I'm in Barcelona!

So things are going to go a little out of order. I went to Barcelona with my parents as well. Eh. what the heck. I'll just talk about it all right now.

Barcelona. First day was a chill day. We layed around for a good portion of the morning in Montserrat on June 21 (Thursday). Then we went to go see the monastery in the mountains there. You have to drive up a windy road to get there. It was neat, there was a lot of things up there to see. It didn't seem as old as I thought it would be. Still neat. We just hung out there and waited until later on to watch the boys choir sing. So we sat there and all the monks came out and sang too. It was strange being in their big cathedral while it was all going on. I had no idea what to do. But it was neat. My dad absolutely enjoyed it. He said it was the highlight of the whole trip. We then got back to the hostel and ate dinner there. It was pretty tasty for the price it was. Pasta and sausages and such.

Next day, we woke up suuuuuper early to go into Barcelona and see all the sights. We got up and left by 6 to catch the train into town. Holy crap. So we first went to La Sagrada Familia, the huge cathedral that is the most iconic part of Barcelona. Gaudi, the guy who created the whole thing, left specific instructions for it's completion. Specific patterns for the stained glass windows and everything in there. It was amazing. Probably my favorite cathedral of any I've ever seen and been into. It's so unique. So modern and unlike anything ever created before. It has so many things modeled on nature, with lizard and frog gargoyles to the inside looking like a forest of trees as the pillars. So neat. Definitely worth the money to get into. It'll take another 20 years or so to be fully finished. After that, we went to see some of the other buildings that Gaudi created. Pretty neat, but we didn't want to pay the ridiculous price to go inside...so we walked down to the street called "las Ramblas" there are lots of little booths to buy souvenirs and one of their main markets is in the center to go get food. We then walked down to the port and ate a hot dog. I didn't feel like dealing with eating tapas. So Mom and I had one and a lemon slush while looking at the water and boats. After that we went to the Picasso museum. It doesn't have many of his really famous works there, but there are hundreds of his early work and sketches and lots of prime examples of the evolution of his art. Pretty neat. We thought we would need a lot more time in Barcelona to see everything, but we then went and ate dinner on Las Ramblas and then took a taxi back to the train station. Mom and Dad seemed amazed at the ease I had taking the train back. They were worried we weren't on the right train. Oh mother. ;) So then we got back and crashed because we had to get up for another early day.

We had to get the car back on Saturday in Valencia by 11 a.m. so we got up early and left. Got the car back in time and then took a taxi to my apartment. It was nice to be home. for a week. We didn't spend a long time hanging out though. We packed some of my stuff then headed out to shop a little before going to see the formula 1 race cars Dad was so excited to see. After trying to see the cars for Dad down by the port, we took a taxi to the Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencia and explored around there for a little while. The taxi driver back to my apartment was so friendly and nice. I like being able to speak with the locals, that's where the real heart of Valencia is. Once we got back to my apartment, we went to eat. We went to Cien Montaditos and got some little sandwiches and olives. That's the only place I feel like you can get a decently huge size drink for your money's worth. We went shopping for presents after that and then did some packing. That night we went to La Rentaora to eat since it's my absolute favorite restaurant. Also, since not many people know about it, it's tucked away close to my apartment and usually you can find a table there. Ana and Natalia came later so we chatted with them for a while. We planned to go to el dia de San Juan later that night. It was a huge bonfire on the beach and at midnight you were suppose to run into the water and jump over 3 waves and make a wish. Mom and Dad had to leave early the next morning, so they opted to sleep and I went with Ana and Natalia to the beach. We were late, but got there and had some fun chatting and everything with friends. I met Natacha there so we could chill since I hadn't seen her in weeks! It took at least a half hour to get the tram to leave after though because there was so much traffic.

Awesome trip. Awesome family. Awesome friends. Awesome times. :) Definitely and unforgettable trip.