Alex Bernasconi comes to visit

Last weekend Alex Bernisconi came to visit. She got in really late friday night so we didn't really get to see her until Saturday afternoon. She came with 2 girls from her program and then one of her friends met up with two more friends so there was 5 of them all together. We tried to be productive and get up early on Saturday and show them around. We didn't end up meeting them until 1 but that still gave us plenty of time to see things. We met at Sagrada de Familia and from there we walked to Parc Guell. This is the park that Gaudi made and it is so cool. We thought it was going to be a real quick walk only about a mile from our house, but we got a little lost and it was a little longer than a mile but well worth it. On the walk there we were in a residential neighborhood with real houses. I think that was the first time I saw a house in Barcelona and not apartments. That area was really cool. Once we made it to the park everyone was starting to get a little tired and hungry so we were a little rushed. That's okay because it was a little packed and I really wanna go back when not a lot of people are there to explore. This park is huge and each section is a different design.

After Guadi's park, Alex and her friends were really hungry/tired so they wanted to head to La Rambla so they could get a bite to eat, see the market, and maybe rest a little bit. They wanted to meet up with us that night but had to catch the bus for their flight at 6 am so they needed to rest a little.

The market on La Rambla is so colorful. There is fruit and vegetables everywhere along with stands that sell all sorts of candy. They sell a ton of gummie candy which is my downfall, but I still have caved in and gotten any.

Montjuic

This weekend we decided to be active and instead of staying in all day after going out at night, to get up and go see the beautiful city of Barcelona. On Friday we went to Montjuic. It is a castle that is on top of one of the hills here. It is located right on the corner of the sea so from up there you have a great view of the whole city as well as all of the harbor and sea.

To get all the way to the top you have to take a cable car from where the metro drops you off. It didn't look that scary until we were in it and then I got a little freaked out, but we made it there and back! This is a picture from the cable car ride up the hill.

This is the view of the harbor from above. It reminds me a lot of the port of Seattle.

This is a view of the beaches. More touristic than the industrial area.

This is from the other side of the castle that faces the city. You can see the entire city of Barcelona from up there. It is so amazing!

After we got off from the top, we walked a little ways to head up to where the olympic grounds. It was so cool to see where the olympics were. At this point we were getting a little tired and it was getting a little late so we didn't get to go to the museum that was up there and go look at the pool which I really want to see. I am going to have to make another trip up there to see those things.

Im pretty sure this is where the torch was lit during the olympic games but I'm not really sure hah

Here is the inside of the stadium. It wasn't as large as I thought it was going to be but it was still so cool!

The outside of the stadium.

Random things around the stadium.

When we took the bus tour with our program they said that this weird thing was a cell phone tour. I don't know if they were lying but if its true the United States should invest in these. Way cooler to look at than those big boring tall ugly things we have.

la playa

Yesterday (saturday) we decided to go for a walk and actually see this city we are living in. Gaudi's famous church, Sagrada de Familia, is only about 5 or 6 blocks from us so we walked down to that first to go and look at it and take some pictures. I have never seen a church so large in my life its amazing. He started it in 1881 and probably wont be finished until 2025 they believe. Its crazy how long they have been working on this massive building.

This is only the main entrance of the church. It is so big its about a block long and wide. It is so tall and so much detail on it its crazy. I cant wait to go inside and see what the inside looks like.

After the church we kept walking, we really wanted to make it to the beach. We randomly found this really cool park.

This is just a giant fountain sculpture thing thats right in the middle of the park. Really random but it is very beautiful.

We then kept walking and found this elephant. Of course the little stone thing that tells about it was all in spanish so I have no idea what the significance of this is but it was really random hah. We didn't quite understand why it was there but I mean whatever floats your boat hah

who would have thought that a hotel would be named after pullman haha. I don't know if pullman means something in another language but it was really funny to see pullman followed us here to Barcelona!

This is one of the bars that we really like to go to. Its called opium and it is located right on the beach. It is a lot of fun and really pretty especially at night the trees are light up.

Night life in Barcelona

Well this weekend was a wild one. On Wednesday it was our first night out and here clubs don't even open until 1230 or 1 and don't close til 430 or 5 in the morning so we don't go to bed til way late. Wednesday we went to our friends apartment who lives in the dorms and hung out with them and then went out. Then on Thursday we went up to the 3rd floor and a bunch of the people from my apartment all hung out then went out together. Friday I felt like I had the flu. I would get super hot then super cold and so I stayed in and I'm so glad I did. I woke up saturday and felt 100 times better. It would be terrible to get sick here! Then last night (saturday) we didn't even leave out apartment til after 2 and went to this club called elephant and it was really cool. It kinda looked like an africa safari place. They had these weird men that walked around on stilts there and one was dressed in all silver and the other was dressed like a strange monkey it was really weird but it was a lot of fun.

Moving Day

Today, Tuesday, we finally got to move into our apartment! it was such a relief to finally be where we are living and settle in. Our apartment is so much better than I could have ever imaged. It is so cute and modern. Minus the fact that Kat and I got stuck with the smallest room I have ever seen!

So this is where Kat and I live. Barely any room to move or get in between our beds. Behind me there is a closet where Kat puts her clothes and the closet you see is mine. Behind my bed is a window that faces the main street.

Then there is Erin and Tenessas room. Much bigger, can actually move around and have huge closets. They also have a balcony off the back of their room. How I wish me and Kat got that room, but I guess as they keep telling us here "we don't live in our rooms just sleep."

This is our bathroom. You can see everything is very modern looking. Our washing machine is in our bathroom.

This is our living area and our kitchen. Kat and mine room is to the right of this picture.

This is our kitchen area. Everything is really nice. We have an oven, stove, dishwasher, fridge, freezer, and microwave. Way more than I ever imagined.

This is the view from our balcony.

After we got settled in a little bit we needed to head into the city to get a hair straightener. We took the metro, their subway system, for the first time with no leaders showing us. It was a little confusing, but we made it there and back all in one piece. On our way back the metro that we needed to get was shut down because someone got injured kinda looked like they had a heart attack so we then had to go and figure out where we were and find a new line to take, but we did all successful.

My Second Day

Today we were suppose to go on a 2 hour walking tour around the city, but my tour guide was terrible and it only lasted about a half hour. So Tenessa and I decided to go adventure the city with some other people from our program.

We just kind of wandered the streets not really knowing where we were going and we came upon this really cool church. It seemed like it was under construction but it was still really cool to see how old it was and how elaborate everything was.

Inside the church there was these little stations going along all the walls. Each on had these gates on them and one of the ones we passed there was a priest doing some sort of prayer in it.

This is the outside of the church. It seems as though a lot of things are under construction in Barcelona, there are a lot of cranes which I did not expect to see.

This is where the mayor lives, or at least that is what I was told haha. I guess he walks from his house to where he works on this little bridge. There were guards standing at all the entrances so I assume someone important lives or works there.

After we were done walking around Tenessa and I met up with Kat and Erin (or Ranch as we call her) and tried to figure out how to get lunch. It took a couple of cafes and getting brave enough to try and order something but once we did it was really good and cheap! I got a tuna baguette and a water for only 2.95 euro. We then had to meet the rest of our program to go on a bus tour of the city. We finally got to see how big the city was and all the famous places that I have heard about. I cannot wait to go to the beach one it gets warm out!

On the bus tour they allowed us to get off on one spot and it was on the hill that over looks the whole city. Here are a few pictures that I took. The city looks like a giant puzzle where nothing barley fits, definitely not like city planning that we have in the states.

This picture is from the same hill but it is facing the water. You cant really see but there is a little water in the background.

After the tour we all came home had another meeting and then crashed. Didn't even make it out to dinner last night.

Finally in Barcelona

I arrived here in Barcelona on Sunday the 10th, but to me it seemed like the 9th. We left from Seattle Saturday morning at 7:45 in the morning and arrived in Barcelona at about 8:30 on Sunday, so skipping a whole day was rather weird. Once we were we had to wait at the airport for about 2 hours til they came and picked us up. Finally they got us and took us to the hotel that we stayed at for our first two nights. It was a really nice hotel but way too many steps. Kathleen and I unfortunately had the 7th floor and walking up and down those steps got real old hah. I was exhausted after traveling for over 24 hours. We had a lot of meetings that day and then at night we all went out to dinner and it was sooo good. We had about 5 appetizers at dinner and then they brought us out our main course. We could choose between salmon and chicken and knowing how much I love chicken I decided to go with the salmon. I thought we were done eating that, they had cleared all the tables, but then brought us all spoons. Couldn't forget desert! It was flaun (not sure if I spelled it right) I was a little afraid to try it, but I was surprised that I actually liked it. It tasted a lot like pumpkin pie. After I went home and crashed I was so TIRED!