Barcelona!

 This weekend a big group of us Wofford girls met in Barcelona for Mimi's 21st birthday. It was so much fun and I think I had a permanent smile on my face all weekend (with the exception of some of the time I spent in my first hostel). Leah and I flew to Barcelona on Friday morning and waited on Amy to arrive shortly after us. When we finally met up in baggage claim I couldn't believe she was actually standing right in front of me. I didn't get over this feeling all weekend as I kept looking at  my friends thinking, "We're really together right now!" The three of us took a bus to the Plaza Catalunya, close to the Barcelona girls' school. We checked into our hostel and then went back to the Plaza to wait for the girls to get out of class. I was starting to think we might be in the wrong place when all of the sudden we see Mimi and Molly walking through the plaza. Shortly after we saw them Grace Perry and Sarah showed up too and our reunion weekend was off to a good start! We all went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant, Rose Negra, and had a great lunch that even though it was Mexican, tasted just like America. After lunch we met up with Barrett, Mollie, and Kensley. We later went to the Triumphal Arch and a beautiful park near the zoo. That night for Mimi's big celebration we went to a bar called Ryan's and Molly and I met lots of new friends. A nice boy named Marc, a lovely woman (?) from Finland, and the happiest woman in the world from Barcelona. 

                

           

   

On Saturday morning we woke up to meet for lunch and then walked to the port. It felt so good to be on the water!! We had beautiful weather and enjoyed walking around without our coats, taking in the sights, and listening to lots of live music. We then made our way to the beach where we were completely content to spend a few hours. We pretended it was July and got gelato and sat in the sand. Later in the day we went to Parc Guell, the beautiful park that Gaudi designed. It was quite a hike to get there but it was definitely worth it! You can see all of Barcelona from the top and it is a great retreat from the city. 

On Saturday night Molly, Mimi, Leah, Amy, and I went to dinner at a little restaurant where we got pizza that tasted like Lunchables but some how hit the spot, and watched the FC Barcelona game. After dinner we met up with everyone else at the Dow Jones Bar. This bar is a play off the stock market and the drinks are priced in relation to how popular they are that night. When the bar fills up and more people are ordering drinks the "stock market" periodically crashes and you run to the bar to get a drink at its lowest price. We had so much fun here! It was so great to see so many friends this weekend. We were so lucky to have been able to coordinate such a big group visit!