When we arrived on Wednesday we settled in and went for some traditional Spanish tapas (I ordered croquetes). We went out to a ‘shots bar’ and came home relatively early according to Spanish standards. They typically eat dinner around 9PM-10PM, go out around 12AM-1AM, and don’t come home until 5AM-6AM. And they do this on weekdays too! I wonder how they make it to work… The working culture is much more laid back because of this, I suppose. 

On Thursday, we walked down to the beach and the marina and did some sightseeing along the way. We saw La Sagrada Familia, which is Antoni Guadi’s “unfinished masterpiece.” I appreciated the architecture of the structure. It was just beautiful. Afterwards we visited Parc Gual, which had fantastic views of the city. We went out to a Mexican restaurant for dinner and then went to a bar-type place for towers of sangria.

On Friday, we went on a 3 hour bike tour of Barcelona. That was probably the highlight of my trip. We learned a lot about the history of the city and got to see so much more than I would’ve been able to accomplish otherwise. I definitely got an authentic taste for what Barcelona’s all about and saw some hidden gems along the way. We then met up with our guy friends who went on a tour of the ‘futbol’ stadium, got some lunch, and walked around for a bit before heading back to our hostel. After a quick “siesta” (or nap) we had our last night out. We went to a bar and then a nightclub. At the bar we were at, you ask for a drink and the bartender gives you the bottle of liquor and something to mix it with. You’re able to pour at your discretion, all for 4 Euros. A great deal. Barcelona is much cheaper than London. We took taxis everywhere and they were extremely inexpensive and drinks were cheaper as well. The mere thought of taking a taxi in London is laughable. 

Something I enjoyed over the course of my time in Spain was being able to communicate in Spanish. I’ve been exposed to Spanish speaking since I was just a baby. My mom and I are very close with a Cuban family, that we consider our family as well. I also have been learning Spanish speaking since elementary school. I took Spanish honors and AP classes and did very well on my AP exam, but only had one college Spanish course. So it’s been awhile since I’ve had a chance to communicate in Spanish. I’m definitely not nearly as good as I was my senior year of high school/freshman year of college, but I’m proud of the way I was able to understand and communicate the language. It makes me want to jump back into speaking. I know I would be so much better if I studied full-time in a Spanish-speaking city because I would have no choice but to communicate in the main language daily.

We left Barcelona and headed back to London on Saturday. I enjoyed my time in Barcelona but it’s always nice to be back in London; I feel very much at home here. We’re about half way done with the semester, which means I am half done with my experience in Europe. It makes me sad because I really just don’t want it all to end.