The guys cooking dinner for the group
Catedral d'Barcelona
Above: many of the elder folk gather in front of the cathedral on Sundays to dance and converse
July 16th, 2011
Our first day in Barcelona! We took a long bus ride over here this morning after a painfully sad goodbye to all of our host families. After catching up on some rest over the bus ride (but you never can really sleep on a bus), we arrived in Barcelona and met up with a local named Guille who helped us navigate through the intricate streets of the city. We checked out some of Gaudí's incredible architecture and took in some of the city's culture. We ate lunch at a place called Viena, a small and inexpensive cafe. Later, we walked around Parc Guell, a fantastic and aesthetically pleasing park on the Northeast side of town. Finally, a few of us split up to go get Chinese food in Spain... very strange. We ended up eating WAY too much but it was great. We then attempted to navigate back to the apartment, but we all ended up getting lost. After many a circles had been made, we found our way back to the apartment and took some well-needed showers before hitting the hay.
July 17th, 2011
Our second day in BCA. We woke up and ate a standard breakfast of bananas, cereal, and nutella. Turns out nutella is incredibly good with mild cheeses, who would have guessed? Then, we headed to Catedral d'Barcelona. Here, we saw a traditional catholic cathedral, with honestly I had very little interest in. However, it was an incredibly fun group activity to watch the security guards turn away people with too little clothing on. Later, we found a small restaurant to get food in, away from the touristy locations next to the port. I ate some of the best paella I've had in Spain. Then, a few of us headed to the aquarium during our free time. We saw all sorts of exotic fish and wildlife; however, the one in Georgia still wins best aquarium of all time... Then, we went to a renowned gelats store for some amazing gelatto. We headed back to the apartment to regroup and figure out what to do with dinner. After a failed attempt at finding a grocery store, we returned home to gather the others and let them know we would be going out for dinner. We ate at a pizzería that took unfortunately a little too long. Afterwards, we went to some discos with Jeff to experience some of Barcelona's night life. We were so tired that we didn't last more than an hour or so before wanting to return back to the apartments for some sleep.
July 18th, 2011
Today, Jeff gave everyone a free day to do pretty much whatever we wanted in Barcelona. The girls all went shopping (shocking, I know...) and Rob, Max, and I walked down towards the beach. We stopped by a small market to get some snacks and drinks and then headed to the boardwalk. We sat on the edge of a pier for a little bit then went swimming in the Mediterranean. The water was so cold and none of us had towels, it was freezing! Afterwards, we stopped for lunch at a small street side cafe. I had calamari con patatas fritas. Then, we realized we were right down the street from the zoo so we decided to pay it a quick visit! The zoo advertised the only albino gorilla known to man; however, after looping the gorilla exhibit twice without seeing a trace of Snowflake, we asked someone who worked there where the gorilla was. We promptly found out that the gorilla had died. It was a sad day for us three after that, but we got back on our feet and headed back to the apartment early. We all headed to a market down the street and bought supplies to cook dinner. The guys and I along with our local help, Guille, decided we would make some dinner for the rest of the group. We made pollo y arroz a la cubana con ensalada. I accidentally burned some of the rice and everyone put way too much salt on everything but it was still pretty good. Afterwards, we all figured we would hit the hay.
July 19th-20th, 2011
What a slow day. We woke up around 6am to pack all our bags and head for the bus station. We then spent an 8 hour bus ride back to Madrid. Once we had arrived, we showered, got dressed, and left all within 20 minutes of getting there. We then found some dinner at a tapas bar. I have never eaten so much food, I felt like I was going to die! Then, we all went back to the hotel for some shut eye. The next day, I spent 16 hours traveling back home to Nashville. As many of the group were ready to come home, I realized that I could never spend enough time in Spain and Catalunya. I have completely fallen in love with the country, people, and culture. As my trip comes to an end, I would like to give a huge thanks to the Wilson family for providing me with one of the most incredible experiences of my entire life. I already can't wait to go back and revisit my new found friends and places, as well as experiencing even more. I cannot thank you all enough for helping me fully grasp the culture and language of Spain.
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