¡Bienvenido a Barcelona!

So this last weekend three other girls and I decided to take the 1 hour 45 min plane ride to a whole other world: Barcelona! I seriously felt like I wasn't in Spain anymore...I barely even heard Spanish being spoken! The official language there is Catalan, a mixture of French, Spanish, and Italian....like what??? Even then it was mostly English that we heard (the official language of tourism). Barcelona had a very large city and modern feel, which is so unlike the small, friendly, and historic feel of Seville. (I might be a little biased, but I am so glad that I chose to study abroad in Seville instead of Barcelona!)

The flight there was super early, so we had to get up at 4 am that day...the rest of the weekend wasn't much better. I probably totaled less than 15 hours of sleep the whole weekend! Anyway...be prepared for some major picture viewing!!

Art!

To start off the day, we walked around the city a little bit. All of Barcelona is very very artsy, and has many parks with random pieces of art. It is all very modern and abstract. I don't understand art at all, so don't ask me what messages these pieces were supposed to be portraying! They were fun to look at though:)

My travel buddy, Sarah :)

Arc de Triomf built for the World Fair in 1888

Park Guell

After what felt like a 5 hour hike uphill, we finally made it to the famous Park Guell. This was my first, but definitely not my last, contact with Gaudi's work. He is a super famous arcitect who lived from 1852-1926 who pretty much dominated Barcelona. So much in fact, that I think Barcelona should be named "Gaudi World!" 

                                 

His architecture reminded me of a winter wonderland! 

                                 

                                               

  

                           

                             

    

Our group of four split off in two's often due to different interests, which worked out pretty well! Sarah and I had a lot of fun getting sun burned and taking selfies in the park! 

                        

There was also more park surrounding the actual park, so we explored around there as well!

I know I am wearing tennis shoes...but when we are walking miles everyday it is a necessity!! Also, the thing I've noticed from watching the young woman in Sevilla is that you can wear them here as long as you are wearing athletic pants. Then it just means you are going for the fashionable athletic look! Anyway, who cares if I look like a tourist while visiting other cities...I am one!

The gardens were beautiful! 

Una vista bellisima con mis tres amigas :)

That night we went out for some good food and fun. Because of the large international population in Barcelona, we tried all sorts of food! We had an awesome Mexican meal and to die for Turkish hummus and falafels!

Our group with Maya's friend, who is studying abroad in Barcelona, and our new German friend on the left that we met at the hostel! 

Sagrada Familia                                          

The next morning at 9 am sharp...so tired...Sarah and I decided to beat the massive crowds and go to the Sagrada familia. This unreal basilica was started by Gaudi in 1882, but is still unfinished! Most of the inside is done, but the outside is still being worked on. It still has many many years of work on it to go..no one is in too big of a hurry to finish!

                       

 

                                               

The outside looks like a creepy, evil castle, but the inside again looked like a winter wonderland! It was hard to believe my eyes (as cheesy as it sounds). 

                             

The stained glass windows created a rainbow light that shone throughout the inside! 

The basilica had a museum that explained Gaudi's life and the building of the basilica. There I learned that Gaudi's inspiration was nature and that all of his work was based off of themes and objects in nature. This completely changed my perspective of the basilica, and I started to see that the columns were really trees and that the windows were flowers. I began to fall in love with Gaudi then, for making such a sacred place resemble the tranquility and beauty of nature.  

Catedral de Barcelona

                     

We also went to Disney World and took pictures in Magic Kingdom! Haha that's what it kind of looks like to me :p I am a sucker for an old cathedral, so I enjoyed it a lot! Our hostel was just a block from here!

Other Adventures

The Cascada made by Gaudi and Fontsere. It is located in a park with lots of other cool pieces of art made for the world expo of 1888.

Some more of Gaudi's architecture

Photos from a random parade that we stumbled across! It was a parade with a bunch of students dressed in creepy costumes.

We went to a HUGE market with every food you could ever think of...including lamb brain and heart!

Too bad it was too cold to go swimming!

I had so much fun in Barcelona, and I wish I could have stayed longer to see everything. That being said, it was so nice to return "home" to Sevilla and be immersed in actual Spanish life again haha. 

I am slowly starting to become a little porky due to the extreme amounts of delicious food at lunch and dinner that my family makes for me, mixed with all of the cheese, bread, and pastries that I've been eating. Don't worry, when I go back to the US I will get fit again, but for now just be nice and don't mention my growing waistline! Gracias :)

 ¡Feliz Dia de San Valentin a todos!