Barcelona

9/5- Coming back to the ship from the bar in Cadiz at 3:30am probably wasn’t the smartest idea.  By the time I was going to bed it was already 4:15am and I had to wake up at 6:30am for my Barcelona trip, which was meeting at 7am.  I woke up to a phone call asking me if I was still planning on attending the Barcelona trip because it was 7:15am and I wasn’t already upstairs… We all finally meet up and made it on the bus, to the airport and into Barcelona.  It was beautiful.  It was a Spanish influenced Euro version of New York City in my eyes, unlike any placed I have ever seen before, and I loved it.  We went to La Rambla where there was everything from small street vendors to extravagant “one man shows” including human statues and dance performances.  Such a great area and everything was so alive.  We sat down at the end of the strip for a glass of sangria as we watched real life gypsy’s pass by, casting spells on people.  I for one was not too excited about that since they were not the same type of gypsy’s I remember seeing on Disney.  These women were crazy and would come up to almost anybody in their way.  Yet they provided us with some entertainment and I definitely have a new appreciation for people watching :)

After our day out, it was time for our planned Semester at Sea dinner and Flamenco show.  The food was incredible.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we were eating at a 5 star restaurant for this performance.  We had a variety of tapas, all brought out at different times, comprised of the following:  an assortment of sliced meats, cheese cubes, peppers that were prepared like the Japanese chili peppers from San Shi Go, potato wedges with a cheesy/mayonnaise sauce, tomato bread, calamari (some of the best I have ever had), all topped off with a special pudding like dessert.  Absolutely delish! Oh and to make the whole experience even better, we were eating while sitting on the balcony of the restaurant above the most amazing Flamenco performance.  I have never seen anybody move as fast as the dancers did or play guitar with such quickness and passion. 

9/6- We started our day off going to Sant Sadurni d’Anoia (these champagne cellars a little outside of Barcelona).  I will admit it was hard to focus since my phone and wallet had been stolen the night before and I didn’t get back from the police office until 7:15am and then having our tour leave at 8:30am.  Nonetheless, I did my best to enjoy it, because it was such a great trip planned by SAS.  We toured the cellars, saw how the champagne was made, and even got to try some before we left.  After that tour, we made our way up to Montserrat for lunch and toured the sanctuary. 

We arrived at the hotel around 4pm and unfortunately I did not get to nap or spend my time shopping on La Rambla as I had planned the day before.  Instead I was able to file a police report on my missing items in case they are to find anything (hey, what’s wrong with being extra protective?)  A few of my friends and I went out to dinner at this great Spanish restaurant on the water where we had a mix of tapas and paella.  Again, it was delicious.  I’m pretty sure I could eat Spanish food all the time.  I didn’t have one bad meal during my entire stay, and I ate a lot… :) After dinner, we went out and met up with a bunch of USD people that were studying abroad in Spain.  It was so crazy to see them in such a foreign place, and so many of them too!  Overall, we had a blast. 

9/7- We ended our trip to Barcelona with a farewell tour of the city, including the Gothic Cathedral and Gaudi’s Famous Cathedral- Sagrada Familia.  Both were mind blowing but I really enjoyed the Gaudi cathedral more.  It was extraordinary.  I learned that it has taken years to build because it strives to be the most uniquely designed cathedral in the world.