Ciao Roma: Barcelona: Part 1

It's so hard to believe that we're already at spring break!!! Midterms were over, and Friday had arrived, which meant it was time for Carey, Amanda, and me to pack our bags and head to Barcelona for the first part of spring break. We all have some friends who are studying at the University of Barcelona this semester, so we figured that break would be the best time to visit them and explore the city.

It was a long afternoon of traveling, but we had absolutely no issues on the trip (thank goodness!). I have to say, it's a little weird to travel from one foreign country to another like we were just traveling through different states. But there's nothing that makes you feel more adjusted to foreign cultures than flying on a new airline out of an airport that you've never been to before, to a different city in yet another foreign country with yet one more (nope, actually two) new languages and a culture that you're not used to with no problems at all. Needless to say, we felt pretty accomplished. :)

We met up with some of our friends for dinner that night, but it had been a long day, so we just decided to meet up the next morning. On Saturday our friends took us around a few neighborhoods and areas of the city to show us around. The city is so big! We went to the market, the beach, watched some street performers, and walked through the Gothic neighborhood. Later we went to a park where Carey, Trey, and some other students played soccer, while those of us who are less inclined to the sport cheered from the sidelines. Later that night we went to a salsoteca...to celebrate my 21st birthday! We had a ton of fun, but by the time we got back to the hotel we were absolutely exhausted.

Street perfomers by the port.

Yep, that's the Mediterranean. :)

Carey and Trey showing them how soccer is played...Falcon style!

(It was her first taste of peanut butter in a while...the reaction was classic.)

We slept in on Sunday and then met up for breakfast. Lucky for me, they have Dunkin Coffee in Barcelona, so I got to have a little piece of New England on my birthday. It was a really relaxed day, and we spent most of it just walking around the city looking at Gaudi's architecture. We even stopped to watch some elderly men play bocchi ball.