Barce-freakin'-lona

First off, I apologize for not blogging for almost a full week, it has been hectic but phenomenal. Second, let me apologize because this is about to be a pretty long blog post. Enjoy :)

This past weekend Laura, Sara and I took our trip to Barcelona and let me tell you, it was the best weekend I have had in Europe. Why? Everything.

I have been told my multiple people that I needed to visit Barcelona while I was over here. I personally thought they were just exaggerating how awesome it was but to my surprise, IT WAS THAT AWESOME!

Let's start with Friday. Our flight was at about seven p.m. Friday night, we took Ryan Air for the first time. Many people have told me stories about Ryan Air and how it is pretty run down but they are cheap flights. So, I didn't have that high of expectations for this plane, but to my surprise it was not as near as bad as I expected. The only big difference I noticed from some of the flights I've been on throughout the states, is that they don't provide free refreshments or snacks. They offer food but you have to pay for it all. I also heard that you have to pay to use the bathroom, luckily, I never had to find this out because our flight was only two hours so I was able to hold my pee. The only thing that got me on the way there was when we were descending into the Barcelona airport. For some reason the pilot decided he wanted to descend faster than any other plane I've been on. This caused my face to get a sharp pain in it and it also felt as if my teeth wanted to pop out of the gums. I know this sounds incredibly painful but it only lasted for 10 minutes. Once we were landed I felt 100% better and SUPER EXCITED to be in Barcelona.

Since Barcelona is an hour ahead we didn't get there until about 10 p.m. their time. Once we got off the plane we made our way to our hostel, which was not as bad as I expected either, more about that later. On the bus to the hostel we were just looking out the windows at the magnificent city and architecture when this taxi pulled up next to us. There were two boys in the taxi that began to wave to us, we waved back and thought that was that. But then, we got dropped off and turned the corner and saw the same two guy walking the direction we were, so we decided to start up conversation with them (mind you, they were cute!). These two boys were from Australia and had been in Barcelona for about 10 days now. They ended up walking us to our hostel, waited for us to get changed to go out to eat with them and possibly out to a club. Once we were changed we walked on the beach to an area that had restaurants and clubs. It was 1 a.m. by the time we found a place to eat. At this restaurant we got to know the Australians better while Sara and I shared our first jug of Sangria (it was DELICIOUS).

After dinner we got in the line for one of the most popular clubs in Barcelona called Opium. The line was incredibly long and we probably wouldn't have gotten in their until it was about to close. The crazy thing about Barcelona though, is that their clubs don't get crowded until one a.m. or later and stay open until six or seven in the morning. Their nightlife is a lot later than any I am used to. We wanted to go to Opium but it was already three something in the morning so us five (the Australians, Sara, Laura and I) decided we would go back to the boys hostel and play some drinking games and just hang out. So we did. It was a blast getting to know people from another country. We didn't leave their hostel until about 5:30 in the morning because they had to actually catch a 7:30 flight to Portugal. So, after a fun night of bonding with Australians, we kissed them goodbye and headed back to our hostel.

Once we got back to our hostel, which was on the beach, it was about six in the morning so we decided to stay up a bit longer and watch the sunrise over the sea. This was stunning. We sat on a set of rocks that were sitting between the beach and the water and took in the scenery. It was incredibly stunning and peaceful. As you can see in the following picture:

Finally, we went to sleep, at about seven in the morning. We slept until about 10:30 and decided it was time to get up and go to the beach. Laura and I stopped at one of the restaurants on the beach for some sort of breakfast. Her breakfast consisted of a ham and cheese sandwich while I just had Sangria. We then spent the next few hours on the beach, getting burnt to crisps. The most shocking thing about the beach though, was that it was a nude beach, so we saw A LOT of boobs just hanging out. I was not warned of this so this caught me incredibly off guard. I was not uncomfortable, I was just unprepared. It was definitely a culture shock because in America that would not be okay, which is why we don't have nude beaches in our country. It did make me think a lot though, like how do you explain this to the kids that are on the beach? Or what do people's significant others think of them just showing off their goodies? Who knows. Definitely something that I would have to get used to if I ever moved there.

While at the beach we met a group of guys. One of them was American while the other eight or so were from France. The most ironic thing to happen all weekend was the fact that the American in this group was from Wheaton, Illinois, which is a town only 30 minutes from me. What a small world? Who would have thought I'd be all the way in Barcelona yet meeting people from the same area code as me.

This group of guys was a great time. We decided we were going to meet up later and get dinner and go out. So, after us girls went for a walk around Barcelona and took a nap, we met these guys on the beach. A few of them spoke English quite well, while a few others were hilarious to listen to try and speak it. Instead of getting dinner, we all just sat on the beach, drank some booze and got to know one another. It was a spectacular time. Once I told them my name they continued to say it about 100 more times that night. One of the boys kept on saying "Maggie girrrrrrrrrl" 10 times in a row. He would even say it when I wasn't even talking to him.

After some time spent on the beach we ended up going to Razzmatazz, which I guess is the largest club in Europe. It was kind of way in the ghetto of Barcelona. We had to take a subway to get there. But this was fun. I have never been on a Subway myself so that was a new experience I got to enjoy.
We got to the club around midnight but had to wait an hour at a bar near by because the club didn't even open until one a.m. Such a different night life than I am used to. I am used to the clubs being open by like nine p.m. and having to close around three a.m. Therefore, again, I got little sleep that night. We got back from the club and hanging out with the french group of guys at about four a.m.

On Sunday, we woke up around nine a.m. in order to make it to our tour of La Sagrada Familia. This a large church built in Barcelona that has impeccable architecture. It was started by the architect Gaudi, in the year 1883. It is still unfinished and is not planned to be completed until 2028. Even though it is still under construction, it is still one of the most gorgeous buildings and architecture I have ever seen. Both the inside and outside were breathtaking and so much to take in. It is definitely worth a visit if you are ever in Barcelona (which you should be because it's the best place I've ever visited).

As you can tell, we did a lot this weekend with a little sleep. Probably got about seven total hours the entire weekend. But it was all worth it. I loved every single minute we spent in Barcelona. I feel as if I experienced more of a country in this one weekend than I have over these past five weeks. We had to figure our way around the city by reading Spanish. Even though many of the people in Barcelona know a few English words, every sign, every menu and every native to Barcelona, spoke only Spanish. It was my first time in a country that didn't even have some English displayed. I really enjoyed this, because even though I love Ireland and my experience here, it is an English speaking country so I haven't felt too much out of my element. While in Barcelona I was able to feel out of my element and learn how to handle not being able to speak the same language as others.

When we were purchasing the tickets for Barcelona, I was a little stressed. I didn't know if it were worth the amount of money I was about to spend, but honestly, it was more than worth it. Now knowing the type of experience I got to be a part of, I will spend double of what I spent to experience this past weekend all over again, not matter if I get sleep or not.

Now, I get to spend another week in Ireland. I am celebrating the Fourth of July on Thursday with a bunch of Irish people and heading to London on Friday evening. I'm extremely excited for another week in Ireland and another weekend in another country.

I have less than two weeks left here and I'm not ready for it to end. I still have so much to take in. So wish me luck! I hope I get to take it all in within these next few weeks.