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| Highlighter Party |
Hello all! Sorry for the delay in posts! Things have been so
busy here! I have been studying for
tests, writing papers, coordinating my Christian Fellowship group, planning
trips, getting ready for trips, going on trips, studying some more, attending a
Valentine’s Day karaoke party, chatting with staff like the funny old night guard Chris, preparing an
act for our school talent show, going to Stamford with my host family, learning to actually like and drink a lot of tea, visiting
Barcelona with four of my girlfriends, and going on a large group paddywaggon
tour of Ireland. Yesterday, I got to celebrate
“pancake day” or as we would call it Mardi Gras of Fat Tuesday with my host
family! They had both “savory pancakes”
(including chicken, mushrooms, and a sauce) as well as “sweet pancakes” that
you add orange and lemon juice (fresh squeezed), chocolate, honey, and
sugar! They were much thinner than
American pancakes, but were absolutely delicious! After, I returned to school, and we had a
highlighter party where everyone wore white shirts and wrote on each other with
highlighters (they showed up under the black lights that were out). Today, I am so lucky that I have gotten to
attend our “double day” of classes! Woohoo! So, needless to say, it is a very busy day
and week once again!
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| Beach at Last!! |
So…now for Barcelona!
Wednesday February 8th. British Studies Exam: 14:00-16:00. Cab to
Grantham Train Station: 15:55. Train
Departure from Grantham: 16:17. Train Arrival in King’s Cross Train Station: 17:29. Tube to Victoria Train Station. Gatwick Express
departure from Victoria Train Station: 18:15.
Arrival at Airport: 18:44. Easy
Jet departure to Barcelona: 20:15.
Arrival in Barcelona: 23:30. Nothing
like a hectic start to the long weekend!!
We did, however, successfully make all of these connections, just
barely! Upon arrival to Barcelona, we
took a taxi to our hostel (I still think he overcharged us because he thought
he could take advantages of Americans) and then went to the beach. Even though it was only 40 degrees outside at
best, we ran around barefoot and got our feet in the water! It was a great start to what was to be a
really amazing trip.
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| View out of the Hostel at Breakfast |
Thursday: We started
the day in the hostel café, eating our free breakfast, planning our day, and
looking out to the beach through the glass window wall of the café. Yes, our hostel was right on the beach, and I
could see it while eating my morning muffin.
I think it’s the closest I have ever stayed to a beach! Planning the day was a little complicated
because we had several maps, but none that showed which metro stops led us to
the various attractions we wanted to see, so we had to guess and check with our
limited knowledge of Spanish. Also,
people in Spain do not even speak Spanish, but rather Catalan (a merge of
Spanish and a couple of other languages that we definitely didn’t know)! “Habla ingles?” seemed to be the one phrase we
began to depend on! The day was full of
highs and lows. Highs: Being walking on La Rambla (the famous walking street),
being able to navigate based on color rather than have to decipher the Catalan,
eating pastries and napping on the beach, and eating the traditional Spanish
paella. Low of the day: Barcelona being
the top city for pickpocketing and Becca being a victim to it. Fortunately, she noticed immediately and another
friendly tourist who spoke some English was able to lend us her phone to cancel
the credit cards immediately.
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| Karen, Becca, and I on the beach! |
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The Beach!
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| Sunset at the Port |
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| Paella :) |
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| Bus Tour! |
Saturday morning, Karen and I decided to do a double-decker
bus tour of the city due to our limited touring the previous day after the
pickpocketing incident. It was a quick
and easy way to be led around the city, hear some of the city’s history in
English, and be able to visit all of the attractions that we wanted to
see. We also got a great deal and
discount on lunch at a restaurant ironically named “Happy.” It really did make us happy and full! Some of the highlights of the day included
seeing the Olympic Village, bull fighting and soccer stadiums, and Park
Guell. At Park Guell, we watched the
sunset from the highest part of the park, where there were 3 crosses up on a
hill overlooking the city. It was
absolutely beautiful, and truly a God-inspired spectacle. Sunday, we concluded our trip with enjoying
our last bit of Spanish food at a café where we got into a long chat with a few
locals, and viewing the beautiful basilica, Sagrada Familia.
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| The Pastries Rocked! |
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| Casa Batllo |
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Park Guell
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| Three Crosses |
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Sagrada Familia
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| Inside Sagrada Familia |
After my trip in Spain, I truly have a new appreciation of
Spanish culture. I wish I could have had
so much more time in Barcelona! Not only
was the city beautiful, but it had a definite sense of culture,cuisine, religion, and
livelihood. I hope someday to return
here and truly be able to more fully immerse myself in the wonderful Spanish
culture and way of life.
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Sunset at Park Guell
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What a great trip! Brings back great memories when Theresa & I visited Barcelona (and also got pick-pocketed!) Such a fabulous city. Spain, like many modern European countries is an amalgam of smaller traditional countries or regions. Catalonia is the northwestern corner of Spain and has it's own language - Catalan. Fortunately, most signs are in both Catalan and Spanish When you go to other regions of Spain, you see a vastly different culture, dialect and language.
ReplyDeleteGreat to see you having such great experiences! Keep up the great posts!