Barcelona so far...

I've had a really good time so far in Barcelona.  There is so much to see and do here!

My first night was fun.  Camille, Aly, and Emily and I went to L'Ovella Negra off of Las Ramblas for a huge jug of sangria for only 20 euros.  We meet some friends from UT at L'Ovella who brought along other IES kids from all over the US.  After sangria we ended up in some club-like spot of Las Ramblas that was not all that great.  Francisca told Camille and I about the NIT Bus that runs all night, which sounded great because the metro is closed at night and it's cheaper than cabs - wrong.  We ended up going the wrong way, we were the only Americans and only girls on the bus (the men in Barcelona are much different than the men in America...).  It took us two hours to get home after we got off the bus and took a cab.  We are never taking the NIT Bus again.  Cabs are more expensive, but so much safer.

On my first full day, I had orientation for my Spanish class and then Camille and I went on the Fat Tire Bike Tour.  We rode all around Barcelona for four hours and ended up at a cute restaurant/shack with good sangria and food on the beach.  I'm really glad we went because I feel like I got to see so much of Barcelona.  Here are some pictures:

 Plaza Sant Jaume

 Plaza del Rei

 La Catedral

 Palau de la Música Catalana.

 Arc del Triomf

 Parc de la Ciutadella

 Plaza de Toros

 La Sagrada Familia

Statue of a woman's legs 

 Barceloneta Beach

 Vila Olímpica

  Barceloneta Beach

 Camille at Barceloneta Beach

That night we celebrated Camille's 21st birthday (at midnight) at Ryan's Irish Pub, which was recommended to us by several of our friends and by some Aussies our friends had met at the beach while Camille and I were on the bike tour.  We then headed to a big discoteca on the beach called Opium, which was a favorite of my friends' who studied in Barcelona this Spring.

Yesterday, we had Spanish, ate fresh fruit from the La Boqueria off Las Ramblas, and headed to the beach to celebrate Camille's birthday.  We had a relaxed night at another Irish pub near Plaza Catalunya called George Payne's.  All of us were exhausted and headed home around 1:00, usually when people start going out.

Celebrating Camille's birthday at  George Payne's

Today after class, Aly, Camille and I went to Parque Guell by Antonio Gaudi.  We all wore the wrong shoes and clothes, but it was really neat to see.  We want to go back in work out clothes and have a picnic.  Here are some pictures from today:

Camille and Aly, and Aly and me at the entrance.

House designed by Gaudi.

 View from the top of the crosses at the park.

Crosses at the park.