Metro system and ventured out to Parc Güell, a park designed by Gaudi and filled with beautiful tiled statues and views of the city.  We trekked back to the city center and went to the Mercat de Sant Josep to get cheese, bread and fruit for lunch and had a little picnic in the Plaça Real. After lunch we saw the Picasso Museum which possesses some of Picasso's early works (from when he was as young as 11!) and then went next door to the Chocolate Museum!

Ceiling in the courtyard of La Pedrera

Rooftop of La Pedrera

In the Gaudi museum, guide book in hand!

Passion facade of the Sagrada Familia

Caitlin and I walking down to the park.

With Gaudi's Dragon Fountain in Parc Guell

A sculpture made entirely of chocolate!

Barcelona is an absolutely amazing city and I would love to go back. After successfully catching our return flight, departing at 7:00 am, I deemed the trip an unequivocal success!

Never a dull moment.

Hey everyone! I'm sitting in my favorite cafe called "Mascarpone" (everything in here is pink!) to write this update before I head to class at 6:30. Earlier this week I went to another Flamenco show on Calle Betis, about 5 minutes from my house. It was awesome! Only singing and guitar (no dancing) but I really enjoyed the music! There were tons of locals there and I think it was pretty authentic, as opposed to the flamenco we saw last week. Below is a video that I recorded!

I've been SO busy this week! On Tuesday I toured the University of Sevilla, the Cathedral of Sevilla on Wendesday, and a school called Colegio Claret on Thursday. The university is really awesome and I'm excited to study there with Spanish students and professors. It's located in the "Antigua Fabrica de Tobacos", an old tobacco factory, and was founded in the early 16th century. I enjoyed the tour of the Cathedral of Sevilla, but after a while all of the paintings of "La Virgen" and baby Jesus start to look the same... La Catedral de Sevilla is the third largest church in the world and is the largest Gothic cathedral--it's huge! I climbed up the giralda or tower (40 flights of stairs!) and took some great photos of the entire city.  Colegio Claret is a middle school in Sevilla where I'm going to volunteer to teach English once a week. I'll teach a class of fourteen-year-old students for an hour every Monday until I go home in June. With any luck, I won't have any disciplinary issues as there have been some problems in the past. I'm going to have to put on an intimidating front!

View from the girlada, I live just to the left of the river!

On Saturday some of my friends and I decided to take an impromptu trip to Ronda, a small, scenic town about 2 hours from Sevilla by bus.  Ronda is an absolutely beautiful town set in the Serranía de Ronda mountains. Walking around the charming, picturesque streets I felt as though I had stepped back in time. The Puento Nuevo, built in the 18th century, is a beautiful bridge that straddles a 100m gorge. The weather was amazing, about 65 and sunny, and after walking around the city for a while we stumbled upon a tapas bar called "El Grifo" and stopped in for a snack.  "El Grifo" means "tap" in English and each table in the restaurant had it's own beer tap in the middle! We caught the return bus back to Sevilla and arrived home around 8 pm.

Beautiful views in Ronda!

Puente Nuevo

Photo in front of the cathedral in Ronda.

Taking a break in "El Grifo"

As you all know this past Sunday was the Superbowl. I heard about a bar in Sevilla, cleverly named "TexMex" that just happens to cater to Americans looking for somewhere to partake in this great American past-time. My friends and I made reservations at TexMex earlier in the week and were thrilled to discover that they would be offering hot wings for 50 cents each with RANCH dressing (we've been searching for this condiment everywhere). I had high expectations for the Superbowl festivities at TexMex and we were definitely not let down. The venue was packed with rowdy Americans and my friends and I felt right at home. It was definitely my favorite Superbowl celebration of all time!

Getting ready for kickoff! Seating was assigned, and we had a Packers Fan at the end of our table.

Alex and I savoring the delicious hot wings with ranch.

I had my first class at the University of Sevilla today, History of Relations between the Americas, and I'll attend it four times a week from 2-3 in the afternoon. The professor is about 60 years old, from Sevilla and absolutely adorable! I was super nervous about the class before because I wasn't sure if I was going to have a hard time understanding the professor or if he was going to be accommodating to foreign students or not but I think everything is going to be fine. I'm looking forward to getting the Spanish perspective on a topic as controversial as politics between the US and Latin American nations. This weekend I'm traveling to Barcelona with some friends and I'll update again when we return!