Spring break was such an experience. It had many rough spots but I saw things I would never see in my life otherwise. Looking back, yes I would have changed a few things but as it is, I always take things as they go and of course I was (maybe overly) positive. In any event, I made up my mind to go back to Barcelona one day in the next few years.
The first issue we ran across was getting to the airport. Of course. The train ticket we had said Aeroporto: Pisa but we ended up in some beautiful holiday town 2 hours away called Castiglioncello, which we will definitely be visiting within the last few weeks.
With the support of a Florentine man who had a Blackberry with Google capabilities and was also on a short vacation in Castiglioncello, we called an €80 cab and found ourselves at Pisa's Airport. And away we went.
Flight to Barcelona! Flying still blows my mind.We landed in the evening with the sun getting ready to set. We made it to our hostel without a terrible amount of trouble and set out on the city to find a cheap dinner.
...which would be pizza cones, of course. €2. Along Las Ramblas.The next morning, we woke up early to meet up with the guys, Tony and Chris and their friends.
Jams, marmalade, cereal, OATS!!!, off-brand Nutella, honey, and non-expiring milk in a box. YES.
And coffee. Next to boxes and boxes of teas.
We scaled our way to Park Guell, which took several escalators and several sets of stairs.
There were hundreds and hundreds of cacti. I hadn't really been out of Florence in awhile or away from the city life so this park was a great relief. I didn't realize how much I needed green.
After the visit to the park, we made our way down to the city again and had lunch. KFC and weird (but good) meat burgers. Kat, Haven, and I explored the city while the rest of them went into the Sagrada Familia designed by Antonio Gaudi.
On the way back, I grabbed some pictures.
In the evening, we decided we would meet up later to go out to the clubs. By pure chance, we ran into Kat and Lauren. It reminded me of Christine meeting up with Matt, Laura and Billy (except theirs was a little more beyond belief). Matt is a music law student in Boston, MA, Christine was temporarily in MD, and Laura and Billy worked in Washington DC- and they all happened to be in DC for a short amount of time. It makes me wonder if this will happen in the future when we're all back in the States.
Anyways... we met up with the girls and they found out they were in the same hostel as Tony. We'd meet up to go clubbing around 10:30.
For dinner-
This is probably about half the reason I want to go back to Barcelona. I LOVED it. It was a French restaurant but had Catalayun dishes. I was confused. Well, the title and the menu was in French. It all made me miss French so much because Italian is horribly difficult for me to pick up, so I made a promise to start up with French when I got home. Maybe.
Sangria!
Seafood paella!
Catalayun dessert! With creme brulée Catalayun custard over nougat ice cream in a pool of chocolate.All of it was €15 for me. Just about. Plus water, and a table charge I think. More than well-worth it. As it happened, we didn't get out until almost 11pm and missed the clubs, which I was actually pretty glad about considering my frugality and lack of enthusiasm for clubs/bars lately.
The next day, we made it out to the beaches. It was terribly windy and almost cold but I loved seeing the beach- getting to look out to the ocean evokes a calming feeling that I need every so often.
Endless perfect baby shells.
Barcelona had come to remind me so much of home, which I suppose is why I loved it so much. It was the most modern place I've been since I left the States- the buildings were architecturally futuristic but there were still pieces of old history sprinkled on the map. The streets reminded me of exactly of LA and Miami. And by Miami, I mean my visit to Miami during my Gran Theft Auto obsession.
Round two of Les Quinze Nits with everyone. And fried cheese.
(Front to Back, Right and Left: Chris, me, Sarah, Kat, Lauren. Tony, Sam, Haven, Kat, Lynn.)I talked to Tony, Chris and Sam the whole dinner. It was refreshing to meet more new people, especially people who reminded me of home, and especially guys who weren't horn-dog Italians. It made me miss my guy friends at home SO much. Literally 100% of the people I've made friends with here (minus my professors) are girls which is maybe too much estrogen for me? hahaha.
After three short days in Barcelona, it was time to say good-bye. But only for now.
I snapped a picture of one of the fifteen H&Ms along the main streets on our way to the Airport.
Goodbye Barcelona.
Now for the next flight.
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