Hey everybody!
Sorry it has taken so long for me to post, but I got back from Barcelona late on Tuesday night and immediately had to hit the books as I had three tests and a homework set due today for classes. Also, bad news is that all my Barcelona pictures were deleted because my camera memory card freaked out and froze. I guess I won't be using that one again... Sorry Kate! I am working on getting pictures from the other four people in our group so hopefully it won't be a total loss.
Anyways, this past weekend I flew to Valencia on RyanAir, the infamous low cost college student airline. We had enough time in Valencia to eat lunch at a place outside the train station where we had our first taste of the local Paella and Tapas. Shortly after finishing there, we had to jump on a train to Barcelona which was cool because we had a good view of the ocean for the entire four hour ride! Upon arrival, we decided to walk to our hotel through town and stumbled upon a closed off market street where there were hundreds of tents for shopping and a few stages with musical performances going on.
We made it to the hotel after not too long, but it was already late in the day so we just walked around Las Ramblas for the night and checked out the local scenery. The next morning we woke up and went on a free walking tour of the city which was very cool and focused on the history and culture of the Old City all the way from its Carthaginian foundings through to its modern revolution after hosting the Olympics in 1992. We also got to see the remnants of several Roman aqueducts and buildings that had been a part of the original fortifications. After that, we took a short train ride to the famous Sangrada Familia, the largest church ever built that is still under construction today. You could easily tell the difference between the sections built over the last hundred or so years and which ones were finished recently. However we were reminded that it is still a vast work in progress when we counted three construction cranes perched on different sections of the church.
Monday was my day of relaxation which I spent most of at the Barceloneta beach just a little ways away from our hotel. It turned out to be a perfectly sunny day and the beach was beautiful! (An interesting fact, the sand used to create the man-made beaches was purchased from Egypt for the Olympics in 1992.) I did end up with a slight sunburn, but I have since recovered and I was glad I was able to relax for the day.
-Brian
