It has been a busy two days! My weeks tend not to be very eventful because of classes and such so by the time the weekend comes around, I am ready to get back to the touristy stuff. Thursday after class, I walked around the area where my apartment and classes are. I've found that I like to walk aimlessly to find cool new things (like this beautiful church) and then work to find my way back. There are enough noticeable landmarks in our area that even if I end up walking randomly for 3 miles (like I did yesterday), I can still make my way home. On my way home, I stopped at a restaurant/bar called Obama- an extremely odd place. There is a statue of Obama sitting in the front but then the bar claims to be a "British African" bar.
After I got home from that adventure, I had yet another delicious meal from my host mom with my roommates. After which, we decided we wanted to expand beyond the common bars that all the study abroad students visit. One of my roommates, a friend from my program, and I used the travel book that Robyn got me to check out the bar with the supposedly the best mojitos in Barcelona. We got to this bar and it was not at all what we expected. It was off an alley and it was extremely small. There were four local (or at least we thought local) friends, the bartender, and us three Americans. We decided we were going to finish our mojito (which actually was one of the best I've had) and leave. But as we sat there, we started talking to the people there and found that they were so nice, they hadn't known each other long, and that most of them were from Latin America. It was a cultural eye-opener for us that these people, one of whom accidentally ended up at the bar and had only been in Spain for four days, could give off the vibe that they were close friends. The people started playing flamenco music and singing and even taught us some dance moves. We got to know them a bit, practiced our Spanish, and had an absolute blast. I had been hoping to find native places to go to push out of my comfort zone and this definitely qualified. It was the best night out that I have had yet.
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| The video is dark but you can hear the music! |
Today, my roommates, a couple of friends and I conquered Mt. Tibidabo. It was about a 6 miles hike straight up the mountain and completely not what we expected. We stopped along the way at a restaurant that had a beautiful view of Barcelona. And by the time we made it to the top, we could see all of the city, a beautiful church at the top, and a small amusement park on top. We were so proud of ourselves by the end. To reward ourselves, we stopped at a cafe and experienced the classic churros and chocolate. Yes, those are coffee cups full of chocolate.
Oh! My friend Hannah (from camp) and I booked our trip to Greece last night. We are so excited!
