hello hello! hope everyone is doing well. i'm going to be redundant and once again exclaim that i can't believe how fast time is going. which means that i have a lot of work to do in the next few weeks before dad, petra, nick and possibly eileen arrive for a visit!
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| 5 minute walk from kristen's house |
got back from spain this morning and am absolutely in love! barcelona was incredible and it was also so much fun to see roommate kristen's home in coruña :) she was kind enough to meet me at the coruna airport and it was so much fun to feel like a real person, who gets picked up at the airport instead of figuring out public transport solo! after dropping off my bag at our hostel, we went in search of food which happened to be quite difficult since everything closes for siesta in the afternoon. we ended up getting tapas (little portions of food kind of like appetizers?) at one of her favorite places. following lunch, we headed out on the town to do some shopping. i've honestly only purchased about 6 items of clothing this entire year in galway because the style is so weird, but shopping in spain was FANTASTIC. after some much-needed retail therapy, we casually headed out for dinner at about 9:30. we got delicious calamari, vegetable stew-type stuff and some white fish all tied together with a glass of wine. afterward, we headed back to the hostel so kristen could study for a test!
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| reunited and it feels so good |
i spent most of my thursday alone while kristen went to class but we met up for a lunch of spanish tortilla and a stroll to the beach. hard to believe that she gets to live by this view! after her class, we went out for more tapas and a night out, which consisted of botellon - basically a huge gathering of people in a park to drink and socialize before going out to clubs. it was so strange to see so many people drinking in public. i tried so hard to stay out past 5 (which is normal in spain!) but sadly we only made it to 4! probably a good thing since we had to wake up for an afternoon flight to barcelona.
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| in love with barcelona |
our journey to the airport was absolutely ridiculous and once again, i can't wait to be a real person with a car! for some reason we thought our train to the airport was at 11:19 only to find out on our bus to the train station that the actual times were 10:35 and 11:55. so instead, we detoured to the bus station and just made the 12 o'clock bus to the bus station in santiago (an hour away). once we got there, we had to take a different bus to the actual airport. we couldn't find the right bus and general confusion eventually led us to forfeit 10 euro each for the simplicity of a cab ride. we were sooo happy to finally make it to barcelona! we wandered around the city waiting for the arrival of fellow hcers (some of whom had an even more strenuous journey... *ahem claire).
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| kristen, elizabeth and claire |
on saturday, we got up and made our way to the barcelona cathedral in the center of town where we met up with ted and michelle (who were in a different hostel). from there, we wandered to a different church and eventually to parque guelle which is where gaudi's famous mosaic bench resides. for some reason, a picture of that bench in a grade school spanish book has remained with me for years, so i was SO excited to see it! we got some sandwiches for lunch and sat on the bench with tons of other people soaking up the sun and listening to the live drumbeats provided by street performers. the bench and other attractions in the park were incredible. i couldn't believe how much detail was used to create all of the structures.
after the park, we made our way to la sagrada familia. this huge basilicia was also designed by gaudi and is still under construction (to be finished in 2030). i've been to a lot of churches this year and while they are all beautiful i have never seen anything like this church. it was absolutely gorgeous! the design was inspired by nature so the ceiling looks like a canopy of trees and there are all sorts of geometric principles in the structure. for more info, click
here :)
i can't even describe how amazing it was! hopefully i'll be able to return someday when it's done :) after the basilica, we headed back to the hostel for naps and showers before heading out to dinner and some bars. we woke up pretty early on sunday and split up for the morning. while kristen headed back to the airport :( ted dragged me to the barcelona soccer stadium. although i had no prior attachments to the team, the tour (and inspirational video) was enough to tempt me in the gift shop. i probably need barcelona themed clocks, sand toys, key chains, jerseys and potato chips, right? thankfully i was able to resist :)
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| loving life |
after the stadium, we met up with the rest of the group to hang out on the beach, laze around, go to the picasso museum and eventually return to the beach! it was so much fun to feel the sun on my face and hear the ocean. i definitely did not want to leave and hope i will be able to return someday!
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| wish i had one of these in galway! |
it was such a fun weekend and a great last trip before final essays and eventually my return to the u.s.. hope everyone is having a happy spring and can't wait to see everyone so soon!
xoxo
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