"You Can Sleep When You're Dead"

Second time in the Mediterranean!! It was real cold

At the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona

In front of a building designed by Gaudi

At Gaudi's Park...the Chameleon signifies change

Alyssa and I running from a giant lobster on the harbor

Friday morning I got up at 5 30am, got ready, and headed to the bus station for our 6 30am departure to Barcelona. It was supposed to be a 7hr drive but we didn't actually get there until 5pm, which made it a 10 1/2hr long ride!! No one really got any sleep and there wasn't a whole lot to do, so it was a pretty dull adventure. We did get to see the wonderful landscape of Spain which mostly reminded me of Utah (blah!) and some of Colorado. When we finally arrived, we drove around for nearly an hour trying to find a park created by Gaudi. It was wonderful to get out and stretch our legs, and it was a gorgeous park, but most of us were really anxious to get to the hotel. After an hour and some of looking at the beautiful architecture of the park, we finally headed towards the hotel. We went out to a bar that night that was in a shopping mall over the harbor but we had to walk down Las Ramblas to get there. That was an awful experience for us!! Las Ramblas is a great tourist street during the day, but by night, even surrounded by seven other girls, it's the scariest place to be. We clearly took taxi cabs home! Despite being frightened, we had a really fun night. The next day we got up to walk around the Gotchic Neighborhood where we saw a lot of architecture from the Gothic period. It rained on us then, like it continued to do for the rest of the weekend. We walked aimlessly around the city to see some houses designed by Gaudi and tried to make it to La Sagrada Familia but it was just too far so we had some freetime and a few of us girls took the opportunity to go shopping! I FINALLY found boots which seemed like an impossible feat to accomplish, but now I'm really, really glad that I finally have because it rains here all the time and I'm tired of the bottom of my pants being wet! We came back and hung out with people for a while and then finally headed off to bed. Sunday morning we got up and went to the Picasso Museum which had a lot of his older paintings and showed us the evolution of his works. We walked back to our hotel and got on the bus to see another art museum, then off to the Olympic Stadium (which was one of my favorite parts) and then up to a military fort at the top of the mountain that had amazing views of Barcelona and the Mediterranian Sea!! We then drove down to La Sagrada Familia which was absolutely amazing and the really tall church you'll see in most of my photos. That evening a few of us girls decided we needed to head to the Sea to stick our feet in it, even though it was already dark. It was raining, as usual, and we had an extremely long walk, but eventually made it to one of the beaches. We all stuck our feet in and took some pictures in the dark, and then started on the very long walk back home. Alyssa, Ashley and I spent the night watching One Tree Hill after failing to find the Superbowl (which some boys did find at a bar, but they didn't even show the American commercials which is really the best part). We took off yesterday for Segovia at 11 and finally arrived around 8 30pm. I was excited to get some real food (there was a free 'buffet' at the hotel but we mostly just at cereal and fruit) and get some sleep! Classes started up again today and things are back to 'normal'. Sorry, I forgot my camera at home so I'll have to upload my pictures tomorrow! Hope you all enjoyed the Superbowl and Groundhogs day!