Day 3: Welcome to Barcelona!

¡Bienvenidos al segundo día de nuestro viaje! We started off this morning with a good nights rest to get over our jet lag and a homemade breakfast at the Air BnB. We took the Ligero (light rail) to get to our first stop of the day, La Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar. Our tour guide was excellent and the Basilica was beautiful, and we all got to practice our Spanish while asking questions and translating. The tour including going through the cathedral, learning about the gothic architecture and going on the roof to get an incredible view of the city. 

After the Basilica, we had about three hours of free time, so we took a stroll to La Platja de San Miguel, a beach, and hung out for a while admiring the unique sculptures and the view of the ocean. After a nice break we took a bus to El Mercado de Santa Caterina, where we had a delicious lunch before continuing to El Museu Picasso. The museum had art from all through the life of Picasso and many stories about his inspiration. We spent a couple hours at the museum before heading back to the Air Bnb, but not before we stopped for hot chocolate and churros. 

We found a small store to get hot chocolate and churros to warm us up before taking the Ligero back to the AirBnB for dinner and a good night's sleep before tomorrow.

The group enjoying the view from the roof of the Basilica

Ariela and Andy exploring the paintings at the Picasso museum

The group admiring the ocean from the beach

Hunter warming up with some hot chocolate and churros!

A delicious meal at Cuines Santa Caterina!

Elias and the painting, can you spot the difference?

Day 1 and 2: Travel Day by Zoey and Ariela

Hola! We started the day off at the airport in Houston excited to head to Spain! The first flight to Amsterdam was long but we all got some rest and some good food! One we got to Amsterdam we got some yummy Dutch hot cocoa and croissants while we waited to board the plane to Barcelona! After a 3 hour flight and some more good sleep to boost our energy, we finally arrived in Barcelona! We took a taxi to the Air bnb. On the way there we got to see the streets of Barcelona in full force! 

Once we arrived at the house, we unpacked and headed to Park Güell, a public park featuring architecture of Antoni Gaudi. Before we arrived at the park we stopped at a local bakery and got some traditional pastries, coffee, smoothies and fresh orange juice. It was a great way to start our day of sightseeing and getting a taste of the food here. Gaudi took a lot of inspiration for his work from nature, featuring waves, sea creatures and more. We got to see the famous Salamander by Gaudi, which has become an iconic symbol of Barcelona as has the Sagrada Familia. It said that this mosaic salamander brings luck to those who rub his/her nose. So you can assume we all rubbed that nose. We got to see the beautiful view of the sun setting over the city of Barcelona from the top of the park. It was a great way to close out our first day of sightseeing. 

After our long and tiresome day (basically two days of traveling), we left Park Güell once the sun had gone down, the temperature had dropped quickly and we are ready to head back to the AirB&B for a nice home-cooked meal. We went on our first subway ride of the trip and, we’re glad to report that everything went smoothly. Led by Sarah Powers, we had a delicious Pasta a la Bútter.

The first day of the trip was amazing and we can't wait to see what the rest of the trip has in store! Buenos noches!

Zoey and Josey doing Zoey's signature pose

Zoey, Sarah and Maria posing at the park

These spot the difference games are getting harder and harder!

Maria and Ariela in the tunnel

Watching the sun set at the park

The group in the tunnel featuring Sarah looking like a monkey

Willow staring into the beautiful sunset 

The group in front of a Gaudi house

The Count Down!

In the last day of the year, we started our Count Down for our trip. How exciting!