“The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; 

it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.”

 – G. K. Chesterton

Barcelona was such an amazing, colorful, and exciting city. It wasn't on my list of countries that I wanted to go to, but I am glad that I did. There is so much to see and do. Even though I had to spend thanksgiving there and miss out on all of the trimmings back home, we made the best of it. We decided that we would have a Spanish thanksgiving and found a little restaurant on Las Ramblas and has Tapas and other dishes. It was some of the best food I have ever had. 

We even spend a part of the day on the beach. We got to put out feet in the Mediterranean sea and even got to embrace the European beaches and saw a naked man. On a tour that we took later in the weekend, we found out that the beach in Barcelona is man made and the sand that we were sitting on was actually imported from the Sahara Desert in Africa for the 1992 Olympics. Even though it was still warm outside, the water was FREEZING! 

While we were there we took a few walking tours, one about 

Gaudi and the other one was more of a history tour. On the Gaudi tour, we got to learn a little about him and also see some of his works throughout Barcelona. We saw a few buildings that he designed. He was known to always go over time and the money budget, but the money was always someone elses. His greatest work was the Sagrata Famililia which is a huge church is Barcelona. It is such a beautiful building and the design is so amazing. It has been worked on since the late 1800's till this day and it not expected to be finished for 15-50 years. There are 4 sides to the chuch and they all tell a story. The first side tells of the birth of Jesus, the second tells the story of the apostles, the third tells the story of Jesus's dealth and the final (not yet completed) side is called the glory side which is Jesus rising into heaven. They actually just finished the inside of the church just two years ago.

We then took the metro up to Paruell which is another place that gaudi designed. The park is so beautiful and colorful. This is a place where a lot of artists and musicians 

go to play for the public. Actually Barcelona has a lot of this throughout the city, some good and some bad. 

We even got the chance to go to the Olympic park where they held the 1992 Olympics. It was awesome to actually see a place where the Olympics were held because the London Park is closed until next year. We got up to the top of the hill just in time for sunset so it was so beautiful.

We stayed up there to see the magic fountain show. They sync up the fountain to music and add some color. It was such a great show. I've never seen anything like it before. 

The one thing I love about traveling is learning about the cultures and traditions of other countries. While I was there, I learned of two Christmas traditions! I have put links below the photos to learn more!

Caganer 
is a figurine depicted in the act of defecation appearing in nativity scenes in Catalonia and neighboring areas with Catalan culture

Tio De Nadal
a character in Catalan mythology relating to a Christmas tradition widespread in Catalonia. It does leave candies, nuts and torrons. Depending on the part of Catalonia, it may also give out dried figs. 

We even got to meet people all over the world from right in the US, to Canada, chili, New Zealand, and Brazil. That is one reason why I love hostels. You get to meet people from all over the world. 

I would definitely go back to Spain again, High School Spanish actually came in handy!