Barça, Barça, Barcelona!

Guys, I'm a very lucky girl. My family came to visit me here in Spain! On Wednesday November 20th, I flew into Barcelona to meet my family! It was pretty late when I got in, so after all the hugging and waking Marc up from his nap, we walked around a little bit. I soon learned of Phil's first derp. Let me explain: 1. Phil - mom. Mom likes to give life advice to anyone that will listen, AKA Dr. Phil. Thus, Phil. 2. Mom also has the INCREDIBLE talent to say and do things that are, well, really dumb. So, after her long, long flight, Phil is a little confudida (confused). Our hotel is in the Baroque section of Barcelona and there is a cathedral in the square next to our hotel. Just a plain, old cathedral. The very first person Phil talks to in Spain is the hotel receptionist. Her very first sentence (she says as she points to the cathedral in the square): Is that Notre Dame?! Luckily, our receptionist was very nice and politely reminded (I hope) my mother that Notre Dame is in Paris. And that concludes the story of how Marc got super excited for the trip.

First stop in Barcelona: Starbucks. Now, don't judge me. Oviedo doesn't have Starbucks and I've been wanting a PSL (wow, that makes me sound so preppy. For those of you who don't know, PSL is a Pumpkin Spice Latte) for SO long. Of course, they don't have pumpkin flavors anymore, but the upside is that I got my Hazelnut Hot Chocolate in a red cup, which means it's almost CHRISTMAS!! Wow, I can't believe that. But, it's true. Barcelona was decked out in christmas lights and big christmas trees and all that. There's a huge street in Barcelona with a bunch of bars and restaurants on it called Las Ramblas. We wandered around there, got some food, and then returned to our hotel because we were all very tired.

The next morning, we woke up early because we were going to Monserrat. Monserrat is a small town in the high mountains outside Barcelona. You need to take the metro to the train station that brings you to mountain rail that finally brings you to the top of the mountain. It was stunningly gorgeous. We walked around the monastery and went down to visit the Santa Cueva (Holy Cave). As we got off the tram that brought us down to the cave, we noticed that it said the last tram leaves at 6pm (it was 5:50pm). No one had said anything on the tram, so we decided to walk down to the cave anyways. There were other travelers that were down there as well, so we figured we'd be alright. Wrong decision. By the time we walked to the Santa Cueva, it was closed. Go figure. So we walked ALL THE WAY BACK to find out that yes, in fact, the trams weren't returning for the night. So here we are: me, my brother, and my mom, all out of breath from the walk back to the tram facing two decisions: walk up half a mountain back to Monserrat or die alone and cold on the side of this mountain, repenting our complete failure (alright, maybe not die...). We chose to walk back up. Which totally and utterly sucked. By the time we got back up, it was freezing and I had to pee (como siempre [per usual]). So I went to the bathroom while mom and Marc went to check out the rest of the mountain. I was waiting outside for a half hour, thinking they got lost or something, seeing how the rest of our day was super successful...when finally, they showed up. We got on the train to go back to Barcelona. One thing I forgot to mention: Mom and Marc don't like the Spanish food thus far. SPOILER ALERT: They never actually grow to like it. Ever. Like, we ate McDonald's for dinner one night. I tried. They're picky. End of story. So we went to a bar on Las Ramblas to start drinking. This bar was so fun! There were people from all over the world and the bartender would introduce us. We all ended up talking to each other. Mom made a ton of foreign friends. Also Mom ordered nachos, because that's literally the only Spanish word she can say. Actually, she meant to say good night (buenas noches) and ended up saying (buenos nachos) Good Nachos. And that, my friends, concludes Day One of Loobys en el Mundo.

Edge of a mountain. No biggie.

Santa Cueva

Because it wouldn't be the Looby family if there wasn't drinking involved...

DAY TWO: Guadi for everyone! So, the second day, we devoted to seeing all things Gaudi. Gaudi is an architect that dominates Barcelona. He is known for his incredible Modernistic designs in a time when no one would ever think to build like that. We first went to the Sagrada Familia, which is a church that is still being constructed. There are no words to describe it, so pictures will have to do. After the Sagrada Familia, we went to Park Güell, which is a park designed by Gaudi. After this, we returned to the same bar from yesterday and got Phil a little chispa. 

The Fam

Playing around in the towers

Pretty much a GQ model

Spiral staircase of my dreams (and Marc's nightmares...)

La Sagrada Familia

Turns out my dad was there when they were building it...

The outside

Park Güell

Mom and Marc

Actually smiling. It's a miracle.

Sorry, I realize this is SO incredibly long! So, on Saturday, we went to a fútbol (soccer) game. It was so awesome! Barcelona vs. Granada. Barcelona is in first place right now, so it was so cool to see their game. We had amazing seats. The only thing to complain about is the fact that they don't sell beer there. I mean, WHAT? How is that possible? Despite the lack of beer, we had an incredible time. We returned to Las Ramblas for one last walk around and then retired ourselves to bed. 

Next day: Oviedo.