Spain

It’s my last day in port and I’m just sitting down to type up a summary of Spain. It’s 1:30pm and a number of us just got back from Barcelona. I’ve been up since 4:45, had a flight at 6:55, a bus once I touched down in Sevilla and another 2 hour bus to Cadiz. Needless to say, I’ve been traveling for the past 8 hours, and I’m exhausted! But, alas, here I am in my cozy shipboard cabin, typing up a journal entry while my friends are sleeping and/or taking showers before we head out later tonight. On ship time is at 9pm so we figure a dinner and maybe some wine is necessary before we get back onto the ship. Weird to think that I won’t be able to have a glass of wine with dinner when I get back. For about a month, that is. Did I mention I’m turning 21 soon?

Barcelona was amazing and nothing like I expected it to be. I don’t know why I expected Spain to be so different, maybe it was because I was so culturally unaware before this trip, or maybe… well, I don’t know. The point is, Barcelona was like Paris. It was trendy, touristy, European and full of beauty. I will try to summarize my few days in Spain to the best of my ability!

Day 1 - Mario, Jess and I took a bus straight to Sevilla once we got off of the ship. We spent the day in Sevilla visiting cathedrals and the main downtown area. As lame as we are, we ate lunch at Burger King and later had to stop at Starbucks! That night we ate Tapas (I liked it!) and then went to an Irish Pub and listened to Irish live music and hung out with some funny/annoyingly drunk Spanish men. One was absolutely in love with me, and even kissed my foot. He was awkward and it was an awkward night, but I had a lot of fun. We went to a few different bars, ran into a ton of SASers and about 30 students who are studying abroad from the Us -- all in all, it was a fun night.

Day 2 - This next morning we headed to the airport for our flight to Barcelona. Once in Barcelona, we headed to La Rambla, the most “hoppin” area in town, and looked for a place to stay. We ran into Jeanie and she invited us to stay in her apartment that she rented for a couple of days. We all went there to put our bags down. Later that night, the landlord was so angry that there were too many people staying there, so we just left our bags and headed out. Jess and I ended up meeting up with some of our guy friends for dinner at the Hard Rock Café (It was excellent and they were playing a bunch of Metallica) and then we went to an Australian Bar. At the bar, we met up with 2 guys that Jess knew from home. It was so weird because we randomly ran into them at the Barcelona airport. We ended up hanging out with them for a few hours and heading back to their Hostal with them, spontaneously at 3am, because we had no where else to sleep. They had a hostal with 4 beds so it worked out perfect, and I got my own bed!

Day 3 - We slept in until 11am and then headed out to start our day. Jess, Mario and I booked a hotel a couple miles away from the main district and got a good deal and a really nice room. It worked out well because the hotel was right across from the metro station! We went to the internet café and shopped and Jess and I went out for a nice dinner, just us two. I had amazing Sangria and it’s my new favorite drink. That night we went to the BARCELONA soccer game!!! It was so much fun and we had amazing seats… 4th row to the left of the net! Ronaldinho scored 2 goals! The crowds went wild -- I had such a good time.

Day 4 - Jess and I wanted to spend our day doing whatever we wanted. So, we slept in, met up with the boys and then went to the Picasso Museum. I love art. I never did until this trip -- I have absolutely fallen in love with anything artsy. I loved Picasso’s earlier work and I really enjoyed the museum. After the museum, Jess and I took the metro to the Zoo! This was so random of us! But, the zoo was fun and the animals were VERY active. I was surprised. They had a variety of animals and it was neat to change things up a little bit. We’ve been visiting so many temples and cathedrals and churches over the past few months that it was nice for a change. That night (which was last night) We met up with the boys again (Whenever I say the boys I am referring to Matt, Parker and Corey) and went to a nice dinner. I had such a good time just sitting and eating, overlooking La Rambla. The boys then had to catch the overnight train back to Cadiz, so we went our separate ways. Jess and I went back to the hotel and instead of going out and getting drunk like everyone else, we raided the gas station, bought a ton of junk food, and went back to our room to watch tv together and call our families! I was so happy to get to talk to my Mom and Grandma! We headed to sleep around 12:30 since we had to get up for the airport by 4:45am.

Day 5 (TODAY!) - I’m back in Cadiz now, on the ship, resting for a while before heading out again.
Spain is really neat, and I loved visiting, and I especially loved Barcelona. There is a lot of crime, apparently, and there is a lot of graffiti, hookers and gypsies, but it is still a beautiful city! I’m really happy I got to experience the Spanish culture, especially by attending the soccer game.

As for now -- I’m SO excited to get home in less than 2 weeks! I have 4 papers due, 4 exams, the Ambassadors Ball, the Talent Show and goodbyes beforehand, but I’m still excited! After 105 days, I’m going home…. Bittersweet. Bittersweet sums it up.