Day one--traveling is starting to catch up with us! We made it to Barcelona safely (but tired) after a flight on Wizzair which was not quite on the same tier as Easyjet but it did the trick (the airplane was all purple and pink and everyone claps when you land as if they were worried we weren't going to make it).We rode a train directly to our hostel where we have a private room on the top floor overlooking the water in the distance! After checking in, we found Gaudis Tapas restaurant for lunch down the street to eat some pizza (we were starving and the waiter accidentally dropped a whole cup of coffee on me so now one of my few outfits is ruined but no worries--cant complain we are in spain!). Then we went on a little stroll after getting reenergized and ended up at Basilica de la Sagrada Familia. There are no words for this church. This is the only building we have paid to enter so far this trip and it was well worth every penny. The beautiful and vibrant stain glass and amazingly high ceilings bring a tear to your eye when you first enter. Also, the outside of the building may be even more incredible then the inside if that's possible. The church looks like a drip castle that you'd make on the beach but there are people and other items all hidden within the drips. I cant begin to describe it but will show you pictures when I'm home! After this amazing tour, we walked a little more thinking we were headed for Las Ramblas (which we weren't- just lost again). The good thing about us getting lost though is we always just laugh about it and end up stumbling across some cool part of the city we would never had seen before. We never get angry about walking in circles (as you said mom, good thing we were athletes). After realizing las ramblas probably wasn't close, we stopped back by the hostel to get some hostels and trains booked for the rest of the trip before dinner. For dinner, we ventured down to Port Olimpico by metro and sat on the beach. I had delicious risotto with chicken! We also had our first taste of catalan cream for dessert which is just like creme brûlée..Yum!

Day 2- we woke up with 5 min to spare to make it to complimentary breakfast in the hostel (which really is not good at this place but we savor the free water!). Then we decided we wanted to take a break from sight seeing and walked to the beach at Port Olimpico where we had dinner the night before. On our walk we stumbled across a little market that sold everything from mattresses to shoes. Luckily we were able to buy a towel for the beach! The walk to the beach takes about 35 min so by the time we got there we were starving and stopped at a restaurant just a street from the water. Unfortunately the menu was entirely in Catalan (the language of Barcelona) and the waiter spoke 0 English. Needless to say, lunch consisted of a plain baguette with some prosciutto in the middle and two coca cola lights. After lunch we stayed at the beach for a while being sure to protect our belongings! The beach was mainly full of locals and not very crowded. Great people watching! After laying on the beach we headed to La Rambla street to check out the market (it was the opposite direction of where we had been the previous day). The market was very cool--full of jewelry, artwork, knick knacks and lots of restaurants! We headed back to the hostel for happy hour (buy one get one free) and tried the Estrella Damm which is the beer of choice in Barcelona and it was delicious! Lastly we headed back to the port to try tapas, seafood paella and sangria on the water which was recommended by Kristen's friend. We got an awesome deal in great atmosphere--wonderful suggestion!

Day 3- we set out for Park Guell. This park is beautiful and full of the most creative and unique architecture. We sat on the beautiful mosaic benches that overlooked the whole city and took tons of pictures. The park was amazing and also great exercise for the sunny day (we had to climb a giant hill). After the park we headed back to Las Ramblas area. I had read on trip advisor that there was a good restaurant near the San Paulo Cathedral for lunch. However, we couldn't find it and were starving at this point so we just stopped at some ethnic place and tried kebabs (bad idea). Let's just say they didn't hit the spot but luckily we were going to the St. Joseph Mercat (la boqueria) in Las Ramblas. The market was incredible--similar to Reading Terminal but on a whole new scale (endless meats, cheese, fish, olives, etc). Kristen got some fresh watermelon and I got a strawberry mango juice to hold us over until dinner! After the market we saw a church in the distance that we thought we should see so we headed out in that direction and found an AWESOME tapas place. The bar is lined with plates of various tapas all with toothpicks in them and the whole restaurant itself is not much larger then squeeze in charleston. When you walk in they give you a plate and ask you to take what you want and leave the toothpicks on your plate to pay at the end. I tried two--a cheese mushroom chorizo concoction and prosciutto on a baguette with the famous tomato spread of Spain. They were delicious! I paid 3.50 for two toothpicks and a full belly finally! After this we headed to the bus station to try to get an earlier bus (which worked out) and went to dinner at a little tapas bar near the university. The tapas were great once again (other then the mussels which were served cold, possibly raw--so lucky we didn't get sick!!). We stopped by chupitos after dinner (a local shot bar suggested by Erin) for a Harry Potter and Bob Marley shot. This was the first place we have been that asked for our id the entire trip. The walls of the bar are lined with 100s of different shots. The Harry Pottter shot was lit on fire that flew in the air, like the Pheonix. There was an orange covered in sugar you bit first then took the flaming shot which was beyond nasty! Definitely worth the experience but also undoubtedly a prelude to get you sick (way too sugary and too many mixes).

Now we are on the bus headed to Valencia. We were so happy not to get on an airplane again! Looking forward to some relaxing beach days soon :)