Barcelona Bound!

So, right after we posted the last blog, we made several new friends at our hostel dinner, like we were hoping to do! Yippie! F is for friends who do stuff together :) We ate dinner in our super chic and ultra fetch hostel, I don`t know if we`ve said that enough already (p.s.- We found out that its the number one hostel...in the world...how spoiled were we?! very. Crepes for breaksfast. lets just put that in perspetive. simmer on that for a second...). It was DELICIOUS! It sounds like an ad for Olive Garden, but endless wine, bread, salad, and a codfish casserole with a dessert included too!!! WHAT could get better than that? We wined and dined and had wonderful conversation with people from Ireland, Austrailia, Brazil, England, Swizterland, Bulgaria, and other fellow Americans.

We decided to move the fun out onto the streets, so we hit the nightlife of Lisbon! The nightlife of Lisbon is much more different than that of America, because it is much more laid back, relaxed and chill. You can grab your beverage of choice take it outside and just talk. There is no dress code, so you can show up dressed looking like a hobo and people will still think you are the hottest chick in town! Bow chicka wow wow!

But the night was great. Cést la vie! We loved hanging and getting to know the people in our hostel more and more.  The more time we spent hanging with them and in Lisbon, the more time we wish we had in the wonders of this glorious city. UGH! Lisbon, why did you have to be so marvelous?! WHO KNEW?! Once the nightlife died down, we went to an overlook of the city at night, and saw Lisbon at night. It. was. gorgeous. We could live here. We will live here (trust me, we´re working on it) . But you could see all of the lights, hillside, and water of Lisbon at night. We then headed in and got some shut eye for our next day of seeing the sights.

Day two of our city love, Lisbon, included seeing Belem, which included seeing the Monestario de Jeronimo, Patiserie de Belem, and Torre de Belem. Monestario de Jeronimo was a huge catheradral that housed the tomb Vasco de Gama. Yea. We´ve read about him since like 6th grade, but who knew that he was buried in Portugal, and the coolest city known to Christie, Nicole and Tricia? After that we went to try some famous pasteries that are founded in Belem in Pasteries de Belem, and yes, they were a slam dunk. I could have those every morning for breakfast. I mean, woof, we scarfed them down with some wondeful cafe au lait and tea. But Belem was a wonderful scenic view of Portugal, with a wonderful view of the river (some river that we never could really get the name of).

We also had dinner in Alfama before we left for our sleeper car. Tricia had some cuttlefish, Nicole had some pork ribs, and christie had some codfish potato casserole. Dinner was superb. A bird did poop on Christieś plate, but Hey! That´s good luck!! We swapped out for a new plate and all was fine. It was a great dinner.

After a long journey through another night train and then another 3 hour train, we finally reached beach town Barcelona! Barcelona upbeat, perky, and beachy! Palm trees everywhere an...oh my lanta! We arrived and laid back by hitting the street of local street vendors and other shops. Shopping, its what girls do best. We then just had some dinner and enjoyed a local favorite, and ours now too (trust us, they are better local) churros and chocolate!! And enjoyed some Cava (Barcelona is known for their champagne).

Day two. We decided to enjoy the local culture of Catalonian that takes place every Sunday at noon. Locals gather to dance in circles. There were adorable old men swooping their feet left and right, we couldnt resist but to join in. Dont worry, we got pictures. It was so much fun.

We then...uhh...shopped a bit more.

And then enjoyed the Picasso museum where we got to see the works and expericence the life of Pablo Picasso. Def recommend to anyone heading to Barcelona. You know, for a night trip or what not.

Then, we traveled to the far corners of Barcelona to see Montjuic Castle and the location of the 1992 Olympic games, held in (none other than) Barcelona! We saw breathtaking overlooks of Barcelona, as well as the home of HELLO!! Olympians!!! I mean, I was 3 when the games went on but they were famous and amazing. And it was awesome I bet. Parents, you saw and watched. COOL!

Next I am about to describe possibly the best thing known to mankind...the light up Disney fountain. We went to see Font Magica, a fountain show at night that lights up and plays music as well. They played a hefty amount of Disney in Spanish, or atleast, the amount you could hear over us singing in engish was in spanish. It. was. awesome. They are competing with Disney world with this one. We topped the night with a long dinner and dessert before heading off to bed.

Today, we woke up and headed to take a free tour (we found a brochure in our hostel) to learn about the famous and revolutionary architect, Antoni Gaudi. We learned so much about the detailed buildings he designed all throughout the city, as well as his interactions with his clients. I mean, it was just mindblowing to see the detail he put into his buildings up close. You can truely see it in a church that he was working on and is still left uncompleted, and the work that still remains estimates around 25 to 30 years

We were so inspired by Gaudis work that we wanted to see more! So we grabbed some lunch at a local grocery store, and decided to eat in a park down the city. The park is known to house the longest bench in the world, that wraps in and out the main plaza (as seen below), and is designed by Gaudi! How neato is that!! Hes so awesome!

After all of our tours and such, and because we have such an early train to (Nice, France!) tomorrow, we decided to take an easy night tonight. So we were able to find a nice relaxing cafe where there was some live acoustic music. We ordered some drinks, some appetizers, and some tapas before we head out of Spain. We couldnt have left though without saying goodbye to the beach, so we walked down to the water of Barcelona and said our final farewells to Bar-th-lona! We have loved your culture...your fun dancing...your Disney fountain, rave on Gaudi! Its all awesome!!

But now on to the beaches in Nice!

....nice.

Love you all,

Christie, Tricia, and Nicole


(Sorry for the length, it has been a much needed update)