Viva La Espana.

I may be second guessing my decision to study here in Ireland. Don't get me wrong, the country is gorgeous in every way, but flying to Spain for a weekend may have made me a little regretful that I didn't pick Barcelona as my first choice for my study abroad. Monday wass a bank holiday here in Ireland, so everything was closed, including school. We decided to get away from the eminent rain that was brewing for the weekend and escape to a land of beaches, hansom men, and warm weather. We arrived in Reus airport, which is about an hour outside of the city. We had to get our passports stamped (my first one in a different country, YES!) and walk out to the bus stop that is supposed to take us to the bus station form which we have to get the metro to the city. The bus is about a half hour late, and there are maybe double the amount of people that can actually fit on the bus when it arrives. We were all nervous, because we had been waiting for over an hour for this bus, one of the guys pushed through the crowd and shelled out 150 euro for 12 tickets and passed them back. Success, we got on the bus and were off to check into our hostels. After a long drawn out metro and bus process, the girls and I arrived at our hostel, called Kabul. It's located on a gorgeous courtyard right in the center of Las Ramblas, a main street where vendors and gypsies hang out and do tricks for money. We checked in, got dressed and went out for our first drink in Barcelona. At 3am, it was time to call it a night, and we went back to the hostel and rested up for a big day on Friday.


Courtyard our hostel was in.

Friday morning we got up at 9am to take advantage of the free breakfast offered at our hostel. They had a nice spread; including muffins, cereal and baguettes with jelly. It was extremely helpful to get free breakfast, cause my bank account would have broken if I had to pay for three meals out a day for five days. I save money wherever I can. We were off and running to DUNKIN DONUTS (My savior for the early mornings in Spain). After a couple iced coffees and lattes, we embarked down Las Ramblas, snapping countless pictures of the gorgeous architecture along the street. I have never seen more beautiful buildings in my life. Every building was so intricate and had amazing rod iron balconies to look out into the streets. After a walk down Las Ramblas, and a quick stop at a flea market, we headed over to the pier to hang by the water and soak in some rays. We were waiting for the guys we flew over with to call, so we could meet up and head over to Montjuic, a mountain that is accessible by cable car and over looks the city at the top. We walked over to the cable cars, and for 9 euro we could go to the top and see the castle as well for free. Climbing the mountain on a cable car we arrived at the top. The views were absolutely breathtaking. The city itself is not tall, and the few skyscrapers they do have completely stick out. The different contrasting color of Barcelona give it a distinct character. The sun was beating down on each individual building giving it it's own life. I could have stayed and stared at it for hours. I wish we could have stayed for the sunset, it would have been awesome to see, but we headed back down the mountain on foot, checking out pathways, fountains and trails on the way. After the long day, a much needed nap occurred back at the hostel. We all slept for about an hour then got showered and ready for dinner for my friend Sarah's 21st birthday.





We went to a restaurant right in the Placa Reil (where we stayed) for Sarah's 21st, there was about a 15 minute wait so we asked to wait in the bar area. There were 4 euro drink specials so we went inside to order one for dinner while we waited. After an announcement to the bartender that it was Sarah's 21st birthday, it followed with five free shots in honor of becoming legal in the United States. We ate an amazing dinner, I had a salad with salmon and mozzarella topped with this fantastic honey mustard dressing. Everyone was full and we went to meet up with the guys to go out for Sarah's birthday.

We met up with the guys and took a metro to this place called Razzmatazz. It was a 15 euro cover to get in but it came with a voucher for a free drink. The club itself held 5000 people, and was completely insane. I am not a dancer, nor do I enjoy dancing so it wasn't really my scene, but the fact that the club held that many people was amazing. There was a Spanish band playing, so it was like a free concert as well. We stayed out until about 5am, when the metro re-opened. The Spanish don't go out until 1am usually, and stay out clubbing until 6 or 7am. I learned this lifestyle the hard way, and was extremely exhausted. I finally got to bed at 5:40 am, only to get about 4 hours of sleep until our next days activities.