Gothic Quarter Tour & Dinner with Friends

After staying up all night on our computers Friday night, the three of us wanted to wake up early because we had ALOT to do that day. Much to my surprise, I woke up thinking it was still early, and found that it was 2:30 p.m. I screamed at Noelle and Ash and we laughed hysterically because we couldn't believe we slept that late.
We went upstairs to wake up the friends and they had just got up to. We got ready and took the metro to 'Plaza Catalunya' which is like the Times Square of Barcelona right next to 'La Rambla'. We went with Lauren and Sarah and stopped at a little cafe to get sandwiches and dessert. We went shopping at the huuuge department store 'Corte de Ingles' and I have never in my life seen crowds like this. The streets were packed and the store was a complete mess... but we got what we needed to... met up with the boys and then went home.
We had to be back at Plaza Catalunya at 7:30 for our 'Gothic Tour' with the group, so we quickly took the metro home, dropped off our bags, stopped at our favorite little cafe next door and got our 'cafe con leches'. We met up with the group and Jordan was giving the tour again of the gothic quarter. It is the part of the city that was built in the 1300's right after the Romanesque period. All of the streets were built very narrow and windy and are still like that today. I cant even express what an eye-opening experience this was for me. I almost started crying at the thought of leaving this beautiful city.
We looked at incredible cathedrals, streets and famous parts from the Spanish Civil War. We heard unbelievable stories thats remains are still visible today. We drank out of a fountain that supposedly, "whoever drinks from the fountain will always have there heart in Barcelona and come back someday." Pretty much, the tour was amazing and Jordan is the best tour guide ever. Ashley wants to marry him. haha. Me on the other hand, am more interested in the unreal amount of gorgeous Spanish guys I come across everyday... they don't make them like this in the states. haha.
The tour was great because we have such a wonderful group. There is like 40 of us and everyone is so much fun and has such great personalities. So after the tour we invited everyone over to our apartment for dinner. The 7 of us went to the market and bought a ton of pasta, pizza and baguettes for everyone... all for only 20 euro!!!
Our two apartments cooked it all up and the boys downstairs and our friends from our program all came over around 11:00 for dinner (thats how late they eat dinner here). It was soo much fun to have everyone here having a big dinner and drinking Sangria. We had all planned on going to the club called Duvet but had to be there by two so we left the apartment at 1:40... took the wrong metro and ended up having to run to the club to get there before three a.m. so we could get in for free. We didn't make it by three but we knew the guy who was running the party, his name is Kike, and we got in. We then realized we were missing half our friends so we left the club and found them.
The rest of our night was such a joke. We met up with this Austrian guy Noelle is in love with named Benji, and after a failed attempt to get in the club (Sutton), we just wanted to go home. We ended up walking, probably like 3 miles, to the metro station and met these really cute and nice guys who walked with us. My Spanish is sooo much better now... when I meet people and they say they speak english, I tell them I only want to talk in Spanish, and I do pretty well if I may say so myself. haha. Ashley was hilarious and Noelle and I were dying of laughter on the ground like every 5 seconds. Ash only knows about 5 phrases of spanish and she kept screaming them over and over... its funnier than it sounds. We made it home safely (p.s. besides pick-pocketing, Barcelona is one of the safest cities...) and the three of us just sat in our living room and laughed at the events of the night.
It is now Sunday and we start school tomorrow.... We are meeting up with Lisa and Nicole to plan out our trips for the semester. Then we are going to a sports bar tonight to watch the Charger game. I am sooooo in love with this city and with the people who I have met. I didn't think I would already be saying this, but I seriously never want to leave. All of our friends and us have already set dates for 'Barcelona reunions' all over cali and to come back here. So until next time....