Barcelona Day 2!

The next day we made the trek up to the Olympic stadium.Barcelona is built next to a set of mountains so part of the city is up higher in the mountains and you have to climb forever to get up to those parts.Not actually mountain climb but it's a pretty steep walk up sidewalks to get to the castle and Olympic stadium.It was incredibly rainy this day which kind of put a damper on our spirits and no one was too happy most of the day.We made it up to the Olympic stadium and saw where the diving competition had been held and the main arena where the track was.It was very cool.The diving competition was held right on a ledge so on one side of the pool were the bleachers but then on the other side there was just an incredible view of the city and a straight shot down to the road.A few feet further up the road was the main arena.On the sidewalks outside the stadium are metal circles built into the ground with names of some famous Olympians from the Barcelona Olympics.Most of them are Spanish but I did recognize Roger Federer, and Lance Armstrong was also there.We made our way back down the mountain because we were supposed to meet Alejandra's friends that were studying in Barcelona and were going to show us a bit more around the city.It took us about an hour to walk back down to La Rambla but we made it!It was starting to rain even harder and we had all forgotten our umbrellas so we were getting soaking wet and a little cranky.Since we had done so much walking the day before we had seen a lot of the major places that Alejandra's friends had wanted to us to see but they did take us to lunch at a restaurant that is purely Barcelona.You walk in and it's incredibly crowded.We didn't even try to get to the back to see if there was more space we just stayed right by the entrance.They have all kinds of food but we just all ordered a sandwich that Alejandra's friend recommended to us.It was ham and gruyere cheese on a bun and then toasted.It was cheap and delicious and then we also ordered wine because it's only 3 euro and split it between the 5 of us.It was a very small bottle J.After that we went to the Arc d' triumph that is in Barcelona which was very cool.It looks much different then the one in France because it's made of red brick and the concrete design is not as elaborate but it's still very beautiful.We were invited to someone's apartment to watch a movie but Emma, Ellen, and I opted to go find dinner elsewhere and we would meet up with Alejandra later.Ellen really wanted hot chocolate and churros so we set out on a mission to find her some.We found a place that may or may not have been a Spanish chain restaurant and was a bit pricey but we decided to go in anyway because we were tired and cold and wet.We sat there for awhile and then decided to get real food at the Pita Inn and then went back to our hostel for the night.By that time it was pouring and we had to walk up to our hostel so I decided to sing a song to cheer everyone up!I had had "the sun'll come out tomorrow" from Annie stuck in my head all day so I started singingthat and everyone joined in which was pretty funny and we just kept singing all the way up to our hostel.We also found out that there were wild boars around the area we were staying because as we were walking up the hill we saw one walking towards us.That was probably one of the most terrifying moments in my life!We made it safely inside our hostel and went to bed for the night.

Barcelona Day 3!

On my final day in Barcelona we wanted to see the castle that's above the city.It's even higher up then the Olympic stadium which was poor planning on our part because we should've done both of those things in one day but we didn't so the next day we walked back up the mountain so we could see this castle.It had a great view of the Mediterranean and was massive!The gardens were kept up really nicely and all of the flowers were beautiful.We just explored the outside and had lunch at the cafe that was there.We also visited a museum that had two art exhibits and an architecture exhibit.The first art exhibit was weird and the artist incorporated a horse into every single one of his paintings.They were kind of dark and depressing and were supposed to represent the suffering of the people of Eastern Europe.The next one had more of an impressionist style and then the architect exhibit was so cool!It was one architect named Richard Rogers and he has designed so many buildings all over the world.There were models of all of his work, completed and un-completed, and he designed Heathrow Terminal 5 and the Millennium Dome.After that we were going to meet up with Alejandra's friend again and we were going to go out to eat at the Traveller's Bar that serves a meal for 1 euro.You still have to buy a drink but it's definitely worth it because then your whole meal is only about 3 euro.We were served pesto pasta and it was pretty delicious especially for only a euro.After that we went to the Barcelona Opera House to get some pictures of it because it's beautiful.I was trying to get a picture of the outside but it was dark outside so I wasn't getting any good shots when a woman told me to turn my flash off.She had an American accent so I asked her where she was from and she said California but was raised in Ohio.We thought this was funny because people always get Ohio and Iowa mixed up.My friends and I proceeded to go inside the opera house.We weren't allowed to take pictures but that it was still amazing to see it.Everything is really ornate and beautiful.The walls and ceilings look like they should be in a museum.

Everyone always says that you should try Sangria in Spain so that was our last activity for the night.We went to the bar/restaurant that is located in the wax museum on La Rambla which was incredible.It was like a regular bar in the sense that clean up isn't that great and there are tables with glasses and napkins on them and the floor is a bit sketchy but that's to be expected.The way it's decorated is kind of like the Rainforest Cafe.There are trees everywhere and a waterfall and the ceiling has stars on it.It was really beautiful and very full.We managed to find a place to sit and ordered Sangria.I've never had Sangria before for obvious reasons but this was the best one I've ever had haha.It was a really great way to end my trip in Barcelona.The next morning I left the other three there and began my own trip to France to meet up with my roommate Jess and our friend Emmy.I managed to travel through the Barcelona underground system by myself and find the train station that would take me to Paris, all by myself.I was pretty proud of my self I must say.