Firenze, Siena, Barcelona!

I have so much to say ! It’s incredible what a few days in Europe can mean. Let’s start from where I last left off.

Bryan came to visit the beautiful city of Siena as a said before. We didn't get to do everything I wanted to do with him but that's the way trips always are. We stayed in Florence on Friday night where Jane and some of my friends from my program also were which was very fun! Bryan and I ate at this really good restaurant then met up with Jane at this bar, which was fun but was all Americans pretty much, so that was eh. We finally found this dance club we were looking for called Space Electronica which was fun but only had like 30 people, but all of us had a good time I think!

In Siena I tried to show Bryan the basics and just to see the general city area. We ate dinner in the Campo and sat out there and drank some vino rosso. The trip was quick but I hope that I showed him the best of Siena!

and thennnnnnnnnnn...

My trip to Barcelona, Espana began quite hectically, like many things in Kate’s world. However that and the fact that the trip was not long enough were the only bad things. Let me start off by saying I LOVED Barcelona. It felt like the CA or the Florida of Europe. It was more laid back than Italy, but still had that neat European flare. And it’s gorgeous. Siena is gorgeous too of course, but in a much different way than Barcelona.

Anyway, I nearly missed my bus to the airport in Florence on the afternoon of Wednesday the 14th , but luckily I did not. I made it there and after a quick layover in Rome I arrived in Spain. My plane was about a half hour late unfortunately but Bryan was really nice and still met me at the airport, despite the fact that it was about 12am. But in Barcelona that’s like 6pm. We took a bus back to the city where we dropped my stuff off at the first hostel we stayed at. Barcelona’s hostels fill up quick so it was only a temporary stay until we found something better, but it was very nice still. Then Bryan took me to his friends’ band’s concert!! It was so cool and I wish I hadn’t been so tired cause everyone was dancing like crazy. They were great and I’d love to see them again. He met the guitarist (I think?) in the band on the beach just playing guitar, which is so awesome. They are the nicest guys. Bryan’s got some cool friends. Oh and their name is Zulu 933 I think, I’m not sure if they’re online or anything, but just incase they get huge ☺

The next morning Bryan had class and I slept late. We checked out of the hostel (a little late, whoops) and I got to see his apartment for the first time. It’s in a really nice location and the apartment itself is very very nice. His host senorita I’m not so sure about since she was quite annoying in my opinion but oh well. He’s got a really nice bedroom with a really pretty view and someone to wash his clothes for him which I think is a nice plus. We found another hostAl this time (I learned the difference) thanks to mr. ricky steves called the Hostal Resedencia Neutral. It was really close to Bryan’s apartment and a block away from one of the main streets Passeig de Gracia. It was great. I couldn’t have picked a better place. And it was a really great price too. Later that day we explored the city a bit and then went out to dinner at this tapas bar which was sooo good. I love tapas. You get to try little bits of a lot of different things instead of having to settle on one big meal. I suppose if you really wanted you could order a lot of the same thing, but that’s not the point. Anyway the restuarant was a little touristy, but in a good fun way and it had really great food and not much money in a really cool place. We got to sit at the bar to see all the action too! We met this Dutch couple who reminded me of people my mom would like. The man had lived in Barcelona for 15 years thirty years ago and they were really friendly and even let us try some of their food. After dinner Bryan took me to a musical that his French friend was directing called La Revista Negra or the Black Review, which was really really cool. It was basically about the treatment of African Americans from the 1920s compared to now in New Orleans (around Hurricane Katrina). It was really interesting to see a Spanish take on it. The singing was incredible and the dancing was awesome too. It made me want to learn how to dance like them hehe. The play was in Spanish but the songs were in English so between all that I understood probably 90% of it. A lot of the cast was American so it was neat to see some US culture in Barcelona. I really love theater and I don’t know if Bryan knew that from the start but I was so glad that he took me to that since I really miss being around it since doing it when I was younger. More people my age should go to live performances like that. Oh! And the best part was that since his friend was working on the show, not only did we get in for free (50Euro tickets) but we got to sit in the front row all by ourselves!

After the show ended we heaeded over to a bar where Bryan’s friend David was at. At the bar they have this TV screen with all the drinks and the prices and it looks like the stock market numbers and the prices really change depending on how much people buy! Then we headed over to a club, whose name I also forget but it was a huge line to get in. Bryan had put us on some list which was pretty snazzy so we didnt have to pay! It was Studio 54 themed night and while I thought that meant a few 70s songs, it actually meant ALL disco which was fun for a few songs but then we left because I think there was a reason disco died in the first place :) We got back to the hotel at 430ish am (which is very early for Barcelona time!) but I was exhuasted and wanted to be able to see the city tomorrow.

Ok this is getting long so I'll write more later about the beach and the rest of the city and food that I got to saw :)

here are some pictures of the trip to barcelona that i talked about thus dar, i'll add ones from siena and florence later!