In the Land of Gaudi...

Well....where to begin. I spent last weekend in Barcelona, and it didn't exactly live up to its reputation. It was beautiful, don't get me wrong, but the culture was entirely different from that of the rest of Spain. It was very touristy--nobody spoke Spanish. The official language in Barcelona is Catalán, which has a French influence and is not recognizable by Spanish-speakers. And they are not willing to go out of their way to speak to you in Spanish even if you speak to them in Spanish--they are far too proud of their own little culture-bubble. So even though we wanted to practice our Spanish skills, we were better off speaking in English everywhere we went.

It just wasn't the same compared to my hometown, Madrid.

However, there were several fabulous things to see in Barcelona. First of all, it is the home of the famous modernist Gaudi. Many very interesting, awesome buildings, parks, and monuments designed by Gaudi captured our interest. Curvy, colorful structures and lots of intricate details. Very interesting to say the least. We went inside the Casa Mila (Pedrera), visited Park Güell, and saw Sagrada Familia and Casa Batlló from the outside. We also spent a while at the beach, although very chilly once the sun hid behind the clouds! But I still loved being there to see it. If only it had been warm enough to swim!

The best part of Barcelona was the Mercat Boquería--a market that sells flowers,

animals (ducks, gerbils, birds, turtles, bunnies...the works), and lots of fresh fish, fruit, pastries, and smoothies! Basically a dream come true. It was the most colorful and beautiful market ever!! We bought these yummy smoothies for only 1 Euro! We also visited the Picasso Museum which was pretty neat...although I'm not an art fanatic I can still appreciate the variety of work that Picasso did. I never knew that he dabbled in so many areas-painting, drawing, ceramics and more. Very strange...

Overall, we walked around a lot, until my feet were sore and blistered (yum?) and ate. A lot. Especially gelatto. I would be lying if I said I ate gelatto less than 3 times that weekend. And now I only look forward to more real Italian gelatto starting tomorrow in Venice, Italy!! My companions (Sonya and Alex) and I are sleeping at the airport tonight-to catch our early flight-so that we can save more euros for food while in Italy and France. Typical us.

Oh, one more thing! I failed to mention the all-you-can-eat sushi buffet. Unlimited sushi, fried foods, and desserts came around past our table on a conveyer belt. It was lots of fun and I've never done anything like it before! But I also felt ill every time I thought about it afterwards...

And as you can see, no matter how chubby I feel I still try to fit into small spaces and act silly! Just livin' it up in Spain! Now off to Venice and Paris for a week...and my MOM will be waiting for me in Madrid upon my return!