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Travel Break 2 continued...
March 22nd, 2007
This afternoon Heidi and I arrived in Barcelona. After we got to our hostel and checked in we met up with Jess, Adam, and Adam's friend from school John who is studying in Barcelona. We went to Parc Guell, which I'm pretty sure was like all made by Gaudi. It was a long journey on the metro and such to get there, but it was so worth it. The place was inspired by like a Hansel and Gretel type of theme, and the buildings were very abstract and candyland-like. The coolest part was going up to the top and looking out at the scenic view of the whole city. It was so beautiful.
Afterwards Heidi and I went back to the hostel (Hello BCN) and got ready for the night. We met up with my friend Jacqui who is one of my friends in my house at school, and she's studying in Barcelona. She took us out to this really neat and hip Mexican/Spanish place for dinner. It was pretty good. We were craving real Mexican food (which I learned is something I miss the most about the states), and this was NOT real Mexican food...but it's okay. It was still good.
After that Heidi Jacqui and I walked around Las Ramblas for a little while which is like the main street. She gave us a little bit of a personal tour. We ended up running into a couple people from my program, and went to their apartment. There were like 40 people that got apartments right near each other, and when we walked in it was full of CIMBA kids. It was like a reunion. We hung out there for a little bit and then went to a local bar called Molly's Irish Pub or something...and then walked to another place called the Wooden Spoon and watched the Kansas basketball game. That's what you get when you go to school with 70 Kansas kids.
March 23rd, 2007
Today Heidi Jess and I got up and headed out to the Sangria Familia church. Honestly I'm not sure if that's the name of it, but that's what I'll call it...haha. This is the longest construction site in the world, as it has been under construction for 150 years. Apparantly Gaudi died after only like 1/4 of it was done, and they have been working on it ever since. The building itself is really interesting looking. From the outside the architecture makes it appear as if it's melting. I;ve never seen anything like it. Actually, the picture in this blog (not the one of the city) shows the cathedral, so check it out!
We got there are paid 8 euro to go inside. The only thing to do was go up an elevator and look out at the city, and the line for that was 2 1/2 hours long. So yea, we didnt have the patience to wait...so we just went inside and checked it out. It was a little disappointing because of all the construction, and you really couldnt get a good feel of the thing. OOOh well.
We had lunch at this healthy place that made smoothies and sandwiches and even salads. I was in heaven. We were standing there when all of a sudden I felt these two huge hands around my eyes from the back. I turned around and realized it was a kid from CIMBA named Jesse, and a couple other kids Kyle and Devon. What a smalll world! We sat around and talked with them for a little bit, and then explored the city a little bit with them seeing Gaudi's other 2 famous buildings.
Later that day we decided to check out a fountain light show that was going on in the middle of the city. I forget the name of the building, but there was this huuuge fountain, and every Friday there is a 2 hour show where they play music and the water goes to the music and turns different colors. It was probably one of the most fascinating things I have seen since being here. It was just amazing how they did it.
Then we went to dinner with Jacqui, and she took us to a really hip part of the city that we would never have discovered. We went to an Italian restaurant (surprise surprise), and it was pretty good. Then we went to this dessert place called Bobo...and oh my gosh they had the most intricate and beautiful desserts ever. Talk about presentation.
After that we went to some bar where they serve Sangria by the pitcher really cheap. I wasnt really in the mood to be there, so Heidi, Jess, and I all left within like an hour. On our way to the metro, sketchy guys on the street were like trying to sell us Cocaine and who knows what else. We just ignored them and kept walking. We had heard to be extremely careful about your bags and such, because there are a ton of cases of pitpocking. So when we got to the metro this one guy comes up to Jess and the first thing she says is "I don't want anything you're selling...and if you try to take my stuff I'll kick your ***" hahahahhahaha.
Then we finally got on the metro and a group of guys cheered as we walked on. They were obviously drunk and trying to talk to us, but not in like a creepy "they're gonna steal from us" type of way. It proved to be interesting because we just didnt care and we were messing around with them but watching our stuff at the same time. They didnt stay on long, and once they got off we knew we were safe. So yeah, that was our adventure for the night.
March 24th, 2007
We bummed around for a good half of the day today, and didn't really do much until about noon. Jess, Heidi, and I went to the beach and walked around down there. It was the first time I had felt like the weather was appropriate, and it felt great being by the water. We had lunch at this place by the beach, and boy was that interesting. We ordered a pitcher of Sangria, and at the end of the meal when we had about 1/4 of Sangria left, I noticed something interesting. There was a huge cockroach bug in our Sangria. It was disgusting. We told the waiter and he tried to tell us it was sugar. Are you kidding me? He took it away and 5 mins later he came back trying to give us another Sangria with the same amount in it without a bug. (obviously it was ours and he just took out the bug..) And we told him we didnt want it. We were so grossed out. Well, then he came with the check and charged us 18 euro (aka about 30 dollars) for the drink. Again, are you kidding me? I'm not paying for that! Sooo our total bill came to 54 euro, and we only paid 40 euro...and walked away. I know it sounds terrible, and I have never done anything like that in my life, but we were not about to pay for Sangria that had bugs in it...especially when it was 30 dollars. I felt really guilty about walking out...and I think thats why I put in an extra 5 euro. haha.
After the whole bug incident, we made our way to the Olympic stadium where the 1992 Olympics were held. It was real cool to see. We even saw the torches!! haha
Then we went back to the hostel, took a nap, and went to the supermarket. Yea, there was a market right next to our hostel, and we went and got ingredients to make dinner. We had a kitchen at the hostel and were allowed to use it entirely. So we made a gourmet dinner for four (Jess, Heidi, Adam, me). We had tomato and mozzerella salad (caprese salad), and cold pasta with balsamic, sauteed mushrooms and onions, and mozzerella and tomato. So good! Adam even bought a bottle of wine, and I set the table so it was authentic.
After eating we met up with what seemed like all 50 of the CIMBA kidsat a bar called Dow Jones. This bar was really neat because it was inspired by the Stock Market, and the drink prices would go up and down according to the stock market. At one point a drink I bought was 5 euro, and then 5 mins later the market crashed and it was only 2.50. Talk about a great entrepreneurial opportunity to implement one of these in the states...I think it would be real successful.
So we watched the Kansas game again, and this was when they ended up losing. I cant tell you how upset the Kansas people were. Honestly, I went home because they were all being bums.
March 25th, 2007
Did I mention that we met these two really cool guys from Nebraska that were staying in our hostel? Heidi actually recognized one and it turns out they have the same circle of friends and he like went to Oklahoma or something with her on a bus when it was her bday. Weeeeird. But yea, they were awesome. Their names were Matt and Chris, and they were doctors. AKA Mcdreamy and Mcsteamy. Seriously. But the only problem was they were like 26 and 28. Thats okay though, they were fun to hang out with.
ANYWAYS, this morning we checked out of our hotel at like 11. We went to the beach again to waste some time and came across antique vendors up and down the streets that were selling really cool antique stuff. My knee at this point was hurting so bad that I was practically in tears, so I finally invested in a knee brace at the local pharmacy. It was the best 31 euro I think I've spent since I've been here.
OH get this. We were walkin back from the beach to our hostel, when all of a sudden we see the black guys on the side of the street selling fake purses pick up their stuff and run as fast as I have ever seen someone run. I swear, right in front of me this guy (undercover cop) TACKLES this black guy and starts beatin him up and taking his purses from him. It was ridiculous!!!! I couldnt believe I had really just witnessed that.
Anyways, long story short we caught a bus to the airport and all 60 of the CIMBA kids that were in Barcelona were on the same flight. I was really hungry before the flight so I bought a sandwich at this "Tex Mex place" (which was sooo not Tex Mex) and it turned out to be 10 euro!!! The sandwich literally had 1 tomato, 1/2 an egg, and 1 piece of cheese. Man, Europe is expensive...and talk about disappointment. But I got over it, and it was all good when I arrived back in Paderno @ 10:30 and fell in love with Italy all over :)
LOVE it here!
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