Life in Barcelona

Okay, people, I am a terrible blogger! I can't tell you how busy I've been since spring break, and I probably should be studying or writing some of my papers...oh well. Anyway, it's been a whirlwind the last three weeks or so! Just after spring break, my best friend Lauren from home came to Barcelona and I got to see her for a night. Then my good friend Kelly O'Connor came, and we had an amazing weekend! That same weekend, March 29-30, the program took us on two trips - on Saturday we went wine tasting, and on Sunday we went on a boat trip to Costa Brava - so pretty! I don't have a lot of time, so pics will be minimal, but you can see them all when I get home in only 13 days...I can't believe it!

Penedes for wine tasting was so much fun. We first went to Cordoniu where they make cava (champagne in Spain- you can only call it champagne if it's made in France), took a tour of the factory (if that's what you would call it), and got to taste some! Then we took a bus to Sitges, where they dropped us off for lunch for three hours (big mistake- we drank and danced on the beach!). After the beach, we finally went to Penedes and took a wine tasting class, where we learned about smelling and tasting the wine correctly. I couldn't really tell you what I learned; I never smelled the right things, and our guide commented on the fact that we were very talkative and giggly (that's what happens when you drink wine all day, hello!). But it was a great trip and a great bonding experience for the group.

Saturday was the boat trip... it was actually kind of boring and longggg, but the scenery and weather were beautiful and we plugged our ipods into the boat speakers and had ourselves a dance party on the boat! Lots of people (not me!) got into the water which was FREEZING and swam around a bit, but that was really the extent of it.

The next weekend (April 4-6), my sorority sister, Katie, and I went to Florence to visit three of our other sisters who are studying there. Our other sister who's in Madrid also joined us, so it was really special. We had such a great time together, and even though I had already been to Florence, I was really excited to go again because I really love it there! We walked on the Ponte Vecchio, walked up to Piazza Michelangelo to get a beautiful view of the city, sat in Boboli Gardens, and did a lottt of shopping!! It was sooo good to see them- it gave me a great feeling of home and rekindled my love for Europe (I had been getting a little homesick), and made me really excited for the last three weeks of Barcelona.

Unfortunately, last weekend I came down with the flu and wasn't able to get a lot of work done, so this week has been really stressful. My senora has been so great taking care of me, though- I'm going to be so sad to leave her. I've already had two presentations this week and now I need to get down to business because I have two ten-page papers and two exams Monday and Tuesday next week!! So, this will probably either be my last or second-to-last entry. I can't believe my last weekend here is coming up. The semester has gone by sooo fast, but it feels like forever since I've been in America. This has been such an amazing experience, but I am looking forward to coming home and eating a cheeseburger!!

Love you all and see you VERY soon!