The Rest of Barcelona and the First day of Class

Hi! Sorry it's been a while. I really enjoyed the rest of my vacation with my family, and today we started class.

Sant Joan

Monday was fun. We saw the Picasso museum and went to a Flamenco show and dinner in the evening, with a huge buffet of food from every region of Spain. The show was completely different from what I expected. The dances they did were so impressive and looked super difficult. We sat in the front row, and that made the experience even more interesting because when one girl finally came out with a really long skirt on, me and the lady next to me thought she was going to knock the cups of sangria on the table next to us right off. 

That skirt though

After the show we still had some extra time, so we kind of split up. Kayla and I got some life changing dessert, and then walked around taking pictures. I'll include a few of those below.

On Tuesday everything was closed for the Festival of John the Baptist, which could have been very boring but actually turned out to be very cool. Everything was closed, which is why it had the potential for boringness, but it was also kind of special because we got to see them do this dance that they do on Sundays and feast days, right below our hotel balcony in the square by the chapel. 

It was especially cute because it was groups of old people. Apparently it's traditionally danced around bonfires but they just used piles of clothes. 

We rented bikes and biked down to the water. We went to the little shops, then to a late lunch, then Dad and I went to the beach to check it out. We biked a TON. It was tiring but super fun.

The next day we went to Madrid. In the two days we were there together we went to two museums, the Prado and the Museo Reina Sofia. I'm going back to both with the group, so I will tell you more later. We went to this really good restaurant the second to last night, and I tried iberian pork. It tasted like steak. Apparently it is the best of the best. 

I went to my residence on Saturday and we went to the BEST tapas bar with the most delicious stuffed mushrooms in the world, then later we went out to other bars. Yesterday, Sunday, we went to this fantastic flea market, where I bought a beautiful leather bag and a fan for Kayla. We also went to some other stores because the sales have started in Spain, and my friends needed to buy bathing suits before the weekend. 

Today was the first day of class, and I adore both teachers we have. They are just fantastic. It's going to be a good two weeks. We went on a walking tour that was cut short by the 102 degree weather. Otherwise, we are just hanging out now waiting for dinner time. After experiencing my first few days in Spain, I am very excited for the rest.