Leslie and Chachi in Spain! Nothing could be better!

I’m a fan of Barcelona. It is the first of the Spain city I have really enjoyed. All the cards have been laying out so nicely so I’m sure that helps too. Aside from having one of the coolest girls ever visiting and seeing Chachi today, we were staying in the nicest hotel of the year that has an awesome breakfast and is in a good location not at the farthest point of the city!!

It is fabulous having a running buddy here. We are staying at Plaza Espanya which is right near Montjuic the area where the Olympic complex is from the ’92 Summer Games and as you can guess Mont=super hilly. We climbed more hills on this one run then I probably have all tour. It was a good place to run though because we didn’t have to deal with a city loop involving people and lights.


Our first day in Barcelona was not the prettiest. It was overcast and gloomy out and it drizzled for a little while. We decided to go on one of those double-decker tour buses which I have never done before. It was fun but I was not dressed appropriately so I got super cold. They are definitely a good way to see everying but I do think in general I prefer going around on my own and picking and choosing for myself. The sky was not allowing me for any good pictures so I am hoping tomorrow will be better. The bus took us through Montjuic, down by the water where we could see the port, beach, and world trade center, then to las ramblas the main road downtown and by some of the Gaudi buildings.

After our bus trip we met up with Chachi who just so happened to be stopping through Barcelona on a little European adventure. I couldn’t believe it when we told me when he was going to be here! It was so thrilling seeing familiar faces from school and catching up! We were super hungry at this point so we went to this place called Café Catalunya and I had my first genuine Spanish meal. I tried a chicken paella and it was pretty good! It is this rice dish that is cooked in a skillet and is just a shmorgedge-borge of random things all thrown in. My only complaint was that the chicken had bones in it and I hate having to work at get meat off the bones. After that we checked out the market on Las Ramblas, Mercat de la Boqueria which is a covered market from the 19th century. It was filled with fruits, vegetables, meats (including the legs they have hanging everywhere which I don’t appreciate!), and candy. Some of the displays were so perfectly arranged it was out of hand!

Later that night Leslie and I met Chachi and his traveling buddies for a drink. They were staying at a hostel right off of las Ramblas. They took us to this bar they had already visited that had really cheap drinks. It was kind of a hole in the wall but you could tell at one point it was a really nice place because the wall all had murals on them that had just been warning over the years. It was so nice chatting with Chachi and catching up.