Day 65 - My day started with some breakfast from a bakery that one of Matt's friends suggested. It was just off La Rambla and specialized in quality products (aka expensive) that were good. Since lunch in Spain is later than in the US, I unintentionally carb loaded by trying the veggie focaccia, a lemon muffin and a cheese brioche. The only thing I wasn't really fond of was the cheese brioche. After breakfast, we headed to the Sagrada Familia only to find out that tickets were sold out until 2pm. Yay for not planning! Instead of waiting there for 2 hours we headed to Camp Nou, Barcelona's soccer stadium. That day I made sure to wear Julian's Messi jersey because taking it to the stadium was one of the only reasons I went to Barcelona. Joan Miro park was next on our list but my first impression was that it wasn't as pretty as I thought. As I walked in further (like every other park) it was beautiful. There were a ton of palm trees everywhere and there was even a "garden hallway" with flowers all around! I spent a lot of time there just relaxing and enjoying the scenery before we headed to Plaza Catalunya. I wasn't surprised that there really wasn't much to see in the plaza. We stopped for gelato to eat up (literally) some extra time before we could enter the Sagrada Familia. The Sagrada Familia is hands down my favorite basilica. Compared to the other churches and cathedrals, Antonio Gaudi made the inside very simplistic. If you look at the outside of the basilica you would assume that the inside would be very similar but its not overwhelming. I don't know how to describe it but it's simply complex. The pillars on the inside represent trees in a forest and if you look closely at the ceiling you can see the leaves of the trees. We paid an extra few euro to be able to go up one of the towers, which was pretty cool. The entire basilica is being constructed solely by donation; just the way Guadi wanted it. I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's completed. By the time we left the Sagrada Familia my feet were exhausted and even though I had skipped lunch, I wanted to prevent a headache and stopped at a fruit market for snacks. Until we went out for tapas, I spent most of the time relaxing in the hotel and talking to Julian before he went to work. After searching for what felt like forever, I finally found a really good tapas bar called Sensi. Even though it was expensive it was worth it because all of the other tapas bars were catering to tourists and it was hard to escape the over priced bars. While at the bar I ordered a Vermut because the tourist map said it was a typical wine that was flavored with fruit (now that I think about it maybe they meant sangria...). It turns out it's basically a sweeter version of an old-fashioned. It wasn't bad but I was definitely looking forward to a sangria type drink. I guess that's my fault for believing a tourist map. Lesson learned. Day 66 - Sunday morning I did not want to get out of bed but when I finally did, I stopped at the bakery across the street for breakfast. The first place we visited was Mountjuic, which used to be a Jewish cemetery converted to a fortress and then a prisoners "castle." It only cost 3 euro to get in and it was pretty cool to see. After we got back down the mountain we headed all the way across the city to Park Güell, which was another hike up. It was definitely worth it for the views and being able to see Guadi's house. When we got back down we stopped by a cafe for lunch but it was pretty expensive since it was really close to the park. The food was average and the entire lunch only took us 30 mins! That's so unheard of in Spain but I think here they cater to tourists more, which is sad because you lose so much of the culture. After our quick lunch we headed to the Piccasso Museum and stood in line for an hour to get in for free. I loved the museum but there were some parts that were a little strange. I noticed throughout my trip that most people in Barcelona don't really speak Spanish. Everything is in Catalan, then they'll speak to you in English and then Spanish. The entire time I was there I was speaking Spanish and I threw so many people off it was ridiculous. They would stand there in shock and not know what to say. Even when we went to the bar for tapas, the bartender kept speaking to us in English even though I spoke solely in Spanish. Eventually, he was stopped and said, "Wait, you speak Spanish really well!" Day 67 - Monday I woke up at the ungodly hour of 4 am to make it to my 7 am flight. I went to bed early the night before so I got plenty of sleep but I still managed to knock out for an hour on the plane. I woke up at the perfect time in the middle of my slumber to catch a beautiful sunrise. Life goal complete. I hurried off the plane to the bus stop but unfortunately missed the first bus to the city. Another one came about 30 mins later and I ran into class 40 mins late. (Don't worry I told my professor I would be late).
After class, I made my way home looking forward to my roasted vegetables but apparently Ignacio liked them so much he left only 2 pieces...Thanks... Luckily I had the leftover pasta which was absolutely delicious! I productively powered through all of my homework, figured out my class schedule, sent post cards and made food, even while talking to Bobby and Eli! After my afternoon class, I registered for Julian's and my classes, made dinner (eggplant pizzas again! woo!), met with Lyuda for Enactus, and sat in the Enactus meeting!
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