"Tourists don't know where they've been, travelers don't know where they're going." -- Paul Theroux

cut to save your friends page...it´s long...


september 22: a group of us left after classes to take a train to barcelona. the train ride wasn´t too bad. i slept for a good part of it. when we got into barcelona we had to split up and take 2 taxis to get to the apartment. we were supposed to stay in a hostal but for some reason it fell thru. but it wasn´t bad since the apartment only cost €24 per person for the night. the apartment was amazing. once i get a chance i´ll post some pics. so that night we decided to get some cheese, sausage, bread and wine for dinner and eat at the apartment. after that we all went out to this bar called "la oveja negra." basically barcelona is known for this bar. some drama happened which i won´t get into since it´s not worth it at this point. after the bar a few of us decided to just go back to the apartment.

september 23: we woke up early and decided to explore the city. we went to "la sagrada familia" which is a huge temple designed by Gaudi. it was so beautiful. we climbed one of the towers which was equal in height to about the length of an olympic sized swimming pool. the view was amazing. i got some great pics. after seeing the temple we went into the barri gotic distric which is the historic part of town. we came to barcelona at a really good time because it was the big festival for their patron saint, mercedes. at every corner they had musicians and big stages set up for other productions. by the cathedral we stopped and watched the craziest show. these people were on stage dressed up in very bright costumes and acting as hair stylists. the dj was playing some type of techno. they would bring people from the crowd on stage and do their hair. they would spray paint their hair in hot pinks and yellows and blues and put it in crazy ponytails with balls or in mowhawks. it was the craziest thing. when we left the show we went to this little natural food market. a few of us got this focattia bread pizza. it was so good. later on that day we went to the history musuem where the roman ruins are. that night we walked down las ramblas and watched all the street performers.

september 24: we took a train to figueres to see the dali musuem. it was absolutely amazing. dali is one of my favorite artists and it was awesome to see his works. figueres was his home town and he wanted his musuem to be built there. it´s right next to the church where he was baptised. i´ll post some pics when i get a chance. some of them didn´t come out so great since we weren´t allowed to use a flash inside the musuem. the musuem is so hard to describe in words. it´s one of those places that you really need to see for yourself. the trip to figueres practically took all day. when we got back into barcelona we wanted to go to the picasso musuem. we were all pretty disappointed in it. i can honestly say that picasso is not a favorite of mine. that night we decided to stay in, drink some wine, and just hang out. a few of us were getting sick so we figured it would be good to take a break.

september 25: we woke up and had to check out of the apartment. we left our bags at the rental office so we didn´t have to carry them around with us. we went to this place called "parc guell." it was designed and created by gaudi as a housing development for the rich. it was never completed and is now an urban park. i have pics of this as well. i decided to split from the group and walk on my own. i sat in a pavilion that had 90 columns and a ceiling covered in intricate tile workings by gaudi. a man was playing a flute. it was beautiful. after listening for awhile i walked around the park. i got some great pics. after leaving the park we decided to go to montjuic. it´s a mountain that overlooks barcelona. on the bus trip up the mountain we saw the stadiums where the 1992 Olympics were held. at the top of the mountain was a fort/castle that was turned into a military museum. it was gorgeous since on one side it overlooked the water and on the other side it overlooked the city. after seeing the fort we went down the mountain and saw the national palace. it was gorgeous. we weren´t able to go in since it was closed on sundays. it now houses an art musuem. after walking around the city for awhile we had to grab our bags and head to the train station. we took a night train to madrid so we could meet up with the program for one of our planned trips. the night train was soo much fun. there was another group on the train from the program so we kept going back and forth to each others carriages. the night train was an experience to say the least.

so that was my trip to barcelona. i had an amazing time and got some great pics. once i get a chance i will write about my trip to madrid and the trip to mallorca. i loved barcelona so much more than madrid. i feel like i really got to know the city. i honestly think i know barcelona better than i know valencia...

i love you all and miss you tons!