Barcelona!!!

They even spelled my name right!
Behind the Sagrada, I liked this side better!
View from our hostel!

Last weekend (February 19-22) I went to Barcelona for the last weekend of Carnivale. I really went because I wanted to go to Spain, but it was convinient that I would get to experience this celebration as well. I'm going just go through my weekend in a nutshell. We arrived late Thursday night and checked into SeaPoint Hostel. When I woke up for breakfast the next morning I realized why it had this name. I walked out to the dining area that had huge windows. They looked out onto the beach and the sun peeking out through the clouds onto the Mediteranian Sea. It was an amazing sight, one that words could not possibly describe. I ran back to my room to get my camera before I even started to eat. After breakfast we headed out to look for Guadi's Sagrada Familia. We ended up seeing the Barcelona Cathedral first and then finding our way slowing to the Sagrada passing the Arc de Triumf as well. We also stopped at STARBUCKS...we'd been deprived of our American luxuries so we had to indulge ourselves. Finally after another 45 minutes or so of walking we reached our destination and walked around in complete awe of the massive structure with intricate art and architecture. We decided to wait for our travel buddy to get in (she had missed her flight) before we decided whether or not to go in. I should also add that the Sagrada was started in 1850 and is still underconstruction. It is scheduled to be completed in 2050. We continued our exploration down to Las Ramblas seeing another Guadi site and then walking through a market filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and cheeses. It was beautiful, all of the produce laid out in such an orderly fashion with their vibrant colors. We made our way back to the hostel and met up with our friend and she joined us for a walk back up Las Ramblas, where we experienced the wonders of the street performers. We watched two different ones. The first was a man who could do amazing things with a soccer ball. He continuously bounced the ball on his head while simultaneously taking off a shirt and putting a different one on and then putting on a beanie balancing the ball on his head and pulling it off again. He also juggled 3 balls with his feet while bouncing one on his head and jumping rope. It was pretty impressive. A little further down another crowd was gathering and we witnessed a tumbling and acrobatic routine. These 5 guys built 2-1-1's and diamond-heads and did amazing passes that I have hardly seen people dare to try on a spring floor let alone the hard concrete street. The final trick was one of the performers did a round off full over the top of 4 spectators, Kerry happened to be one of them. It was quite the experience. Our day concluded with pizza from Pizza Hut and relaxing at the hostel. Our second day wasn't too eventful, we went out sight seeing again to the Sagrada, and went in a few churches along the way including the Cathedral we had stopped at the day before. When we got to the Sagrada we decided not to go in, I ended up heading home before the other girls and relaxed on the beach for a while before heading out to the Montjuic Park to see all of Barcelona. That was an experience in itself but will have to wait for another time. We finally made it up there right before sunset and had sangria and chocolate crossiants as the sunset. It was pretty awesome! We went out to one of the biggest clubs in Europe (supposedly) and I would just like to point out that Spaniards and all Europeans are insane. The club doesn't even open until 1:30 and stays open until 6 a.m. We only stayed til 5 but I was definitely tired and ready for bed. On Sunday, we took the bus back to the airport and went back home to Rome!