Barcelona, Espana!

¡El fin de semana pasada fuimos a Barcelona de España!
(Last weekend (November 7-9) we went to Barcelona, Spain!)

This trip was literally the very first trip we booked, way back in September, during our second week in London. We were all really excited to see the country and city and couldn't wait to experience the Spanish culture, even if it was months away when we planned it!

This last summer, I finished my foreign language requirement which included four semesters of Spanish. I now have had 2 years of classes in high school and the equivalent of four semesters of college-level. In other words, I was thrilled to be able to talk with locals, granted not fluently, but using my broken Spanish. A few of my friends also knew quite a bit so it was cool to be able to translate menus (even if they gave us English versions), order using Spanish phrases, and just being able to communicate in the countries language.

Bienvenida a Espana! y la Girona - Costa Brava aeropuerto.

If anyone has been to Mexico and feels that Spain would be a lot similar, you are wrong. (Don't worry, I was too.) Most of the people who went on this trip have been to Mexico and I think we were all expecting something of the sort, but we were definitely mistaken. Spanish people are still very European, they simply just speak another language and have their own customs. I do not think I would be able to tell an Italian, Spanish or French person apart if they were all three standing in front of me (not speaking, of course.) It was very cool to realize this misconception upon arrival. My first realization that I was in Spain was when the passport control officer started with "Hola" and ended with "Gracias." So great.

We checked into our hostel and then went to Las Ramblas (a major market/shopping street in the middle of Barcelona), making our way to la playa y el mar (the beach and the sea.)

They had pigeons caged for sale on Las Ramblas. Other free pigeons wandered around right next to the caged ones.

There were A TON of street performers and actors. So many people were just dressed up similar to these girls and sat on the side of the street, expecting people to take pictures with them and give them money. It was such an odd concept - this is what they do for a living? I couldn't really wrap my mind around that one.

A market off of one of the streets of Las Ramblas. There was also a Dunkin' Donuts to the left of this. Apparently in Massachusetts Dunkin' Donuts is THE place to get your coffee, etc. and the girls were SO happy to be able to have their favorite iced coffees again. Closer to the water is this really nice government/military building.
We were told to look "royal." I'm not sure we got it.

El Colon! Around this is where the previous picture with the lion was taken. There were lions guarding this statue, which is a tribute to Christopher Columbus. (The man on top is pointing to America!)We finally made it to the water! I, very carefully, climbed down some steps to the absolute bottom one where the water meets the concrete, took off my shoes and put my feet in the water. It was freezing, but the view was wonderful.

We walked across the bridge you see in the background of the previous picture (that wavy, roller-coaster looking thing) and stopped for a moment to watch the sun setting.We also discovered a mall and a few other cool shops/views. We then went back to where we were and around to the other side and found these:

Now, we didn't do a formal tour of Spain or anything, so I have no idea what these are for or represent. They were pretty cool to look at, though.

More on Barcelona is still to come!