Fall Break: part two.

After a short flight, we were back in Barcelona to stay a couple of nights! Our good mood was set the minute we arrived at our hotel - it was such a beautiful little place! Barcelona reminds me of a European San Francisco. Therefore, I obviously loved it! Its big city feel was such a stark contrast from what we have in Florence, so we managed to leave the extremely nice rooms in order to enjoy some time out on the town. :]


We liked to describe our bedroom as bachelor pad chic.

Katie and Katya gettin' a leeettle bit sensual.



Checking out the amazing view from our little balcony.



After some exploration, we headed out to dinner at a place called Cros Diagonal.


TAPAS TIME!!! So delicious. Papas bravas - ya gotta try it!

The next day was Halloween! We started it off with some tourism.


This is the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia. When we were there, Spain was preparing to host the Pope. The banner you see there is welcoming him to Barcelona.


Still happy after seeing that the line for the Picasso museum was literally a mile long.

Lunch time! We were in Spain, so we obviously opted to eat... Mexican food for lunch. Don't judge us. To be fair, it was a SpanMexican fusion!


Not pictured: all of the Halloween decorations in this place! It was way too fun.

After lunch, we walked down the famous La Rambla - a shopping street literally swarming with street performers. After that chaotic walk, we were happy to stop here near the Columbus Monument.

Barcelona Pier.

IDEAL.


Please note Katie's princess crown. Halloween all day!

Before dinner out. It was Sunday. When it's a Sunday night in Europe, you will have to search for open restaurants because most are closed. We were forced to eat Italian, which, in Spain, does not even compare to that which we eat in Florence! ;]

Don't know what's goin' on here with Jackie... But please note I am in costume. I'm Little Red Riding Hood. Just like last year, but not as cute. What a copout!

Katya was a belly dancer!

After dinner! Here we are all together.


Me and Officer Claire! :]







To celebrate, we headed to a club called Opium for some dancing!

There were easily a thousand people there!! Most insane thing ever. And probably a good fifty of them were from my school in Florence. :P

Change of pace. The next day before our flight back to Florence, we visited Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia. It doesn't look nearly as impressive with the restoration underway, but you get the idea.


Look at that!




While circling around the church, we came across this stylin' musician...

...and his little dog, too! Censored for your virgin eyes!

Our trip to Spain was such a nice break from life "at home." Seeing Starbucks, for instance, put us in a jolly old American mood. But we were definitely ready to get back to Florence. It is also worth noting that I had been waking up in the middle of the night to watch playoff baseball on my computer. I would sit in the bathroom so as to let my roommate sleep and watch every painful minute of the games. When they made it into the playoffs, it seemed to good to be true - so imagine how shocking it was when they went all the way. The day after we returned from Fall Break, my very own San Francisco Giants won the World Series Championship of Baseball. I may have almost cried, but don't tell. ;]