Perfect weather for a perfect week.

     Before my semester in Barcelona began, I made sure I checked out what the weather is typically like here during the winter so I could pack accordingly.  It looked like it would be nice, but still jeans and a sweater type weather.  It has been anything but that for the past week or so.  It has been absolutely gorgeous and I can't get enough of it!  The forecast for the next couple of days is sunny and in the 70s.  Absolutely perfect.  Unfortunately I also have a ton of homework as it is the very end of the semester for me, but I plan on taking what homework I can with me to the beach this weekend.  We'll see how much work I actually end up getting done.
     The good weather has seemed to bring out all of the tourists as well.  Barcelona appears to be a popular spring break location for many European countries. I feel like I've heard more French in the past couple of weeks than Spanish or Catalan!  Part of the reason I think I've heard so many tourists in the past weeks or so is because I've been doing a lot of touristy things as my friend Mara from McDaniel came to visit me as part of her spring break from her university in Glasgow, Scotland!
     She came last Friday and was able to stay until Thursday morning.  We were able to fit in so much in such a short period of time!  As much as I enjoy getting to know new people here, it is really nice to see someone I've known for a while and to catch up on our lives and learn new things about our study abroad experiences.
     One of the first things we did was go to the Boquería, the huge market on Las Ramblas, the touristy street in Barcelona.  No matter how many times I've been there, it never fails to amaze me how much food they offer and how cheap it is.  We ended up buying a whole kilogram of strawberries for only 1.30€!  That's over two pounds for under two dollars!  It is actually a good thing that I don't come here more often, they have so much delicious looking chocolate and candy everywhere I'm sure I would waste away all my money.  We also bought a dragon fruit just so we could try it.  They're sold in halves with little spoons attached so that you can scoop out the insides.  The best way I can describe them is that they're a little like a flavorless kiwi.

These candies looked like beads! They were silver and metallic! 

Overall, I'm glad I tried it, but it's not something I'll ever buy for myself again.

     On Saturday night we went to a photography exhibit that I had heard about.  It was a collection called "Women Are Beautiful" by a New York based photographer from the 60s and 70s.  They were all candid shots done around the streets of New York and they were great!  It was such an interesting concept for a photography exhibit.  We also had a pretty good time giggling over the fashion choices back then.
     On Sunday we were planning to go to a town a little south of here to lay on the beach, but it ended up raining all morning so we changed our plans and decided to make it a museum day instead.  Luckily most museums in Barcelona are free after 3 o'clock on Sundays, so we picked the perfect day!  The first one we went to was the Barcelona History Museum that has the Roman ruins under the city.  I've actually been to that one before, but Mara really enjoyed it.  After that one, we went to the Picasso Museum.  This is probably one of my favorite art museums that I've ever been to.  It has tons of his works showcasing his growth throughout the years.  It's amazing to me that he started out looking very impressionistic and turned into the abstract painter that we know him for today.
     One of my favorite parts of the museum was seeing all of his renditions of Velazquez' Las Meninas.  I can remember studying Las Meninas in my humanities class sophomore year of high school and loving the complexities of it then.  Then just a few weeks ago when I went to the Prado in Madrid I was able to see the real thing up close.  Now I've seen it completely redone in a million different ways. Picasso was really obsessed with it for quite a while and the museum has all his different takes on it.  This one looked to be the most complete.

Apparently we weren't actually supposed to take pictures of the artwork, as we were yelled at right after taking this picture. But there weren't any signs and I wanted to be able to remember this!

      On Monday we went to Parc Guell, the famous park designed by Gaudí.  I went to Parc Guell one of my first weeks in Barcelona and as I think that Barcelona as equally pretty, less touristy, parks to offer, I wasn't planning on going back.  I am definitely glad I did though!  Springtime really brings out the beauty in the park as there are flowers blooming everywhere.  Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I don't have pictures to show you guys, but they have these gorgeous purple flowers everywhere that are extremely fragrant.  They make everything around them smell wonderful!
     On Tuesday we made time for Mara to get some authentic paella by the beach as you can't go to Spain and not get paella!  The quality and quantity of seafood that Spain offers is something that I'm really, really going to miss when I leave.  Before the paella, I got a first course of mussels in some sort of yellow sauce. I'm not sure what was in the sauce, but it was absolutely delicious.  I've eaten more mussels in the past four months here than I ever have before in my life.  They've quickly become one of my favorite types of seafood. The ones I've had here are incredible.

I'm still not used to having lunch be the big  meal of the day! We were so stuffed I thought you were going to have to roll me onto the beach.

     On Mara's last day in Barcelona we made our way up onto Montjuïc so she could see the Olympic Stadium and the rest of what Montjuïc has to offer.  We ended up going to the botanical gardens, which was really cool.  They have different sections all devoted to different parts of the world that have Mediterranean climates.  It's just exciting for me to see all this different vegetation as I don't get to see too much variety in between Wisconsin and Maryland!

They had the most beautiful varieties of tulips that I've ever seen.

This flower looked like it was made out of tissue paper!

     It was great to share my beautiful new city with someone from school.  Now when I go back I'll at least have someone who has some sort of idea of what I'm talking about!