Smiles from Miles Away

I have been loving my first few days in Barcelona and have seen so much of the city so far! I love the warm weather (although I got quite sunburn on the first day). Here are some of the highlights:

Walking tour with my hostel and lunch on the first day I arrived. We saw a good chunk of old town and learned more about Catalan culture. This really helped me to push through the jet leg. I was so impressed when we got wine at lunch for 1.30€- something I can get used to!

Learning how to cook traditional paella (vegetarian version since I sadly can’t do seafood)

Trying out the markets and the delicious 1€ juices. It was fun to see all of the meats and seafood as well. Some of the seafood was still alive and crawling around on the stands! Check out the eyeballs in the picture below!👀

Being and tourist and seeing all of Gaudi’s famous arcitecture!

Catching up with my friend Marta that I meet through GLOBE in Minnesota. We grabbed dinner at a fun restaurant and of course gelato afterwards. My only regret is that we should have gotten a picture together!

I should mention that we got dinner at 9:30. Everything in Spain is pushed back so lunch is around 2 and dinner is at 9! It amazed me how many little kids were still out with their families when we finished dinner around midnight.

Walking miles around the city (10 & 15 miles each day judging myself while I got selfies with my selfie stick. Not going to lie though some of them turned out halfway decent!

Watching the magic fountain light show (with a bottle of wine of course) at sunset with friends from my hostel!

Learning the joys of tapas and that Clara is the Radler of Spain🍻 of course we finished the night with gelato!

I guess I should explain how tapas work (here you go mom)! Tapas are finger foods that you get with a drink when you go to Spain. We went down Blai street where the tapas have sticks in them and are called pinchos. Each pincho is only 1€!

Thanks for reading and check back soon for  more of what I am up to! My cousin Becky gets into Barcelona in a few hours and then we are off to Madrid on Monday!

❤️Mel