Spain is crazy. Oh and I'm not going back to UVM.

Well. Now that the Thanksgiving rush is over... not that Spain celebrates it, its CHRISTMAS TIME! Like any normal person, I of course love Christmas, but the time leading up to that chaotic day of traveling, eating, and gift giving is my favorite. I love getting a tree and decorating it, I love Christmas music (Katherine and I have been playing it non-stop on Pandora), I love snow and playing with the pups outside, I love warm fires and hot chocolate... Christmas is the best! Everything smells like cinnamon and joy. It's my favorite.

WELL. Enter the Barcelona Christmas spirit. These people are mildly insane. Its a Western cultural thing to have a tree so they don't do that (some do, but it's not too popular), so Spaniards usually put up an elaborate nativity scene. There's a cute little Christmas market downtown in Barcelona that has about 100 stands all selling cool stuff to add to a nativity scene. It's a little out of hand. BUT... get this, Barcelona is a bunch of perverts. Catalans actually. They believe it is important to put a "Caganer" in the nativity scene. Caganer is directly translated into "shitter". Its literally a little figurine of a man (or for the creative, a George Bush, Spongebob Squarepants, or a member of FC Barca) taking a dump. These statues are pretty vile. They show everything. And I mean everything. The little Christmas market is FULL of them. Any famous celebrity can be made into one. Obama is pretty popular actually. The tradition is apparently because they believe it "fertilizes" the next year with luck and happiness. Not exactly what I would associate either of those things with.

Oh and it gets better. There's a tradition for CHILDREN where they take a tree log with a face painted on it (it's actually kindof cute), and children get to beat the living daylights out of it with a cane or a hammer and sing a song asking for it to literally "shit out presents" for them. The quote in the song translates into those exact words. I'm not kidding. I think inside the trunk is little toys for the kids. When they're done they throw the log in the fire. This is absolutely ridiculous, I don't care who you are.

Spain does a bunch of other G rated stuff for Christmas too but that is completely irrelevant after hearing about this Caganer business. Spain is wild.


.....


COMPLETELY FORGOT to mention the rest of Vicky's stay in Barca, post food poisoning. First of all, one day we found the most adorable little puppy sitting on the metro. I'm being serious, his owner let him have his own seat. He clearly knew Vick and I were oggling over the little nugget, probably from the smiles and squeals of delight coming from the seats across the metro-car. The guy let us pet him, then when the metro stopped he put the little pup back in (literally) a shopping bag that looked like it came from a fancy shoe store. It had bedding it in and a few toys, so he seemed to enjoy himself... but it was awkward. The dog store gives you your new pup in a shopping bag? What?

The same day Vicky and I accidentally stumbled upon the 4Cats, this really really old cafe in Barcelona. It was really popular during the turn of the modernist movement in Spain for art. Picasso actually started there, getting inspiration from the likes of Ramon Casas, etc, etc. It has this great painting of two men on a bicycle, Casas and Romeu actually, then after a few years they painted themselves again in a car instead to symbolize the modernization of Spain. It's truly a cool experience to be in a cafe where these artists once hung out and put on presentations of art, music, poetry, and theater. So excited we found it! The rest of our week was pretty relaxed... lots of shopping around and stumbling on cool places. We went to some really cool vintage shops in Raval with Mel, then we took Vicky to La Boqueria (that wild market). I already miss her :(

Also... I think I've come to the conclusion that I'm just going to move to Ireland. I don't want to live in Barcelona, that's for sure, Spaniards make me feel too unwanted. Ireland though... nicest people I've ever met. Best country ever. I want to go back to Connecticut and steal Tory and Ginger, my family, my CT friends... then just move them all to Ireland. I'm too scared to go back to Burlington and try to pick up the pieces of what my life used to be. I can picture myself there, like a lost little puppy, bundled up in my bright blue parka and snow boots, wondering what the hell I am doing there. I'm going to freeze to death, first of all. Its still regularly above 60 degrees here. How do I go back to -15 degrees with snow and ice? The classes I'm enrolled in are jokes... thank you UVM server for crashing right as I was supposed to register for classes. Oh and I'm unemployed. Awesome. Ireland here I come. I'll put up with the cold if it means I get to be surrounded by thick Guinness and thick accents. I'll bartend in one of their cute little pubs and spend every night dancing to Irish jams. I could live like that.

Head Down Power Through (Part 2)

(I uploaded pictures from Amsterdam onto the previous blog, so go check 'em and enjoi.)


Well, Vicky and I have been just about useless this week. Amsterdam really took a lot out of us, so all day monday we kindof just lazed around. I took Vicky to class with me, so while I was in Spanish class at IES she could use their computer lab to work on her paper for UConn. Of course though, when I got out of Spanish, I found Vicky passed out on the couch in the lounge haha. Then we both went to my next class, where I made her come in with me and learn about Al Jazeera. Look it up if you don't know what it is, it's actually really worth your time. It's a news station coming from Qatar that broadcasts real news about third world countries, not just the bias, "infotainment" news we get from US based agencies (this class is probably my favorite class, so useful to our world today).

Monday night Vicky and I were very generously invited to dinner with Katherine's family. Katherine's mama and her aunt came to visit her in Barcelona... with surprise guest Charlie Davis! Her brother had been telling her all semester he couldn't come visit because of his new job, but they surprised her and brought him along. So cute! Her family is such a riot, they completely explain why Katherine is so loving and funny herself. Well, it happened to be pouring rain monday night, so we made a hasty decision to get out of the downpour and jumped into the first restaurant we could find off La Rambla. Mistake number one. Granted it was a bit late for dinner, but they were completely out of everything. Regardless, we all managed to order delicious meals... or so we thought. We spent the rest of the evening at l'Ovella Negra, the bar that feels like the cavern-bar in Beauty in the Beast (in the words of Kim, Katherine's mom), where we met up with our friends Lila and Mel. It was a fun evening, we all had a few drinks and even made friends with a group of people sitting by us.

The next morning was where it all went south. I woke up with what I thought was a mild stomach ache from maybe having a few drinks the night before. I decided to skip my first class and sleep it off... but there was no sleeping. Things got worse, and fast. Vicky and I both started to experience the worst food poisoning I've ever had. If any of you know me even a little bit, you know throwing up is by far my least favorite thing in the world. I don't do it. I simply just don't. I repress it. I hate it so much. There was just no choice. Unfortunately, I'm so awkward and inexperienced at it, I don't know how to do it correctly... and over the course of the day I managed to actually blow out one of my ear drums. It still feels weird, every time I breathe through my nose I feel like air is going through my left ear. Probably not healthy. Over the course of 12 hours, Vicky and I basically just died. Thank god for Katherine and her mom, who stopped by and gave us a crash course in taking care of ourselves. Katherine played Mama Bear and got us Gatorade, crackers, water, and Pepto. By about 9 pm, we were starting to feel better. At one point, we were both sitting up in our beds, facing each other... all I could say was "What the hell was that?" and Vicky's response was "Bones. We made it." and we pounded it. It was awful, but I'm actually really glad I wasn't alone. I probably would have cried a lot...

Anyways! Feeling brand new today (still a little uneasy and scared to eat, but that's expected), Vicky and I are going to go see some sights. We're actually sore from being sick, so we're hoping that getting some walking done will stretch our muscles. Tomorrow is thanksgiving! Maybe if we're feeling adventurous we'll go out to dinner... HA.

Love you America, love you whoever actually takes the time to read this... see you oh so soon :)

PS. Quick shout out to Iggy - I hear you've still been keeping up with this thing, proud of you! Let's skype again soon, I want to see you in that spaceship again hahaha

Head Down Power Through (Part 1)

Vick Nish (one of my best friends from CT) touched down in BCN Tuesday afternoon with a hot head and stories to tell. Was barely over international waters and homegirl was starting trouble. She had taken her computer out on the flight to work on a paper due for class, and the rude man sitting in front of her reclined his seat back too quickly, completely destroying her computer. The screen literally snapped in half, the whole thing is warped. I'll spare the details... but words were said. The plane company Iberia offered to pay for repairs, but Vicky claims Iberia will be named "Nishball" by the time she's done with them. I don't doubt it. Not one bit.

Anyways, despite that drama, Vicks stay has been relatively flawless. The first day we got some tapas, did some exploring (in the pouring rain) and eventually meandered into a bar by the end of the night. Wednesday and Thursday were just exploring days for the most part. Thursday night Vicky got to meet some of my main ladies at our favorite bar.. the one you get to pour your own drinks. We ended up getting in for free to a club down the street... where we basically just danced a lot. Clubs, you know how they go. Vicky and I did have a drinking contest with the bouncers though hahaha. It was actually really funny.

This weekend was absolutely ridiculous. Vicky and I went to Amsterdam to meet our friend Michael who is studying in Germany for the year. It was so nice to see TWO faces I know from the states. Our trip started off with mountains of stress though. Backtrack to last week when our laundry was being hung up to dry... it rained on our clothes about 4 times and Feli just let them re-dry... so when we got out stuff back they all smelled like mold. I didn't even notice until I put on the one pair of jeans I was planning on packing for the whole weekend and realized they smelled like moldy goat cheese (that specific). I thought it would go away but no perfume could cover it, so instead of going right from class to the airport I had to run home first and change... then these occupy wallstreet protests Spain-version were blocking our bus so we were late for our flight. I would say something about this but it would literally take up all the space I have to type... so I'll leave it at the basic facts. We almost missed our plane. I would've been so angry.

To vent our frustration about the bus situation, we developed a strong hatred for the guy in front of us in line at the airport. Everything he did was really rude... he cut us off for the bus first of all, and then DIDN'T pay for the bus, then cut us off in line to check it, made his girlfriend hold all of his stuff... there was a big list. That's the benefit of people not speaking your language. If he did hear us... I hope he did. Then we met the COOLEST guy next to us on the plane. He joked with us about this one poor kid trying to fit his luggage in the overhead, we joked about car names, tourists, everything. He was the man. People in Holland are A+. They are so nice. One guy at the airport in Amsterdam bought Vicky a train ticket (for 4 euros) because he saw her card wasn't working... and when we asked a security guard for help he led us right to our train and even let us sit first class. Nicest people ever!We even got a free taxi ride to our hotel... one because we had been looking for about an hour and couldn't find it and the driver felt bad, but also because even though we had been looking forever, the hostel was only about a minute down the road. Whatever. Free taxi! 

Seeing Mike was the best. He was asleep in the hostel when we got there... his flight came in at 8am and he had had a pretty rough travelling experience as well, but seeing us woke him right up! We went out to explore the city, got some dinner, and played around hopping from bar to bar all night. Amsterdam is such a crazy city. The people are so nice, the rules are pretty relaxed, obviously... it was just such a good time. Don't worry Mama and Papa, we did touristy things. We saw a lot of beautiful canals and architecture, and even did a Heineken Brewery tour. Not gonna lie, it was way cooler than the Guinness tour. Don't tell them! There was a virtual "Brew You" ride, where you get to see and feel like you're being brewed into beer. Awesome. Most of the rest of the weekend was spent wandering around the city, stumbling on little wonders. We managed to see the Red Light district... that was wild. All in all though it was a great trip... lots of bonding with Mike! Saturday night on the walk home we saw some guy punch through a taxi's window because he was having a dispute with the driver. It was hilarious... slash horrifying. What a city.

Anyways... I'm still exhausted and we even got some good sleep last night. Sadly I won't be on a plane until I fly home now... got all my trips out of the way :( But Vicky is still here for another week, and then the weekend after that Carlos comes to Barca for a visit! Less than a month til I'm home, America!

Here's some mindless nonsense...

I can't really say this week has been very "calm". I had a 20 minute PowerPoint presentation due for my "Poverty, Inequality, and Globalization" class, and a huge Spanish exam. I've also been stressed finding hostels in Amsterdam for when Vick Nish is in town... apparently we made the mistake of choosing the one weekend Amsterdam has a huge festival, meaning hostels were booked up, and if they weren't, you pay through the nose for a (probably dirty) place to lay your head far from the city center. We found one that wasn't too too awful looking... but I guess I shouldn't complain, I'm not going to be in the hostel for anything more than to sleep at night. And to be honest, this festival looks pretty fun.

Other than work and stress, this week has been relatively low-key. I know I probably should be out raging every night and experiencing Barcelona to its fullest... but it get's tiring. We went to this really fun bar Weds night actually, called l'Ovella Negra (translation: Black Sheep). They give you these giant steins for about 3 euros, which is pretty cheap for Barcelona. The thing is, you can buy a mug as a souvenir, and then pay for them to fill it from the tap, or you can do what all college students are famous for and just buy a drink then subtly snag the glass before you leave. In my defense, they're really cool looking. And if it makes anyone feel better, Karma already got me back for it, so no worries.


Feli has been a REAL treat this week. She's come up with this game... to teach us vocabulary about the house. All week she's been teaching us vocab from the kitchen... things like silverwear, pots, pans, fridge, etc. She writes them all down on little papers and makes us run around placing them on the correct items. Now she's written down verbs on little papers and makes us create sentences using the verbs and the vocab. Poor Katherine got so frustrated at the table last night she just put her arms up and said "JESUS!" (in Spanish, of course, haha). Feli also, the other night, lost a tiny itty bitty little piece of an antique door knob somewhere on the street. Homegirl restores old furniture as a hobby (along with doing yoga, pilates, cooking classes... busy woman) and she had found some antique doorknob for a cabinet she's fixing up... but in the process of digging out her keys from her purse, she dropped it on the street and lost the tiniest piece she could possibly lose. She came running upstairs, all flustered, and make Katherine, Alejandro, and I come down to the dark street with flashlights and literally get on our hands and knees looking for something we probably wouldn't have recognized if we saw it. She's a hoot, that Feli.

This weekend is the first weekend in over a month that I've been able to sleep in. First I was with the Gabrees and playing tour guide (a poor one, at best) in Barca, then I was in Seville the next weekend, then Florence, then Ireland. Woof. Traveling the world in a hurry. Needless to say, it was nice to roll around in my bed for an hour this morning instead of getting up to an alarm, earlier than I would for class, and hiding all my valuables in my purse so my fellow hostel mates don't steal them. Tuesday miss Victoria Nishball will be in town! I cannot wait to see her :) It will be so nice just to even see a familiar face. I haven't seen someone I know from the states since I've been here, which, obviously is going to be the case, but a lot of people I know here have friends studying abroad that have visited or similar things like that. A kid from my high school is here, but we both kindof just do out own thing, I've yet to see him. Oh well.

On another note, I just wanted to let a miss Mary-Ann a fast and healthy recovery! My mom mentioned how much you liked my blog, so I figured I would give you a shout out, and also say thank you for all of the useful information about Barcelona you gave me before I left. Some of the cultural stuff has really come in handy :)

See you in 5 weeks America... so soon! Kindof...

PS. I Love You

Well, I've talked about it enough in previous entries, but in case anyone didn't know, I was in Ireland this past weekend with Katherine and our friend Jess! And let me tell you... I have never fallen in love with a place the way I fell for Ireland. I wish I had studied there ha. Of course, we were only there from Friday to Sunday, but we managed to see a lot. We flew in to Dublin early in the morning Friday and caught a double decker bus (!!!) to our hostel. Our hostel, by the way, was immaculate. I've never seen a cleaner, cooler looking hostel. Everything was purple, they had murals all over the walls, and the common area was sooo nice. As we were checking in, two Spanish women were trying to communicate with the reception desk but there was a clear language barrier, so we volunteered to translate for them. I've never felt so useful with my Spanish knowledge.




Anyways. First order of business was to get  a cup of coffee to prepare for the day. We found a coffee place that gave us the biggest cup of coffee we've seen since September. We were so used to tiny little shots of espresso with maybe some milk in it, it was such a shock to get a big Central Perk sized cup of coffee. And free water! That's non-existent in Barcelona. We then toured around our side of the river, seeing the buildings and shops, and stopping for lunch at a vegetarian restaurant. After lunch we walked across town to the Guinness factory to do a tour! It was actually really interesting, and the entire museum was shaped like a tall glass of Guinness. We learned how they make Guinness and why its so dark and rich, and how to pour the perfect pint. At the top of the museum was a bar called the Gravity Bar, where you get a free pint and and a chance to see the whole city from above. The entire outer wall was pane glass, and you could literally see all of Dublin and the mountains in the background. It was so beautiful! Plus, sitting enjoying our free Guinness we were faced with the fact that everyone spoke English for the first time. In Spain, no one really understand English, so you can talk about whatever you want, as loud as you want, and not have to worry. This is not the case in an English speaking country. I'll spare you the details, but we seemed to really surprise/entertain a fellow museum go-er. I'll leave it at that, haha.

After the museum, it was starting to get dark (ohhh winter) but we still wanted to see the sights, so we had a nice night tour. We wandered around with our cute little maps and saw as much of the important Dublin sights as we could with the darkness. For the most part, everything was lit up, except the St. Patrick's Catherdral, which was a little disappointing. We still managed to see the Dublin Castle and plenty more. We eventually made it back to the city center, where Temple Bar is. Its a big cluster of real Irish pubs, shops, and restaurants. We did some gift shopping and got dinner at a cute little Irish pub/restaurant. I had Guinness and beef stew, keeping with the theme of the day. As we left the restaurant we ran into some street performers playing some happy Irish tune, and about 30 people were dancing to it in the middle of the road, getting really into it. One little girl actually started step-dancing. It was so cute.

Feeling a little tired, we decided to head back to the hostel to rest a bit, grab a few drinks, and meet some fellow travelers. While we were getting ourselves together in our room we met one of our dorm mates, a nice kid who was also studying in Spain (Salamanca?). He was tired and wanted to sleep, but we convinced him to come out with us. After all, you're only in Ireland once... though I hope I can return as soon as possible. We ended up going to a karaoke pub down the street from the hostel, and Katherine impressed everyone by belting some classic songs (homegirl can sing). We came home to meet one of our other roommates in only the best way possible. Naked. Nice to meet you too sir. And your other naked friend. She seems nice. That's what you get for being in a room with 12 people you don't know.

Saturday was my favorite day... ever. We woke up early to catch a tour bus/van to Wicklow and the surrounding area. Its just outside of the city, and has some amazing Irish landscape. I'm not sure if you've ever seen the movie "PS. I Love You",  but we literally saw the exact spot they filmed when the main characters meet for the first time. The romantic little bridge overlooking the Wicklow mountains and big green fields of heather. It was absolutely incredible. Not the movie part (though that was cool), but the view itself was unbelievable. From one point on the tour, we stopped to see this big black lake (black from peat), with a white sand beach. It was called Guinness lake because it looked like a glass of Guinness. They really love their Guinness there.

We made a few stops for photo op's in similarly beautiful areas before coming to a small town. We stopped to visit a monastery and had time to view not only some of the oldest monastery buildings in Ireland but also the surrounding grounds. We hiked down to a beautiful lake with a waterfall, where I literally ran around like a little kid because I was so excited. It felt so good to be out in the country and out of the city. The air was so fresh and clean, all the leaves were changing, and it had never felt so good to get my boots dirty in mud and grass. I love Barcelona, but being so far from trees and nature was getting to me. It made me realize I could probably never live in a city, at least not for long periods of time. If I did I would need to have a getaway option of mountains and trees handy. There was a small market of local goods and products, and I of course treated myself to a big wool sweater. First of all, I was freezing even in my 8 layers and legitimately needed it. And I just wanted it. They're so comfortable and warm. I love it. The guy knew our tour guide so he gave me a good deal :)

Our last stop was in another small little town. Population 2,000... pub count 10. Hahaha. I love Ireland. We got some lunch and a tour of a weaving factory. It sounds dumb but it was actually pretty cool. Jess learned how a weaving loom works! We would've gotten some fine wool products there but it was sooo expensive. So we played in the gift shop and then just wandered around outside for a while. I could not get over how good it felt to be out of the city.

That night we made nice with the naked man from the night before. He was French (but he looked like a Jonas Brother), studying in Galway, and in Dublin with two friends from home on holiday. We all joked about the girl from the night before and eventually made it downstairs to the common room to meet our other friend from the night before and his buddy that flew in that morning. We all hung out and had some drinks, getting to know each other. Jonas's friend from France had an awesome Robert De Niro impression, despite barely being able to make a full sentence in English. Poor Katherine had a weird allergic reaction to something we ate (I think I poisoned her by making her try Digestives with chocolate and caramel, which I was ecstatic to find in the grocery store because Barca never has them)... but we got her Benedryl and she was ok. We all went out to a pub in Temple Bar and heard some great live music. A guy sits in the back of the bar with a guitar and sings, and everyone just dances and enjoys good company. A nice Irish gent schooled me in dancing, spinning me around about 100 times, dipping me, tossing me around. It was so fun. So DIFFERENT than Barcelona. People in Ireland are genuinely just nice people.

I almost cried at the airport this morning. I am madly in love with Ireland. Everyone is so nice to you, everything is so beautiful. I love the country side, I love the atmosphere of the city. I love that people will dance on the street with strangers, that every pub plays live music (Galway Girl being a very popular song), I love the accents, the culture, the food... everything. I am moving to Ireland at some point in my life. I already miss it. Who wants to come with me?


Only six more weeks in Barcelona. I can't believe how fast it's going by. It makes me sad... but I also think I'm ready to go home. I miss ya, America.

PS. I love you ;)

Adventures in Firenze Land and Halloween Spain-Style!

So there are literally too many pictures to share... so please feel free to click the following links to see some picture albums of Florence. The first is mine, the second is Katherines. She sortof has a lot better pictures, and much more that her nd I are actually in. So enjoy!

* http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2239310097389.2109459.1087110167&type=1&l=fb0a5be663

* http://www.flickr.com/photos/69342369@N08/

So this past weekend was spent in the most romantic way. Alone with Katherine Davis in Florence, Italy, seeing the sights, eating Italian food, and shopping! We took an early early early morning flight, per usual, so we would have the whole day in Florence to explore. Within seconds of walking out of the hostel post checking in, we stumbled upon this awesome wall made of local art, graffiti, newspaper clippings, etc. Feli was right... you can't go ten feet in Florence without seeing art. We walked through the tiny winding streets, past all the big name shops any city in Italy would have (Gucci, etc), through the Piazza della Signoria with the giant arch as an entrance, and to the Duomo, a gorgeous cathedral made of white and green marble. It was truly stunning. We stopped to have lunch and coffee at a small pizza shop on a side street, where we become friends with the waiter (of course) and asked for some good bars to go to later that night. After wards we found the leather market! That was unbelievable. It was a big market that stretched through multiple streets, packed full of people admiring and haggling for fine leather goods. Florence is big into leather. I mean big. Even the wild market has genuine hand-made leather goods. I got the Gabrees some good gifts :) Oh, and Papa Bear if you're reading this... I wore that bead necklace you got for Grandma in Italy when you studied abroad in college, and they were selling the SAME necklace in the market! It looked like I had just bought it, haha.

  
After the leather market, we toured the Santa Croce Church, which is apparently considered "the Westminister Abbey of Florence" because it hold the tombs of Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Galileo, and Rossini. Connected to the church is a famous leather school where students learn to make leather goods the right way. We got to see some of the work being done too! One of the younger guys working let us take a bunch of pictures of his work station, including the fires they use to heat their tools. Fun! By this time we were pretty beat, so we toured the streets a bit more then headed home to the hostel (of course stopping at a store to pick up some beer). We moved our bags from the luggage room to our room, got cleaned up, and headed downstairs to the common area to see if we could meet some fellow travelers. As we passed the front desk we heard an Aussie girl trying to explain how to spell her last name to the clueless front desk clerk, we laughed at how awful that must be, and commented on how she seemed like a really nice girl. As luck would have it, this girl Tegan and her boyfriend Dan were the people we met later on! We all sat in the common room, sipping drinks, and getting to know each other while another couple from Australia joined in while eating their dinner. They were traveling after school pretty much blindly. They had already been all over Europe, and intended on seeing more, plus the States, and Mexico with no time constraints or set flights/hostels in mind. How lucky. When it became too much to bear to watch the other couple eating their delicious food, we all decided to join forces to find a restaurant. We managed to find a pretty rustic looking place and had a delicious dinner, complimented with wine that I later (upon return from the bathroom) would dump an entire glass of into my lap. Classy, Grace. By the end of dinner it was clear we were just too tired to go out to the bars, so we all called it a night and got some good sleep for the next day ahead. Unfortunately, due to poor planning, Dan and Tegan didn't get the hostel the next night because there were no vacant beds :(

Saturday was the day we basically saw the whole city. Literally. First order of business, running/cabbing it to see Michelangelo's statue of David. We were very late for our tour, and very far from the museum, so we had to take a cab to ensure we'd actually get in for our time slot (they're pretty serious about it). Let me tell you though, it was worth it. The museum of Academia itself is beautiful, and has a lot to offer, but the statue of David really is just amazing. Apparently it was made from a stone that was declared "unworkable" and left to waste away in a courtyard, but Michelangelo, in his infinite genius, made it work. The intricacy of the statue is flawless, David's carefree pose and intense gaze actually makes you develop a little bit of a crush on him. not saying I did. It's just a marvelous piece of art. We weren't supposed to take pictures but Katherine and I of course did... so creep those for sure.

After David, we got breakfast and continued to wander the streets with no real goal in mind. We ended up getting back to the Duomo, and we decided to climb the bell tower next to it. It was like climbing a mountain to get to the top... and those of you who have ever had the pleasure of hiking with me (the names Ben Hyde and Cesar Osuba come to mind) know I am just a TREAT when asked to physically exert myself. I did the math... we climbed the equivalent amount of stairs as it would take to get to the 17th or 18th floor of a building. I have almost no muscles... so by the time we got to the top I was dead, but it was worth it. The view was incredible... you could see the whole city and the surrounding mountains. Amazing.

The rest of the day was spent meandering around, seeing some sights, we toured a small cathedral, hit up the leather market again to snag some more gifts for our American loves, and eventually made it back to the hostel. We made friends with a guy in our hostel dorm, who introduced us to his large group of friends he was traveling with, and ended up getting dinner with them. the group was split 50/50... half of them loved us, hung out with us at dinner, shared common interest, the works. The other half did not feel the same. I think we were intruding a little on their vacation. That's fine. After dinner we again decided to be a lame and tired, so we just went right to bed. Granted it was like 1am. Our last day we spent having a long lunch and being reeeaall relaxed. We spent an hour sitting in one of the plazas, eating gelato and people watching. Actually, it was more like dog watching. We found one little baby nugget pup that was just so excited to meet new people, new dogs, and see new things. Soooo cute. I wanted to cuddle him.


LAST NIGHT was Halloween! Barcelona has recently been getting very into Halloween because of all the tourism it gets, so there was a lot to do. Katherine and I had bought mascarade masks in Florence for the occasion, so we paired them with cute dresses and called it a costume.We spent half the night at our friend Lila's apartment just hanging out with friends, and ended up going to a club called "Opera", which was hosting a big party for Halloween, free entry. Of course though, this means every American and his/her mother was there. It was so packed and out of hand, they had to call a cop in to control the crowds. At that point, we decided to bounce. Overall though it was a good night. Good weekend.

 
Next week is Ireland! And then the week after that Vick Nish comes to visit! So so so so soooo excited!