Barcelona

Okay, get ready - this is going to be a long one.

First things first. Please excuse my bad English. The more Spanish I learn, the worse my English skills get. Its actually quite funny because I am starting to forget the most simple words in English, but I guess that is a good sign. 

Barcelona was great! It is a gorgeous city with interesting architecture, great people, and a lot of history. However, I am very glad that I did not study abroad there. There are several tourists and a lot of English. When we would speak to the vendors and people in Spanish, they would answer us in English. Also, a lot of the people speak Catalan, which is a dialect of Spanish. I think it would be a tough city to learn Spanish. 

Nonetheless, it is a wonderful place for a trip or vacation, and that is exactly what we had. There was about 30 students and we all piled onto a bus on Friday morning. The bus ride took about 4 hours. When we finally arrived, we toured a couple of Gaudi's buildings. First, we saw Casa Mila. Barcelona is known as the city of Gaudi. I am a big fan of his architecture, so that was very cool to see.  In addition to seeing his work, we learned a lot about him. 

As a child, he was very sick so he spent all of his time in a wheelchair observing anything and everything. He learned about forms and details of objects, and that is one of the reason he became the wonderful artist that he was. We also learned that the last building he built was for a very wealthy family. This family wanted something different, something that would stick out from the rest of the houses in Barcelona. He made the apartment, but they absolutely hated it. So, they took him to court in order to get all their money back. Obviously, they did not win the case, and Gaudi was awarded the money. He then donated all the money to the poor. Gaudi lived his life as a commoner, even though he was very wealthy. He seemed like a very interesting man, and it was great to see all of his work!

We also visited Sagrada Familia. It is a church that Gaudi was working on before his death. It has been under construction for around 60 years now, and it will not be finished until like 2015 or so. It was very intricate and beautiful. 

After seeing all that, my friends and I walked around and explored the city. We walked down Las Ramblas - a famous street in Barcelona with street performers and markets. 

On Saturday, we took another tour around the Gothic Block of Barcelona. It was okay, my favorite part of tour was the Cathedral. It was absolutely gorgeous, and had a pretty cool story. The Patron Saint of Barcelona died at the age of 13, so in the middle of the Cathedral, there are 13 geese that live in the garden. There are pictures of it on Snapfish. 

We spent Saturday afternoon at the beach por su puesto! Then, we took cable cars up to the top of a mountain nearby. There was a castle at the top of the mountain and I'm sure there would have been a gorgeous view, but we managed to time it right when the fog hit. So we made our way down the mountain, stopping by the sight of the 1992 Olympics. After that, was my favorite part of the trip by far! At the base of the mountain, there was an old castle converted into an art museum. Every Friday and Saturday night, they have a fountain show that is synchronized to music. It really was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life, and I definitely will return to see it. That night, we went for comida mexicana! It was delicious. 

Last day, Sunday, we went to Casa Batllo, another one of Gaudi's works of art. There are also pictures of it on Snapfish. It had a very Mediterranean feel, and I liked it a lot. After that, we headed to Guell Park. You guessed it, it was also designed by Gaudi and absolutely breathtaking. It was built for the purpose of being a small village, and I have decided I want to live there. :o) Seriously though, that is another thing that I will return to see. After that, we made a short stop by the Picasso museum. I did not realize how wonderful of a painter he really was, and he started at such a young age! That was the last of our trip and we headed back to Valencia.

In addition to Barcelona, everything is going really well. We are talking with our family a lot, studying Spanish for about 2 hours a day, managing to fit in cultural activities, and I just bought a gym membership. It is going to be hard to adjust back to life at home. Here, my biggest stressor is trying to find cheap plane tickets. :o)  

Tonight, my friend, Sabrina, and I are going to see a Flamenco show with my Spaniard friend, Jose. Que divertido, no?

Well, that's all for now. Hopefully that long post made up for the long wait. I hope you all are doing well and I will talk to you soon!

Love,

Katie