Barcelona

I had no time to be upset or homesick after my dad left as I flew to Barcelona Spain the very next morning with Kaitlin & Kayla.  First I had a 30 minute walk to the train station in the early morning.  While on the way I thought I was getting robbed but really it was just a man rushing to the train station and just bumped into me.  As my friend Kayla says, "Nothing wakes you up in the morning like thinking you are getting mugged."  I was wide awake for the rest of the trip.  From the train station we took an hour bus ride to Pisa to the airport.  From the airport we took a plane 1.5 hours to Girona, Spain.   And from there we took another hour bus into Barcelona.  Finally we walked the 40 mins to our hostel.

Flights in Europe can be very cheep, especially Ryan Air.  As soon as they land everyone starts clapping, which made me very nervous at first.  Since the flights are so cheap you have to spend the extra time and money to actually get to the airport with other means of transport.  Not sure if it is worth it to pay more for a direct flight or take the time and use the cheaper airline.  I guess it depends if you have the time or not. 

This was also my first time staying in a hostel, which was a little nerve racking.  Definition of hostel: 

Hostels provide budget oriented, sociable accommodation where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed, in a dormitory and share a bathroom, lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex, although private rooms may also be available. Hostels may include a hot meal in the price.

Our hostel was pretty much exactly like that.  Three bunk beds and six lockers with one private bathroom, however the shower was out of order.  When we checked in we were the only 3 in the room, so we locked our backpacks up in the lockers and I put my money belt on (everyone makes fun of me for this, but guess what I have also not been pick pocketed)!  We hit the road towards La Rambla. 

Barcelona is a pretty good size city, about 1.6 million and with surrounding suburbs 4.5 million people.  The main street is La Rambla.  This is where thousands of people, vendors and shops swarm the street to sell goodies.  Right off La Rambla they have the best open air market, maybe the best in all of Spain.  For my 1st photo assignment we needed a series of 6 photos that told a story from a reporters view.  This was a perfect opportunity for colorful shots.  

After walking down La Rambla we made it to the ocean :) This reminded me of my wonderful trip this summer to Florida with my family, loved it.  Another side note: next on my bucket list is my scuba diving license.  

After all of the walking we found a great restaurant by our hostel to sit down and chow down on some great food. I ordered a salad and my first hamburger since abroad and of course a pitcher of sangria, one of my favorite things from Spain.  It is a staple of Spain that you just have to try.  Getting back to the hostel we were all nervous that someone had checked into our room...and no one had.  There were 3 empty beds left, yet we were all nervous that someone could check-in in the middle of the night...oh boy. 

Woke up and to my relief no one had checked in.  We decided to spend our next two days touring the city from the double decker bus.  I would highly suggst this to anyone that is traveling and wants to see the main points of a city in a short amount of time for the lowest cost.  You can also jump on and off as many times as you want. 

OUR STOPS:
Sagrada Familia - Is a beautiful cathedral designed by Gaudi!  It is still under construction and the building of it started in the late 19th century.  Gaudi said that he didn't care how long it took to build the church because God had time.  It is fully funded by churchgovers, devotees, and through ticket revenue from vistiors like me.  It was Gaudi's dream, to which he devoted much of his life to.  It will not be completed until 2022. 

"Much of Gaudí's work was marked by his big passions in life: architecture, nature, religion. Gaudí studied every detail of his creations, integrating into his architecture a series of crafts in which he was skilled: ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging and carpentry. He introduced new techniques in the treatment of materials, such as trencadís, made of waste ceramic pieces"

Park Guell -  This is one of the great places to see much of Gaudi's work.

more to come...

I am off to Rome with my school early tomorrow morning.

Hope all is well!