Hola tios!
So I am writing this post sitting in my living room, procrastinating studying, and reflecting upon the most amazing weekend in Barcelona I just experienced. Although we are in the middle of finals, we managed to take the weekend off of studying and experience the wonderful areas Barcelona offers.
On Friday we headed to this secluded park on the top of a hill that basically no one has heard of. We hung out in the park all day, barbequed, and played beer pong! (This is the first time in Barcelona that I have played my favorite drinking game ever, my friend's dad sent him red cups from the states!) So that was incredibly fun, and I won as always. I also got to throw around the frisbee a lot with my friend who is on the Ultimate team in Merced and it was overall a very relaxing day with amazing people. The view was also amazing, and there was virtually nobody in the park.
I planned this big day hike on Saturday for everyone. We took a train about an hour south of Barcelona and hiked along a coastal trail on the bluffs of Spain. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. It was only about 5 miles, but it was stunning. And the weather was perfect (we had been having June gloom in Barcelona, so some sun felt so nice). There was about 10 of us, so we hiked and picniced until we reached the beaches of Sitges. We arrived at the beaches around 3pm, and immediately got mojitos and layed out on the beach. The water was so warm so we played and splashed in the water and enjoyed the nice weather. My friend and I got to play frisbee again and we were diving in and out of the water in the sand... it was seriously SO MUCH FUN. After hanging out, drinking mojitos, and playing in the sand, we took the train back to Barcelona and arrived around 9, when I immediately passed out from the long day.
On Sunday we had a day packed of events. It was my good friend Justin's last day in Barcelona, so we took advantage of that. My friend Shirelle (Sara knows her from Davis) had a goodbye brunch at her apartment. It was potlach-style so we all brought different items and hung out on her terrace reminiscing on our experience in Barcelona. Afterwards, Justin led us to his favorite place in Barcelona. It is also a really remote area that no one knows about, but has STUNNING views of the city. We brought some bottles of cava to the top and hung out there for a couple hours starring at the beautful city of Barcelona and never wanted to leave. Our experience has flown by, it is hard to imagine that I will be leaving my new home in a couple weeks. After hanging out at the top of the mountain for a while, all of us headed to dinner at this fabulous restaurant. There were about 20 of us at dinner and just the company of all my best friends here made it absolutely amazing. Somehow, after everyone paid their end of the bill, we were 30 euros over the actual amount, so we all got ice cream and hung out in a plaza. I then said goodbye to Justin and headed home :(.
So that was my incredible weekend. It was full of parks, hiking, beaches, friends, views, cava, and Barcelona. It was absolutely wonderful. But now I have an economics test tomorrow and 2 essays to write :(.
I also planned another trip with all my friends (Char I think I have taken over your role and I am officially the planner of all activities amongst my friends). We are road-tripping to Costa Brava (north of Barcelona, south of France) this Wednesday and Thursday. We are leaving Wednesday morning and heading up the coast in two different cars (about 8 people going). Costa Brava is supposed to be the most amazing coast in Spain, with remote and beautiful fishing villages such as Cadaques, Lloret del Mar, Roses, and more. We are playing most of it by ear depending on where people want to go, but we will probably just sleep in the cars or squish everyone into a hotel room. It is going to be an amazing getaway from Barcelona and I have been waiting to see Costa Brava for a long time.
I planned another road trip for immediately after the Costa Brava trip. Since I only have two weeks left, I thought road-tripping through Spain is the best way to spend quality time with my best friends and explore different cities in Spain. Nathalie, Dom, Kim, and I leave Friday morning for our southern-Spain trip. We are driving down the coast and exploring the remote beaches and towns that most people rarely see. We are also exploring well-known areas, such as Valencia, Murcia, Granada (the Alhambra!), Cordoba, etc. We have 4.5 days so we are going to try to squish everything in. We are also on a tight budget so we will probably be either sleeping in the car or camping out on the beaches. Playing it by ear is the best thing to do!
Anyways, I am SOOOOO excited for both my road trips because I will be able to see the true beauty of the Spanish coast. I get back from my second road trip on Tuesday, and I leave Barcelona on Saturday! On that Friday there is a HUGE beach music festival called Sonar, so that will be my last hoo-rah. I am so excited for my last two weeks and excited that I have trips planned to occupy my time and keep my mind off of returning to the US :(.
I will try to update my blog when I return from my road trips but I will be very busy with packing and saying goodbye to my city, so we will see! Now I have to study for my last final :( and then gotta do two more essays then off to explore Spain! Love you all.
xooxo
-Kate
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