España 2011: BBBAAARRRRTTTTHHHHHEEEELLLLOOOONNNNNAAAAA!!!!

This past weekend I went to Barcelona with a group of 15 from my program. We all stayed at the same hostel and we had an absolute blast. We left Granada on a bus Friday morning that took us to the airport in Malaga. Unfortunately, our plane was delayed for two hours so by the time we arrived at our hostel it was around 5 at night. That night we ate burgers near our hostel and walked the streets. It was absolutely beautiful because everything was decorated for Christmas. The main street in Barcelona is called La Rambla and the entire street was lit up with white lights. We walked along La Rambla all the way to the waterfront then we returned to our hostel to go to bed. The week before Barcelona my friend Danielle from University of Portland was in Granada and we completed our culture class therefore catching up on some rest was much needed.

On Saturday we woke up and after having breakfast at our hostel we headed out to La parque Guell, which is a park that was constructed by Gaudí. It is a huge park that has a beautiful viewpoint surrounded by benches decorated with mosaic tile. Parque Guell is also home to some absolutely beautiful houses that look like gingerbread houses to me. When it was originally build Gaudí had the intention of it being where the aristocrats of Barcelona would live. That fell through as they did not want to live outside of the city, but now the park is free for the public. After Parque Guell we met up with a friend of my friend´s that is studying in Barcelona for a year. She showed us around the Gothic district of Barcelona and took us to a park named Montjuic where there is an ancient castle and beautiful views of the city. For lunch we got Mexican food because once you have lived in Spain for 3.5 months, the last thing you want is Spanish food, so instead we ate Mexican! Saturday night we had the Barcelona vs. Levante soccer game. We got Subway sandwiches for dinner and headed towards the stadium in our Barcelona gear. I sat with two of my friends during the game and our seats were roughly 20 rows up from the field at the goal line! It was absolutely phenomenal!!! It was probably the fastest 90 minutes of my life, however, the crowd was surprisingly not quite as rowdy as I expected. Pretty much everyone in the stadium sat to watch the game and seemed more civilized than the majority of the games that I have been to in the US. I believe this is because at the stadiums they do not sell alcohol. At one point during the second half after Barcelona had scored once again (they won 5 to 0) a wave went around the entire stadium five times. The Barcelona Stadium is the second largest in the entire world holding just under 100,000 fans. It was an incredible site. After the game, we hung out around the stadium hoping the metro would clear out a little because the lines for the metro were unbelievable right after the game. Once back at the hostel we got ready to experience the nightlife of Spain to celebrate Barcelona´s win. It was a great day!!

On Sunday morning we woke up and had breakfast at the hostel again accompanied by some Starbucks lattes. After breakfast, three friends and myself rented bikes for two hours to bike around some of the parks in the city. We had a blast and the weather was perfect. Barcelona is a very large city and has a population of 1.6 million inside the city limits with another 4 million living outside the city. Due to its large population size, the city feels so alive at all times of day. Walking around the streets there are always people walking around and enjoying life. After biking, we got delicious pizza and warm fudge brownies from a small cafe that we stumbled upon on our bike ride. After lunch we headed over to La Sagrada Familia, which is Gaudís life work, which is still nowhere near being completed. Most likely it will take another 40 to 60 years to complete the entire cathedral and I hope that when it is completed I will able to return. It was beautiful but I can only imagine that once completed with all stained glass windows it will be one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. After La Sagrada Familia, we walked around the Christmas markets for a period of time. One of the traditions in Cataluna for Christmas is to buy a ¨Caganer¨, which is a figure that is placed in a Nativity scene that is pooping. It doesn’t make any sense to me but it is supposed to represent the equality between all human beings. It was a very interesting site when we first stumbled upon them. For dinner we went to a place called ¨Wok to Walk¨ and it was essentially a Mongolian Grill that you could take to go. I am most definitely missing the variety of food that is offered in the US. That night our group just hung out at the hostel because all 14 of us were in the same room.

It was all in all a great weekend and a wonderful last trip to my time in Spain. I come home two weeks from tomorrow, which is very hard for me to believe. I wrote two blog entries today so don’t forget to read the one right below this about my time is Florence! This week I only have class today and tomorrow I am planning on going skiing at the ski resort near Granada then on Friday my friends and I are going to the Parque de las ciencias. Currently in Granada all of the Christmas lights have been turned on and there are Christmas markets around as well. Yesterday, two of my friends and I went Christmas shopping then we ate Churros con Chocolate before walking around the city under all of the beautiful lights. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Next week is finals and then I come home. See you all very soon!