Liverpool

This past weekend was amazing! The first part of my trip started last Thursday. I skipped school....my last absences! Cant miss anymore classes. I flew out early in the morning to Liverpool for my big Beatles adventure. And yes I was solo....and yes I am safe...so no worries!

At the airport, I met the cutest grandparents and their two grandchildren who were just on vacation in Barcelona. They told me how to get on the right bus. They were so sweet and helpful. Not sure if I could've done it without them. It took awhile, but I got into the heart of Liverpool at my hotel and checked in. I dropped my bag off and headed straight to the Magical Mystery Tour. I didn't want to be late! So I find my way to Albert Dock and try to find where the tour meets. I find a tourist information center and they tell me that the tour is sold out!!!! I was literally about to cry because this was my only day in Liverpool and kinda the reason I came....so they told me to come back at 2:20...and it was 2:05....so I was like okay....what is going to change in 15 minutes? Anyway, I didn't question them because they were trying to help me. So I went and got some starbucks, looked around the Beatles story memorabilia store. I go back 15 minutes later and the woman told me, "We told you to come back at 2:20!" and my phone said 2:19 so I was like jeeeez louise. 1 minute difference? So I politiely asked her, "Well isn't it jsut about 2:20?" She replied that it was 1:20. The UK is an hour behind Barcelona. Whoops. So at that point I really didn't know what to do. So I wandered Albert Dock and found two free museums.....a boat museum and a slavery museum.....two things I am not very interested in. But I had time. So I went in and they were kinda interesting. I did learn about how 3 of the most tragic boat accidents in history occured out of Liverpool. Needless to say, I will never take a boat out of Liverpool. So I go back at 2:20 and the tour guide is there. He told me that they were sold out but they would try to make room on the bus for me! NICEST THING EVER! So his usual seat....at the front...is the one they gave me. I had the best seat in the house! Then the tour left.

(Albert Dock.

Photo from: http://www.planetware.com/picture/liverpool-albert-dock-eng-gb1207.htm)

Now here is the bummer part....I took a bunch of great pictures this day, but later that night, I lost my camera. So depressed about that. So I cannot remember every single thing we did, but here are my highlights:

1. Penny Lane. It actually exists. The barber who shows photographs...he actually existed. And his shop is still there. I saw the bank where the banker with a motorcar worked. The shelter in the roundabout....that all exists. It was so fun.

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/ecards/penny_lane_ecard.shtml)

2. Saw where Ringo and George were born and grew up. Saw John Lennon's house....and Paul's last house in Liverpool. Didn't get to go inside any of them, but still cool to be there.

3. The church were Paul and John met! And behind that church...there is a gravestone for Eleanor Rigby....although it was a completely coincidence they have a song by the same title.

(http://www.allertonoak.com/merseyThemes/Sandstone.html)

4. Strawberry Field. It was where John played as a kid. You cannot go in...but we saw the red gates!

(http://www.maplemars.com/Large%20England%20Shots/StrawberryFields.jpg)

After the tour was over, I wandered to the Hard Days Night Hotel to look around. Then on my way back to Albert Dock, I was passing a store and saw the cutest pink coat ever! Now, before I came to Europe, I was going to allow myself a big purchase...a purse. But I never got one in the cities we went to. So I figured it was now or never...and it was hugely on sale and not very expensive. So impulse buy...yes. But I will carry great memories with this coat now.

Then I made it to the Beatles Story....the museum that gives an EXTENSIVE history on the Beatles. I had a great time going through that....learning things I had never known. After that, decided to wander back to my hotel. Went to the grocery store, got some chips, cookies and pasta salad. I decided I would go lay down and take a nap for awhile before I was going to see a cover band that night.

(Picture the awesome bus driver took on the tour and posted to facebook. Thanks Magical Mystery Tour! My only photo from liverpool and i'm not even looking...tear.)

Well it is a good thing I woke up 20 minutes before the concert started! I bolted to The Cavern, where the Beatles used to play all the time. It was a little intimidating all by myself, not knowing anyone, in a bar. But I ended up having one of the best nights of my life. The cover band, Mersey Beatles, played until 2 in the morning and I stayed the entire time! I never knew I could have such a good time by myself. But that also comes at a price....the loss of my precious camera and all my pictures from the day. I'm really sad about it. I made it back to the hotel in one piece and had to wake up early to catch my train to London!

Amsterdam

AMSTERDAM!

We took a train to Amsterdam after we landed in Edinburgh. Coming out of the train station, there were people and trams everywhere. We couldn't find a map...and we were all so lost and confused. Eventually we found our hostel and dropped our things off. We walked around our area and found a place that had bagel sandwiches that were pretty tasty.

The rest of the day we spent wandering around the tulip markets and souvenir shops. Then we went back for an afternoon nap and woke up to go to dinner. Michael had told me and Peter about this place he ate in London like 15 years ago called Wagamama. It was really close to our hotel so we went there. It was really delicious! I had not had any asian fusion food in a really long time and it hit the spot. Afterwards, it got late and we went to bed.

(Amazing invention! It was like a fast food vending machine.)

(Lots and lots of bulbs in Amsterdam.)

Saturday, we wake up....raining raining raining. It did nothing but rain the entire time we were in Amsterdam. Thank goodness I had the rainboots my mom got me in Paris! They were so cute. Anyway, we walked to another bagel place for breakfast and hung out awhile because there wasn't anywhere to go in the rain. Once the rain calmed for awhile, we walked around again and came across the most amazing discovery ever....an American food store! Peter and I went in there and just stood in awe of all the great food.....Fruit by the Foot, A&W root beer, Hershey's kisses, and even more! It was amazing to see. My best accomplishment....not buying anything. I figured....it will be that much better when I have it in the states. Plus....it was obviously WAY OVERPRICED because tourists like me are willing to pay for it. The man who owns the store tells us that people from all over Europe will go there every 3 or 4 months to buy American food because there are hardly any stores like it.

(The American food store....yummmm!)

Saturday evening, it was still raining and we were getting pretty bored of souvenir shops, so Peter and I decided to go see a movie...Alice in Wonderland. So nice to see a movie! We had popcorn and everything. And it was in English...always a bonus! That night, we met up with Michael and Steve to go to this dinner place where there are unlimited ribs for 12 euros or something. Well I am not a huge rib gal, but they REALLY enjoyed them. I had some pretty good chicken and a great 1/2 liter of white wine. That night, we walked to the Red Light District. This place was literally my hell. It was gross and loud and dirty....dirty in multiple senses. It just kinda made me sad, so I don't want to comment too much on it. We decided to hop into a cab to go back to our place and it started at 20 euros!! I immeadiately scream "NO NO NO!" and I made everyone get out of the cab. So yes, we had to walk like 40 minutes. Whoops. But at least we saved money and didn't let that stupid cab driver take advantage of us!

(Pete and me at the Amsterdam sign.)

Sunday morning, we did more walking around. Lots and lots of walking. We went to a pancake place for breakfast which was really tasty. Sushi for lunch. And we also did the Heineken Brewery tour. That was definitely my highlight of the trip. I thought the entire tour was so fascinating and really well done. Confession: I have never done the AB tour in St. Louis...so that is definitely on my list this summer. It took awhile to go through but was a lot of fun. I even got a super cool Heineken sweatshirt. Then we were getting hungry for dinner, so we caved and went to the Hard Rock. Since it was a pretty poppin place, we had to wait about an hour to get in. While we waited, we went to a pub to watch some soccer game...cannot even remember which one. Dinner at the Hard Rock....amazing. I should bite my tongue to say this....but it was ALMOST the best meal I have had in Europe. Pathetic. Yep.

(Michael brewing beer or something.)

(At the Heineken Factory.)

Peter and I had a flight in 6 in the morning, so we didn't book a hostel for the night so we could just sleep at the airport. But we didn't want to be at the airport all night. With not much to do, we went to another movie. Pathetic again. This time...Shutter Island. If you are anything like me...do not see this film. I was not a fan. Then we eventually made our way to the airport...which took a lot more time than we thought since we missed the last night bus there. So we had to figure out how to get to the train station, find a train that got there for our flight, wait for the train, get to the airport, and slept there.

(Me walking on water....not really. Photography courtesy of Michael Z!)

When we got back to Barcelona Monday morning, we just slept all day recovering from a crazy 10 days of Spring Break and not much sleep. It was a great time though. And I had a great visitor to greet me back in Barca....LINDZO!

(Me and my amazing roomie!)

Monday night, we took Lindsey and her friends to Loco Lunes...which was definitely loco. We had a great time! I really like meeting Lindsey's friends and it was so nice to see such a good friend over here. Lindsey stayed until Wednesday morning, so we had tons of time to hang out and catch up. Such fun memories! And even a delicious Pim Pam date.

Prague

PRAGUE!

Honestly, Prague wasn't one of those places that was high on my priority list while I am over here. But, Michael and Peter heard it was amazing, so we decided to spend 3 days there of our spring break. I am so glad that we ended up going because it actually turned out to be one my favorite cities we've travelled to.

We got to Prague that Tuesday afternoon. It was a little tricky to navigate the city at first, but we eventually found where we were staying. Peter and Michael have a couple of friends studying abroad with Prague so we were able to stay with them. They happen to be in our same program, just in a different city, so it was interesting to see the differences between the two. Example 1....their apartments are HUGEEEE. Literally ginormous. So it was nice to stay there and see it. They had an absolutely amazing view of the water and were right in the heart of the city.

Then a few of us decided to go to lunch and having a Czech meal. Czech food is pretty darn good. I had gnocchi and water while all the guys drank beer. Now beer in Prague....is cheaper than water. Which would be amazing if I drank the stuff. But it was really quite amazing to see how cheap it was there. After lunch, we just walked around and hung out. Any travel day is pretty slow and exhausting.

(Wall of locks we found by the John Lennon wall. You are supposed to put one there and write you and your significant other's name on it, and as long as it stays there...your love will last forever or something. However...the city cuts them down all the time. Sad.)

That night, Peter and I were attempting to find this supposedly amazing Mexican restaurant to go for dinner. After searching for awhile, we gave up and as luck would have it...found this great little restaurant. It was so cute and cozy. And on the menu....french onion soup. So we were so excited to have it again, since we had not eaten it since Paris. Now the french onion soup I like is covered in cheese and soaked up in bread and is absolutely delicious. This french onion soup....was literally chopped up onions....barely cooked...in broth. Now it wasn't terrible, but it was a bummer becuase it is not what I expected. The rest of the meal was really good! It was one of my favorite dates Peter and I have ever had.

After, we walked back to the apartment complex to meet everyone. The plan for the night was to go to this bar/club called "Beer Factory." Now like I mentioned earlier....not a beer drinker, but the concept for this place was so fun! It looks like a normal club, but on each of the beer taps at the tables, there is a meter that tracks how much beer you have consumed. So basically, you can have a competition between tables at this place. There are big screens where the club shows who is winning and how much beer each table has had. And on the tables, there is a cool spray cleaner that cleans your mugs. Don't know how to describe it....but it was a really smart idea. Once we had our fill of clubbing Prague people and our bellies were full of beer (or wine), we decided to go back for the night. But not before I had to try one of the Prague sausages. There are vendors all over the sides of the streets selling these disgustingly large sausages. I don't know why I ate it, and it wasn't even good, but if you go to Prague...do NOT eat one of those sausages. It was gross. Plain and simple. But at the time, it seemed like a great idea.

(One of my favorites from the John Lennon wall.)

Wednesday, we did a lot of walking around Prague and had such an amazing day. We were just wandering around the city and happened across the place we wanted to go...Old Town Square. OTS was so cute, especially because it was decorated for Easter. There are lots of little shops and vendors who sell anything from souvenirs, clogs, crepes, beer and these amazing things called "trdlos." As a sweet lover and aspiring baker, I was fascinated by these. They actually aren't baked....they are fire roasted, and they were absolutely delicious!

(Trdlos being cooked.)

(Clock tower in Old Town Square.

Every hour, it strikes and a guy comes out from the top and

plays the trumpet. So random.)

(A cute little lady HAND painting eggs for Easter.

Or maybe all the time. Either way, they were amazing!)

Peter and I also made a stop by the chocolate museum in Prague. We didn't pay to go in, but there is a store connected to it that is open to the public. Here, we had waffles on a stick, dipped in chocolate and covered in m&ms or coconut. Definitely worth the trip! Afterwards, we went to the clock tower in OTS. It is the highest point in Prague, and it was a clear day so we took advantage of it. You have to climb to the top, but it isn't too bad. The main problem was that there is a very small amount of space at the top and tons of tourists...this equals a crowded international mess that isn't fun to swim through. It was very cool to see how big Prague is because we were only exposed to a small part of the city.

(Pete and I at the top of the clock tower)

(View of OTS from the clock tower.)

(Our amazing waffles on a stick!!)

That night, we went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant....think it was called Cantina....and the food was better than any Mexican I had in a long time. The ceiling was really cool because it was decorated in rice sacks. We had a really good time, although we all spent a little too much than we hoped for. Apparently it is one of the most expensive restaurants in Prague....whoops. We attempted to go out that night, but we did't quite make it out. We just had a great time hanging in the apartment and catching up with old friends.

Thursday was also a great fun day. Peter and I knew we wanted to go back and walk around OTS. Not without stopping by Bohemia Bagel and having our first bagels in 3 months! So simple and so delicious. By the time we got there, it was raining. It literally put a huge damper on the day. After aimlessly walking around for awhile, we ended up finding this bar called "The Bed Lounge" or somethign like that. It was like a bar with tables and everything...except the chairs were comfy beds. It was so relaxing and great people watching. Steve and Michael ended up coming to meet us there and I think we all laid there for a really long time before we got back up. We went back to the John Lennon wall for the second time. I'm not really sure what the significance of the wall being there is, but of course I enjoyed it. I cannot even remember what we did for dinner that night...oh yeah I do. We walked across the bridge and found this italian restaurant with great pasta! It was an easy dinner, and all of us were getting up early to travel in the morning, so we called it an early night.

(Steve and Michael sleeping in The Bed Lounge.)

(They have Budweiser in Prague too. Apparently we stole the name. But shhhh!)

Friday morning, we woke up to catch a flight to Edinburgh and then the train to Amsterdam.

Mallorca

I knew that part of Erin's trip would overlap with this first weekend of my spring break, so a few months ago, I began to research where we should go! As I found, Mallorca is a BEAUTIFUL island right of the coast of Spain....a 50 minute flight from Barcelona. And our flight was OUTRAGEOUSLY cheap, as well as our hotel.

Friday morning, Erin and I woke up extremely early. We finally got to Mallorca and checked in at our hotel. I was absolutely exhausted, practically falling asleep while walking. Erin had to do everything in her power to keep me awake. So we walked down the beach, ate some great pizza and ducked in and out of little souvenir shops. Once we were finally able to check in, I had to crash. Erin ended up going to a small bar and reading her new Ernest Hemingway book. After my nap, Erin and I hung out at hotel and watched the sunset.

(Took this picture of my lovely cousin on our hotel balcony as we watched the sunset.

Isn't she the greatest?!)

That evening, we went into town to this fun area. However, on the way, we met a man who we will call "Killer" as that was the e-mail address he gave us. Although he was creepy, he led us to this fun area and FUN doesn't even cover it. We found this great little Italian restaurant where there was the best gnocchi pasta. The most memorable part of this dinner was the great conversation I had with my cousin. She and I were able to reminisce in great memories of our sweet Grandma Helen.

Afterwards, we were trying to figure out what to do. So we began walking and all of a sudden we hear a familiar phrase....

"Rah rah ah-ah-ah! Ro mah ro-mah-mah. Gaga Ooh-la-la!"

It was coming from this very small but cute bar, and it was as if it was SIGN that we were meant to go. Inside, we sat down to have a drink where we met this elderly gentleman who happened to take a liking to my cousin...hence the picture below.

(Erin and her boyfriend, Mr. Old Bar Owner Dude.)

This bar was absolutely perfect. It was playing a VH1esque channel with music from the 70s to now. It really couldn't have been more perfect. We ended up staying there all night. Eventually after a few glasses of wine, we became the loud American girls in the place, but we were having too much fun to notice. After awhile, we decided it was best to leave, but not without having a crepe. We ducked into this tiny shop and ordered delicious crepes. Then we took a cab back to our hotel after stopping and getting some chips and gatorade at the gas station. It was an amazing night.

(Erin and I at "our" bar. Not the greatest picture, but from the greatest night.)

Saturday morning, we woke up and walked on the balcony and the wind had died down!! Thank goodness. Because Friday was a bit breezy, and I was freezing. In fact, it was so gorgeous that we just sat out on our terrace and read and listened to music all morning. We even got tan from sitting out there. Well Erin got red, and even I did. I had no idea the sun would be that strong considering how it wasn't extremely hot outside.

Afterwards, we went on a walk on the beach and found this tidepool. Erin lovessss tidepools so we spent awhile just looking at it, exploring, and taking pictures. It was a gorgeous day outside, so we couldn't help it.

(Erin and I on the beach in Mallorca.)

(Erin exploring the tide pool.)

(Mallorca was GORGEOUS. This place must be poppin during the summer.)

We walked down the entire island and found a fun restaurant to hang out and people watch. Eventually we made it back to the hotel, and we relaxed for awhile. We couldn't figure out where to eat, so we went back into Palma, the big city on the island, and there was a very cool concert going on. The whole area was blacked out, they turned off all the lights, and on the ground, people were laying votive candles everywhere. It was majestic looking. We sat down to have coffee at this adorable cafe and in their menu was this picture...

I thought it was BEYOND perfect. Everything I could ever want to say to my cousin on this little piece of paper! After our coffee, we walked around to find a restaurant. Mallorca is not like other parts of Spain that eat at 10 o'clock at night. Places closed a lot earlier. We were feeling rather discouraged but decided to keep walking around, until we hit JACKPOT. We found a strip of really cute little restaurants. Once again, we had delicious Italian food and had another great waiter. He even gave us a free shot of Baileys and took one with us. It was a great time. After the sun and sunburns and the late night before, we couldn't wait to go back and crash at the hotel.

Sunday morning, Erin went off to explore while I was a lazy bum and stayed in bed. I eventually made my way to the pool and was actually able to lay out. It was cold, but not freezing, so I toughed it out. It was a great relaxing day. We also rented bikes for a couple hours and just rode up and down. I had not ridden a bike in awhile, but it was a blast. That night, we saw that there was live music playing at our hotel, so we thought "PERFECT!" And waited to go down to the show. We got a glass of wine, grabbed the checkerboard and played until the show started. Well after awhile, we noticed that entire crowd was made up of little grandmas and grandpas, and we were confused why the music hadn't started. Except it had.....there were all these little couples dancing at the front of the room to the live music coming out of the speakers. It was not quite what we expected....but extremely memorable. We ended up just hanging out at the hotel, but eventually we got hungry. Being the horrible Americans we are, we went and got fast food. But in our defense, it was only after we searched restaurant after restaurant after restaurant....they were ALL closed. It was just a weird random funny night.

Monday morning, we continued to explore the area, and landed at this cute restaurant and played cards all morning. Then it was time for us to head to the airport and go back to Barcelona. That night, Peter, Erin and I went to Plaza Real to have paella. The next morning, we were all waking up early again...Erin to go back home and Pete and I to head to Prague.

The next morning, Erin and I said our goodbyes as we headed off in our completely seperate directions. I had the most amazing time with my cousin. How blessed am I to have her in my life, and what extraordinary memories we will have to look back on the rest of our lives! Love you!

(One of the greatest sunsets God has ever given me to watch!)

You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.

-Revelation 4:11

San Sebastian, Spain

San Sebastian!

So the weekend after Paris, my friends and I went with out program on an inclusive trip to San Sebastian, Spain.

Here is the low-down on San Sebastian:

It is a cute little resort like town.

It is smaller.

Great beaches.

We heard it was supposed to be great and relaxing, which is of course true.

Bad news: 7 hour bus ride. The bus ride there wasn't terrible. Peter and I knocked out about a half a season of Friends. The bus ride actually was gorgeous because we were seeing parts of Spain that we didn't even know existed....we went through desert like area, green lush areas, and next to the water. So the ride there really wasn't too terrible.

Once we got there, the sun was still shining and it was actually hot outside. Now....I heard it was supposed to be chilly....all I brought were UGGS with me...bad call. I survived. Anyway, so our hotel was really nice...and I had the BEST roommate in the world....my most amazing and wonderful friend, Beth. SHOUT OUT! Once we dropped our things off, we went to the beach and just hung out taking in the amazing scenery.

(Hanging on the beach in San Sebastian.)

(Me and my beautiful Bethie at the beach.)

After being on the bus all day with just junk food, we were all ready for REAL food. So we walked around and found this amazing burger place. Almost everyone had two burgers because they were literally that great. And in the restaurant, there was a Missouri license plate on the wall...represent!

That night, Beth and I watched the Mizzou and Wisco games on our computers...and yes we both won! Woo hoo. After that, the whole group went to dinner at this cute little noodle and pizza place. It reminded me of a nicer "Noodles & Company" which I had really been missing. All the noodles were homemade. And then we all indulged in some delicious ice cream...including strawberry. Strawberry ice cream is hard to come by here....there is strawberry gelato...but it really doesn't taste the same.

Saturday morning, we woke up to go on the tour. It was interesting. We walked down to very end of this part of the island, and there are these weird structures called "wind combs." The area was pretty, despite it being overcast. We all just hung around and soaked in the day. Then we took the funiculare up to the top of the island. At the top, there was a really cute little amusement park, which also included a log flume ride. All of us decided that it was necessary to go on it, even though it lasted about 3 minutes and just went in a circle. Then we ended up over the in the downtown area of San Sebastian, and walked through this area with a ton of restaurants and bars and markets. Beth and I found this AMAZING little pinxtos place. Pinxtos are really popular in Northern Spain. They are like tapas, but only meant for one person, not to share. The best one we had was this red bell pepper stuffed with cheese and then it was deep fried. Yes, it was as amazing as it sounds.

(Beth and I next to one of the wind combs.)

(View of the city from the top.)

(Pete and I at the top.)

(I adore this picture of Peter and Michael on the log flume ride.)

(Beth and her pinxto!)

It started raining shortly after, so Peter and I decided to go to the aquarium. It was supposed to be really great, and we had an amazing time. The best part was this area where you walked through the tank essentially. The tank is on both sides of you. It literally looked like sharks were coming at you, which is what Peter thought...it was funny to see him jump like that. We both really enjoy looking at marine life, and I think it was definitely my highlight of the trip.

(My favorite picture I took at the aquarium.)

Saturday night, I began to not feel very well, and I had to stay in. Everyone else just went out and went to dinner and watched some of the NCAA basketball games. The nightlife isn't really big in San Sebastian, and we all knew that this would be our break from that part of Spain...the partying part.

Sunday morning, we all wake up and get on the bus. As we are driving 30 minutes outside of the city, two girls from our program get ahold of the woman in charge on the bus...they didn't get on the bus. Our whole bus had to turn around, go back and pick up these girls, and then go again. Our trip ended up being 10 hours. Spain has really weird highway driving rules....the x number of kilometers you go, you are have to stop for like 30-45 minutes. So we had 3 stops, each consisting of 45 minutes, plus 7 hours of driving. The bus ride was soooo long. We couldn't wait to get back to Barcelona...where it was POURING. Not a great welcome.

However, the best welcome was to come the next day! Michael's parents and Peter's parents were in town for a few days. And being the lucky and completely blessed girl that I am, I got to go to dinner with all of them 2 nights. It was such a treat! I was already missing my parents terribly, so it was so nice to see the two other sets of parents that I am closest to! The first night, we went to Cafe Academia, where I had a really great piece of salmon....which I had been missing. The menu had one item that was super peculiar.....blood pudding in lasagna. I'm still not sure what it is, but the name is bad enough. We wanted nothing to do with it. The meal was great and we had a wonderful wonderful time.

The next night, we went to this great restaurant in Born called "Pla." It was a great ambience, amazing food and some of the best conversation ever! I had these chicken skewers that were so amazing. If anyone is in Barcelona looking for a great restaurant, I definitely recommend this one. Then we had to take them all to Patagonia bar...our local spot. As tradition calls, it was necessary for everyone to try the "little brain" shot. I'm not sure if I have explained the phenomenon that is the little brain.

The little brain is some kind of weird flavored vodka with a spoonful of baileys. The baileys is poured in on top and when it settles, it looks like a miniature brain. It is delicious and amazing. Every time I go to this bar, I get a little brain. I am now determined to figure out how to make them myself....because yes, they are that great!

The glorious "little brain"

So it was an epic night....great dinner and little brain shots at Patagonia.

So thank you so much to Mr. and Mrs. Z and Mr. and Mrs. B for an amazing two nights that I will always cherish! It was so great to see everyone, and I truly appreciate your kindness.

That night, my cousin Erin finally got in town. She greeted me at my apartment, just getting back from her Morocco trip. And yes, she was super tan. I was very jealous.

Wednesday day, after my class, she and I just took the city by storm and walked around. We went to a lot of different places....Park Ciutadella, outside La Pedrera, Ramblas, Boqueria, etc. It was an overcast day so I wanted to save Parc Guell for the next day. I don't even recall where we went to dinner that night.

(Erin and I at Park Ciutadella.)

(Another pic at Ciutadella)

Thursday day, I was able to take Erin to Park Guell. Since she is quite Le Artiste, I knew she would appreciate the amazing work of Gaudi that is Park Guell. Peter was able to come with us, and we had a really great time walking around and taking pictures.

(Pete and I at Park Guell.)

(I LOVEEEE MY COUSIN!)

(I miss her soooo much!!)

That night, we all went to dinner at Juicy Jones, a vegan place here in Barcelona. They have hummus, guacamole and olive tapenade...all my favorites. It was so nice to have a healthy meal where the food wasn't fried. Since our flight for Mallorca left early in the morning, we hit the hay earlier that night.

(Dinner at Juicy Jones)