La Boqueria, Born and Montjuïc

I am going to pick up from where I left off. Overall, it has been a really great week. On Wednesday, I am proud to say that I made it to the Sarria campus all by myself. I have the same professor for both of my business classes. She is Romanian and seems very easygoing. I think those classes will be quite easy.

On Thursday night we went to this bar called Chupitos. Chupitos means shots and they literally had about 500 different shots to choose from with names such as Harry Potter and Bob Marley. We tried a shot called the Boy Scout. The bartender poured the shots, then lit them on fire. Then she gave us a marshmallow on a stick and we roasted them in the fire, ate them, and then took the shot. It was great. We had a lot of fun, but it was very smoky. I hate that people are allowed to smoke inside bars and restaurants.

Friday was my favorite day in Spain so far. We woke up early and went to La Boqueria, which is a huge market full of fresh fruits and veggies, meat, seafood and best of all—chocolates and gummies! The gummies are so beautifully displayed. I took a lot of pictures that I will put up soon. Then we walked to the Born district, which is a great area full of cute shops and restaurants. We shopped a little and then got drinks and sat at an outdoor café and people watched. We were hungry after that but we forced ourselves to wait—most restaurants don’t even open until 8 p.m. for dinner anyway. I bought my first shirt at Topshop. I love that store. We went to sushi for dinner at a restaurant called Komomoto. The sushi was very fresh and good but the portions were very small and it was expensive for how little food it was. As the waiter was clearing the table, he picked up my glass bottle of water (you have to pay for water here—ugh!) and dropped it on the cement table, shattering it all over me. I had huge pieces of glass in my lap and shards all over my arms. Luckily, I didn’t get hurt at all. I was very startled though and a little taken aback. The waiter didn’t speak much English but he helped me brush it off. The manager came over and offered us free cocktails, but we weren’t in the mood at that point. We said we would prefer to have stuff just taken off the bill. He took off about $6 worth of food off our bill, even though the cocktails we were offered were worth $24. We asked for more, but they said no. This was a time where I missed American customer service. I was pretty annoyed at the way they handled the situation, but what can you do. Fortunately, to my immense happiness we were very close to Crepes de Barcelona and I ordered a delicious strawberry and nutella crepe that more than made up for it! The guy working in the crepe store was Polish and had an American girlfriend that he met while she was studying abroad. He was super sweet and smart and we had a nice conversation with him about American politics and current events. It was a really cool night. I felt very happy. It is days and moments like those that are the reason I came here.

Yesterday, we took the Metro to Poble Sec. We then took a connecting Metro to the base of Montjuïc and then a gondala all the way up to the top. We got a breathtaking view of the city. We also got to see the Montjuïc castle. After exploring the area for awhile, we sat at a bench overlooking the city and the water and listened to music. I also read my guide book on Barcelona and thought about next weekend’s adventures! We went out last night but it was soooo crowded. I couldn’t even move. Fail.

Sunday is the lazy day. I did laundry. We don’t have a dryer so I had to put all my clothes on a drying rack. I am also going to practice Spanish, Skype and watch a movie. Denice comes tomorrow night. I am beyond excited!