PREPARE FOR A NOVEL!

You say "Cathedral" I say "ya!"

"Cathedral"     "ya"    "cathedra"    "ya"  ....

Yep...I've seen a TON of Cathedrals...and I've only been here 2, yes 2 weeks! 

Here's to the start of a third! CHEERS!

DON'T GO ON VACATION TO SAVE MONEY

2 weeks in, and already I feel like I'm spending away my life savings! (probably because I am...)  The only time I have ever been glad I didn't listen to my Dad is now!  He told me not to pack shampoo or anything along those lines because I could just buy them when I got to Spain...GOOD THING I didn't listen!  Seriously.  A bottle of shampoo here is like 4 euros (so 5.25 american dollars!) for the smallest bottle! Rip. Off.

But, I am also learning that I am not on vacation to save money, so I may as well enjoy myself!  I mean, don't get me wrong, I am not going around just to spend money, but if I want some ice cream-I'm having some ice cream!  (Dulce de leche is the best here b t dubs!)  I just don't want to be so skimpy on my funds that I don't enjoy myself; I mean I did save the money for this purpose anyways, so I may as well have fun and use it!  How many times does a girl go to Spain anyways?

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY (30 abril-2 mayo)

This past week was CRAZY....and that's an understatement.  Monday, my group left for Leon.  I am not even sure how long the bus ride was or wasn't because we stopped every hour or so (like 3 times) to get out and see a city, or a castle, or a cathedral.  It was so fun!  By the time we got to Leon though, we were tired and hungry... but of course still set off to have some more fun walking around getting to know Leon a bit!

Leon is in the northern (and a LITTLE bit west-ish) part of Spain.  It was wonderful!!  I woke up for my first run in Spain, and was a bit worried-it had been raining the ENTIRE time while I've been in Spain-but no! Not that morning, it was PERFECT! Beautiful, sunny, and no rain!  AND Logan and I ran on a beautiful path that followed the river. !Que suerte!  Honestly it looked like it went on forever, and I may have just ran on forever and not come back-but Logan was there, so no could do!  (probably good because I'm not sure I even know what it feels like to run FOREVER...and I like to run!)
* also a side note: I average 60 miles a week during the school year, which means here I average 96.56 kilometers a week!  Sounds cooler huh?!  Ya. So I think when I get back to the states I will continue to use kilometers...)

Anywho...enough with those tangents!  We went to the Cathedral in Leon, and then set of to Burgos in the afternoon.  When also stayed a night there, and then saw the Cathedral there also.  It was AMAZING.  The stained glass windows were the most beautiful things I had ever seen!! Pictures can never do them justice, but still I got some so you could enjoy a little bit of them!

By the time we got home, Wednesday night at 8:15p.m. it was practically time to leave again.  I walked home with Hilary (my roomie), we went to the store, I ate a QUICK dinner (thanks to Jaqueline, my wonderful Spanish mother!), exchanged the dirty clothes in bag for a few clean ones...and then was off to an overnight bus ride to Barcelona.

BARCELONA (3 mayo-5 mayo)

If anyone has ever been to Barcelona, then you will know when I say, it was HUGE!  The city was crawling with people everywhere, and buzzing with birds! (There are pigeons EVERYWHERE in Spain, as well as some ravens, seagulls, and  other really pretty ones that I know my dad would know what they were!)

When we got to Barcelona, it took us awhile to get to our hotel. ONE thing about travel...always plan time for getting lost.  And I'm not even sure lost is the right word-wander maybe? Ya, wander, plan some time to wander before you find what you're looking for.  We probably walked at least 3 miles to find our hotel...and that's with our "light" bags/backpacks!

But, we did finally find our hotel (after asking almost everyone we saw) and were excited to sit down for a minute!  We hung out for awhile, and then went in to the city, to the famous street called "Las Ramblas"  This is a touristy place, to buy cheesy souvenirs and such.  It is not the greatest if you actually want to shop for something good, but is so fun and the fun atmosphere is easily soaked up!  Especially if you get a day that's sunny and beautiful like we did!

THEN we went to the beach...the BEAUTIFUL beach!  La playa was covered with people...but no one was in the water!  I soon found out why after taking the plunge for my first time into the Mediterranean Sea! It was COLD!  Chantelle, a girl in my group, was so brave and just took the plunge quickly with a dive..while I did the "here a bit, there a bit" until she said she'd dive in again with me!  And I did it!  FREEZING!  But so worth it. Every minute.  We fished for some seashells and then said goodbye to the water.

After making a sandcastle, we decided to head around looking for dinner-a dinner of Paella!  Everyone loves this dish here-very popular! And delicious! It's actually quite a simple dish, but savory!  Rice and mariscos (fish) with just the right spices!  Yum!

With a full day of that, we headed home and pretty much went straight to bed after writing in our journals!  The next 2 days were spent in walking around the city, with the highlights being:  La Sagrada Familia (Guadi), Guell Park (Guadi), and the Pablo Picasso Musuem.

The La Sagrada Familia is something everyone NEEDS to see. It is THE most amazing thing ever!  Serious. It's like the Disneyland for a church (minus the rides I guess)...I can't even explain it!  It is beautiful in the "awe" inspiring way, but I actually felt more distracted than spiritual by the grandeur of it (this is not said to make anyone feel offended).  It was really an amazing sight, and BY FAR the most amazing thing I have seen thus far!

Well, I will have to stop here, or else no one will ever read my blog again, due to longevity of my blog posts!  But, I will end with one last funny thing that happened...

I sat down on the bus to go home from Barcelona (back to Alacala) and was so happy to find out no one had the seat next to me.  No sooner had I thought this, a man walked down the aisle, and stared straight at me.  YES.  He was the one.  The one to sit next to me.  He sat.  And I realized he was the COMPLETE opposite of me...in EVERY way. You think of all the opposites you can for someone like me and what do you get?  Let me tell you:  a 6 foot 7 inch, REALLY skinny black guy, with dreads half way down his back, and a voice that makes the floor vibrate it's so deep.  Yep.  My opposite in the world sat next to me.  I said "hola" and he said "hola" and that was pretty much that...

We chatted, and I tried not to fall asleep and ended up ALMOST drooling on the guy! (and I don't even drool!) At that point I realized I should just get out of this situation before it was too late, and Logan let me sit by him the rest of the trip! (thank goodness!)

WELL FOLKS...THAT'S ALL!

*Espere (wait) for the pics! A-MAZ-ING!