I Take Too Many Pictures!!

I'm getting so overwhelmed with the amount of pictures I have that I still haven't posted!

So basically what that means is that as soon as I get home everyone needs to get together for a full slide-show that I can personally narrate!

I've been having more and more amazing experiences here. I keep thinking how neat it would be to share the things I'm seeing with you all.

So, since Geneva there have been quite a few major updates...

My high school friend, Lauren, came to visit during her spring break. I was so nice to see a face from home and we had a great time together. We didn't get much sleep, but we saw a lot of Barcelona, ate some great meals and met a lot of new people.

That Sunday evening was the first time that I walked around the Old City and Gothic neighborhood after dark. I never realized how crowded the streets are and how much is going on at that time. I was really fun, we saw a full brass band playing for groups of locals performing a typical Catalan dance in one of the squares! All of the shops were open and there was a really great nightlife that I hadn't yet discovered.

Sunday nights are Karaoke night at a local Irish Pub called the George Payne. We went along with my roommate and friends from PSU and had a blast! It was a very international crowd (we met people from all over Spain, Argentine, Germany, Canada, and the US)

We visited the typical tourism sights in the city, most of which I'd already seen. I didn't have classes during the day because it was study week.

This fountain is located at one end of Las Ramblas, a walkway full of shops and restaurants. There is a plaque that says, "Those who drink from this fountain will always return to Barcelona"

I'll be back baby!!

Even though the weather wasn't the greatest, we walked along the port and sat at the beach for awhile.

The sound of the waves was so nice and relaxing, even though we were in pants and sweatshirts.

From Thursday to Saturday my program took a "Journey" to a region in Northern Spain called Navarre. We stayed in Pamplona, the city famous for Ernest Hemingway and the Running of the Bulls.

Although it was pretty cold ( I saw some snow!) and about a 6 hour bus ride away, I had a wonderful time on the trip. Since I'm here with a very large program, we were split up according to our Spanish classes so I was able to get to know so new people. I got a lot closer with some of the people I had just me and our bus and Spanish class really bonded, which was probably my favorite part of the trip.

We saw and learned about a few different cities, all along the religious pilgrimage called Camino de Santiago. We took walking tours of the Palace in Olite, Irache Monastery and Irache Vineyard, a cathedral in Puenta Reina, and Castle Javier.

We also took a walking tour of Pamplona that included the run of the bulls, a bullring and some famous sights of Hemingway.

It was a long weekend, but very educational and fun (who knew the two could go hand-in-hand)!