The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain...and in Barcelona.

Overlooking Barcelona at Parc Guell

After covering the city of Madrid, my parents and I packed up and headed to Barcelona for the weekend! We saw our friend Liz and covered lots of turf in 3 days on foot and on a segway. It rained pretty heavily all day Saturday and I was SO thankful for my rainboots and umbrella but we didn't let the rain hold us back. We saw Parc Guell, Montjuic Fountain Show, the beach (where Shakira has filmed music videos), the Sagrada Familia, the Joan Miro Museum, Las Ramblas, La Boqueria, Casa Battlo and the Picasso Museum.

Rainy las Ramblas

If you ask my dad where he went in Barcelona he will tell you the Park Bluff (aka Parc Guell) and the Strafelda (aka Sagrada Familia). Obviously the language barrier was no issue for him...kidding. But it made for some good laughs for me and my mom.

On the Segways...no hands!

Let's cut to the chase, the Segway experience. Friday afternoon we took a Segway tour of the city. If you ever feel like being stared at by every single person who passes you than you should ride a Segway. But it was so fun! We went through Barrio Gotic and out to the beach. We even saw the beach where Shakira filmed her ''Loca'' video (youtube it to see the beach). If only they had been filming Friday afternoon, we could have zoomed through the background on our Segways! My dad was pretty scared and almost didn't come with. But it ended up being his favorite thing of the whole trip! Our tour guide was from Barcelona and we had a very lively conversation about Catalan politics (which are highly controversial and you aren't really supposed to bring politics up at all but I asked him his opinion and refrained from giving mine, so I thought it would be okay). He was very proud of his Catalan heritage and believed Catalonia should be a separate nation from Spain. He told me the weather was better in Catalonia, the people worked harder, and they had more to be proud of.


On the Barcelona Beach there is a famous naked man. By famous naked man I mean there is an old man who is always walking around naked on the beach. Seriously, all of my friends who have visited Barcelona know who he is. Unfortunately it must have been too cold and rainy for him on Friday and we weren't able to see that famous Barcelona sight.

That night we went to the Montjuic Fountain show. We loved every minute! It was 15 wonderful minutes of choreographed lights, music, and fountains. Celine Dion's ''My Heart Will Go On'' even made it into the soundtrack.

You can't go to Barcelona without seeing some Gaudi. We saw Parc Guell and Sagrada Familia and I went into Casa Battlo. Before going into Casa Battlo, I realized I had left my cell phone in the taxi. So I went in feeling pretty stressed out and dumb for forgetting it. So I plugged into the audioguide and tried to forget about it. Casa Battlo was my favorite sight because it was so unique and it was cool to think that a family actually lived there. The audioguide said there was not one straight line in the whole place! After the tour I found my mom, dad and Liz who had my cell phone! They had repeatedly called the cab driver until he finally got so annoyed with the ringing that he answered and drove it back. What a relief! Many thanks to my parents, Liz Pearson, and the cab driver for the joint effort to collect my belongings all over the city of Barcelona.

Liz and I in Parc Guell

I loved having my parents here and seeing my friend Liz again. I got a much needed dose of Minnesota halfway through my Spanish adventure. Now it's back to reality (if this is reality...) and back to school. This weekend I will be enjoying Madrid and taking a day trip to Segovia. Only one more month until spring break!

¡Hasta la próxima!

Mis padres y yo queríamos ver mucha de la ciudad de Barcelona, pero es una ciudad grande. Entonces, decidimos tomar un tour de la ciudad en Segway. Mi padre estaba nervioso y él tiene miedo de la maquina. Pero fuimos de todos modos. El Segway fue muy divertido y vimos la playa, el estadio olímpico, y barrio gótico. Nuestro guía fue un hombre de Barcelona y empezamos hablar sobre políticos y los problemas entre la región Catalunya y España. Él ha vivido en Barcelona toda su vida y habla catalán con sus padres y amigos. Muchas personas me dijeron que no es buena idea para discutir políticos en España, especialmente regiones donde hay tensiones. Pero él inició la conversación y yo quería saber más sobre su perspectiva. Él dijo que las personas catalanes son más trabajadores y cree en una Catalunya separada de España. Fue interesante escuchar a una persona de Catalunya. Y cuando llegue en Madrid después de nuestro viaje, fue un alivio para ver anuncios en español castellano en el metro.