last country of my Grand Tour.

Barcelona, Spain. 04.07.2011-04.10.2011

arrived in Barcelona at 11:50. walked a half hour to our apartment after checking in with the apartment company. went to bed shortly after, ready to start our first day in Spain sightseeing and relaxing at the beach. 

1st thing's first, i went to the grocery store picked everyone in the apartment up some breakfast and searched the streets of Barcelona for a free map. success. 

we met the other 13 girls at the metro and headed to the beach. can i just say i've never seen so many grocery stores in a city than i have in Barcelona, it's actually quite nice because you can get a liter of water for 80 cents and other cheap snacks without having to sit at a restaurant and waste time and money, it's great! some of us headed straight to the beach while a few others decided to grab lunch. bad idea. poor katie whitehurst got her louis vuitton purse stolen. within it was her ipod, iphone, louis vuitton wallet with cash and credit cards, and camera; grand total $2,500. after that incident i've never watched my purse and other people's purses more carefully in my life. and to think in america i leave my stuff on the beach for hours without anyone watching it. after being at the beach for a few hours, a few of us went to see some of the major sights of Barcelona. 

The W Hotel: the new Barcelona Icon

Alex and I at the Beach!

we ran into a band and a couple dancing. i loved this and i could have stood there all day listening to the spanish music. one thing i can't wait to do when i get back in the states is go out with nick and dance! 

Dancing in a Barcelona Square

we ended our first day of sightseeing with Gaudi's Park Guell and a delicious gourmet american meal for dinner...Subway! (i know what about the tapas and spanish food? when you're on a budget and craving a good make-your-own sandwich there's just no other option). 

Park Guell

View over Barcelona 

Close-up of Mosaics in Gaudi's Park Guell 

Me and Laura; Gaudi: Park Guell

 

Me, Laura, Susanna; Gaudi: Park Guell

Gaudi: Park Guell

Gaudi: Park Guell

we got home around 10pm. showered with the intention of going out, but i guess the sun took more out of us than we thought because before I knew it, it was 1:30am and i woke up from being passed on the couch. there's always tomorrow night... we had to wake up and check out by 11:00am and take our luggage to the other apartment. instead of getting 3 apartments (since there was 19 of us) for 3 nights we only booked 1 for the 3rd night because we had to be at the airport by 3:55am to catch our 5:55am flight to Rome, rough but it we pull all nighters all the time, how bad could it be? 

Gaudi's Casa Mila, Sagrada Familia, and the Agbar Tower were on our sightseeing list for the day. some of the girls went to the Picasso Museum as well, but I had to join the group at the beach and relax for a few hours. it was in the 80s, I've gone to a million museums and churches, don't judge me that i didn't go but I just couldn't. four of us left around 7:00pm and went for tapas at a great place on the main street, Passeig de Gracia, called Tapa Tapa. we got a bunch of stuff to try but my favorite was this shrimp and crab salad on a piece of toast. i could have had ten of those for dinner and would have been completely content. for dessert we headed next door, mcdonald's. in Spain they have this ice cream dessert called a Wafer. do they have these in the states? they're a waffle bowl with vanilla ice cream, your choice of chocolate or carmel sauce and pecans! please tell me yes, i've been gone for 3 months, dreams can come true, right? 

I know it's spelled differently but it's still my name!

In-front of the Sagrada Familia

Gaudi's Sagrada Familia

Old meets New; Gaudi: Sagrada Familia

Gaudi's Casa Mila

Me and Brittany; The Agbar Tower 

after we showered, packed our bags, praying they wouldn't be over weight when we got to the airport, some of us stayed in and rested till 2am and some of us went to get Sangria to pass time. everything was going smoothly, we walked to the bus stop, got on the right bus to the airport for only 1,45euro, and then missed our stop because we all fell asleep on the bus, great! fortunately, we only ended up at Terminal 1 of the airport instead of Terminal 2 so we just had to wait for the shuttle bus to pick us up. it was a miracle that we all checked our luggage without going overweight, got through security, and boarded the plane on time with no problems...

i woke up at 9:00am still on the hour and 15 minute plane ride. supposedly we attempted to land at one Rome airport and couldn't so we pulled back up, circled for a good hour and a half, and eventually landed in the main Rome airport. we were flying for a total of 3 hours and i didn't even realize it. this was probably a good thing. 

now it's monday night. i have 12 days left in Italy. it's bittersweet. i love it here. i love the markets, culture, traveling, and the girls i live with. but i'm excited to get back to my family, the states, and auburn. the next two weeks are filled with a few trips, one of which is to Positano this weekend; assignments due, 12 page paper, final exam, and photo journal left; and packing my Italian life away in 2 huge duffle bags and a rolling carry on.