Barcelona

Brooke told me about a UNC guy studying in Barcelona this semester whose first Facebook album of the experience is titled "BARS-elona." Clever, huh? I'm getting really sick of the "Party in Europe" study abroad stereotype. I realize that's how many people feel they can maximize their time here (with a run-on stream of wild nights they barely remember and mornings they slept through?). Every weekend I feel the pressure to do that, too. But I simply have different values. My kind of fun is waking up early with lots of energy and without a hint of a hangover so that I can walk for miles through one of the world's most vibrant and beautiful cities. And not one tiny bit of me feels like I'm doing it wrong.

So anyway, I visited Barcelona this weekend. It's potentially my favorite city so far.

Casa Batlló, one of the most famous masterpieces of Barcelona's most famous architect (Antoni Gaudí)

one of his more tame rooms 

mosaic motif

love the colors

rooftop

dragon spine roof

first course to our fantastic 3pm lunch 

We couldn't bring ourselves to eat the ones with faces.

la Sagrada Familia, Gaudí's spectacularly designed cathedral

worship the light

Sagrada Familia exterior

poor turtle

The building is still under construction almost 200 years later.

A fun band playing for loose change in Parque Guell, which was also designed by Gaudí.

a very fun band

and then we found the boys!

the sea is just a wetter version of the skies

so lovely

last one i promise

love her 

seductively drinking sangría

and then there was a magic fountain...

...that sang and danced...

...for hours on end.

We went to see it both nights.

This one is for you, Dad.

Palau de la Música Catalana

never could get tired of Barcelona's mosaics.

and this stained glass window was incredible.

best for last.