"Grazi-as?"

We arrived in Barcelona last night and had the first of our adventures in Espana! After trekking through the city we were somehow able to find our hostel which is a little outside the city. We expected to be able to read the native language of Catalan (with minimal sucess). It looks like a combination of many languages with a bunch of symbols we've never seen and random letters like "x" thrown in occasionally. I also discovered my true calling to become an advocate for Catalan independence (Google it).

When we got up to our hostel room we met one of our roommates who loved to "Compre compe compre... mamma mia!" She was frantically trying to fit three pairs of boots into her suitcase (all of which she bought new). We went to find a place to eat dinner and stumbled upon a little mall across from our hostel. We attempted to find tapas but with no luck (it was pretty late so most things were closed), and somehow ended up at a German restaurant. After we explored our neighborhood before heading to bed so we would have energy for the next day.

Today we started our day with a free tour of the city we discovered. Our British tour guide took us all over the city to see all sorts of churches and neighborhoods. He was surprisingly entertaining for the whole 2 and a half hours and we learned a lot about Spanish history. After the tour we attempted to find tapas again. We thought we found a decently priced one, but it turned out their "Daily Special" included pasta, steak, and wine (sounds awfully familiar doesn't it?) ... because they were out of paella. It was still delicious and was a great deal for the amount of food we got. We then went to La Sagrada Familia which is a huge gothic church that looks like it's melting. It was a strange site, but is considered a must see in Barcelona. 

We ended our night seeing "The Magic Fountain" which was a free water and light show in the heart of the city. We all got a little homesick when they did a Disney medley in Spanish. And then went to a GIANT mall that was converted from a bull fighting arena. You could look off the very top of it (which was open outside) and could see the whole city. Everything was brand new and resembled MOA. Not gonna lie, it was kinda great seeing two malls in two days after going two months without one. So overall I'd say Barcelona is a little strange, but definitely worth it.