my first weekend in barcelona has been pretty packed. thursday after our language class we had lunch with some girls from the program who are living in a CONVENT! they have an 11.30 curfew and are trying to move somewhere else. bummer city for them. after lunch we came back to the apartment for a little siesta (i am obsessed with siestas and have taken one every day) before going to a reception that IES threw for all the students and faculty at a really nice hotel. we used the metro for the first time to get to the hotel! a 10-use metro pass costs 7.20 euros, which i think is a pretty good deal. the metro here is more like the new york subway, where you pay by the trip and not by the distance from point A to point B (like the DC metro). it's really easy to use and my apartmentmate megan thinks it's the cleanest metro she's ever seen. the reception was really nice. they served a ton of really delicious tapas. there was one that was sort of a smoked salmon and cream cheese thing. bread was involved. they all looked really difficult to make and were completely delicious.
thursday night we decided to explore the nightlife a little bit (thanks to no classes on fridays!), and our RA recommended a bar called BB+ (or "Bebe Más," which means "drink more") where you get a liter of beer for 5 euros. we really liked the place and went again last night and will probably stop by at least for a little bit tonight. i think it's great because it's kind of a hole in the wall and there aren't any americans, which means i get to practice my spanish a lot. i've already perfected the barcelona accent! ... or so i think, anyway. i do get a lot of compliments on my spanish, which is reassuring. i thought i would be much more self-conscious and nervous about speaking, but it's really just fun and the more i speak, the better i'll become.
yesterday we all went exploring in barcelona. we walked to las ramblas, which is a famously touristy street with live statues and souvenir shops and BUNNY VENDORS!! and street performers, etc. etc. also there is a food market called la boqueria which is amazing. i bought some fresh strawberry juice for a euro. (pictures on the next post!) after la boqueria we went to port olympic, but it was getting dark so we couldn't see all that much. we also thought there would be sand visible but there was just a dock with big ships. so we haven't seen the beach yet but we're determined to get there tomorrow. we had dinner at a touristy outdoor restaurant on las ramblas where we totally got TAKEN. our bocadillos cost 5 euros and our sodas were SEVEN EUROS! oh, well. lesson learned.
last night, as i said, we went to BB+ after we attempted to go to another bar called pippermint which we decided was way overpriced. that was fun but we were too tired to do anything during the day today -- probably because we've walked at least 15 miles in the last 4 days.
tonight my apartmentmate heather is turning 23 so we're going out for paella and then probably to a club of some kind. i've never been to a club before, and i have a feeling it's not really my scene, but the clubs here are supposed to be BEAUTIFUL. so i'll give it a try.
much love from barce.
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