il mio tempo in italia: BARCELONA

Alright I've got to recap you guys on a full weeks worth of events so stay with me or just find the parts you want to read and don't worry about reading it all.

Last week was pretty routine and relaxed. My Mondays are quickly becoming very boring so last week I attempted to entertain myself with uploading pictures and things, but found myself out of things to do around 2. I decided I was going to go crazy if I stayed in the room any longer so I went on a 3 hour walk of this side of the city. It was actually really nice because the weather was perfect and although I bike by all of those storefronts and houses every day I never get the opportunity to really look at them. That night I had dinner with the girls that live upstairs and as usual we just did a potluck dinner where I make the salad/bread and then they provide the meat and wine. Its always fun to hang out with those girls. Tuesday I had my usual day of classes and lunch with my tandem partner, Mara. We went to lunch at this really cute sandwich shop near school. I entered the restaurant talking US presidential politics (as per usual) and the owner of the restaurant must have overheard me talking so he came over, apologized for interrupting and then introduced himself as Joe the Plumber. It was probably one of the best things I have experienced so far in Italy. That lunch was also particularly nice because my tandem partner brought a friend of hers to lunch so instead of just speaking English the entire lunch we actually got to speak a lot of Italian (very broken on my end) and discussed politics, movies, TV, food, etc. Its so nice to feel comfortable enough to just try to use the language and know that they will help me if I need it. Such a great abroad experience! I also had cooking class on Tuesday night where we learned how to make orecchiette with broccoli. I enjoyed it although didn't think it had a whole lot of flavor, but as per usual she made sure there were lots of other amazing foods to supplement (chicken marsala, green beans, cheese, salad). Always the highlight of my week in Parma!

Wednesday the entire BC group went to the Parmesan cheese factory as part of our History of Parma class. We were all a little less than excited to be getting up to leave at 7:45, but it turned out to be much more involved and interesting than we expected. They walked us through all of the different processes of making and aging the cheese. We got to try some in the end and got a free cheese grater too! Good day. haha. After that I had my other class and then hung out at the villa on Wednesday night after packing for Barcelona!

Thursday I went to my first two classes and then had to miss my Organizational Behavior class (definitely not a problem) to catch a train to Milan for our flight. Traveling went very smoothly which was a very nice experience after the previous weekend's nightmare. We left Parma at 3 and got to our friend's apartment in Barcelona around 11. We were exhausted once we got there though so we decided to stay in for the night and plan our next couple of days.

Since we had 2 full days in Barcelona (as opposed to the usual 1 when we fly out on Friday) we were able to sleep in a little on Friday and then get up to see the city well-rested. Chiara was an AMAZING tour guide. She has been in the city for only a couple of months, but knows so much about it all. As we were walking around I kept talking about how the tour buses were following us because everywhere we would go they would be there, we were just doing everything for free and on foot (which is always better). My legs and feet were very tired after this weekend, but it was totally worth it to say that we really saw everything. I am just going to kind of list what we saw here, but if you have the time I would recommend looking up some of the spots we saw online because they really were great. I am a huge fan of Gaudi now even though I couldn't have told you much about him at all before we went. His presence in Barcelona is EVERYWHERE. From the street lamps, buildings, parks and sidewalks he has left his impressions for everyone to see and its really inspiring. I could walk around that city for the rest of my life and still be in awe. So for Friday, we got up and spent a few hours in Parc Guell (an area designed by Gaudi that was supposed to be a residential neighborhood but lost funding so it has now become a park) , then ventured over to Las Ramblas (the main street of Barcelona for shopping and toursity attractions), Mercat de la Boqueria (the most impressive food market I have ever seen), Palau de la Musica Catalana (gorgeous exterior), La Pedrera (a house designed by Gaudi with an amazing rooftop overlooking the entire city), House of Bones (another house by Gaudi which was beyond impressive), Universitat de Barcelona (I contemplated transferring there because its so beautiful), and the Cathedral (under major construction so you can't see much due to scaffolding). After a long day we had a great dinner at a tapas restaurant Chiara recommended. It was so nice to sit down and enjoy some real spanish food and sangria.

Sunday we followed the same routine of waking up around 9 and then heading out by 10 or so. We were able to have a little more relaxed day because we had seen so much the day before, but still managed to stay plenty busy. We first went to the beach (so warm!) at Olympic Port, then walked through the Gothic Quarter (where I would live if I lived in Barcelona), went back to Las Ramblas, saw La Sagrada Familia (more impressive than words or pictures can do it justice), Hospital de Sant Pau (I also considered injuring myself just so I could stay here for a few nights. It looks like a gorgeous college campus.), Parc de Montjuic (we took a ski lift to the top of the mountain to see an amazing view of the entire city), Olympic Stadium (there was a children's neighborhood cultural event going on, complete with fireworks!), and a light show at Placa de Espanya (gorgeous!). After another full day Chiara took us to get some more amazing food for very cheap. I considered ordering paella because it seemed like a requirement, but then remembered I don't like much seafood or rice so I decided against it and ordered salmon instead. Still a very good choice. Then we went souvenir shopping and I found some great coasters that I will definitely be excited to use in my dorm next semester. I love buying these little things that I know I will be able to use for a long time and remember this amazing time I am having.

Sunday we had to get up early (especially early because we forgot that Day Light Savings Time was ending until we got to the train station) and headed back to Parma. We got back here around 3 and then got to relax for a while. Nate was awesome and cooked our little group dinner again since he was in town for the weekend so we all got to get together and talk about our weekends which was fun.

Today I have been doing all of my school work and trying to debate my plans for next semester at BC. I have a lot of things that I would love to do, but don't want to fill my plate up too much. Definitely be praying about that for me if you can!

Tomorrow night we are headed to the Opera in Parma which should be so much fun to get dressed up and experience some real Italian culture. (Hopefully it will be better than the horrible one we went to when I was here with PDS last time, haha). Other than that, the week is looking pretty normal and then 9 of us are headed to Lucerne, Switzerland on Friday. I can't believe November starts on Saturday!! And the election is in a week?! What?! No, I'm not starting to freak out or anything. I'm thinking of having people come over and spend the night at my apartment and then we all can get up pretty early (our time) to watch the results and I'll make a big breakfast for everyone. We'll see how that goes, but I figure we're going to need something comforting to do while we sit around and wait for the results to roll in.

Hope you guys are doing well. As always I keep you guys in my thoughts all the time and would love to hear any updates. You guys have been so awesome about staying in touch! I love it. Every time I check my email it seems like I have one waiting from at least one of you. Thanks!

Love and miss you guys a lot!! Ciao ciao.

P.S. Here are a couple of pics to recap.