Barcelona

When I got home from spring break I was so blog happy and was so proud of myself for getting all of Italy done. Then I became lazy but now I'm back and ready to talk all about Barcelona! I got into the Girona airport at around 10:00am. Unfortunately the airport is an hour away from Barca, damn RyanAir. I took the hour long shuttle to the Barcelona train station and from there a quick taxi ride over to the hotel. Once I got to the hotel I through my stuff down then hopped on the metro to meet Becca and her two roommates, Nicole and Lisa. So I used the cheap airlines but a shuttle, taxi, and metro ride later I'm not sure if I even saved any money. Once I hopped off the metro we went straight to one of the oldest synagogues in Europe. It was nice to go back to my Jewish roots after the millions of churches in Italy. The temple was small but nice and we even got a short explanation of it. After the synagogue we walked around the gothic quarter and then went to a resturant called Milk for lunch. It was really good. I had blueberry pancakes. I haven't had pancakes in forever!! After lunch we went over to the Olympic Stadium from the 1992 Olympics. It was at the top of a big hill called Mount Juic. I had never seen a stadium like that before so it was pretty cool. Then me and Becca split up with the rest of the group and we walked to Las Ramblas. This is a very popular street that has lots of tents set up full of random things to buy. We walked down the street and were hoping to go the big market they have. It was unfortunately closed both days we were there though. A lot of things were closed today because it was their Labor day. At the end of Las Ramblas we saw the famous Christopher Columbous statue and then went to explore La Ribera. This is just another area in the city that we just walked around in. We ended up at the Arc de Triomf, took some pictures, and then walked back to the hotel. There we showered and got ready for dinner. We went to dinner at a place called Paco Meralgo. It was tapas. While I know I am a picky eater I can usually find something I like to eat at every resturant. It was a little harder here becuase there were no chicken options on the menu. I got a dumpling ( I still dont know what was in it and I don't think I even want to know) and some bread with cheese. Dinner was really enjoyable and it was a really tapas experience. After dinner everyone went out but I was so tired, and so sick from a mix of exhaustion and allergies so I just went back to the hotel to sleep. Just a bit about this hotel. It just happened to be five stars and our room had two floors! I was not expecting that but it was definetly a nice surprise.

On Sunday we woke up early to get some breakfast (they had a great breakfast buffet). Then Becca and I met up with Nicole and Lisa. We went to Mussee Picasso. It was free because it was the first Sunday of the month but that also meant the line was super long. The line went by fast but I am very happy I waited in it. The museum was really cool. His earlier work was so normal and real and then suddenly we walk into the blue period room, and then his work totally changed into the obscure cubism that we all know of as Picasso. Very interesting. After the museum we went to a resturant called Sandwhich and Friends for lunch. It took us about an hour and a half to find it but Becca was determined. I got a rolled up cheese and chicken sandwhich. I didn't know but I took a bite of the sandwhich and suddenly tasted mayo. I put my sandwhich down and that was the end of that. The potato chips were good though. After lunch we took a bus over to Park Guell. This was a huge park designed by the architect Gaudi (they really like him in Barca). The park was beautiful and so we sat around there for a while. After the park we went to Casa La Pedra which is one of the apartments Gaudi designed. At that point we split up again and me and Becca went to go see the Sagrada Famillia. This is a building/castle/church I'm still not sure, but it started being built in 1882 and won't be finished till 2020. It was huge and very beautiful from the outside. After that we got smoothies then went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. Becca had gotten vouchers for two free drinks when she checked into the hotel. We tried to use them to get some sangria sent up to the room. They told us we couldn't but then surprised us five minutes later and brought us free sangria. That really just sums up our hotel experience. We went to dinner at a restaurant called Ternorio. It was a nice restaurant and I got teriayki chicken and potatoes. After dinner we headed to a bar called Dow Jones. It works just like the stock market. As the demand for the drinks go up the prices do. The bar was very cool but it was Sunday night so it was empty. We basically walked in and walked out. My Barca nightlife experience wasn't typical, but I still had a great time.

Monday we woke up early but just in time to get breakfast. We headed on a train to the airport from there just to find out our flight was delayed. Then delayed. Then delayed. Four hours later we arrived in a freezing cold Paris. I was so happy to be home after a long week of traveling. Nothing felt better then my bed. Maya and I had dinner together and then I worked on my blog, caught up on TV, called every member of my family and went to sleep! All I have to say is thank you so so so much mom and dad for an INCREDIBLE spring break!! This last picture shows what I did in the airport. Becca and Lisa didn't like Bananagrams so I played all by myself!