Spring Break

[March 15-20]

Hi all!

I hope everything is going well at home, I know some of you are excited to hear what I have to say about my spring break and my visit to Barcelona then my stay with Isa in Trieste and seeing Venice for an afternoon... well I'll tell you.

HOWEVER, I am tired, and while I love keeping everyone informed, it takes some time to write these blog posts, and I have so very little time. Why? I will tell you. Unlike most study abroad students, I have actual classes here, and actual class work... but like ALL study abroad students, I am traveling almost every weekend I have available. With those two things combined I end up with a life that looks like this:

After getting back from Barcelona on Thursday morning (on a flight that left Spain at about 6am so we didn't bother to sleep that night...), I had 20 minutes in my apartment to unpack a few things and pack a few other things before I left to get a train to Venice then Trieste to visit Isa. Then after coming home Sunday evening, I had class at 9am on Monday. I have class at 9 am everyday, Monday through Thursday where I am in the role of "normal college kid" and have to attend class, and do homework and study... then, after 4 days of school, I leave this Thursday night for Brussels to visit with Kelly and Chris Maloney, and see Belgium! Exciting right!? Very! but also tiring.

So, please don't be too disappointed if I don't give every detail of my trip, or if it seems my post is too short for the amount of time I spent in Barcelona... I promise I will have PLENTY of stories and more to tell when I come home, but for now, pictures and my favorite highlights will have to suffice :)

So, here are my favorite parts of Barcelona:

Barcelona reminded me a lot of New York City! The subway system is extremely easy to navigate, and I never felt like I would not be able to find my way home if I was out on my own. Very comforting, and it was a good introduction for me to be on my own here and prepare for traveling more on my own in the future.

The night we got there, one of the workers at our hostel suggested we should go see the fountain and light show that was on that night (Friday) as well as the next night... having just gotten there, we didn't have any other plans, so we figured why the heck not?
BEST. DECISION. EVER. We loved it. In fact, we loved it so much we ended up going back the next night too! Here are pictures of The Magic Fountain of Montjuic:

 Basically, it is this HUGE ELABORATE light and fountain show set to music! It was one of the most beautiful and wonderful things I have ever seen, and I had an awesome time watching it and taking pictures (as you can see, I took a LOT here).

The view from the top of the steps was absolutely beautiful! This is Barcelona at night!

Well, that was a lot of pictures, but really now, is that not gorgeous!? It was a perfect first impression of where we had chosen to spend our spring break!

Anyway, that was our first night, the rest of the time we wandered the city and saw so many cool things, here is a short list of what I did in the few days following this night.

I saw La Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila, Park Guell, Casa Batllo-- All places designed by Antoni Gaudi, and all phenomenal looking!

La Sagrada Familia 

       

This is the inside of La Sagrada Familia.... I was amazed. It is so cool looking, and my pictures can't even do justice to it.

Casa Mila-- We actually just stumbled upon this on accident!
I didn't know what it was until I looked up where Gaudi houses were later!

This is in the park, Park Guell

Casa Batllo

Palau Guell
It looks like a gingerbread house!

We also went to Las Ramblas! This is essentially a shopping area in Barcelona, with La Rambla being the main street, there is a lot of cool stuff there, human statues, the coolest market ever, and it leads right up to the water! If you want to see more pictures of this area they're on facebook, or I will just share when I come home!

Best market ever. There were so many cool
and wonderful things in here!

Then there was the water... Absolutely beautiful!!

Well, there is a lot more... we went to an FCBarcelona Soccer game, which was really fun! I wandered around and saw a park there, I bought some cool souvenirs  and some other random things.... But I think this post is long enough, and this way I will have plenty to share when I get home!

I will post on my stay with my wonderful sister Isa soon, it was an absolutely splendid, and eventful, weekend and it deserves a post of its own!


Ciao all!

P.S. --  If you actually do want to hear about more of my week in Barcelona, or anything more about what I mentioned briefly here, just let me know in a comment here or on facebook, and I will gladly share more! Otherwise, I will share plenty more when I come home in 2 MONTHS! I'm already half way done with Europe, it's crazy.