so thanks for the English influence around the world almost everyone speaks it.
The hill we're on hid the port from the city. Very smart idea in my opinion because it was not the best view 
Inside the fort
Chris found a cannon
Barcelona
There were many other buildings with the Olympic park but this was the most beautiful stadium.
This is off the water fall towards barca city center 
Late afternoon
Day
Closer up pic
Each country I learn a few basic words or phrases so the locals think I'm atleast trying, but in all honesty how am I suppose to learn 10 different languages in 5 months. Next to impossible.
Anyway English is the world language and in 10 years we will be able to go almost anywhere in Europe and not have to worry about not being able to communicate with a person from another country. It would be cool to speak another language but I don't even know what one I would pick to speak.
On to Barcelona. I flew into Girona 89km from Barcelona and caught a bus into the city center. One the the first things I noticed was how devoted their culture is to fùtbol (soccer). Just about every 2-3 blocks there is a soccer field with goals. And each field is littered with kids trying to become the next professional player. They live and breath this sport. It's a world language almost and the greatest most popular sport in the world. Along with the soccer fields everywhere there are also ping pong tables in the parks. And every table is always being played on. They love these two sports. 
Barcelona has a huge Catalunyan culture and it is far different then that of ours. They are very laid back and are not in a rush to do anything. Almost every store that's not "touristy" is closed each day from 2-5 for siesta (rest) they all close their doors and i don't know what they actually do but I went hungry for a few hours when I forgot about this siesta. Plan ahead! Also on Sunday no stores were open, just like the states were even when I was a kid. People need there day off but in Barcelona they still close up shops and everyone rests on God's Day.
After getting off bus I made way to hostel dropped my things off and went straight to the beach. The water was very cold but still nice to be in the 70F and chilling in the sand.
Also with their culture, tops seem to be an abnormal thing for girls. Clothing impaired very frequent. Someone told me this I never looked.
That night my hostel had a group going out for Tapas. This is also a very cultural dish. It's pretty much appetizers in small portions. So we went to the tapas place and everything was 1euro (very cheap) and really good. I got 4 tapas and a beer for 5 euro total. Probably the cheapest meal you could get in any city at a restuarant. A huge soccer match was going on Madrid vs Barcelona so the place was packed and everyone was Chearing and going wild. I got extremely submersed into the culture, the first day. It was fabulous.
We went out with the hostel that night and met some great people that I ended up hanging with the next 6 days I was in Barcelona.
Thursday came and Chris (Katherine's brother) (we weren't planning on being in Barcelona at the same time but it happened) and myself met up in the morning and headed up to Montjuic, for a hike and a great view of the city. There was a castle on top as well as the Olympic park from the 1992 Olympics. Everything was so gorgeous and so well maintained it looked like it could of been from the most recent summer Olympics.
The castle up top. More of an army fort though I think.
Olympic park.
We made our way down the hill and to the Catalunya national art museum. We didn't go in but the outside was probably more amazing then that of the inside anyway.
We made our way back towards the center and stumbled upon the Barcelona Cathedral which was also very stunning But was littered with tourists and the buildings were so close together I couldn't get pictures to do it justice.
We made our way to the beach and relaxed after a long day of walking. As we were headed back to hostel we went to Ciutadella park and saw the Casacada monument (fountain) all built in 1888 for the universal exhibition. We also watch some ping pong while we were there. They are all so good.
We also walked past the Ard de Triompf which was built as the entrance to the universal exhibition.
Sagrada familia was in schedule for the next days itinerary and it was just as crazy as everyone made it out to be. It was started in the 1800's and Spain is bankrupt so the project keeps getting pushed back but the expected date of completion is in 2030. But no one thinks it's ever going to get done, or atleast not in our lifetime. 
The details were insane. Sorry i didn't get a better pic. But use your imagination.
La Rambla known for it's trees
And some fresh produce. There were fruits I had never even seen before. Insane things here in Spain.
Practice field. With stadium seating.
A few clouds but still great
Hike getting to park.
You can see sagrada familia top right of my head. As well as La Ramba with the tree lined street up right of my shoulder.
This building was also designed by Gaudi but I don't remember what it was called.
With all the beauty around that you see in most pictures, this is what most housing looks like. Sometimes right next to the most beautiful of buildings. You can't take for granted a nice house with a yard that many of us have in the states.
You can see it from any point in the city it seems like and it seems fake.
I also didn't pay to go in because it was 15euro and so I took a picture of a postcard so we could all see what the inside looked like! I will be back to see it when I have more money in the future.
We then went to check out La Rambla the post popular street in Barcelona and went to the market there that you could find anything you dreamed of. Fruit, vegetables, fish, cat, pig, anything it was crazy and disgusting at times. I got a picture that looks to be a cat but I'm not going to post it. Ask me to see it if you really want to.
We went to the beach again and everyday to enjoy the sun rays. At 7 the magic fountain turns on so we made our way there for that. It wasn't as magical as I was hoping but still beautiful.
Becoming more of a soccer fan as I'm in Europe I decided the next day to go to the FC Barcelona stadium and complex. They are a world renowned soccer club and they breed the kids from walking to start kicking the ball around. There is an FC Barcelona academy for kids to become pro. It's crazy. I snuck into the practice field because seeing the stadium was 19euro.
Me and a couple of friends I met decided that we wanted to watch the sunrise one morning as it came up over the sea. So that night we went out with the hostel and went to shoko a beach club until 330am then went to another club called Razzmatazz which holds 5000 people and is in an old warehouse. It was so massive inside with 5 different concerts going on that we all got seperated and lost at different times. We all ended up finding eachother by the time the club closed at 630am and we made our way to the beach to watch the sunrise. It was absolutely beautiful but I didn't get to bed until 830am.
We also tried to sneak into another hostel for free breakfast but we decided we couldn't stay up any longer so we just went to bed.
I woke up at 1pm the next day and went to the beach with everyone and we all just laid around snoozed and relaxed. By about 4 I decided I had to go actually do something so Ally (Portland) and myself went up to park guell. A famous park designed by Gaudi. He also designed the sagrada familia and cascada monument if I didn't mention that before. This gave us another great view of the city and we got to see what made the park so famous.
Also I forgot to mention earlier. On the beach and in the streets guys will try to sell you anything, scarves sandwiches beer cola water. You name it. Most of these guys aren't actually making money off these items but the drugs that they hide in there "package". I saw one night a guy open up his pants and get a small Baggie of pills and sell it to someone. They are the drug dealers to the tourists of the city. They were everywhere. At the beach during the day they sell monitors and beers mostly and when thhe spot a cop they all duck down and act like they are a tourist or run to get away. Prostitues also lined the streets late at night especially along La Rambla. You must always be aware of your surroundings especially when your alone.
Anyway I would say Barcelona has been my favorite city so far. It was absolutely gorgeous with so many things to see and do but what makes a place besides that are the people that you meet and get to build experiences with. They are the ones that make traveling amazing.
