Barcelona Fun

This weekend, since we had fall break at SLU, just about everyone went somewhere. I had friends who went to Dublin, Paris, Lisbon, etc. etc. Wow! It'll be fun to share stories this week. I went to Barcelona in my continuing efforts to see as much of Spain as possible - and also because I've heard it's awesome!! And, no surprises, it was! Here are a few highlights:

Here is a picture of Justin (one of my SLU buddies) and I behind a random window inside the Picasso Museum. The museum was very interesting, especially to see Picasso's early work before he got into cubism. He was very versatile... he did amazing portraits and impressionistic paintings early in his career. It was interesting to see his styles change over time. Ok, this picture has nothing to do with Picasso, but I thought it sort of looked like a jail, so I thought it'd make for a funny picture. Apparently, I'm excited to be in jail.



Here is a picture of Justin, Allyson, Christine, and Crista in front of the Christopher Columbus statue by the harbour of Barcelona. It was raining all that night! We were all soaked by the end.
My laminated Barcelona map that Dad bought me before I came to Spain ended up being a great rain helmet. Way to think ahead Dad!

This below is a picture of my room in my hostel. There were 6 girls total in my room (I didn't know anyone from before)... and it was not very spacious, to say the least! It didn't help either that one of the girls had strewn her stuff all over the room... clothes, bottles... I had read pretty un-impressive reviews of this place, called Rambla & Catalunya Hostel, so I knew it wouldn't be all that great, but since I booked so last minute, I didn't really have many options. And honestly, I didn't care much, I mean it was cheap and I was only there to sleep. The shower didn't drain, it was loud, and the staff seemed a little apathetic, haha, but hey, it was a place to sleep! Luckily, the hostel my other friends were in was nice. I learned its definitely good to book in advance and find a hostel with a good review!

We saw lots of modernista (Catalunyan Modernist Period) architecture, like this apartment building designed by Gaudi, the most famous of them all! The architecture in this city was amazing - an incredible mix of Gothic, Modernista, Barroque, and recent. I really like it...

The Gothic cathedral of Barcelona is also very pretty. Sadly, a lot of it was covered up, since they are restoring it, but the inside was beautiful! It was sort of dark inside, since it was raining hard outside, but it had a very soft ambience, with the lit candles, the high ceilings, and the stained-glass windows.

Well, that's a taste of the trip! We took the overnight bus both to and from Barcelona... which overall worked really well. Sleeping on a bus is not easy, but it did make the ride go faster and saved us a lot of money on sleeping arrangements! I definitely needed a couple intense naps after the busses though! Overall, this trip was great... I hung out with a lot of different people and got to know them better, had my first European hostel experience, saw the sites of Barcelona, had awesome seafood paella (the Spanish national dish), and ate my first "Mexican" meal since coming to Spain! I had nachos at the Hard Rock Cafe, and even though they weren't really all that amazing or authentic, they were great because I had been craving Mexican for a long time!

I hope I make it back to Barcelona someday... I would really love to see the Dali museum, more Gaudi architecture, and to see a concert inside the world-famous Catalunyan Music Palace,which is naturally lit by this amazing mosaic stained-glass dome. There is so much to do in this city!