After a long week of studying for an exam, I was very much looking forward to the weekend. This weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Barcelona.

I was definitely looking forward to going to Barcelona so that I could live out my Cheetah Girls dream, but I was also excited to see what this city had to offer and what I could learn from it.

We arrived in Barcelona at around 10 am on Friday morning. Even though we were all exhausted, we couldn't wait to get to the hostel and start exploring the city.

After dropping off our things, we headed out to start the adventure! We first went to the Picasso museum. On our way there we got to go down some pretty cool side streets and met a pretty cute dog. There was a lot of artwork and graffiti on the walls, it was pretty cool to see how artistic this city is.

We made it to the Picasso Museum, and because we are students we got in for free! I didn't know too much about Picasso before going here, but I definitely learned a lot about his life and his artwork. It was very cool to see all of the different styles that he has done throughout his life. Some of my favorite pieces that he has done are the ones that are oil paintings on a piece of wood.

After the museum, we continued walking down towards the shore. We walked along this main road alongside a boat harbor and found a little restaurant to eat at for lunch. I was really in the mood for some type of pasta so I got tortellini with an alfredo sauce. It was so yummy.

We were all feeling a little tired so we headed back to the hostel to relax for an hour or so. After recharging, we made an hour trek to Park Guel. It was such a cool park to see. There were mosaics and beautiful flowers everywhere. Part of the park was under construction, which was a little disappointing, but it was still so beautiful to see, especially as it was getting later in the evening.

After wandering around the park for awhile, we walked up this insane hill to this place called "the bunkers" to watch the sunset. On our way up we stopped at a little bakery where we got these little pizzas to eat when we got to the top. When we reached the very top, we got a 360 view of the city. There was so much between us and the sea, and even more behind this hill, that stretched to these mountains. It was so breathtaking to see the sunset while eating a mini pizza with some good people.

It was getting dark and we didn't want to stumble down the hill in complete darkness, so we eventually left with a little bit of light left. We headed back to the hostel, stopping at a McDonalds to get a milkshake (so delicious).

After walking 16 miles that day, we finally called it a night and got a good nights rest to explore more of the city.

The next day we woke up a little later in the morning but got some breakfast to fuel us for the day. We first headed to the Sagrada Familia. It was such a cool and unique looking church. It has been under construction since the 1880's and will be completed by 2026. It is amazing what has been completed so far, and how beautiful it's going to look when it is.

However, going inside was magical. The stained glass windows were unlike anything I've ever seen. They were so colorful that it turned the inside of the church into a rainbow. Each part of the church is so unique and special, it makes visiting this church so worth it.

Once we were all done taking in the amazing architecture, we got some lunch. I got a vegetable paella. It was so delicious! Paella is a must in Spain, especially in places like Barcelona because it's by the coast.

We started walking back to the dorm but went into some shops and saw this really awesome arc. When we got closer to it, we watched a band play some really cool sounding music.

We got back to the hostel to drop some things off, and then some of us went to the beach. We stopped for some gelato on the way, but it was great when we finally made it to the shore. Even though it was packed with people, we were able to find a spot to sit that was pretty close to the water. The water was cold, but it felt so good on my feet.

After a while on the beach, we headed back to the hostel to get the others and we headed to a magical fountain that puts on a light show. It was amazing. It was like watching fireworks. The water would get so high and change colors and make different shapes. It was quite the spectacle.

By the time the show was over, it was dinner time and all of our tummies were rumbling. We stopped for some pizza at this little pizza shop. This pizza was so good. It was crispy and had a nice thin crust. It was just as good as the pizza in New Haven. I loved it. Since we had to wake up early the next morning, we went to bed when we got back to the hostel.

We obviously did a lot of sightseeing and walking around. I enjoyed the city, but it wasn't as amazing as it was hyped up to be. The nightlife is great, but as someone who doesn't really enjoy drinking and going to clubs all the time, I didn't enjoy it as much. Also, I found the city to be kind of dirty, which made it hard to breathe sometimes.

I wouldn't mind going back again and seeing more of the city, because it was so huge, but it's not one of my favorite cities.