From Barcelona to All Alone-uh

Hello everyone!  So right now I'm on my first of two breaks this semester (I like France's breaks better than the US's) and I decided to go with some of my friends to Spain.  We left straight away on Friday night and took the night train to Barcelona so when we woke up we were right there ready to start the day.  Barcelona is absolutely gorgeous and I'd recommend it to anyone!  The weather that first day was also really great--full of sun and a temperature that lets you go outside with just a sweater--and it's always slightly bizarre but on-the-whole fabulous seeing palm trees in February.  The next day was rainy unfortunatly but we didn't let that stop us.

To make things simple, I'm going to present all of the things we were able to do in chronological list form:

• Las Ramblas and the food market Boqueria where I shared fried squid tentacles with a friend and got amazing dried fruit (dried apple, strawberry, and kiwi=amazing)
• Arch de Triomf--Terra cotta red color and lined with palm trees.  Very pretty.
• Palau Guell--I think it was Gaudi's only complete work.
• The Chinese restaurant owned by one of my companions' uncles.  They were celebrating her aunt's birthday, too, so we got to stay for part of that and during it we talked to one of the family friends that has worked very high up in the music industry (How high?  He was some sort of main musical director for when the Olympics were in Barcelona and also started a sentence, "The first time I met Paul McCartney...").
• The first night we went out to a club called Razzmatazz sponsored by our hostel.  They got us a cheaper way in I believe and we also got to cut a huge line.  We had all kind of wanted to do at least one Spain-style time out, which means stay up very late into the morning and so figured since this was a Saturday night and they had this going on it might be a good night.  We stayed out until about 5:45 or 6:00 AM.  I like to think my late nights at the library helped me take this one in stride (no, seriously).
• Parc Guell--Whimsy, nature, and mosaics combine for a great walk that also gives you great views of the city (I think when I saw the Mediterrannean from here it was my first time, too).

• Sagrada Familia--This is the Cathedral designed by Gaudi.  It is absolutely enormous (anytime we looked at the city from afar it towered over most everything else with it's conspicuous spires).  The line to go in was similarly enormous and so we didn't do that part (which we later learned was a good move as they're in the middle of construction and you can hardly see anything).  From just the one side we saw, I can probably say that it is one of my favorite cathedrals in Europe.  It's very different and the style is really beautiful but has that modernist flair at the same time.  Go see it if you have the chance.
• Flamenco Show--Smaller venue and reasonable price.  Good time.  I could never move my feet like that!
• A few of us went out then the second night again with our hostel.  This time it was to a more chill place called Roxy where they had a nice mix of music which later featured a live Samba band.  I really liked it but didn't stay too long as sleep was definitely in order at this time!
• Paella--This is Spain's version of the delicious rice dish.  Yummmmm.
• Montjuic--This is in a hilly area of the city with less buildings.  It's got great views of the city--even better than Parc Guell--and several other attractions like the Olympic Stadium.  Unfortunately, we didn't make it to everything because one of the girls in my group had her wallet stolen.  Barcelona is known for this sort of thing and though I wasn't there it sounds like they were pretty smooth.  Thankfully, she didn't lose too much.  It was bad, but it really could have been a lot worse so we're thankful.

• La Rambla De Mar--At the end of Las Ramblas it meets a statue of Columbus and then the Meditterannean.  This part was just a nice scenic port area by the sea that also had some restaurants and shopping at the end.  It was a relaxing walk to end our stay there for those of us who went.

Today I was supposed to have left Barcelona for Seville.  Because of some problems with the internet, the group had to go on two separate flights.  Mine was the earlier one and so the group that was going went to the bus station to get tickets to Girona (about an hour and 15 minutes away) where we'd fly out of.  After a few fiascos at the bus station (wrong bus time online, bad information at the terminal, etc) we missed the first bus.  Unsure if we would make it if we took the next bus, we started deliberating and looking up other flights (which turned out to be way too expensive) online.  It was then that we started noticing little incongruities in our tickets.  First it was that my "gate closing" time was ten minutes before the others'.  Then it was that my flight was one day after the others'.  Oops.  After convincing them that I'd be alright alone, they left to at least attempt the airport (they made it--but only because the flight was delayed, which is a prayer answered right there) and I headed back to the hostel to explain the situation.  I will just say that I was very pleased with myself for navigating the metro system and getting back all my myself :)

Eventually I decided to just go to Girona and stay the night so I'd be closer in the morning.  I was able to book a hostel and left shortly after lunch.  After I arrived I bought a map and was able to find my way to the hostel (yet another example of my increasing navigation skillz) and got settled in.  Since the sun was already getting kind of low I didn't have much time to check out the city but luckily my hostel is in a great location and I was able to walk through the narrow cobblestone streets of the old part of town and maybe the Jewish Quarter (the ambiance at dusk lent it just the right fusion of exploration and relaxation) and climb up to the Cathedral as well.  While it's no Sagrada Familia, the cathedral here is also exceptionally nice--especially for one less well-known.  After that I grabbed some dinner and started a relaxing night in.  I even got to get some studying done for my exam when I get back. 

Overall, as long as everything goes smoothly with my flight tomorrow, I'm really happy this little detour happened.  I am disappointed to be missing Seville but the relaxation was needed and Girona is a really great town--I'd love to come back to spend more time here and even go to the Salvador Dali museum that's near by.  The hostel is also really great--it's better than a lot of hotels I've been to.  Everything in it is really nice and chill--even the bathroom in my ensuite room is great with a very regal-looking sink and an old-style painting of Jesus on the ceiling which is as cool as it is awkward (lol).

As for the rest of the trip, I plan on flying to Seville tomorrow on my flight to meet up with the group for our bus to Granada.  After that we'll be heading to Madrid for a bit and finally back to Nantes.  I'll also try to have some pictures up to supplement this novel of a post once I have internet access on my own computer.