Barcelona, Segovia

I had a blast in Barcelona last weekend with a couple friends from the trip. I probably won't be able to remember everything, but am going to try. Day 1: We got in Thursday night and had a slight issue with the metros being closed, but got to our hostel safely. We decided to take it a little easy and got out of the hostel at around 2 and wandered around Barcelona a bit. We had a few drinks in a bar i the Gotic area and after a few hours called it a night. Day 2: I stayed in a hostel with one of my buddies from the trip and his friend from home came and shared a room with us for the rest of the trip. It was raining when we got up and the three of us grabbed a quick bite to eat. The rain stopped pretty quickly and we were able to attempt to navigate the city during this somewhat dreary afternoon. We decided to head over to the Picasso Museum. I really didn't appreciate Picasso as a painter until going here. It wasn't a huge Museum, but was very worthwhile. I did take a picture of a guy from Michigan/Amsterdam doing a handstand in the museum. We returned to the hostel late and took a nap before going out with people at the hostel to a bar and then a club on the beach. The hostel we stayed at was a "party" hostel the every night had planned trips and met up with the people staying at the 4-5 other Sant Jordi hostels throughout Barcelona. We met a bunch of cool people from around the world and had a great time. Day 3: We went to Gaudi's Sagrada Familia and Parque Güell. The inside of Sagrada Familia was very cool. It is still under construction as Gaudi got hit by a tram and then came Franco's dictatorship before it could be finished. We met up with some friends at Parque Güell. We walked around, were in a music video, and climbed a big hill where we could see the whole city. After another much needed nap,  we went out to get some nice seafood. Then my friend and I decided to go out to an Absinthe bar the was well over 100 years old. There we met up with two guys and chilled for awhile before moving on with the night. Day 4: We walked around the old Gotic part of the city, which was certainly worthwhile. From there we worked our way over to Barceloneta, an area with beaches created during the Barcelona Olympics. We spent some time on the beach and then got a great deal at this hole in the wall place that I found. We got a ton of meat and sides for 11 euros. I was full for days. We got some churros con chocolate from a street vender, which were amazing even given my food coma state. Back at the hostel, we decided to take it easy before our 6am train the next day. So we went next door to a bar due to the light rain that had a 30,000 euro bottle, got drinks, played some pool and called it a night. The Monday morning train was nice and quick (2.5 hours). I went straight to class and then headed home for a much needed nap. Overall, it was a great weekend, despite being a little sick.

Yesterday three guys and I took a 20 minute AVE train over to Segovia. We saw a really sweet Roman aqueduct, an old gothic church, and went to the top of a castle. The castle had about a 50-100 ft deep moat. We got a cochinillo for lunch, which is a roasted baby pig, and was delicious. We headed back around six. I proceeded to pass out at 8pm and wake up at 1pm today (I think I'm sick). Nonetheless, a good day trip and looking forward to my parents and a friend coming up this weekend to check out Madrid. Classes are going well and hanging with everyone from the trip, in general, has been great. Sorry that this is poorly written my brain isn't really working now after my 17hr sleep.

Valencia

I am starting to get busy with work here so this post will be quick. This weekend in Valencia was awesome, as we got our whole program back together for a 3 day vacation in this historic city. I would say everyone on our trip would agree that Valencia has a much cleaner, prettier look and design to the city than Madrid, though the nightlife was not as great. As a group, we went to a modern art museum Sunday that was ok and took a tour of the city on Friday. On Saturday we spent the whole day at a science museum/aquarium combo. Though we probably spent too much time there, it was still the most interesting stop on our trip. One night we ate dinner at an Irish bar where we got free Paulaner hats and mugs for buying a beer. Then I proceeded to teach the bartender how to make and drink an Irish Car Bomb. Overall a crazy, tiring weekend and am very happy to be on the best program in Madrid. No other trip gets stipends, reimbursements for almost everything, free fancy meals, planned trips with guides and private buses, etc. Everyone here is always jealous when we talk about what perks we get with our program. Going to stop procrastinating now and get back to work.

Cocido and other good stuff

Ate this for dinner tonight and it was insane! Probably the most unique and best dish yet. Especially because it was a home cooked old family recipe of my host dad. They also serve me strange things such as a small Mediterranean shark, rabbit stew, blood sausage and baby eels (gulas). There's definitely more but that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Additionally, they won't tell me what most of the stuff is until I eat it and they find it extremely amusing for some reason, despite the fact that I am never reluctant to try anything. It was weird watching the son eat the rabbits head yesterday though. It's a nice change of pace from all the cheap döner kebabs I eat for lunch at school.
Valencia is this weekend. Barcelona next weekend. My parents come visit. Then Sensation White in Copenhagen. So should be a fun next couple of weeks. Time for bed.