Sevilla y Granada

This past weekend eight of us girls headed down to the south of Spain in the "la comunidad autónoma" of Andalucía. We took an over night bus to Granada and arrived at around 6:30 in the morning. Unfortunately, that bus ride was a little nerve wracking because when we checked in with the hostel to make sure that we had reservations and that they had linens and stuff, there was no information about the hostel online at all!! The website said it was down and we couldn't find the hostel listed on any of the hostel booking websites (like hostelworld.com). Fortunately, when we got to the hostel, the lady explained everything.

Apparently the police were closing down a bunch of the hostels in Granada because they were not registered. There were only two hostels that were registered in the whole city, so those were the only two that were open. Fortunately for us, one of the hostels that remained open and legal was right next door to the one we had initially booked. The owner of the first hostel was extremely nice and made arrangements for us to stay at the other hostel for the same price that we would have paid initially. The hostel ended up being absolutely amazing. It was a little backpackers hostel and it was so cute. There was a little fort thing with hammocks, chairs, and comfy pillows to sit on. The bathroom was co-ed, but I only ever saw girls in the bathroom when I was there, so that is was comforting. We couldn't check in until one in the afternoon, but they let us keep our bags there so that they would be safe and we wouldn't have to carry them around when we went to the Alhambra that afternoon. When we got there, the guy who was working the front desk told us where we could put our bags, then he went into the kitchen and put together toast and coffee and such so that we could have breakfast. It was so nice!

Picture of the hostel (there weren't really any good angles to take a picture, though...)

Around 9:30ish (I think) we headed out to the Alhambra. The Alhambra is one of the most visited tourist destinations in Spain, as well as in Europe. We had bought tickets prior to coming to Granada because you have to reserve a specific time for entry into the central part. If you miss your entrance time that is posted on your ticket, they won't let you in. They are very strict about that. So we got there early, and toured around the gardens and other buildings before it was actually time for us to go inside. Everybody was getting hungry and grumpy because we had been awake for so long and had eaten a small breakfast very early, but we entered the Alhambra at 12:30 and didn't get out until about 2:30 or later. We then grabbed lunch and headed back to the hostel.

The sign at the entrance

view from the windows of one of the buildings

me... as Caroline says, it looks like I'm sitting on a painting

I'm basically in love with this picture!

It was nice to freshen up when we got back to the hostel. I took a shower, made my bed, and just relaxed for a bit. We got to talking to a girl who had just graduated from college in the States and was touring around Europe by herself for two months. It is amazing to me that people do that all alone! I think I would get lonely and I'd be too scared. That day was Halloween, so the hostel was making special paella for everybody. We paid seven euro and got a cup of delicious sangria as well as a HUGE plate of delicious chicken and veggie paella. It was the best paella I've had so far! At dinner we sat with people from all over the world. We mostly talked to a guy from Chile who was very cryptic about why he was in Spain (he said something about teaching people how to make atomic bombs... I don't buy it), and a girl from Argentina. We also talked to the staff a little bit and just hung out. It was cool to practice our Spanish language skills in a different setting. Jessie and I talked to each other for a while, but we did it all in Spanish which was pretty cool.

Paella... see the scary face made by the peppers?

After dinner, we headed up to a pretty lookout spot where you could see the Alhambra at night. Although it was hard to get pictures because it was so dark, the view was spectacular and it was nice to just sit and look out upon the lights of the city of Granada. We then walked down to the main streets of Granada and grabbed gelato. It was the most beautiful display of gelato I'd ever seen... and it tasted really good too!

Blurry picture of the Alhambra at night

Delicious gelato! (the picture doesn't do it too much justice)

The next day we took a bus to Sevilla and arrived at our hostel without a glitch. We had a room all to ourselves, and we had a private bathroom too. That was nice because we weren't worried about our stuff sitting out and we could relax a little bit about beds and stuff. The hostel (Urbany) organized a walking tour, so we got a free tour of Sevilla. We walked around with the tour group for about two or three hours and the guide (who wasn't actually a trained tour guide, but knew a lot about the city) was super nice. We met people from all over the world in our tour group. There were boys from Canada who were studying in Denmark, girls from Germany who were studying in Spain, Australians, etc. It was pretty cool.

The girls before the walking tour

(Top: Genelle, me, Jessie, Kelsey, Julie, Hanna; Bottom: Dalia and Helena)

After our tour, we went to an awesome flamenco show. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but the show was spectacular. It is funny because the guy we were talking to the night before about Sevilla said that we should go to a specific place for a flamenco show. Also, when my mom visited Spain a few years ago, she and Jeff went to a flamenco show and she was saying that I should go to a specific one because they really enjoyed it. None of us remembered the name of the place we were supposed to go so we just chose one that was relatively cheap, and it turned out to be the same place that the Chilean guy and my mom had both recommended! After flamenco, we grabbed a few cheap tapas down the street from our hostel (really really good bocadillos) and headed out to see the city at night.

 

They only let us take pictures at the very end so I don't have very many good ones :(

By two in the morning, a few of us were tired so Genelle, Dalia, and I headed back to the hostel. We ended up staying up super late and talking about life, but it was nice to be in pj's, and just sitting in bed chatting to some girlfriends.

The next morning, we got up, ate the free breakfast at the hostel, and walked over to tour the cathedral. It is the biggest Gothic cathedral in the world, and the third biggest cathedral. The architecture was absolutely amazing (as it normally is in the cathedrals I've seen), and we climbed up the tower to get a view of all of Sevilla. This cathedral is also where Christopher Columbus is buried. Well, actually, not all of Christopher Columbus is buried there... just a finger, but still. They don't actually know where the rest of him is. Don't ask me why. After that, we went souvenir shopping on a cute little street. I got some beautiful black and white prints of flamenco dancers, as well as a shot glass to add to my collection.

Yup... that's us holding up our fingers in honor of Christopher Columbus who is buried behind us...

Overall, the weekend was successful. I enjoyed the company of the girls I was around and the cities were absolutely beautiful. I wish that I'd had more time in each of them (you could probably do at least a weekend in each one), but the time that I did have there was spent well. I wish I hadn't been so stressed the entire time I was there, but I guess stress is just part of the package when I am taking 18 units while studying abroad, traveling, and trying to get good grades.

la semana pasada

The past few weeks have been a little crazy. I have been stressed about so many things and the only thing I have wanted to do is relax... and I can barely do that.

Last week I had my midterm in my Witch Hunt in Europe class taught by Professor Hiltpold. Although I am really enjoying the discussions we have in that class, there was a lot of information to know and it was hard to go back through my notes and figure out everything that he told us would be on the test. Luckily, he tells us exactly what we will be tested on, and sure enough, that stuff was the only stuff on the test. There were five short response questions and one essay to write. We will get that test back this afternoon... I am not sure how I did.

On top of that, I really missed home. I missed my family, especially my little sister (love you Liana!!), and I have been having the worst cravings for food from home. It's not that I don't enjoy the food here, it's just very different from home. They put seasoning on their food, but most of it is not spicy. I miss my spicy Mexican food and kung pao chicken from Panda Express. I have a mental list of all the food that I miss from home and I will make it a point to eat all of it by the time I head back to SLO at the end of December or the beginning of January. On that list are my dad's hamburgers, Cindy and Daddy's spaghetti, Cindy's tacos, Mommy's lemon chicken, Jeffy's "slab o' meat," Mommy's Fajitas, El Balazo, pita pit, salad, chips and salsa, guacamole, turkey bacon, THANKSGIVING FOOD!, and just the normal things that I get to snack on when I get hungry in the middle of the day. The eating schedule here is very different from at home, and although I like it a lot, I am still not used to it. I do enjoy the food that my mamá cooks for me, and when I come back home I will probably like fish a lot more than I did when I first got here.

Anyway, so my stress level was out of control last week. If I had been in SLO, that would have been one of those weekends when I would have driven home and seen my family or just chilled on the couch or in bed, watching TV and movies and stuff and just relaxing. But, since I'm in Spain, I can't really do that. There is no real way for me to find time to do any of that. All the TV stations (besides CNN) are in Spanish, not to mention that there is so much to see of Spain and so much of Valladolid that I still haven't done, that I feel bad sitting at home doing nothing. Every once and a while (generally Friday afternoons) I watch an online TV show or two, but not too often. We aren't really supposed to have friends over to our houses, so even with them we have to go to a café (where you are expected to order something) or to a park (but it is freezing outside so it's hard to be comfortable while we are just sitting).

I've had midterms, homework overload, papers, travels, family, and so much more to keep up with that I haven't really known what to do with myself. I just finished taking my Spanish grammar midterm, so my stress level is a little lower right now. This weekend we are heading to Salamanca for a day trip and I'm super excited because my mom and Jeff are going to meet me in Salamanca and they are going to tour around with the Cal Poly group. I am really excited to see them, especially after the past week I've had.

I wanted to take this time to say I'm sorry to all the girls who I traveled with this past weekend. I know that I was not in the greatest mood and therefore not too fun to be around. I did have fun with you girls, though, and I hope that you guys don't hate me for being a little bit off. As I said before, I was really stressed and just needed to relax... but any time we go on a weekend trip, relaxation is kinda not an option. I'm sorry if I took my stress out on you girls. I love you all.

I also just want to say that I absolutely love my family. I am glad that I got to talk to my mom, dad, and Liana a lot this past week. I am glad that Grandpa Russ is doing well (at least from the last e-mail I received he is doing well). I am glad that I have gotten e-mails and video messages from Caitlin and Kelley. I miss my grandparents, my aunts, uncles, cousins, dogs, sisters, parents, friends, and everybody else so much. I am having the time of my life here, but I also can't wait to see you all when I come back to the States. I can't wait to share my adventures with you guys and show you pictures and tell stories and have you meet all the amazing friends I've made here.

I love you all so much and I'm glad that everything at home is finally going as it should be.

xoxo

Más Suiza

So, it has been a couple weekends since my trip to Zurich, Switzerland with my dad, but I figured I'd take this time to post a few more pictures and tell you all what we did. Sorry it took so long!

So on Friday, I skipped my Spanish culture class and headed to the Madrid airport so I could wait for my flight. The train from Valladolid to Madrid takes a little over an hour and it was nice to just sit and relax for that time. Daddy told me to get a seat by the window on my flight to Zurich because he said the view of Switzerland from the plane is absolutely beautiful.... I guess it would be if it wasn't overcast the entire time! Luckily, right before we landed, we got under the cloud coverage and I was able to see the beautiful green of Switzerland.

View from the plane... for some of the time I couldn't tell what were mountains and what were clouds

Beautiful Switzerland (the picture is kinda fuzzy because I was taking it from the plane)

When I got in to Zurich, I bought a train ticket to Oerlikon which is the part of Zurich that we were staying. A nice little old lady sat down and started talking to me in German, but when I told her I only spoke English she said "Oh dear, do you know where you're going? If you are going to Oerlikon, get off at the next stop." She was so cute and switched over to English like it was absolutely nothing.

Finally I met Daddy at the train station. We were both kinda wondering around looking for each other and I was so happy when I finally saw him! He gave me a HUGE hug which was what I had been looking forward to all week. That night, we dropped off my stuff at the hotel (a very nice Holiday Inn), grabbed a very nice dinner (pumpkin ravioli and red wine), and then went to bed.

The next day we woke up relatively early (although Daddy slept in a little late, so I just had a little bit of relaxation time), ate a wonderful breakfast of hash browns, eggs, bacon, and hot chocolate (aaah Swiss hot chocolate!) and started our day.

We took the bus to Zurich Proper where we were going to spend the day. The lady who was working at the front desk was very helpful and gave us a map with a very nice walking tour of Zurich.

Behind me are the super spiffy public buses!

As a little side note, the public transportation in Switzerland is impeccable!!! Theoretically we could have taken the metro without paying (nobody ever checked our tickets), but as Daddy said, "You almost want to pay to take public transportation." Seriously, nicest public transportation system I have ever been on.

For the rest of the day we wondered around downtown Zurich. We went up to a little park we had been told about and it looked down upon a lot of the city. We also popped our heads into some chocolate stores, took a "short" boat ride around the lake, and relaxed. There was an antique market set up next to the lake, so we made our way through the market and Daddy bought me a ring.

Me with a view of the city

Zurich

Antique market

Views from the boat

I forced Daddy to go to an American restaurant for lunch, but in hindsight that was not the greatest idea. We had nachos as an appetizer and then for my lunch I had a burger. It was good, but not as good as I get at home. I just really miss American/Mexican/home cooked food.

After lunch, we wondered around a little more and then headed home. We were both exhausted and just wanted to rest. At this point it was about 5 in the afternoon, and I fell asleep on the bus ride back to Oerlikon.

Once we were both a little bit more rested, we went downstairs and just grabbed dinner in the hotel restaurant. Once that was through, we went up to my hotel room and I showed Daddy pictures of my time in Spain. I told him who everybody was, showed him everywhere we'd been, and shared short little stories about my experiences. Although I bet he won't remember everybody's names (there are a lot of people to remember!), when he comes at the end of this month I think he will have an easier time of putting a name to a face.

The next morning we woke up super early because Daddy's flight was at 10 in the morning. Mine wasn't until 11:50, but I went with him to the airport so that I could spend more time with him. Luckily, the airport and the train station are the same thing so I could just hang out there, do a little bit of shopping, and relax. We went to a chocolate shop where we got delicious bars of chocolate (Thank you, Daddy!), grabbed coffee and pastries, then sat and had a lovely breakfast talk before it was time for him to go on his plane.

Although I was sad to say goodbye to him at the airport, I was still so glad that I got to see him, even for a short period of time. I can't wait until he comes to visit me at the end of November with my step mom, sisters, and aunties (Carol and Kathe).

I love you, Daddy! Thank you so much for flying me up to Switzerland so I could spend some time with you. I had a wonderful time. I love you and I miss you. Can't wait to see you in three weeks!

Just some photos of Daddy and me :)

antes de dormir...

Before I go to sleep, I just wanted to post a picture or two from this past weekend in Switzerland. I have some reading to do for a quiz in my Wine Compliance class tomorrow, but I don't have enough energy to do it. I will just read it tomorrow morning.

I will write more about the weekend when I have a chance, but until then, here is a little taste of Switzerland.

 

¡Qué divertido!

Here are a few fun things that I've seen/experienced since I've been here. There will be more to come, but these are a few that I just couldn't help but share while I have a few minutes....

This is a picture I took of a poster in the Barcelona metro station. For anybody who has ever taken Spanish, you know that if you are trying to say "I am embarrassed," you do not say "estoy embarazada." It's a funny lesson to learn and I loved the poster so much. I appreciated it and I hope you do too.

Meet "Trancas" and "Barrancas." They are los hormigos (ants) from a show I watch at dinner time with my mamá called "El Hormiguero" (the ant hill). The show involves a host, a famous visitor, science expriments, jokes, and these guys arguing. Although I can only understand a little bit of what goes on in the show (they speak soooo fast), it is extremely funny because these little guys are so ridiculous. When I am walking places around Valladolid, sometimes I see little sutffed animal hormigos in the windows of the tiendas and I can't help but laugh. This is one of the funniest things ever. The best part, though, is that it is for adults... not children!!!

More to come on crazy things I see and enjoy while I'm in Spain. That's all for now though.

Segovia

The entire group of Cal Poly students in Segovia!!

Yesterday was a wonderful day (besides the fact that I only got 4 hours of sleep and had to get on a bus at 9 in the morning).

We had our second excursion to another city in the region of Castilla y León. This time we went to Segovia. Luckily I was able to sleep most of the one hour bus ride to the city. It was very cool to drive up to the city because the first thing you see is the huge Roman Aqueduct that runs through the city

Different views of the Roman Aqueduct

The aqueduct was built at the end of the 1st century by the Romans. They didn't use any sort of adhesive to hold the huge boulders in place. The huge wall holds its shape purely by pressure. If you stand next to the aqueduct, it is huge! Each of the stones has a hole or an indent in it. Our tour guide, Alfredo, told us a cool tale about how the holes got there. It had to do with a girl and the devil. Supposedly the devil built the wall in 24 hours and each of the holes were made from his claws.

Dalia, Me, and the aqueduct

We have had Alfredo show us around a few cities, so we are getting used to his speaking style and it is becoming easier to listen to him each time I travel with him. He speaks in Spanish the entire time and it is really exciting to be able to stand there and listen to him speak and understand what he is saying to us. I don't understand everything that he says, but I think I do pretty well considering the level of Spanish I'm at. The things that he tells us are fascinating, he is so knowledgeable. I really wonder how tour guides retain all the information about every single place they go to! I am finding that I love listening to him talk and I feel as though I am learning so much from him not only about the history of the beautiful cities we visit, but also I am learning how to listen and retain information in a different language.

I always have so much fun with these girls

The beginning of our tour was pretty short, and eventually we had a few hours of free time. A group of us walked from la Plaza Mayor (every single city in Spain has a Plaza Mayor... I have come to expect it) up to the start of the aqueduct. We got an awesome view of the aqueduct from up there. I had fun just hanging out and taking pictures with my friends. I also got to hang out with some people I don't normally get to spend too much time with, so that was really cool for me. I want to continue hanging out with those people because I have so much fun with them (as with every other person on the trip).

Dalia, Laura, Stephanie, Kristen, Jessie, Me, Helena

At the end of our free time a group of us stopped at a little restaurant in the Plaza Mayor and got tapas and drinks. Maryn and I ordered shrimp cakes which were okay, but not the absolute best. From there, the whole group reconvened and we walked over to the castle. From the outside, the castle looked like it belonged in a Disney movie. It was pretty awesome. Alfredo toured us around the castle and told us what each of the rooms were for (some had very interesting histories... like the "consummation" room). It was beautiful but a little chilly.

The Castle

Aubrea, Kristen, Dalia, Me, Tiffany, Hanna, and Natalie in front of the castle (thank you to Mr. Payne for taking this photo and for being such an inspiration!)

View from inside the castle. I just liked the picture.

 All the Poly girls (and our friend Jasmin from Germany) at the top of the castle tower

In the castle we even got to climb one of the towers which had a beautiful view of Segovia. I love standing on high look out spots in old cities like that because you get a wonderful view. It is so picture perfect. It was really cool to be able to climb the tower, but the spiral staircase was very high and very steep. It was definitely worth the climb, though.

View of Segovia from the top of the tower. I just wish you could see the aqueduct from there!

After we left Segovia and got back to Valladolid I only had a little bit of time to rest before heading out for my next event. Natalie's dad was visiting for a few days so he took a few of us girls out to dinner. I was honored to be invited and he was so generous to buy all of us our delicious meals. We treated him (and ourselves) to a delicious dessert, but it was the least we could do for all of his generosity. The dinner time conversation was absolutely amazing. I think I can say that the conversation I had at that meal will stick with me for the rest of my life. I am still reeling from it; it was so thought provoking and such a wonderful mixture of learning, talking, listening, experiencing, and just being together. It is way too much to add to this post, but I promise I will write about it at another time. I will probably add it to my other blog, though, so you might want to check that one for some of my thoughts on that conversation

Natalie and her dad. Seeing Mr. Payne and Natalie made me very excited to see my dad in Switzerland this Friday!!!

It is 12 in the morning now so I should be going to bed, but I just want to thank you all for reading my blog. I love hearing what you all have to say about it and I enjoy reading everybody else's blogs as well. I love relaying what I have been doing while I've been on this life changing adventure. If you have any further questions beyond what I have written here, feel free to comment or to e-mail me! Also, I sent out an e-mail to people who asked for my mailing address. If you were not attached to that e-mail and want to have my address, let me know and I'll message it to you. E-mail me at: rhegan@calpoly.edu

<3

Bailando en Barcelona

The only word I have to say for Barcelona is... AMAZING! 

The city was AMAZING!

The people were AMAZING!

The architecture was AMAZING!

The Mediterranean beaches were AMAZING!

Friday night, about 14 of us hopped on an overnight bus to Barcelona. We left at 9:00, spent the entire night attempting to sleep, and then arrived in Barcelona at 7:45 in the morning. With a little bit of excitement involving pickpockets (nothing, thankfully, was stolen... we learned a very tough lesson without actually losing anything) and buying train tickets instead of metro tickets, we all made it to our hostel.

Erica, Laurel, Maryn and Helena in the Urbany Hostel

Monday morning sunrise... view from our room in our hostel... 

It was called the Urbany Hostel and it was so nice. I mean, it was a youth hostel so it wasn't as wonderful as a hotel, but everybody said it was the nicest hostel they've ever stayed in. I'd never stayed in a hostel, but this was a wonderful first experience. I will probably be spoiled from now on. I stayed with Helena, Maryn, and Kelsey in a room with just the four of us. We had a full bathroom (toilet, shower, sink) and we each got a locker.

When we got to the hostel, we freshened up (I quickly rinsed off because I felt so gross from sitting on a bus for so long) and then we started our day!

day 1

Some of the girls decided that they wanted to go on a sight seeing bus tour of the city. It was a little expensive, so a few of us decided to kinda do our own thing and tour around on foot/metro. Six of us girls headed over to the Sagrada Familia which is a cathedral designed by Gaudi. It is still under construction and is projected to be finished around 2030. We were talking about doing a reunion trip to Barcelona when it is finished! It is a little offsetting to see all the big orange cranes next to a cathedral that is supposed to be so beautiful, but when you think about the fact that you are standing there while this amazing thing is being built, it is actually kinda cool.

La Sagrada Familia

In the basement of the cathedral there is a museum that has information about how the cathedral was built, Gaudi's life, and where he got his artistic influence from. At first I wasn't a huge fan of his designs, but the museum completely changed my mind. He took much of his influence from nature like trees, bees, flowers, plants, etc. He also had very cool influence from mathematic patterns and such. Very cool.

By the end of our time in the Sagrada Familia, we were super hungry so we headed down and grabbed lunch at a restaurant that had a bunch of different options. We split two pitchers of sangria between the six of us (which turned out to only be two cups each) and I ate pizza and paella. The paella was delicious.

Helena, Erica, Kelsey, Maryn, me, and Laurel drinking Sangria at lunch

We all look tired because we hadn't really slept in over 24 hours!

After lunch, since we were still so inspired by the Sagrada Familia, we decided to head up to Güell Park which was designed by Gaudi. We spent the rest of the afternoon admiring all the cool architecture, the views, and the gardens. Since we decided to purchase the more expensive combination tickets at the Sagrada Familia, we were also able to tour Gaudi's house which is located at the park. It was interesting but not all together amazing. I was more a fan of the walk up to the park (a HUGE hill which had a combination of stairs and outdoor escalators), the view from the top, and the architecture of the houses he designed. 

 Me and a wonderful view of Barcelona! 

Buildings designed by Gaudi 

Gaudi's bathroom... (we went in his house)

 View of Barcelona from the top of the world

the girls in the park

 Güell Park designed by Gaudi

By the end of our time in the park, we were pretty exhausted so we headed back to the hostel and took naps. The boys made us spaghetti for dinner (they transported it to us in cereal bag... I was a little skeptical at first, but it turned out okay), and then we headed out to see if we could find a bar or a club that would be fun. We didn't end up finding anything, but we had fun hanging out and we got back to the hostel around 2:30 in the morning which allowed us to sleep more than we had expected.

day 2

On day two we woke up with a plan. We grabbed our free breakfast at the hostel, and then headed out.

The six of us girls took the subway and got off next to the Arc de Triomf. We took pictures there, wandered down the beautiful pathway in front of the arc, and listened to some awesome trumpet street music. We then made the most amazing stop of the day… THE CHOCOLATE MUSEUM!

 From the instant we stepped into the museum, the experience was wonderful. Our entrance passes were chocolate bars! We toured through the museum and learned about chocolate’s history, influence in art, and uses. It was super cool. Afterwards, we took a little break at their café and ordered hot chocolate, café con leche, chocolate croissants, chocolate milk, and other delicious treats. 

Our chocolate bar tickets

Me and the three cooks :)

Inspiration through chocolate... I can see why!!

From the chocolate museum, we made our way down towards the Mediterranean Sea. We stumbled upon the cathedral where there was some live music and dancing. Helena watched for a little bit and then joined in one of the circles and danced along with them! It was pretty cool.

 Helena dancing in front of the cathedral (blue shirt)

We walked down some alleyways on the way to Las Ramblas which is a very popular street in Barcelona. We took pictures with a giant lobster, met some cute bici-boys, and strolled down the pier. Finally we made it to the Mediterranean Sea! We put our feet in the water, but didn’t spend that much time there because we were so hungry! We ate a delicious lunch on the patio of a cute little restaurant with a wonderful view of the ocean.

Girls eating lunch with a view of the beautiful Mediterranean Sea 

 Me and my giant lobster friend

 Putting my feet in the Mediterranean. Beautiful water :)

After that, we split up and some of us went up to Camp Nou which is the largest stadium in Europe. It is were the Barcelona futbol team plays their games. Unfortunately it was closed so I only got pictures of the outside. It would have been cool to go inside. I guess I’ll have to make my way back to Barcelona at some point so that I can go inside! Shame ;)

Me with my sad face outside the closed stadium. Why have a poster that says "join us" when I can't even get inside?? :(

another lame view of the outside of the stadium

That night we made pasta again because it was so much cheaper than going out for dinner. We decided to go out with the hostel so we got in free to a dance club. We met some pretty cool (and cute) guys from Australia and Germany. We had fun dancing hanging out until 4 in the morning. We only got three hours of sleep, got up, and hopped back on the bus for the 10 hour ride home.

I wish I had at least 4 more days in Barcelona so that I could have time to do everything else there was to do in that wonderful, beautiful city. If you ever have a chance to go to Barcelona, I highly recommend it.