BARCELONA!!!

My weekend was so amazing! My host parents took us (Alex, Grace, and me) for a mini-vacation in Barcelona. Even though it wasn't the first major Spanish city I got to explore on my exchange (for the record, that would be Zaragoza), it was the first major touristy city I've really gotten to enjoy here, because I just don't count the hour that I spent in an airport in Madrid. Because I'm often so content in a small town, I forget how much I love being in the city! With so much to see and do I find myself feeding off the energy.

One thing to keep in mind about Barcelona, it's located in Cataluna which, unlike Aragon, has two official languages; Castillan Spanish (aka. the official language of Spain/the Spanish we learn in school) and Catalan. Most people in Cataluna speak both languages, and the two are very similar, but there are a fair amount of differences, especially in spelling. Being here for as long as I have, you get used to having things spelled a certain way, and when you see something spelled with a "t" instead of a "d" or an entirely different word used altogether, it can be a little unsettling. It sort of reminded me of that one episode of SpongeBob, "Rock Bottom", where Patrick and SpongeBob get on the wrong bus and find themselves in a strange place where the language is similar, but everything about it is just a little different. That's probably the best way I can explain that.

Friday night we didn't really do much because we got to Barcelona later in the evening. However, once we got our luggage to the room we walked through the city and, after asking a lot of people for directions, we found ourselves at a shopping center in the bay (since Barcelona is located on the Mediterranean Sea) where Alex, Grace and I shared two amazing pizzas. Though it did take us quite a while to find the place we were looking for, I was glad we spent all that time walking around because I got to see more of the city.

On Saturday we took a bus tour around the city, seeing a lot of Barcelona, and stopping to take a closer look at the Park Guel and the Sagrada Familia. Both of these places were designed by the architect, Antoni Gaudi who was greatly influenced by nature in his work. Check out the pictures!

These are the only ones I'm posting for now, but I'm putting the rest on my Facebook page!

Saturday afternoon us girls went clothes shopping, which was nice because now I have a few more options concerning what I wear. Also, not all my clothes are necessarily "fashionable" here.

This morning we took a walking tour around one part of Barcelona. The guide spoke in English, so us exchange students could understand more. It was mostly about the various types of architecture around the city. Parts of Roman walls and parts of buildings from the Roman Empire still exist today. Also, many examples of Gothic architecture can be found.

It's getting pretty late over here, and it's been a long weekend. I have to remember that I have school in the morning, as much as I'd like to sleep in. Happy Sunday!