my first sangria

our hostel, right on the beach

seafood supper! i just took the pictures...

boat ride along the barcelona coastline

a mammoth in his natural environment...i'm so sure.

early morning sunrise

there's beautiful mister sun!

palm trees everywhere!

parrots in the wild

suntanning in a sweater in february...but sun tanning none the less!

Well, poor us over here in Paris, we were so exhausted from all our vacationing that we decided we needed a vacation from our vacation. So we went to Barcelona!

We flew out on a Monday morning, and arrived in the Barcelona sun that afternoon. Our hostel was quite literally right on the beach; all we had to do was step off the patio and we were squishing sand between our toes. And Mister Sun came out to greet us every day we were there. It was about 15 degrees, so every afternoon we laid on the beach for a couple hours. Nate and Steph were brave enough to strip down to tanks and shorts, but not me. I did tan my face a bit though! And I managed to wade thigh-deep in the Mediterranean before I was freezing—the sun is deceiving, ‘cause the water felt about the same as Lake Erie in May—a bit chilly! I’ll save swimming in the Med for our trip to Italy! (sorry, I really do feel a bit bad rubbing that in. I wish I could take you all!)

So my firsts for this trip:

-my first glass of sangria

-my first time getting up to see a sunrise, just because. I wasn’t forced, and it was definitely worth it!

-my first ride on a coach bus. I know, Steph laughs too every time I have to admit to taking a new form of transportation. And I haven’t even taken the train yet!

-my first, and probably last bottle of Manzana, ‘cause it’s only sold in Spain…which is unfortunate ‘cause it’s so yummy! And so cheap!

So as I sit snuggled up against the heater in my room, I can’t help but long for the Barcelona sun again. But it’s okay to be back to reality, because I finally start classes on Tuesday! Yay! I’m told that things start to go a bit quicker and you don’t miss home as much once classes start and you get into a routine, so I’m excited about that. Then it’s 10 weeks straight of classes before Spring Break. So I’m not sure what exciting things I’ll have to report every week, but we’re still hoping to do a lot more exploring here in Paris. The gardens should all be in bloom soon, and the fountains running again, and there’s still a ton of museums to check out, so there’ll be lots to see!

So before I go, here's today's french lesson:

Donnez-moi le poulet! [Give me the chicken!]