Kelsey's Semester in Wonderful Copenhagen: Bienvenido Barcelona!

Getting to Barcelona was quite the experience. We took our first (and only, thank goodness) Ryanair flight. I was so pleased to get all 12 days worth of clothes etc. into one bag only to find that my bag was 2 kilos over the maximum weight. So, it was time for some strategic weight shifting. I put my chargers and converters in one coat pocket and all of my liquids in another. I looked a little lumpy, and wearing my northface jacket in 70 degree weather was a bit unpleasant but my bag now only weighed 8.5 kilos...success!!

A couple of hours later we were in beautiful Barcelona! We got in at night and so our first stop was dinner. We went to a place just around the corner for some paella, a traditional Spanish dish of rice, meat, seafood etc. all served in the big pan it is cooked in.

Enjoying some sangria before the paella comes.

My DELICIOUS asparagus risotto (paella has a tomato based sauce so I got this instead)

Mixed Paella

Me, Cat and Alaina with our hats down by the pier.

Me at the beach!

We only stayed for about an hour because it was mostly cloudy and so windy it felt like a hurricane was coming.

Park Guell is the park designed by Gaudi. It is a really beautiful park with paths taking you up the hill to a panoramic view of the city as well as a bunch of Gaudi's mosaic art.

Camille, me, Cat and Alaina at Parc Guell with a great view of the city in the background.

Mosaic benches at Park Guell

Me, Tess and Cherie at Park Guell

At Parc Guell with the city in the background

The entrance of Mercat de La Boqueria. We had lunch here every day, usually a baguette with ham and cheese and some fresh fruit.

Me with my raspberries at the food market

Fish at the market.

It rained all morning so we got these awesome ponchos while standing in line to see La Sagrada Familia

All of us in our ponchos...we are so ready for Easter!

Tess and I in the entrance of La Sagrada Familia looking like stereotypical tourists with our audioguides, waterbottles, cameras and rain ponchos.

Inside La Sagrada Familia. The columns were inspired by trees. The 'branches' are what support the ceiling.

The passion facade.

Nativity Facade

Me with la Sagrada Familia in the background. It was started in 1882 and is still being built. It is scheduled for completion in about 2026. It would be so cool to go back and see the finished project.

Tapas for lunch. Tapas was originally slices of bread or ham to cover ones drink, preventing flies from getting in. It has evolved into a wide variety of small plates of food for people to share.

Easter is a huge holiday in Barcelona. We were there for Good Friday and for Sant Jordi's day. Sant Jordi's day was nuts. The streets were packed with people and there were people selling books on every street. Sant Jordi's day celebrates the death of Catalunya's patron saint, St. George.

This bread was in all the bakeries for the Easter celebration.

Barcelona is known for its great night life, and for good reason! We had so much fun going out in this wonderful city. Our hostel always had a night out planned for its guests so we went one night with them first to a bar near our hostel and then to a club on the beach! We met some great people on the way. One group of guys from England were hilarious, especially Will with his blue blazer and red bow tie. We also met a couple Danes in our hostel. They tried to give me a lesson in Danish...who knew I had been butchering 'unskyld' all this time?! The club we went to was so nice! Inside there was a dance floor and then there was a deck part that was right on the beach. It was a great way to spend the night in Barcelona!

Cat, Alaina and Me with our new friend Will.

We didn't have the best weather in Barcelona the first few days we were there, but the last day was absolutely beautiful. We took advantage of the weather and walked all around the city seeing the many different plazas and parks we had yet to see.