Officially back from Barcelona - It's better than Madrid!

Heheh yeah I don't know if I missed something in Madrid but Barcelona felt way more European and just overall IMPRESSED ME MORE. Maybe it's because the weather was better (though COLD) and because we got to do more of what we wanted.. but yeah!

FIRST OF ALL A BIG THANK YOU must be given to Molly and her parents, for paying for the AMAZING LUXURY FIVE STAR HOTEL CLARIS. Among a million other things. Every time Molly called her parents to tell them how we were doing we were like THANK THEM FOR US THANK THEM!

I want to remember everything but I know it's so much - I took SO many pictures though, I'm going to make an entire album for it...

So we get to the hotel, and the room is BEAUTIFUL, the beds are COMFY, .. well actually, we got to the hotel around 10:30 and couldn't go in until 2, but they held onto our stuff while we saw lots of Gaudí things - Casa Batllo, La Pedrera, and La Sagrada Familia.. ALL BEAUTIFUL. 

While we were walking towards the Sagrada Familia, a gyspy woman tried to give us a Rose (and if you accept their gifts, they'll end up conning you into giving them money.. or stealing..), so we were trying to say no, but she kept insisting. She also didn't realize the extent to which we spoke Spanish, just assumed we were any other tourists. So when we left she yelled after us 'Pijo!' which means 'snob'. And I turned to her and gave her SUCH A LOOK and was like 'Uhhh pijo?!? No.' She was quite surprised heheheh

THEN we got into the room and it was like we were princesses. All the staff there was so nice AND THERE WERE SO MANY ATTRACTIVE CONCIERGE MEN AND WE WERE LIKE OMG THAT MUST BE CRITERIA FOR THE JOB.

Before dinner at this yummy Pasta place (seriously. So delicious. We went to dinner with a couple other friends from our program who happened to be in Barcelona this weekend.. which was actually everyone.. So it was me, Molly, Alison, Will, Karla, and Mona.. and the pasta was DELICIOUS)..... LOST MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT ONE SEC

Okay so before dinner we went to the Magic Fountain at Montjuic (a mountain in Barcelona) that had this beautiful light show and played lots of jazz music and then hit pop songs.. that was fun! I tried to take pictures but my camera is SERIOUSLY starting to suck and I'm so excited for Santa to bring me a new one but I haven't had time to do enough research and I don't know WHICH ONE I WANT AHHH.

Heh, and then the group of six of us, after dinner, went back to the hotel.. THE HOTEL HAD GIVEN US FREE CAVA.. which is like champagne or something? Sparkling wine? BUT IT WAS FREE.. I think it was for Molly's birthday or something, or just to welcome us to the hotel, I have no freakin idea. But it was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted ever and we all seemed so classy and rich and yum. HEH but the door to the Hotel was kinda weird in that SO MANY TIMES Alison and I thought it was closed (it was a glass door), and so when Molly walked straight through ahead of us we FREAKED OUT cuz we thought she was going to walk through the door.. but it turned out it was open the whole time and it was just some optical illusion because there was a second glass door behind it.. VERY CLEAN GLASS OBVIOUSLY..

So everytime we entered the hotel we put our hands out to make sure the door was open heh. And we looked like idiots.

THEN the next day (Saturday) we walked through La Rambla which is just a whole bunch of shops.. EXCEPT I BOUGHT THREE BRAS FOR FIVE DOLLARS EACH BECAUSE SOME STORE WAS HAVING A SALE AND IT WAS GREAT. 

We also went into the Barcelona Cathedral which was beautiful (I think Sevilla's may be bigger though) .. But it had one room with GEESE! Which was exciting. And a big fountain thing that looked like the one in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets... hehe

OH AND OMG there were firefighters selling SEXY CALENDARS at La Rambla and Molly bought one for 10€ and let us take pictures and everything was SO SEXY HAHA. (What?! We were just supporting the Brave Barcelona Bomberos!)

And there were Christmas stands set up outside of the Cathedral, and we kept seeing all these Logs (like, tree trunk logs) with faces on them, and we didn't think anything of it UNTIL we saw this one ENORMOUS one, and all these kids were hitting it with Sticks. We assumed something like, the harder they hit it, the more presents they got, but we had NO IDEA where this tradition came from. 

The next day (Sunday) we went back to La Rambla and asked - the guy said that every day starting December 1st to the 24th, back when no one had any money, parents would give their kids this little log and like.. every day the log would 'grow' a little bigger - the parents would just replace it with a  bigger one.. and then on Christmas it would be enormous, and the kids would hit it with sticks and sing a song to get presents. BUT I DIDNT REALIZE UNTIL JUST NOW THAT WE MISSED A VITAL PART OF THE STORY THAT HAS TO DO WITH THE LOG POOPING OUT PRESENTS AND THE CHILDREN SINGING A SONG COMMANDING THE LOG TO 'SHIT' FOR THEM OR THEY WILL HIT IT HARDER.

Poor, poor Tío de Nadal

This may be one of those times where Wikipedia is not to be trusted, BUT I HONESTLY CANNOT TELL. So see for yourself here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tió_de_Nadal

Anyway, back to SATURDAY. Molly lost her nose ring, so we went into Claire's to get her a temporary one, and she happened to be holding her Sexy Bombero calendar. WELL THE OBVIOUSLY GAY STORE MANAGER sees the calendar (after helping us pick out a nose ring),  and without saying anything GASPS and grabs it from her hands, and starts looking through with one of the other (female) employees, giggling and saying things like QUE FUERTE AND DONDE COMPRAS ESTO!??!?!?! It was actually hilarious, and a BONDING MOMENT, and right before we left I was like 'Vas a comprar uno?' and he smiled and was like CLARO. hehehe

Then we checked out La Boquería which is a huge fresh produce market, and this was one of the (multiple times) I made eye contact with A BEAUTIFUL ESPANISH MAN for a few more seconds than appropriate and it was BEAUTIFUL. Also, some man was wearing a 'Mankini' like from the Borat movie over his running clothes.. which was weird and strange. Later that day we saw a man in all blue spandex but he had brown stains all over and LOOKED LIKE HE ACTUALLY POOPED HIS PANTS. There was some race going on that must've had to do with being in mud (I hope it was mud) and wearing weird costumes.. it was so strange.

After that we went to this Cafe-Bar called Bosc de les Fades which was dicorated to look like a FOREST which was really cool. And we met this couple (I think they were friends, not dating) because they weren't sure if they sit first or order first, so I sorta jumped in and said 'They told us to order before sitting'. The guy OKAY HE SOUNDED SOOOOOO BRITISH but he said he was from Barcelona, and I didn't detect until later that he was just speaking British English with a VERY good accent, but once in a while his Spanish accent came out.. it was crazy! They were cute though, the girl ordered a chocolate muffin and some hot chocolate, and then the guy was like WAIT WE SAID WE WEREN'T GOING TO LET YOU EAT CHOCOLATE BECAUSE YOU'RE AN ADDICT, LET'S GIVE IT TO THIS GIRL. So they tried to give it to me but I felt bad, and she ended up eating it and I was like hehe GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR ADDICTION. Then she said she was a singer-songwriter and she's on Youtube - under Sophie Lagan ...so I should look that up later!

THEN, we knew Brett was coming to Barcelona just for a day, to see a Barcelona Futbol game, and we said he could crash in the BEAUTIFUL HOTEL ROOM because he had an early flight the next morning, and we were in the metro talking about him, and ALL OF A SUDDEN BRETT COMES DOWN AND WE SEE HIM IN THE METRO. Now, Barcelona is a huge city, so the chances of him coming to the SAME metro RIGHT when we were talking about him, is CRAZY. 

Then we all went to Park Güell together (another one of Gaudí's) which was pretty awesome and beautiful. If I were a runner, and lived in Barcelona.. I'd run there all the time. Heheh. Got good pics from that too!

THEN MOLLY'S PARENTS TREATED US TO MOLLY'S BIRTHDAY DINNER (when I say Molly's parents, I don't mean to say they were there with us.. but their credit card was being very generous... and OBVS they were too).. at this place called 9Reinas.. some Argentinian place.. we had EMPANADAS WHICH WERE AMAZING. AND THEN I HAD STEAK AND IT WAS SO FREAKIN DELICIOUS. And the waiter came with Chips and fried eggs (as like, an appetizer), and we were confused because we were like I don't think we ordered this! And he was like Don't worry, I ordered it for you! (As in, for FREE)... THEN HE ALSO BROUGHT US CHAMPAGNE OR SOMETHING.. I think somehow he knew it was Molly's birthday... anyway, she gave him an enormous hug at the end. And he took a picture of us with my camera, but then his waiter friends passed by, and he took a picture of them too, so now they're on my camera heheheh

Also, I was looking for the bathroom there, and all I did was stand up and look around confusedly, and without saying ANYTHING a waiter comes up to me and is like 'Down stairs, first door on the right'.. which I thought was funny.

OH ALSO AT PARK GUELL. There's this Gaudi salamander statue, and I was having my friends take a picture of me next to it with my camera, but it was super crowded so lots of people were trying to take a picture of it while I was on. BUT THIS ONE BOY (probs my age or so) comes up behind Alison who is taking a picture of me, LOOKS RIGHT AT ME, and points his camera RIGHT AT ME while I'm smiling for my own picture, and I see a big FLASH.. and I couldn't move cuz I didn't want to ruin my own picture.. but now there is a deliberate picture of me on a random tourist's camera. Should I be flattered? ... I'll try!

Then after dinner at 9Reinas (also called 9R), we went just for a moment to this bar called Dow Jones Bar, because we'd heard it was set up like the Stock Market.. it had like, the screens and everything.. and the prices change EVERY TIME someone buys a drink. So we just bought the cheapest beer on there, for 2.40€, and as soon as the bartender rung it up, the price sprung up to 2.95€ ... it was a really cool concept, except you have to be okay with sudden change heh.. but whatever, we just wanted to experience it!

Okay and then Sunday was more of a chill day. We went to the Picasso Museum, and on the way there these Spanish guys heard us speaking English, and one just stops in front of me and says 'Gorgeous, huh?' and I smile and sorta keep walking, and then one ASKS ME A QUESTION like 'Would you like...' blalhablhabh but all I heard at the end was '...in my house?' ;) and I was like OKAY TIME TO GO heh. But they were cute even though FORWARD.

Then we passed this statue with a guy on a horse, and Alison was like 'Who's that man on a horse?' and in a moment of GENIUS I said in a deep voice (like on the Old Spice Commercials), 'THE MAN YOUR MAN COULD SMELL LIKE'. heh silly rachel

Then, these were my three favorite Picasso's:

Woman with Mantilla

Pidgeons

Picasso's take on Velazquez's Las Meninas

There was a whole room dedicated to a gillion different version's of Picasso's Meninas inspired by Velazquez.

After this, we had a very cheap, chill night. Molly took a nap while Alison and I watched TV in Spanish. There was an ad for a sitcom that seemed pretty funny called Fenómenos. THEN WE WATCHED THIS LIFETIME MOVIE THAT I'VE SEEN IN ENGLISH CALLED SUNDAYS AT TIFFANY'S. Which was actually hilarious. Then we went for a quick dinner break at McDonalds (don't judge, we'd been snacking all day, and we really wanted to save money) and I bought a little drink from the chino (which are actually mostly run by Indians in Barcelona.. so maybe they're not called chinos there..). The drink had Rum and mixed juices and carbonation and it was YUMMY.

HEH and actually, as we left for McDonalds, we noticed that ALL THE CUTE CONCIERGE BOYS were watching us as we left.. we awkwardly made eye contact when I looked back.. someone even came up to the window. We were giggling hehehe.

AND THE YUMMY DRINK I BOUGHT? Well it needed to be opened with a bottle opener which I do not have, so I put on a sweater and went up to the BEAUTIFUL TERRACE where there is a bar, and I go in and explain in Spanish how I bought this and I can't open it. And the waiter who is dressed ALL FANCY sort of laughs and opens it for me with a bottle opener. And I was like heh.. thanks... bye!

THEN AFTER DINNER AND BEFORE BED, Will crashed in the hotel because he was gonna share a taxi with us to the airport, WE ALL WATCHED BREAKING DAWN PART ONE IN SPANISH WHICH MADE IT EXTRA HILARIOUS AND EVEN MORE DRAMATIC. 

We didn't finish it thought because it was almost midnight and we were going to leave the beautiful hotel at 3:30 to get to our 6 Am flight. Which I slept through. And also I slept for three hours (from 9 to 12) once I got home.

Ahh but at the Barcelona airport, we were like FIRST in line for RyanAir, and the guy came by to have us stuff our bags in some.. thing to see if it would 'fit' in the overhead compartments. But they usually don't ask people with backpacks to try, because backpacks nearly always fit. And I WILL ADMIT that my backpack was VERY FULL.. but he didn't make me check so I figured I was fine. THEN, the line finally starts moving after being in line DOING NOTHING for 20 minutes, and when I go up to the guy to check my ticket, SOME OTHER LADY (let's call her 'Bitch') comes over to me and says (in Spanish) YOU HAVE TO CHECK TO MAKE SURE YOUR BAG FITS. And I'm thinking like.. are you fucking kidding me, you couldn't have asked me to do this while I was in line for 20 minutes doing nothing? So I hate her - and the guy I'm giving my ticket to doesn't seem to GET that he can no longer take my ticket until I check my bag. So I go over to the bag-checker contraption and STUFF IT IN because they don't care if you have to stuff it, as long as it fits. AND IT CAME TO NO SURPRISE TO ME THAT IT WOULD FIT WITH SOME EFFORT, so I was super mad at Bitch. Then, the whole line is going ahead of me obviously, and I look to another (innocent) man employee and say in English .. 'I DONT HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE END OF THE LINE, RIGHT? ESPECIALLY SINCE I WAS IN FRONT FOR 20 MINUTES?' ... and he looked at me terrified of my death glare, because even though I phrased what I said to him in QUESTION FORM it was really like 'YOU BETTER NOT FUCKING TELL ME I HAVE TO GO TO THE END OF THE LINE'. So he just awkwardly nodded at me, I walked back up to the man who tried to take my ticket to begin with (cutting everyone in line), he smiled at me STILL NOT GETTING WHAT A PAIN IN THE ASS THAT WAS, but his smile made me feel better, I gave him my ticket and went through WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING BACK AT BITCH.

We had to board a bus to get to the plane, so I boarded the bus and luckily found the friends I was traveling with. Then I told them what happened, and was laughing about it by this time, and one of them was like 'I bet she saw you earlier in the day and just picked you out and said YO IM GONNA MAKE THAT GIRL'S DAY SUCK' hehehe So it's all actually fine.

SO YAY BARCELONA.