A Walk in the Park...

Since my last post, I have spent a lot of time with my roommate exploring our little area of the city by foot to try to get to know our surroundings better. By now we know our way to the shoreline by metro (necessary, but mostly because that's where our classes are... right?). The architecture here is amazing - each building has an intricate facade with its own distinct feel. I feel like I could take a picture of every street; they are all so beautiful! Here are a few snapshots of our walks around L'eixample Dreta.

Sunday we went for a walk in the Parc de la Ciutadella (click on the link for more info) which is only a few blocks from our house. The park is beautiful and home to many museums, the zoo, and Barcelona's own Arc de Triomf.

I loved walking around the city on a Sunday. People here take the "day of rest" very seriously, and most stores are closed. This means that there are families and couples everywhere relaxing outside and enjoying the sunshine. There are beautiful buildings and museums scattered all throughout the Parc de la Ciutadella:

Catalan Parliament Building

Museu de Ciències Natural

An old greenhouse

We also saw a photoshoot in progress at the Parc! I'm pretty sure this guy had the whitest teeth I've ever seen:

 

After our stroll through the Parc, we continued to wander along to circle back around to our apartment. Some of the streets are very modern, busy, and full of honking taxis and motos:

While others are older, smaller, quieter side-streets filled with interesting people and shops:

HOWEVER, we were in for a surprise after walking down this particularly beautiful street with sun-soaked buildings: 

 

Somehow we still ended up on what we have deemed "la calle del diablo," or "the devil's street:" Las Ramblas (this is in Spanish but you can see pics. Or wiki it in English). We have quickly discovered that Las Ramblas, although beautiful and one of the "must-sees" of Barcelona, is also probably the most over-rated touristy area of the city. We have begun to avoid it at all costs! How was it possible that our oh-so-adorable gem of a street off the beaten path led us to Las Ramblas?? Oh well, I guess we are still quite the touristas! 


After our (somewhat successful) day of touring around, we went out to a Mexican place for our friend's birthday. Yes, you read it right, Mexican. After a few days of eating nothing but homemade pasta, rice, and chicken (side note: no fresh herbs in the supermercat, so much of our food has been very bland), we were all in the mood for a burrito! 

Monday, we had an easy day of going to the beach by metro, and trying to find our way home. We got a little turned around, but made it home fairly quickly! Tuesday Betsy and I took advantage of a cloudier day by walking along the Passeig de Gracia for some good shopping. Wait, did I say good shopping? I meant FABULOUS shopping. There were so many amazing stores! Don't worry parents, I resisted... for the most part. The good news is that we found a row of stores that had very reasonable prices - kind of the Spanish counterpart to Forever 21 in the States. I have a feeling that I will be making a few more trips there! Last night I went to the supermercat around the corner and bought myself some groceries to make a good, fulfilling, homemade dinner - pasta primavera with chicken. It was a little difficult given our cooking supplies and no measuring equipment, but it still tasted pretty yummy compared to the toast, yogurt, meat, and cheese (not all at once, yuck) that I have been living off of. 


This morning I had my placement exam at UPF, which consisted of some grammar, an essay, and a speaking section with one of the professors. I hope that I did well - I really want to take some interesting classes!  Tomorrow we have orientation and Friday we begin the intensive language part of the program: 2 1/2 hours of language class every day until the 27th when we begin our other classes. Since the classes are in the morning, Betsy and I have decided that we will take advantage of our time after class by hitting the beach, a little lunch, and then exploring a new part of the city or visiting a museum. This week I'm hoping to hit up the Boqueria (a famous market) and maybe the MacBa (contemporary art museum). I am looking forward to a wonderful two weeks!