Donde. Esta. La biblioteca?

This was stuck in and outside my head all week. Listen to it before you read so you can have a more authentic experience of the post...  Cool song right?  I thought so too, except I only knew maybe the first two and a half lines so Sam and Victoria didn't share my enthusiasm...anyway.

Saturday (Day One)
Basically a total travel day.  Flight was at 5pm, but I had never been to Ciampino Airport (I didn't even know where it was) so I arrived at Termini at to get my scheduled 1:30 shuttle, leave an hour to get there (the provided estimate was 40 minutes), 2 hours, to check in, and some extra time in case I got lost.  But I arrived at Termini at 12 and caught the 12:20 shuttle, and got to Ciampino by 1, only to find it might as well be a dirt airstrip.  There were two "terminals" with eight "gates" each.  Both of those were in quotations cause its really just two rooms on either side of a hallway with doors leading out to the tarmac.  Boarding was cool.  We walked out the doors onto shuttles that dropped us off in front of the airplane which we had to board using the stair-truck.  12 year old me was freaking out with how cool this was.  I paid a little extra for the first row (I need a little more room on account of my long legs) and the flight was made infinitely more comfortable by it.

Walking off the plane in Barcelona was also pretty cool.  Have you ever had the feeling of being alone in a foreign country where you don't speak the language?  It was a little like that.  Though I noticed the signs were in two languages, Spanish and another I did not recognize.  Sam later told me it is Catalan, as in the Catalonia region they speak a different dialect.  It sounds like Spanish with a lisp, but the spelling isn't even remotely close.  I was able to book the room in the apartment where Sam and Victoria were staying for a reduced rate, since I was one person and the owner apparently liked Sam and Victoria already.  I followed the directions provided to the apartment, a 2 euro bus ride to Plaza di Espana, followed by a 10 to 15 minute walk down Av. de Paral.lel.  (A period is placed between two consecutive L's to denote they are not pronounced however they are usually pronounced in Spanish).  Upon arrival at the apartment, I was greeted, not by Milena my contact, but by her mother Pilar.

Pilar was extremely friendly and welcoming, she showed me around the apartment and told me the girls were not there (they were across the street at the market and would return in 10 minutes).  When they did, we walked down Paral.lel to find some food and settled on tapas.  Remember how I don't know Spanish?  That's difficult for me because I hate being helpless. Victoria doesn't know Spanish, and Sam is a few years removed from learning the language, but we looked to her for our communication.  She took responsibility for ordering our food, (the only thing I understood was "Hamburguesas"), and we got patatas bravas (potatoes with spicy sauce), tortilla de patates (potato omelet), and chorizo (Spanish sausage).

Sunday (Day 2)
Sunday morning we got up early, and Pilar helped us with making breakfast.  She gave us sliced chorizo and tomatoes, bread to toast, oil to pour on the toast, and coffee or tea depending on preference.  We decided to walk down to the beach, about a 15 minute walk, and as we got closer I kept getting and Orlando, FL vibe.  There were a lot palm trees, fountains, modern art, and soft, tropical sunlight.  We perused a Sunday market, walked along the marina, and headed on toward the beach, where the girls took off their boots (we all misjudged the temperature) and we walked along the shoreline.  Losing track of time was pretty easy and we stayed on the beach and a jetty coming out from it for around an hour.

Barcelona beach.

The language barrier kept me from playing.

From the breakwater.

Typical Sam.

After the beach, Katherine recommended a place to eat that served bacon and egg on top of french fries, so naturally we went there.  As tempting as that was, I decided to order my first paella which proved to be a daunting task.  Paella is a hot dish of rice, vegetables, and whatever meat you choose.  Looks like this:

Before.

After.

I also had my first experience with sangria.  We ordered sangria cava, which is Sangria made with Spanish bubbly wine, as opposed to sangria rojo made with red wine.

The restaurant was a few blocks from the famous Sagrada Familia, so we figured why not go visit.  Construction began in in 1882, suffered delays because of Gaudi's death (the architect) and the Spanish Civil War, but as since recommenced and the projected completion date is set for 2028.  I was first exposed to the Sagrada Familia when people shared photos from their trip to Barcelona early in the semester.  Honestly, I thought I was an ugly church and the spires and facades gave me an eerie and almost sinister feel.  That opinion changed, however, after my visit to the church.

Still under construction.

The Passion Facade.

The Nativity Facade.

Columns of different heights and stone, along with the ceiling (pictured below), give the appearance of gazing up into a forest.

The ceiling.  The four icons on the large red columns (porphyry) are the symbols of the four evangelists.

Stained glass in the apse.

One last look.

After the Sagrada Familia we wandered toward the Casas, homes also designed by Gaudi, only finding one before we decided to turn in for the night.

Monday (Day 3)

Monday morning we decided to check out Park Guell up the mountain from the sea, another one of Gaudi's works.  The park sits on the side of a small mountain and offers a wonderful view of Barcelona and the Mediterranean Sea.  We took the metro, then transferred to a bus (it took us to a while to find it in the large Catalunya plaza), only to find at the end of the bus trip that the metro ran along the same road.  You would think finding a large park in a relatively flat city on a hill would be easy, but as one moves up the mountain from teh beach, there are numerous, small canyons and gorges separating neighborhoods. Yes, we got lost.  We eventually found ourselves at the back entrance to the park and located a posted map, but had no idea how big the park was, only that it was up hill both ways.  Luckily the park wasn't that big so the walk was only ten minutes and we were rewarded with a fantastic view of Barcelona.

View from the top.

View from the middle section.  (That area be seen in the lower right hand corner of the photo above.)

Outside wall.

After the park we took a walk down "Old Town" Barcelona, but it didn't really have that feel.  It was most just shops and such.  I bought socks.  We turned in for an early siesta and met up later by the beach to find something for dinner.  For some reason we were surprised to find almost everything closed and those places that were open were sparsely populated.  After walking around for over an hour, we finally settled on a place and ordered a bunch of tapas.  I was looking to try as much paella as possible, so we all decided to split one.  Unfortunately it was over seasoned and inedible, but the night was not be be a failure; the waiter (who didn't speak English) really liked Sam.  He wasn't her type, but she enjoyed the attention (though she won't admit it).

Tuesday (Day 4)
Tuesday was a pretty lazy day.  We walked through Plaza de Espana and up around an art museum with beautiful grounds.  We hung out there for a couple hours, just soaking in the sun.  Lunch was back at the same place as the first day, and then we went back to the old section and wandered some more.  The highlight of Tuesday was that Pilar made us homemade paella, and it was the best paella in Spain.  She even set us a table and gave us a bottle of wine.  We turned in early, the girls had to leave at 7 am for a flight to Paris, and I was leaving later in the day back to Rome.

Wednesday (Day 5)
Woke up early to say goodbye to Sam and Victoria, then back to bed, woke up at 9, ate breakfast, and set out to mail my post cards.  Now I had learned many words in Spanish in my 4 days, so after following Pilar's directions I went to the tobacco store, smiled at the nice old lady behind the counter and said, "dos stampas par United States."  She didn't speak English, but showed me which stamps to put where (there were more than one), and gave me a sweet smile and "adios!" when I left.  I departed for the airport with plenty of time to spare, and so much I waited 2.5 hours before I could check in 2 hours before my flight.  Big day of waiting.  The bus ride back to Rome was like coming home FROM school FOR spring break.  Rome sweet Home.