BARCELONA

Estoy aquiiiii! Sitting on the train from Valencia to Barcelona last Monday felt a little unreal, and when I caught my first glimpse of the skyline before the train pulled into the station I actually felt butterflies and didn´t stop smiling until I got out of the cab at Hotel Gravina. (The hotel was nice and I was still excited, I think my cheeks were just a little tired from the workout.) Anyway, I´ve been here for almost a week now and I ADORE this city. I live in a quaint, clean little apartment on the top floor of an apartment building in L`Eixample, a posh neighborhood full of nice stores and cute little markets that is close to everything-- the school, two of my favorite Gaudi buildings, the Barri Gotic, Las Ramblas. I live with 4 other girls and so far we´ve been trying our best to get out and wander around every day, hoping to get to know the neighborhood and figure out our way around the city (so far, we´re a little hit or miss, but we´re getting there...).

The only downfall of our lovely little abode is that we don´t have internet en casa, so at this moment I´m sitting in an Internet cafe (not one with wifi-- housemate Emily and I ventured about a mile, laptops in tow to this place that turned out to have old desktop computers and smells like grandparents) typing my first Barcelonese post. I think that for me though, not having internet for the first couple days here was a good thing, as I probably would´ve at some point gotten on facebook or started checking e-mail, something which may have made me a little homesick. Luckily, I didn´t have that luxury, so I was forced to live in the moment of the beginning of this great adventure, meeting all the funny and lovely people on my program and just starting to take in this beautiful and strange city.

I´m aware that I haven´t actually revealed anything that I´ve DONE in Barcelona yet, but as I´m nearing the next 20 minute increment (when I´ll need to pay another Euro), I think that´ll have to wait... But I´m having a lot of fun, I promise I´ll go into more detail and post some photos when I get a chance!

Un mil dulce dulce besos,
Tara