Barcelona...

This past weekend, the whole group got to go to Barcelona. On the way there, our bus made a stop in Zaragoza for a few hours so we could see a few of the sights there.

Here is the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza.

Outside on the wall of the building, they had this giant white tympanum thing. Here are Jessie and I in front of it.

I have tried to catch a pidgeon everywhere we've gone on this peninsula and still haven't managed to grab one. They're smarter than they look. Here I am at work:

We continued our bus ride until we finally arrived in Barcelona. After checking into our rooms we were free to go do whatever we wanted. Some of us went to the grocery store, then went out to buy some kebabs. Afterward we found a pretty cool building that resembled the capitol building up on a hill and sat in front of it for awhile before heading back to the hotel.



The next day we were dropped of on a street called Las Ramblas and were able to do what we wanted for the day. One of the coolest things we did was go to the Picasso Museum, and see some awesome works by him. Here are some of the other things that we encountered.

The farmers market.

Lions.

And the port at the end of the street.

This guy's good.

Just relaxing...

The next day we were able to see somethings that I have wanted to see every since i learned about them in Miss K's Spanish class my junior year of high school.

Things like the Sagrada Familia

This is the Casa Batllo. This is what I was most excited to see.

All of these were designed by an architect Antoni Gaudi. He made a whole park called the Parque Guell.

Here's Momma, me, and Daddio at a fountain show that I would say rivals that of Bellagio

This has been but a portion of the many wonders that Barcelona offered us. I'd definitely recommend a visit here to anyone who visits Spain.

Coming up next time: Pamplona, Bilbao, and San Sebastian. Be excited.

Portugal

So a few of us made a trip to Lisbon this last weekend. It was a magical adventure. After we got off the airplane, and found out where our hostal was, we took a taxi ride with a gypsy woman who charged us 20 euros even though the meter said like nine or something. Wench. We then checked into our hostal which was very nice despite the fact that there was a saggy 50-year-old woman walking around at night in a nightgown that succombed to her very unflattering body.

Here we are after checking in to the hostal.

And here I am doing my thang a little later.

They had this crazy, old elevator you could go up in and see all over the city. And that, is exactly what we did.

Here we are riding up to the top

The next day, Jessie and I thought it would be cool to try and feed the pidgeons and see if they would land on us. We bought some stuff that looked like rice but was something different because I heard that rice made pidgeons explode. Unfortunately the little buggers kept their distance. Especially after I tried to grab them.

Here is a pretty cool place called Commerce Square

Here are Ali and I chillin on the steps of the square

Here is the whole group at an awesome castle just outside of Lisbon in Portugal. Probably my favorite one that we've been to thus far. Ali, Lauren, Kimball, Me, Jessie, Ben, Kiley, and Tim.

Also, I have to mention that we were offered drugs over 20 times whilst walking around the city. Just fyi.

Yo Quiero Taco Bell

We've been talking about it for weeks, and finally, after one failed attempt, we were able to find it! The only Taco Bell in Spain. It opened a few weeks ago and a few of us had been really anxious to go. But yesterday, we made the trip to Madrid just so we could taste of the heaven that is Taco Bell.


It took about an hour to get there so I took advantage of the occasion with this feast:
That, my friends is 5 soft tacos, 1 chicken quesadilla, and 1 crunch wrap supreme. And yes, I ate every bite. (I've gained over ten pounds since coming to Spain, and now I see why.)



Did I mention that they have the first drinks with free refills that I've seen since arriving in Spain? Quite the treat.

After sprinting around in Metro stations, and down what seemed like 30 flights of stairs we barely made the last train home. It was a double-decker with lots of space so I got my own row of chairs. I was just sitting doing some Spanish homework, when this large man who was sitting alone, two rows behind me comes and sits next to me. Strange, because there were ample empty seats elsewhere. Strange, because he was breathing heavily and just staring straight ahead. Reesty, because he smelled like rotten beef. I never want to experience his aroma again. Tim saved me by asking me to come look at something, which was lucky, because I stood up, and the guy pretty much passes out across the seats, drops his beer he was holding, and doesn't move for the rest of the trip! We left him there in the same position when our stop came. Poor guy probably missed his stop. But oh well.

There he is!

In other news, I'm flying over to Portugal tomorrow. That should be fun!

Segovia

This week's trip to Segovia was great because it was a only about a two hour drive from home. Segovia is most famous for an amazingly well preserved Roman Aqueduct that runs through town. It also has a castle that supposedly inspired the look of the one in Disneyland!
Enjoy:

Here's Segovia's cathedral

The Alcazar (A little Disneyesque?)

Flamenco in Sevilla

Here's what I got of the Flamenco concert:

Just so you know...

The group set out on Tuesday for a nice little tour of Andalucia, and nice includes rain, long bus rides, and feet that feel like Vlad the Impaler has done a number on them.

We saw some windmills atop a hill at our first stop in Consuegra. That was neat. They were well placed too! If I weren't so aerodynamic I might have been blown away.




From there we headed over to Granada. On the bus ride there, the rain came down, and continued to come down for the rest of the afternoon. Some of us went out to explore the town after settling in our rooms. We walked along a river that was at the base of the hill which has the Alhambra on top.


The next day we actually got to go in....




The Alhambra is an awesome Moorish palace/fortress built in the 1400s. It has all these intricate and amazing carvings over all of the walls. Pretty much spectacular.


Here's the view over the town:


We departed from beautiful Granada the same day and made it to Cordoba several long hours later! The second we stepped off the bus it began to rain. Hard. The rain coupled with a 5ish minute walk to the hotel left everyone soaked but we took it in stride, being the classy people we are.
The first thing we did here was to see the Mezquita. I'd learned about it in Junior High and had always wanted to see it. I'm sure you've seen pictures of it, and if not... look downward!


Here are Tim, Heather, Jessie, Lara, Kim, and I rubbing the foot of Maimonidies. Apparently, if you can find this statue and rub his foot, then Maimonidies' infinite wisdom will pass on to you.

The next morning we woke up early to head out to Seville. Imagine my surprise when the water in my bathtub looked like this:

Blood? Orange Fanta? Who knows...

Here are some pictures from Seville

This blurry picture's claim to fame is that it is of the largest cathedral in the world! It also houses Christopher Columbus' body. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure we desecrated it because me, Jessie, and Lara had 'Business Time' stuck in our heads and were on a roll with "That's what she said" jokes.

Columbus' tomb.

Here's Jessie and I atop the minaret the next day.
And the view of Sevilla!

The bullfight ring in Seville.

This is the Plaza de Espana. It may be my favorite thing I've seen so far. Also, we think that part of one of the newer Star Wars was filmed here.

Also in Sevilla we went to a Flamenco concert. Wow. I have never been more amazed by dancing in my life. It's a little hard for me to describe how freaking crazy the dancers/guitarist/singer were. You just can't understand!!! The only option is for you to travel to Sevilla and watch it in person. I actually got a contraband video clip of the performance, but it was in the last few minutes of the concert when they told us we were only allowed to take pictures so their dancing was not as cool.

Basically, it was an AMAZING week.