A relaxing weekend

Hi all,

It has been a wonderful weekend of going to the

beach and walking through nature. I have thoroughly enjoyed the time to explore.

On Friday afternoon, before going out for the festivities, Kat and I explored the Parque Guell, which was both wonderful and imaginative. Gaudi is certainly an architect about which I'd like to learn more. We went up the mountain/park a bit and took in the skyline sights, went down a bit and took in the strange building architecture (that seemed quite like something out of Grimm's Fairytales, and finally headed on back to rest for the evening.

On Friday night, we had a wonderful night, all of us teachers, buying rounds of tinto de verano and laughing through language barriers and cultural differences. It was very sad to say goodbye to Laura as she took flight to yet another adventure in Europe, this time in Italy. However, we shared a few laughs and a few tears as well. We also met Valentina's boyfriend, Fabio. He was amazing and really put up with our lack of Italian well. He has a smurf shirt on that really was awesome and I learned the term Puffi, which is smurfs in Italian. It was and will be a word that I will utilize constantly, for it is much better than Pitufo, the word in Spanish.

Kat and I walked home and spent the rest of the night sleeping off our tinto.

First, on Saturday, after saying goodbye to Laura and in the process consuming, I am sure, 1 litre of tinto de verano (which is no problem by me), I woke up, exhasuted, but determined to make the most of the day (after 2 more hours of sleep, of course). Kat and I headed to the beach for another round of relaxation, constantly interrupted by the calls of various merchants selling massages, lottery tickets, fresh fruit, dresses, beer, cold water, fanta...etc. It always shocks me that these things happen on the beach here, but it's not like America where it's "I put my towel down, you leave me ALONE." It's almost laughable at times that once one person passes, instead of tranquilness for minutes, the silence is broken by yet another that is close in tow. I swear, if you didn't want to move all day, there'd be no need.

After leaving the beach, Kat and I souvenir shopped a bit, and finally had had enough, so we headed back and relaxed a bit. I took the opportunity to sleep and relax before we headed out to pass some time with Valentina, Stefano and Fabio. It was good to hang out with the group, mostly because it forced me to use Spanish, where there had be a lazy absence for me for most of the day. Sometimes, enough is enough I guess. Now I know how my students feel.

We had a drink with Stefano, Valentina, and Fabio and finally headed on home to sleep.

The next day was dedicated to the beach and exploring. I went to the beach in the morning after Kat had set up shop, and people watched a bit, took in some sun, and then Kat and I left. She had a birthday party to be at, and I wanted to take a stroll around Montjuic, crossing off yet another task on my Barcelona Bucket-List.

The sights were phenomenal and I walked what must have been 3 or 4 miles, although my perception of direction and distance are somewhat skewed. I sat and reflected, took in the amazing skyline and the view over the water and just proceeded to snap many photos of these and the old castle built atop. I will post the pictures below. Notice the cable cars that you can take to the top. Despite my irrational fear (as most of my fears are) of heights and cable cars, I think it's worth a try next time to save my aching legs and feet.

After wandering around a bit, I decided I should head back. I got a little lost, but embraced this as an adventure rather than being my usual, panicky self. I'm sure a few of my friends will recognize and chuckle at that phrase, as it describes me perfectly. Here are a few shots from my lost wanderings.

After my long adventure, wandering and thinking, it was time to head back home. That night I ate with my family and went to bed, although I tossed and turned a lot at the prospect of an overwhelming amount of things that I want to accomplish before I leave. There we go, back to typical Scott, and the world keeps on turning.

I started class today, my new grammar class...but more on that in the next post.

Until next time,

~Scott