Barcelonaaa

Ciao! I am currently in Roma, and loving every second of it.. :) But I will blog about that in a couple days since it's not over yet! So Barcelona was a fun city.. 2 and a half days was definitely enough there though, especially the time of year it was.. I can see how people can spend a week there but its because of the beaches. We got to go to the beach but it was still too cold to be in a bathing suit and too cold to go in the water! (even though some people swam, and some people were naked!) So I got there Friday night after a long day of traveling from Sweden, but I met up with my friends and also met some kids staying in our hostel room from Boston College, so they knew a couple people I knew who go there. All of us went out on the town that night which was fun and easy since employees of the hostel took us out. They are all young and the hostel was really nice and hip and a fun place to be. Barcelona is known for its night life and it was definitely a blast! Couldn't do it all the time like they do though..

Saturday we got up and went on a 2 hour boat tour around Barcelona harbor and around the coast. We saw the beach and beautiful mountains! When I was flying into Barcelona I was shocked at the amount of mountains there were.. I never thought of Spain to have mountains, mainly just beaches! But it was an amazing mix of both which I loved. The tour was very relaxing and it was nice to be near the ocean again! Then we went to the beach and sat there for a couple hours, soaking up the sun. We were constantly bombarded by locals trying to sell us stuff. For those of you who have been to Mexico, you know what I mean.. However this was still different. People in Mexico atleast leave you alone if you look like you're sleeping.. NOT IN BARCELONA! and they also aren't selling jewerly or hats or cigars.. They are selling beer, "smokes", or women selling messages.. And there is one every (no lie we timed them) 45 seconds. One of the most annoying things I have ever experienced!! We found a nice Irish Pub to eat in (I know I know, we can't stay away) and actually ate lunch there both Sat and Sun we loved it so much! As I was sitting down to eat, all of a sudden I heard someone say my name! It was 2 girls sitting next to us who go to Saint Rose with me and who are studying in Florence! I was SHOCKED to say the least.. because just that afternoon I was telling my friends I was surpised nobody has run into someone they know yet randomly in one of these big cities! We talked for a little while and I am actually going to meet up with them when I go to Florence in these next couple days.. The rest of Saturday we just walked around and didn't do much. We had heard about this water and light show they do on Fri and Sat nights at this huge fountain, so we took the subway there to catch the 830 show. We saw the end of the 8 oclock show but for some reason they never played one at 830!! So virtually we went down there for nothing, but we still got to see a different part of the city and it was beautiful at night.

Sunday we didn't really have anything planned since there is not many sites to see in Barcelona, but I had to go to an art museum from my modern art class so I got up early and went to the Joan Miro museum. I am writing my semester paper for art on him and I got some good notes and saw some of his best works. The museum was on top of a huge hill so the view from the top was incredible.. Mountains, beach, housetops, blue sky! (Again I don't have pictures yet because I'm on a public computer again but I will put all the albums up when I get home (ha when I say home I mean Salzburg) and post the link) so we went to the beach again on Sunday for a couple hours and like I said didnt really have anything planned so we just walked a lot and went on the famous street las ramblas (sp?) where all the shops are and stuff.. There was many souviener shops and street preformers, therefore many tourists. I found a Dunkin Donuts on this street! I got an iced coffee and it was amazing :) We were leaving for the airport Sunday night to take an early flight out Monday morning to Rome, so we got our stuff at the hostel, said goodbye to the friends we had met, and headed to the airport. We were so burnt from the sun and tired from walking! We slept (or tried to sleep) there that night, with many other people who had an early flight. Needless to say we were so tired when we finally go to Rome but it was so worth it because Rome is amazing! I want to keep writing about it becuse Ive been here for 2 days already but I'll save it for next time!! And I'm missing you guys so so much! I didn't realize traveling could be this stressful and tiring.. I'm walking around every day in Rome seeing families together and it makes me wish my family could be here with me!! Hopefully someday we will be able to! Tomorrow afternoon it's off to Florence! Meeting 3 others from our group from Salzburg there and I can't wait to see them I've missed them so much already.. 5 weeks til I'm back in the good old US of A! Hope all is well, take care.