The Good Morning Collective Moan

Sunday morning: the breakfast room was literally one giant hangover. I managed to get down in good time, and ate some fruit with some of my friends... some of whom were much worse off than I. I got to hear all the stories from the people that we got separated from the previous night... definitely made a good decision staying with the group. Anyway, I had packed my bag before coming to breakfast, and afterward we had to checkout and store our luggage in a locked room to pick up later in the afternoon. We all sat around for about an hour, slowly and painfully recovering until the bus came to pick us up and take us to the Barrio Gotico of Barcelona: the old city. We were all on the bus, everyone was ready to doze off for the 10 minute ride there, and then our tour guide started talking: "Hola, chicos. ¿Teneís energía para caminar en el barrio gótico esta mañana?" After she said this, the entire bus literally gave a collective moan, and off we went.

We got dropped off and then had to exit the bus. The tour was grueling, not only because everyone was absolutely exhausted, but because it was more or less pointless. We literally would walk around different streets in the old city, and then we would stop in front of a church or a museum. She would explain (her accent was MUCH worse that day) what was inside and talk about a bunch of random tangents, and then we would move on. So thus, theme of Sunday was: Drag our feet around the old city of Barcelona listening to our tour guide talk about all the cool things inside of the buildings that we weren't going to enter. Still, we went in a couple cathedrals, all of which were stunning. After at least 4 hours of the tour, we were finally done, and allowed to go explore the old city by ourselves. It was only around 2, but everyone was starving because breakfast had been... a struggle. Luckily, Lauren, who had been to the city once before, remembered a pizza place that was close by, and a group of us went there for lunch. The pizza was phenominal: 2 slices and a drink for 4 euro. I got 4 slices: goat cheese and tomatoes, mexican style, mozzarella and veggie, and spinach and cheese.

After lunch we got some gelato and then opted for touring the Picasso Museum. Although it was crowded and we were a little rushed, the museum was very interesting. Picasso was literally painting neoclassical masterpieces by the age of 14. The museum was organized chronologically, so it was fascinating to see the progression of his art and the changing style throughout the years. Very cultural, no doubt. We took the metro back to the hotel afterwards, gathered our stuff, and boarded the bus to head for home. Sleep ensued quickly, and we finished watching Avatar once we exited Cataluña. Arriving in Valencia literally felt like coming home: Barcelona was great, but Valencia is such a comfortable, friendly city. A group of us went to McDonald's after to grab a quick bit before heading back to our houses. I got a Cuarto de libra con queso and patatas fritas. Now, I don't know if I was famished or if I actually did eat the best McDonald's burger of my life that night, but either way it was just what I needed. Went back to casa, snuck in so as not to wake Mery, finished up my presentation for my Cinema class, and went to bed. So that was Barcelona in a nutshell. Way too big of a city to do in a weekend, but I got a good feel for everything. Still have to say I prefer Valencia by far. This city is special. I don't know what it is exactly, but it's undeniable.

Pictures are odds and ends in Barcelona.

Hasta