Hola Barcelona!

Stanley and I traveled from Rome to Barcelona. Barcelona is a city in Spain. In Spain they speak Spanish, but most people in Barcelona speak a language called Catalan. Catalan is different from Spanish, and while on a tour, I was able to hear the difference, but could not understand it. Some waiters spoke English to my travel group, but one friend I was traveling with speaks fluent Spanish, so she was able to help the group get around.

In Barcelona we went on a walking tour and a bus tour. Barcelona is a port city, meaning it is on the water. We walked to the port to see all of the boats coming in and out.

Many of the architecture in Barcelona is either created by the famous architect Antoni Gaudi or inspired by his work. Antoni Gaudi is a native to Barcelona. His buildings are inspired by nature. He uses a lof ot ceramics, mosaics, stained glass, sculptures, and ironwork into his designs. Some of his famous buildings include Casa Batllo and La Sagrada Familia. La Sagrada Familia is a church Gaudi started building in the year 1882 and it is still being built to this day! It will be completed in about 20 years!

We saw a Flamenco show in Barcelona. Flamenco is a traditional Spanish dance. It is similiar to tap dancing in that the feet do most of the work and create a rhythmic sound. The girls wear long flowly dresses and dance to guitars, percussion, and voice. It was amazing to watch!

In Barcelona, we ate paella and tapas. Paella is a rice dish traditionally cooked with an assorment of seafood. However, you can order paella with vegetables, seafood, beef, or chicken. I tried them all and they were so yummy! Tapas are a variety of small dishes. They are like an appetizer sampler platter, with slightly bigger plates and more variety. We ordered tapas one night and it came with 10 small plates. Some types of food that are included in tapas is cheese, soppressata (like salami),olives, chorizo, sardines, and calamari. Like in Italy, Spanards eat dinner very late, mostly because the sun sets so late. We often at dinner around 9/9:30pm, but others started their meals an hour after us. Lunch is their biggest meal in most of Europe. Lunch for them can last 3 to 4 hours!

Barcelona was beautiful with amazing food. We had a great time!