Barcelona, City of Mosaics

Red, white, and blue on the Mediterranean

Casa Mila

Parc Guell

Steps at sunset

Overlooking the city at Parc Guell

Standing under an arch on top of Casa Mila

Yes, I went to Spain last weekend. I know what you're thinking and my last 'out-of-the-country' trip will be in two weeks to Prague, then I'm done! Traveling is really exhausting, especially traveling with RyanAir. Our flight to Barcelona was delayed an hour because the previous flight was hit by lightning mid-flight. Lovely. So they checked the plane out while all of the boarding passengers watched, terrified, from the gate. And I was one of them.

I must put a disclaimer out there. Spain is beautiful, but when one has spent a large amount of time in Italy, truly no other Mediterranean country compares (except France ;). Barcelona is situated right on the water. It has a huge population of Moroccans (which I love). And it is bright with so many mosaics, all credited to Gaudi, the architect.

Marci and I spent an entire day out in the city, from 8am-1:30am. We walked through the old Gothic Quarter, went to the cathedral that was built in the 1100s, walked north of the city to Casa Mila and the Sagrada Familia-both Gaudi masterpieces-where I was approached by a man asking, "Aren't you that girl from the bus last night?" I was totally unaware of any event happening on a bus the night before, so I answered, "No, I'm not that girl." Afterwards we went up to Parc Guell, a park situated above the city overlooking the sea. The city of Barcelona isn't a pretty one when you look at it from above. It is dusty and dirty and hazy. But, down on the streets, that's where the city's beauty lies.

We continued our day of endless walking. Above us workers strung Christmas decorations and in shop windows little Christmas trains moved around on the ground.

Later in the day we met up with our two other roommates who came on a different RyanAir flight. The four of us went on a 'Tapas Tour' with our hostel. We visited four locations-first we ate Tapas and had a glass of Sangria, second we watched a Flamenco show, third we enjoyed the ambiance of another Spanish-style tavern, and fourth we danced the night away at a Discoteca (well, until 1am). Then we crashed for the night only to wake up again at 7:30am to see more sights!

The Flamenco show is one of my highlights of the entire weekend. The passion and intensity they put into it is absolutely mind blowing. The band consists of a guitarist, a drummer on a tiny drum, two clappers, a singer, and the dancer. The claps are so precise that it takes years of training on how to get the claps just right. The singer bounces his voice as if he is doing the 'call to prayer' for Muslims. It was beautiful. And the dancer, well, I have no idea how to describe how fast she moved or with what precision she kept with the drummer. We all watched with our mouths open. When I come home I am going to search for a restaurant with Flamenco dancing-there has to be one somewhere in St. Augustine. :)

Before we left we visited the Picasso Museum, the beach, the location of the former Olympics stadium, many more shops (I bought a pair of shoes handmade in Morocco). I know, I am a bit obsessed with all things Moroccan. I think that is why I liked Spain; it has a vast amount of Moorish influence.

A lot has happened in Florence since my last 'Florentine' post, so I will catch you all up next time. I am falling more and more in love with this city. My roommate, Katie, is always telling me that I have such a passionate love/hate relationship with Florence. haha. It's only because when something happens to me here it is either really good or really bad.....

CIAO!