this past weekend i traversed out to barcelona with collin and lisa battaline. our flight left ciampino airport at 645 am which mean we had to be there by 6 which meant on the shuttle at 430 am which meant out of my house by 330. so i was supposed to get up at like 220 to shower and stuff but i think i set my alarm incorrectly and so i got up at like 315 when lisa called to see why we werent at our designated meeting place. anyhow, we found our bus and got to the bus station in time to catch our flight and all was well. weird, my sociology professor was on our flight to barcelona and she totally recognized me but didnt say anything. ah well, i wasn't upset about it. so we get to girona which is a small town outside of barcelona and collin takes a bus into town to get to the dali museum to meet kaylin while lisa and i head straight into the city. we get into the city around 10 and walk from the station to our hostel which isnt too far. we decide to check in and drop off our bags so we can at least go get something to eat considering we had already been up for like 7 hours and hadnt had anything to eat yet. we went to some random sandwich place (kinda like quizno's) which was awesome since we dont have such things in italy and then headed back to our hostel to get our rooms and shower and stuff so we can start our day. collin and i were in a 14 bed mixed dorm. it actually wasn't that bad but living in a hostel is definitely like a frat house in that it's just like ridiculously busy at all times. esp since our hostel was like the place to be, being that it was on the same street as casa mila and casa battlo and only a block away from la rambla. anyhow, here's a picture of our room. the beds were fairly comfortable but they only gave you a fitted sheet and a pillow case so i felt a bit exposed when i slept. oh well, no harm done.


so after freshening up we started walking north on our street, passeig de gracia, and stumble upon casa battló. so this was a house that gaudi designed on passeig de gracia. it's really colorful and wavy. we decided not to go inside this one cause casa mila is up the street and we were much more interested in that one (and the line was shorter). anyhow, here's the best picture of casa battló i could get.


so we continued down passeig de gracia and come across casa mila. another gaudi building, casa mila is also known as la pedrera. here's the sign outside the house.


this is me and lisa waiting in line to get into la casa mila. the italian fam in front of us had brought a full line of antipasti to enjoy while waiting in line. it was so weird. they had like canned olives and small personal bottles of wine for each person.


so the line was a bit of a wait but really not that bad considering how much of a tourist attraction it is. so casa mila is like...you go up to the attic and look at the models of the attic and then head out onto the terrace where gaudi designed all the airvents and things to be really cool chimneys. first, here's the courtyard you see when you first come in.


here's a picture of me sitting amongst the chimneys. luckily, it wasn't raining nor was it very crowded so i was able to take good pictures.


we also were able to take pictures of the two of us together (since collin was at dali). this is me and battaline with a bunch of different chimneys.


i know there are tons of pictures from casa mila but i really loved it up there. anyhow, here's another picture of me and lisa just one the terrace.


so from up there you get an awesome view of the city. this is me and lisa attempting to take a picture of ourselves with the view in the background. we managed to get la sagrada familia in there too.


there's this one big chimney on the roof that was really pretty and was easy to lean on since you cant really sit on the steps. here's me chillin on the chimney.


so after casa mila we hit up starbucks which was pretty much the most amazing thing ever. jesse (current roommate) and i always talk about how we could use a cup of starbucks right now and how we kinda wish they had that here. frickin spain of course has them so right after casa mila lisa and i ran to the closest starbucks and i got my vat of coffee, decaf as i almost always do. anyhow, after starbucks, we walked over to la sagrada familia (the sacred family). so this church was started by gaudi in the 1880s and still hasn't been finished. it's not a cathedral, but rather just a large roman catholic church that is supposed to be a mixture of a dragon's cave and whipped clouds. well, it's supposed to finished in 2010 so now it's still under major construction. here's a picture of it up close.


after the church, we headed down towards the water to see what we could encounter. first, we wanted to do the beach but it was a little too chilly to spend the day at the beach so we decided we would just walk south and probably hit so many things that we could just go see the beach and perhaps just enjoy the sounds of the ocean and the company of the locals. along the way, we hit the arc de triomf. it was kinda refreshing to see an arc that wasn't made of marble. here's lisa and me with the arc.


so after a lot of walking and lots of random sightings we finally make it the beach. the beaches in barcelona are gorgeous and people are frequenting the shore at all hours of the day. it was a lil chilly since its mid october but the waves were crashing and plenty of people were still surfing. here's me taking in the sun and trying to get rid of some of my paste (with a sweater on).


and here's me chillin on the boardwalk in barceloneta. barceloneta is the suburban town of barcelona that is situated south of the city right off the water. it's supposed to be known for american style pizza restaurants and tex mex, but we didn't have either of those. anyhow, the town was super cute.


while walking back along the shore towards the city, we encountered the dock where everyone parks their boats. this is the dock...i took a picture cause i saw all the boats of different sizes and thought of my sister and her boat.


so we decide to buy tickets to the stomp imax presentation but it doesn't start for a few hours. we keep walking along the path and find a mall! a freaking mall! i havent seen a mall since i left the isle of stats. not that malls are really that cool but i kinda miss them and i kinda miss the ridiculousness of the staten island mall. anyway, here's a picture of the mall (with a lot more affordable shopping thatn italy.)


we wander around the mall for a while and exit at every exit to see where it leads us. we end up on a dock at some point with a beautiful sunset which battaline and i romantically enjoyed. actually, i went to take out canteloupe (my camera) and the charm of PJP2 and benny fell off and fell through the planks of the dock. i was super sad but then realized i bought quite a few of those so it should be fine. anyhow, this is us with the sunset.


after shopping some more (though not buying anything) we catch site of mcdonalds and decide were not hungry enough for real food so we grab some mcdonalds. its kinda awesome cause i got a happy meal which included, chicken nuggets, potato wedges instead of fries, soda, a toy, and a desert for like 3,30. the toy is this lil music playing thing and here's a picture of lisa rocking out to her happy meal and the song from girls around, a girl group that our toy was based on.


so we still have some time to waste after dinner and we walk around towards the aquarium. there's this shark mouth outside that is no longer completely inhabited by children and we decide to take a picture with it. and by we, i mean I. do i look scared or just plain silly?


our stomp IMAX showing was so so cool. it was like this documentary style thing where it showed the rhythms of the world. here's me and lisa all taken aback by the super effects of IMAX.


after the IMAX, we just walked back to our hostel which was like 30 minutes but still a nice walk and there were so so many people around even though it was past midnight and nothing was open. on saturday, we got up early to have breakfast and then walked to parc guell, a park designed by gaudi. there are SO many tiles that go into everything gaudi designs. even the park sign shows this!


here's a picture of me at some part of parc guell. i wish i knew the names of the sections.


parc guell is an UNESCO world heritage sight and is actually famous for a lot of things, the longest park bench in the world being one of them. so many shards of glass went into designing and decorating every part of the bench.


here's a detail of the bench.


from the parc bench, you can get a really nice view of the city as well as a pretty view of the main buildings.


theres also an area with all these columns and random lil designs on the ceilings. this is one of the designs on the ceiling.


and here i am with the columns.


if you exit the parc through the main entrance, you can get a reall pretty picture of the buildings, parc bench, and colonnaded area.


the parc was rather crowded so we headed out and decided to hit up el corte ingles. its kinda hard to tell you how awesome corte is given that it has pretty much everything you could possibly want.



after corte, we headed towards the gothic quarter. the gothic cathedral COULD have been pretty if it wasn't completely covered in scaffolding.


here's a random street in the quarter.


there's lisa in the gothic quarter.


after this, we headed back to the hostel to meet up collin and get ready for the symphony. lisa and i got tickets to attend the symphony at the palace of music (palau de la musica). this is the outside of the palace on the side.


and here's the inside of the palace. it's so ornately decorated and there's so much going on in there.


the ceiling is especially known for the stained glass.


and there are also stained glass windows on both sides of the palace.


here's me and lisa enjoying the persony things we do like the symphony.


and this is the front of the palau.


after the symphony, we settled down for people watching, sangria, and paella with collin and kaylin. i have to say, barcelona is definitely one of my favorite cities ever and i was kinda sad to leave. one of the things i loved most about it is that its a lot more laid back than rome. you can wear sweatpants outside and not look like a total idiot. they also have tons of american stuff! dunkin donuts, starbucks, KFC, pizza hut, subway. all stuff that italy would never even think of having. freakin italia. ok well that's it for now i guess. winnie's here now with a few friends from mich so im gonna go meet up with her for dinner. ill post pictures and stuff from our adventures while she's here and then next weekend...napoli, the amalfi coast, and pompeii!