Barcelona!

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Barcelona! Yeah for Spain and TWO new pairs of shoes!!! Woo Hoo! So Barcelona was the best way to end the semester. I was a bit worried about going the weekend before finals, but there was nothing to worry about [smile].

I should add in here, however, that Rika and Whit got to see the Queen on Wednesday [I was making a presentation on the set design of Simply Heavenly at that time]. And then that afternoon Rika and I went to see the Raphael exhibit at the National Gallery. We had planned to see Woman in Black with Robi and Andrew that night, but Rika ended up getting sick and not feeling up to going. So Robi, Andrew and I went and were all three scared, totally freaky! So Thursday I took Rika with my extra suitcase to the train station to depart for the airport, and then came back to Regents to pack for Spain.

Whitney, Andrew and I ventured off for our 2 hour plane ride on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Barcelona on Thursday night. Since I had gotten up early to take Rika to the airport with one of my gigantic suitcases, I decided that I was to tired to venture off on Thursday night, so I stayed in the hostel and updated my journal and then fell asleep early.

Friday we woke up, and after showering and getting some breakfast, we started walking towards Gaudi’s cathedral “La Segrada Familia” [the sacred family]. On the way we found the triumphant arch, which was really cool [click on the underlined for the picture].

And then we did some shopping before we found the cathedral, which, after 100 years of work, is still in the process of being built! Crazy, huh?! But it was absolutely fabulous. It’s all designed in a very naturalistic way, he uses frogs and snails and that sort of stuff in detailing it, and the columns are based on the trunks of trees. The entrance was fabulous.

Anyway, it was really incredible! We liked it so much that when we were done we went on search of another house which he re-designed; also wonderful [can’t find any pictures ‘cause I can’t remember what it’s called]. Then we went shopping for a bit [I bought my first pair of KangaRoo’s] and to dinner on the Mediterranean at a tapas bar [not to be confused, as Andrew was, with a "tap ass" bar (lol)]; the food was so so great. Then we followed dinner with Belgian waffles [yum], and cuban cigars [smile]!

Saturday we started out going to the Picasso museum…pretty neat, but I have to say, he’s not one of my favourite artists. But anyway, we went and that was cool. Then we got baguettes for lunch. We wandered around some more and found a bunch of little outdoor markets, which we meandered through. Then we walked along the Mediterranean coast and talked and just enjoyed. We ended the day with dinner once again on the coast at a different tapas bar [not as great, but this time they had really wonderful wine], and more Belgian waffles with Dulce de Leche topping. Then we turned in early since it was raining outside and there was really nothing else that we wanted to see [and we were pretty worn out]. So we hop into bed only to be woken up at 4am by the bunch of loud obnoxious Spaniard boys who at first were talking in mixed Spanish and English talking about whether or not to turn the lights on….[shakes head]…and then they wouldn’t shut up for the next two hours. Drove me absolutely nuts, and I “shushed” them a few times. I couldn’t believe how loud they were…absolutely ridiculous.

Sunday we got up early and headed back to London [even though our plane was 30 min. late taking off]. We were really tired, needless to say, since the Spaniards kept us up late. But the trip in its entirety was really excellent. I thank the Lord that the Spaniard boys weren’t there the first two nights, and that we didn’t have but only a few instances where we worried about who we’d find in what attire or lack there of in the bathroom. Definitely Spain is a place I plan to travel more of in the future. It was so beautiful.

And that is the last of my European travels….at least during this semester. From here on out, I will be travelling Germany with Mom [smile], which, although stressful at the moment, I’m sure will end up being fantastic. I will attempt to keep the blog updated, but who knows what chances I will have to get to a computer [shrug].

I really have had a fantastic semester. But I am also ready for all the things that I am use to….my car, my phone, my school, my friends, my family, Wal-Mart and McDonalds [smile]. One more month!

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*maike rinaye*