After a couple weekends of staying in Maastricht, we traveled to Barcelona, Spain.  Although I loved being in Maastricht those weekends, I was ready to travel again.  Barcelona has always been a place that I've always wanted to go to. Funny enough, I've never been to all of the places that we are traveling to and have traveled to which makes it that much more special.
Similar to our previous trip to Copenhagen, we took a plane out of Brussels. We were able to take a train from the Maastricht train station to the Airport, which was very convenient.  When we got to the main international airport, I remembered the bombing that took place there last year but didn't worry me too much.  Getting through security was a breeze and the flight was very easy, as it took two hours to get to Barcelona.  We landed around eight at night and took a cab to the hostel we reserved in the Gracia section of the city.  Even though it was dark out then, I was able to see Gaudi's house which was down the street from our hostel, which was an amazing site to see.  Throughout our four days there we were able to see a lot of Gaudi's artwork, including Sagrada Familia, which I am still amazed by.

        On Friday, we explored the city and walked around for a couple hours and then headed over to the beach late afternoon.  Growing up and having a beach house in Fire Island has made the beach my happy place, so to say, so being at a beach especially in Barcelona was amazing.  I was also surprised with the weather we had.  Over the course of our four days there, it was low 70's and sunny, which was perfect.  Also on the boardwalk right alongside the beach, there were people selling shoes, fabrics, purses, and antiques.  Seeing this reminded me a lot of what you would see in New York City.  Even though most of the items they were selling were knockoffs, it was cool to see the same kind of business being run the same way that it does in my home city of New York.  Later that night, we ate at a restaurant in the center of the city, which had a lot of traditional Spanish food.  The food in Barcelona has some of the best food I've had while being abroad, besides the food in Berlin.  Also, I was able to experience eating at a restaurant in Spain which is something that I've been envisioning since I started taking Spanish in elementary school.  Learning the language from such a young age, even though I'm not the best with it, has taught me so much about the culture in the different Spanish-speaking countries, especially Spain.  It was an awesome experience for me to be in the country that I have been learning about for so long and eating Spanish cuisine.
        On Saturday I went to go hang out with my two friends from home for a couple hours.  One of them, Will, studies in Barcelona and the other, Alex, is studying in London which was really awesome being with them both considering that we are all studying in different countries.  I was able to see Will's dorm which was incredibly nice which also had a rooftop with a pool and a great view of the city.  After seeing my friends, I met Kevin, Will, Ryan and Sean at the marina near the beachfront to go on a boat tour of the coastline of Barcelona.  We each paid 40 euros to go on a speed boat which was a lot of fun.  During the ride, the driver stopped info anyone that wanted to jump into the ocean.  Since we were pretty far from the shore, the other guys didn't want to, but I saw it as a cool opportunity and jumped in.  The water was beautiful and was crystal clear and warm.  Even though I was freezing afterward on the boat, it was still worth it.
        Since Sunday was our last day, we wanted to relax by the beach. Will's dad, Mr. Walter, was able to get us to stay at the Barcelona de Arts hotel and hang out by the pool.  With a beautiful view of the ocean and the marina, I couldn't have asked for a more relaxing and fun day. Later that night we went to a bar that my friend recommended called The George Payne.  Since it was Sunday, there were Football games being shown, which was something I've been wanting to watch since the season started.  Being the passionate football fan that I am, it was great to be in a bar eating buffalo wings and watching Football, which felt just like home.
         This past weekend was definitely one for the books.  Even though we were missing Mike and James, the five of us had the time of our lives.  Having the luxury of staying in Barcelona for four days was incredible and I cannot wait til I can go back.