Barcelona!

Hola!
So here's my Barcelona post, it was one of my favorite trips we've taken and I totally fell in love with the city-it's so different from anywhere else in Spain I've been, and we had a blast there. Our trip started early on Thursday, when we had to be at the airport at 5:45 in the morning, but it was so worth it because we got to Barcelona by 9 and got to take full advantage of the day. That first day our Dickinson guide Manolo led us on a walk around some of the most famous sights of Barcelona, then we had free time the rest of the afternoon and night. It was interesting to hear and see a totally different language while there, in the Cataluña community the people speak Catalán, a completely different language from the Castellano that we're used to, but everyone speaks Castellano as well so it was easy to communicate and get around. Here are some photos of what we saw while walking around:

Las Ramblas-a famous street full of little markets and shops

Plaza Real

One of my favorite discoveries in Las Ramblas was a food market called La Boqueria, that had all kinds of delicious food and drinks, I made many stops here during our trip. 

In La Boquería-so many juices!!

Jamón of course

A gothic neighborhood dating from the 13th century

After our Manolo-guided walking tour of the city, some of us decided to take a bus to Parque Guell, a famous park designed by the arquitect Gaudi, whose distinctive arquitecture can be seen all over the city. The park was pretty crazy, the arquitecture was so unique and different, and it was really cool to see. 

Looking out over Barcelona

The next day we went to see La Sagrada Familia, an incredible cathedral designed by Gaudi, whose construction began in the 19th century and is still on-going today. It was absolutely incredible, like nothing I've ever seen before. Pictures can't capture how massive or impressive it really is, but here are a couple to give an idea:

One of the coolest places I've ever been, the design was just so unique and with so much detail. We also had the chance to see a house designed by Gaudi, which was just as uniquely designed as La Sagrada Familia. In the 1800s the house was full of aparments with incredible arquitecture, decoration and design, now it serves as a museum. 

View from the roof-La Sagrada Familia in the background

In addition to see so much of Gaudi's work, we also got to go to the Picasso museum in the city, and one morning we took a train to the town of Figueras to visit the Dali museum-that was some interesting artwork! We also were lucky enough to stop by Barcelona's fútbol stadium, a HUGE deal for Barca fans. 

Our last day wrapped up our time in Barcelona perfectly, as I walked down to the port with some friends, we grabbed lunch at a farmer's market and then ate a picnic on the beach before getting on a plane back to Málaga. Overall an amazing trip, I hope that someday I'll be able to go back!

Carnaval in Cádiz

Excuse my tardiness in blog posting, I actually have 2 updates-one about carnaval in Cádiz, and another on Barcelona, which will be coming later this week! Things in Málaga are still great, I can't believe I have less than 2 months left!! It's going to be really hard to say goodbye to my host mom and come back home, although it will be nice to see everyone! But everytime I start getting sad about leaving, I think about how much fun I'm having, and all the plans I have coming up in these next 2 months. One of these fun times was when our whole group went to Cádiz to celebrate carnaval last month.

One of the most famous carnavales in the world, we were determined to get to Cádiz to experience it. Our long journey started at 4 pm on a friday, when we went to the university campus and got on one of 20 buses taking Uni students to Cádiz, about 4 hours away. All the other students' costumes were crazy, Spaniards go all out! In our group, we had 3 ninjas, a pirate, a bee, 3 devils, and a monk (I was a ninja).

Group shot after arriving in Cádiz

After arriving around 8:30, we set off to explore the city and get the party started. The night was a fun mix of music, dancing, parades and wandering around the massive crowds of people. Definitely one of the craziest places I've been, but it was an absolute blast. Our bus didn't leave till 7 a.m. the next morning, so we had plenty of time to soak in all carnaval had to offer, although by the time the morning arrived, we were beat and ready to go home and sleep.

6 a.m., ready to go home

All in all, carnaval in Cádiz was an experience that I will definitely never forget, and I'm so glad to have gotten the opportunity to go and experience one of the world's biggest parties!

Barcelona post coming soon!

xox