I heart Gaudi in Barcelona

So we went to Barcelona for the weekend. We left early Friday and were lucky to arrive to a hotel room that was already to go. We dropped off our stuff at hotel and started wandering down La Rambla - it is a vibrant street with a market (that rocks.) We enjoyed some fresh fruit and some great fresh juices. Then we walked through the old town and explored the shops. It was typical European Old Town with winding roads and you don't know what cool shop or restaurant you will find around every corner. We ate at a Tapas buffet for lunch. They count your sticks to figure out how much you owe - it was 1.60 Euro for inside and 1.75 for outside.

Due to our super early flight and very hot weather, we were exhausted come 2 pm. So we decided to embrace the Spanish culture and take a siesta. We woke from our short siesta and went for a Tapas dinner at a place in La Raval called Bar Lobo - it seemed cool and hip - it might not be - but it fooled me into thinking it was cool.

The next morning we headed to La Sagrada Familia - the cathedral that Gaudi started building before his death - but more than 100 years later it is still not finished. Meghan, Bruce and I decided that we needed to return when the cathedral was finished in 30 years. We also headed to the Park Guell, a park designed by Gaudi, orginally for the rich, but to his disappointment was opened to the comman man - Meghan, Bruce and myself. However, what is amazing like Barcelona and every other city in Europe I have been too is that we manage to find every hill in the city and hike up it. We topped off the night with Sangria made from Champange and Oranges, it rocked!!! I also had Montchego cheese - it was delicious. Wolfgang introduced me to this cheese in Berlin (ironically.)

For instance the next morning we headed to the Olympic Park that was on a hill. We walked up what could be the steepest part of the hill followed by hundreds of stairs. However, on the way down we did find that had we come through the front we could have taken escalators all the way up, but really what fun would that have been. It was worth the hike though - there is something rewarding to stand at the top of the hill and that overlooks the city and know that you walked up the entire way.

We didn't do much shopping in Barcelona due to the fact that the Euro is an international conspiracy against us - in other words the exchange rate sucks and that means I usually stick to building my pin collection - which is under 10 dollars a city.

Then late Sunday night we headed back to our homebase the John Knox Center in Geneva - home to the U of M Flint Global Program. The next trip Zurich and Liechtenstein - a very small country - which is home to a stamp museum and a castle. All which were in my presentation in German 1 class.