Seeing sights in Barcelona

Things in Barcelona have continued to be awesome. We did a bunch of sightseeing around Barcelona last week: Parc Guell, FC Barcelona football stadium, Montjuic, Montserrat (pictured above), Barrio Gotico, plus went to the beach and went out at night. Oh, and today is my birthday: 23, or the second anniversary of my 21st birthday, as my friend Jen likes to say. Pictures and tales of adventures below the jump. If you want to see a lot of photos, check out my album on facebook. I believe I've set it to be public, but comment below if it's not. Right now it is pretty incomplete, but more should be loaded soon. 

The good times continue

It's been a great week, with visits to Parc Guell (by Gaudi), Montjuic, the soccer stadium, and the beach. Tonight is St. John's festival, a huge summer solstice celebration. Tomorrow we have off, so I may just have a chance to post some photos.

Visit to Rupit

Yesterday we visited the medieval village (now tourist village) of Rupit, which is two hours north of Barcelona by Bus. The city was pretty cool, but the huge cliffs surrounding it were even cooler. 

We spent about half an hour walking around the city, and then we headed out for a long (but not super strenuous) hike. Pictures after the jump.

What a night!

We don't have Friday classes, so last night we went out to take in some nightlife right by the sea. I didn't take my camera, but the girls did (as usual), so I have taken the liberty of snagging a few of their photos from facebook. 

There's a string of bars/clubs/discos by the beach. The first place we went into had very expensive drinks and lots of dudes in their 30s wearing sports coats, so we left and chilled on the beach for a while. Lots of guys walk around selling beers for 1 Euro each, so we bought a few and just chilled for a while. The moon was full, the temperature was 68 degrees, and it was paradise. 

Eventually, we found a few pretty cool places (lasers included for free). We had some fun times dancing, then we went and chilled on the beach for a little while longer, then caught the metro when it reopened at 5 (late night, yes indeed), caught the sunrise, then slept hard. Tomorrow, we're going on a little field trip out to the village of Rupit. Apparently we'll get to do some hiking and eat some good food.

Hello, Barcelona!

Well, I've now been in Barcelona since Tuesday, and it has been a blast so far. The wifi (pronounced "wee-fee") is now set up in our house, and now I have an adaptor for my computer charger, so expect more posts now!

We're in a homestay with a lovely grandmother widow who loves to talk and can really cook. Charlie and I have a room to ourselves, with our own private balcony, from which the photo above was taken. We're taking class at the IES center in the city center. Our class is pretty good, and our teacher seems like she'll be great over the next month.

Two days ago we went on a tour of "modernisme," the Art Nouveau architectural movement in Barcelona from around the turn of the 20th century. Pictures after the break

Goodbye, Austin

Well folks, I have now officially left Austin. I am at home in San Antonio now, and on Monday, I fly to Barcelona. I'll be doing four weeks of study abroad, and then I'll travel through Europe until mid-December. I'll be making plenty of posts on here to keep yall updated on what I'm doing, and I may throw in a "thinking piece" every now and then as well.

If you're wondering about the title of this blog, I originally wanted to call it "Ted's Excellent Adventures," but then I found out it's been done before. Then I thought, well, what about "that dog'll hunt," or "don't fight it," or "ain't no thang," or "man gotta eat." But really, why name it after a single catchphrase when in three weeks I'll be onto the next one? Entonces, "Witty Catchphrase" it is.