Barcelona

Alex and I had this quick trip to Barcelona planned for a while when I found out that my roommate from last year, Tara, would also be in Barcelona at the same time visiting her friend Anna from high school. And we would all be there for her 21st birthday! So there was no way this trip wouldn't be sO mUcH fUn

We had a later flight on Monday so we got to Barcelona late at night, but that was no problem since no one goes out to bars or clubs at night until around 1:30.

And since Tara was turning 21 at midnight, we had a little surprise party for her at the club that Anna's friend owns. We were all there and surprised her with a cake and decorations when she arrived! After our little private party we went to a really cool club called Theatre Apollo. It was a great first night!

The next day we wanted to be tourists, and Tara joined me and Alex on a speedy tour of the city on her birthday. Unfortuntely, it poured the entire day, but that didn't stop us, we saw a ton of sights and went all over the city. Here are a few of the highlights:

 La Sagrada Familia, a cathedral designed by Gaudi that has been under construction for almost 200 years. They are planning on finishing it in 2026, on the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death.

 Here is the Barcelona marina, no one wanted to go boating that day, so the harbor was crammed full of boats and yachts.

The MNAC, a museum full of art in a really impressive palace building

 We also hit up La Buquera, the food markets where everyone gets their fruits, veggies, meats and chocolates!

The last thing we had planned for the day was a cooking lesson. We ended up being the only ones signed up, so it was a private lesson which was really cool. We had tapas and paella and made our own sangria! All of the food was delicious and we were stuffed afterwords.

For Tara's birthday night we went to this bar that specializes in cool and unique shots (they had over 200!) and then to the beach clubs! Anther great night!

 This was a s'mores shot, you toast your marshmellow and eat it after the shot!

Here is the Willy Wonka shot, it tasted like chocolate milk!

Happy Birthday T!

Alex and I were flying back to London the next day, so we went and did a couple more sights before we left, and then had lunch with Tara before we went to the airport.

 Casa Mila, a building designed by Gaudi for some wealthy couple, and now has a lot of his artwork and is a museum

Parc Güell, also designed by Gaudi

 The view of Barcelona from the highest point in Parc Güell

It was a great short trip, too bad Alex had to leave the next morning from Heathrow so we couldn't stay longer!

The whole week went by really fast and was so much fun. I can't wait to be back in The US next Saturday! This year has really flown by!

To see the rest of the pictures I took, go to my Shutterfly page by clicking here.

Alex In London!

And we are back! I know I have been MIA for a while, but it was because I had such a busy week!
Next week is the last week of classes, so in my classes this past week we have had a few mock exams which makes for lots of homework. AND on top of that, my sister came to visit!!

Here is a recap of her visit, with lots of pictures, as per usual.
Alex flew in on Friday morning and after she got settled in my tiny room we went out to walk around and shop Regent Street and Oxford Street.

We had tea at Nicole Farhi and shopped around Carnaby Street in Soho. 

Later that night we went to see the musical Legally Blonde, which was really funny and cute.

And that was enough for the day for Alex, she was just a little bit jetlagged.

On Saturday we went to Portobello Market in the morning, this outdoor market with stalls that sell a lot of vintage and antique stuff. We walked around and found a few things we liked. Which wasn't hard with Alex's shopping skills!

O hey Al.

There was one store that sold a ton of masks like these, they were so neat. All of them were made in Italy and really pretty

I wouldn't want to be one of the people that parked their car on Portobello Road, would take forever to get out with all the people mobbed around!

Later that night we went to a club in The Mayfair called Mahiki with my friend Luke. Its a cool place; Tahitian/Hawaiian themed and tries to be really posh and exclusive so we had to pretend that we were American celebrities to get in right away and not have to wait. Brits are really gullible sometimes.

The shopping and fun continued on Sunday, Alex and I headed out to Spitalfields Market, another shopping district in London this time focusing on boutique and up-and-coming designer fashion.

We had a good time walking around but didn't find too much that we liked, so we went to Selfridge's instead, where we knew we would easily be able to find some great things to use the credit card on!

That was the end of our London weekend, we went back to my room to pack for Barcelona, and I will take you through our adventures there in my next post!

To see the rest of our London pictures, go to my Shutterfly site by clicking this link