Barcelona Bound

What a filled week. To start it off we went to a Real Madrid Soccer Game!!! HALA MADRID! We were only a few sections away from the 'real' fans that all wear matching jerseys, wave flags, and chant the entire game (no lying they never stopped). It was a pretty cool sight to see this kind of level of soccer played with these fans who were all on the edges of their seat, even though they blew the other team out 4-0. Also got to see my man Cristiano Ronaldo score a hat trick so my life is almost complete now. 

I'd talk about the rest of my week but nothing too exciting happened. Yes I went to class but you guys don't want to hear about that, it's boring. Did finish my second painting though! 

On to the fun part, BARCELONA! 

Day one: 

We arrived with a big crew of 15 of us early Thursday morning at our hostel. After a quick nap we grabbed a bite to eat and headed out around the city to explore. The streets are all filled with historically beautiful buildings and sights to see. Amongst the city are parks and attractions which we meandered. The big highlight was our walk along Port Vell on the shore and we saw huge boats and fancy cars. Next to the port we walked down their famously known market street called Las Ramblas. The street was lined with white tents that held paintings, gelato, incense, tapas, jewelry, souvenirs and more. We took our time and took a pit stop at each tent to see what they all had to offer.

After dinner it was time to explore the city by night. Our first stop was a famous Mojito bar, never had one before but these were delicious, definitely worth the hype. Then we joined in with the college kids at our hostel and headed to the clubs down by the beach. These clubs were three times the size of the ones in Madrid and were quite a good time with lots of crazy lights and dancing. 

Day two: 

Beach day!!! A few of us headed to the beach of Barceloneta to relax and enjoy the beautiful sun. Just a day of burying friends in the sand and taking naps on the beach. We also stopped at the famous market La Boqueria for some delicious hand grown food for dinner. The vibrant colors of fruits, vegetables, candies and more caught my eye around every corner. 

             

               

Of course the day did not end there as we had to try out two more famous bars in the city (sorry parents, i'm legal here and these were some famously cool bars!) First of the night was called "Chupitos" or shots bar because they had 200 shots to choose from (not that they tell you what they are though). While I'm not a fan of shots to begin with I had to try my luck and choose the Selfie Shot. Little fruity something wasn't bad but some of my friends weren't so lucky with their mysterious shots. Once we had all tried a crazy shot we headed to the Dow Jones bar. This one was famous because around the entire bar they had screens that showed the fluctuating prices of beer based upon the day's stock market. Suddenly there would be a crash of prices and it was a mad dash to get some beer cheap. We reconvened at the hostel and ended with some late night pizza. 

Day three:

Time to see some more sights! It didn't start off too hot because a friend made a little mishap and never bought our tickets to La Segrada Familia, so we had to be content with just seeing the outside (little bitter about it but I guess that means I'll have to visit again!) 

We took a break at an Alice in Wonderland themed coffee shop to reenergize for the rest of the day. Cute little cups of coffee and mini sandwiches did the trick. 

           

Off to Parc Guell for some Gothic themed architecture and one of the most amazing views I have ever seen. The landscape was intertwined with buildings and railings made with the mosaic like coverings throughout the entire park. We made our way up to the top to see a view of the entire city that reached down to the beach. We could see the huge buildings we had visited popping out of the skyline throughout the city. This is where our trip ended as we made our way to the bus station and headed back to Madrid. 

It was a huge success of a weekend and a place I will definitely have to travel a second time. The traveling never ends, Munich and Oktoberfest is up next weekend!