This morning I had to wake up at 6:45 so that I would be able to make it to breakfast and then down to the bus for my SAS trip. Sadly this morning was corn beef hash which is my least favorite breakfast so I decided to get myself a bowl of cereal. There were people there that had just arrived back to the boat and were still dressed in their going out clothes and still drunk. It was very interesting to see people arriving back to the boat at 7am. I don’t know how people can stay out that late.

I headed down to the bus and checked in for the trip. It was called Barcelona by Bike. There were supposed to be 52 people on the trip but only 26 showed up. Saturday night must have been crazy. The bus took us to the bike store where we all got our bikes for the ride. It was pretty fun although it was really slow and there were way to many stops on the tour. Next time I go to Barcelona, I plan on renting a bike to go around on for a few days. It’s a really fun city to ride around in.

At our last stop on the bike tour, there was a man playing a musical instrument in front of a restaurant. All of a sudden this women opens her window and starts screaming at the man telling him to stop. It was quite a scene to watch this fight. She finally got out her cell phone and called the cops and the man decided to leave as she was doing that. She kept complaining how early it was and how she couldn’t sleep because of his music. It was about 10:45 in the morning at that time so I thought it was the best thing ever that he woke her up.

We got back to the ship around 11:15 so I dropped off my stuff and headed to the dining hall for lunch. There I met a girl who had been on the bike tour with me and we ate together and then decided to head back to town for one last little walk before heading to Italy.

There was an amazing wall covered in graffiti that looked like a work of art. We spent some time taking pictures and then decided to walk down La Rambla. It was Sunday so not much was open but we found an air conditioned restaurant and got some ice cream and relaxed for a bit. We both decided to buy painting that were at one of the booths along La Rambla. I got an oil on canvas painting of La Sagrada Familia in the evening. The colors are very bright and the picture is absolutely breath taking in my eyes.

Then we decided to head back to the ship and relax for the evening. I basically came back, took a shower, ate dinner, and got in bed to watch Sex and the City with Lindsay. We watched about 8 episodes and then started to watch Shark Tales before passing out. Sadly, we fell asleep by 10pm...

Today was one of the most magical days of my life. I decided to do a tour through the Barcelona Tourism Department. I chose to do the tour that would go to Montserrat and Sitges.

So first was to Montserrat, where we had to take a bus to the base of the mountain, about 1 hour outside of Barcelona. From there we took a Funicular up to the monastery itself. Once up the hill we had free time to do whatever we felt like doing. So I rushed off to explore. I went up some stairs and found a stations of the cross along the hill side. I took pictures of each of the stations because it was so unique.

After that I started going up another staircase in the forest. I had no idea where it was going but it was really steep. I thought about turning around, but after about 15 minutes I decided I had to see where it went to. Eventually I found a sign that told me it was a hiking trail that was going up to the top of the mountain. Since I like to hike I kept going. Eventually I got to a resting spot / fork in the trail and there were a few Americans there so I chatted with them and had them take a picture of me.

I decided I didn’t want to go to the same place that everyone else was hiking to, so I took the fork in the other direction. I ended up at a beautiful look out spot that over looked the entire Spanish valley and made the monastery look like a doll house for ants. I kept hiking up and eventually made it to Sant Benet which is an old monastery that is no longer used. It seems like it is a hang out spot for rock climbers because of the amount of gear that was in the building. There were also 4 men sitting at a table laughing and smoking their cigarettes. After that I hiked back down the mountain.

I decided to take a look at the Basilica. I went inside and was planning on taking pictures for my Religious Studies class, but once inside I felt like it was wrong to take pictures. There was some sort of presence inside and it was an amazing place to see.

Then it was time to eat some lunch and cool down and relax. So I enjoyed myself for awhile and then went outside to wander around a bit more and take some pictures. Once I was done, it was time to get back on the bus and head to our next destination.

We arrived in Stiges which is a small beach town about 30 minutes south of Barcelona. Once we arrived we did a guided walking tour of the old town. The guide showed us a few different sites and then left us to explore on our own. I decided to stick with this woman who was on her own as well and had a Canon camera. As she stated "Us Canon owners must stick together." It was nice to be able to get pictures taken by someone who knew a bit about my camera.

We went to a restaurant on the beach and ate some sea food and had pina coladas. Then we walked along the beach a bit more and saw that there was a beach rugby tournament going on. It was interesting to watch them play on the sand. I love rugby and so did the woman I was with so we got to watch for awhile.

Finally the day was ending and it was time to head back to Barcelona. So we got on the bus and started the drive back. I did have a bad experience on the bus ride back though. I like to look out the window when we are driving so I did just that. A man in his car pulls up next to the bus and was jacking off. His dick was out and everything. Luckily the bus sped up and he was no longer in sight. Unfortunately about 4 minutes later he caught up with the bus and decided to drive right along side, he started pointing at me and then pointing and his dick. I grabbed the blinds and closed them as fast as I could but that disgusting  image was already stuck in my head.

We got back in Barcelona and I rushed back to the ship to make it to dinner. I have been trying to eat as many meals on the ship as I can to save money. Even though the food isn't that great.

Then it was time to go out. I hadn't been out at night at all yet so I decided that tonight was the night. Although I knew before I left that I would not be staying out late enough to go to the clubs. The Spaniards are crazy and start going to the clubs around 2am. Lindsay and I and a huge group of girls and a couple of guys all decided that we should go to the fountains.

We took the metro to go see the fountain light show. Once we arrived we found out that tonight was the night of the Gay Pride party. It was so much fun. There were crazy people everywhere. Me and this other girl decided to go dance in the foam! They had huge foam blowers that were creating a dance floor of foam.

Then we went to the fountains which were just behind this Pride party and got to watch the light and water show. It was pretty cool to see and is a lot like the Bellagio in Vegas but is more colorful.

After that we all decided to go find this small bar that some other SAS students were hanging out at. It took us a good 45 minutes of Metro riding and walking to find the hole in the wall. The bar wasn’t that nice, but they served massive amounts of booze for very very low prices. Next door was a Italian restaurant. A group of us decided to go there and eat while others were drinking.

The restaurant was cute and my meal was great. 2 other girls got pretty gross meals, but that’s what they get for not knowing their Italian dishes very well. After we finished eating, me and Lindsay decided to head back to the ship. It was about 12:30am and we were getting tired.

So we took a cab back and passed out as soon as we reached the room!

Today was a very very busy day for me. I left the ship around 8:30am to start off the day. I walked all the way to the end of La Rambla to board the city-sightseeing bus. From there I took the bus about 2 stops to La Pedrera. It is one of Antoni Gaudi's masterpieces. It was an apartment building made of limestone. It’s a pretty cool looking building. I paid to go inside and to be able to go up to the roof. First I went to the attic where they had models of his buildings as well as other exhibits that had to do with Gaudi's style. He was inspired by nature so his buildings always resemble pieces of nature. Then I went to the roof which is guarded by a set of warrior-like chimneys. It was very interesting. It is said that the chimneys look like the inspiration for Darth Vader. After that I was able to go into the apartment itself and see how it looked. It was very old fashioned which is expected, but still very amazing to see.

Then I hurried to get back on the bus to head to La Sagrada Familia. Once there I had to wait in line to buy my ticket, but I was very lucky to get there when I did because it only took me about 10 minutes to get to the front of the line, but by that time the line had quadrupled in size. I bought the ticket and a guided tour to learn more about this masterpiece. This is another one of Gaudi's buildings that was started in 1882, and is still not finished to this day. La Sagrada Familia literally means "Holy Family" and is going to be the world's largest cathedral. Words can not describe how amazing and intricate the design to this building. Frommer describes the vision of the building, "Gaudi envisioned 12 spires (one for each Apostle), a massive dome over the apse, and four additional higher spires, as well as one central bell tower, representing the Virgin Mary. Portals in the dramatic Nativity façade (the only façade build by Gaudi himself) represent Faith, Hope, and Charity, and Biblical elements, such as the Tree of Calgary, pack the dense surface." It is expected to be completed in 2026 so I plan on coming back to see it then. The pope is also coming this next November to bless the building.

After I was done admiring the building, I headed back to the bus to continue on the tour of the city. Today I was riding on the "blue line" so I would be seeing different parts of the city than what I had seen yesterday.

After I was done seeing everything on the tour, I decided that I should go to Montjuic and see the "largest green space in Barcelona." I was able to take some amazing pictures of the city because this was the hill overlooking the entire city. It was getting late in the day and the monuments were starting to close, so I headed back to the ship to get a good nights rest before tomorrows big day.

So this morning I woke up quite early because of how loud it is to arrive in the port. So I went and had breakfast in the LOUD dining hall. It really rumbles back there when the ship is docking.

At about 9 am, we had to head to the classrooms for the diplomatic briefing. This is possibly the most pointless thing ever. First the diplomat repeats everything that we were told the night before at the pre-port information session, and then he proceeded to ramble on about what his job is and what the point of the embassy and stuff is. After awhile I got to bored and headed back to my room to meet up with my roommate. When I got back to my room I found out that the briefing was on TV so there was no reason to even leave my room.

As soon as the diplomat was done, we got the announcement that the ship was cleared and that we were now able to leave. So Lindsay and I raced to the gangway, and we ended up being first in line. It was pretty exciting to be the first person off the ship in Spain. So we boarded the shuttle that would take us from the boat to the drop off location outside of the port. Our area of the port was under construction so we are not allowed to walk.

We got off the shuttle and then headed to La Rambla. Today was a holiday in Barcelona, the Feast of St. Juan, which is the day after the summer solstice. So most things were closed today and there weren't a lot of people out. I thought it was quite nice because it gave the opportunity to see the city and get my bearings before the next couple of days. We walked around for awhile before getting lunch. It was great to finally have food that wasn’t from the ship.

Lindsay had to  leave lunch before we could pay, because she needed to get back to the boat for here SAS trip. So I hung out for awhile and then paid the bill. I then headed back to the ship for my SAS trip. However, once I got to the ship and saw the busses that we were taking for the city orientation, I realized that I didn’t want to do it. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to take the amount of pictures that I wanted to take. Luckily there were people there who wanted to buy a ticket, so I sold my ticket to a girl who was standing there.

I got back on the shuttle bus to head back into town. The bus driver thought it was pretty funny that I had just ridden back to the ship on the bus.

In Barcelona, they had city-sightseeing tour buses. I had done this before in France and it was defiantly the best way to see the city. So I decided that I would do that here in Barcelona. I got on the bus and did the whole tour on the "red line." It went around all the important areas of town and I was able to take  quite a few pictures and get an idea of what I want to do tomorrow. I realized that I should have bought the 2 day pass, but then I found out that I could go to the tourism center at the end of La Rambla to pay the difference between the ticket (7 Euro) and then get the 2 day pass.

After that I decided to head back to the ship for the night. It had been a full and exiting day in the sun and I was quite tired. Tomorrow will be spent on that bus enjoying the city!!!

Today was the last day at sea before we get to Barcelona. It was a very mellow day which is always nice. Defiantly need to rest up before the next 4 days. This morning started out with breakfast. I have now figured out their breakfast schedule. They alternate by day what they are going to serve. Breakfast ham, then bacon, then sausage links, and then corn beef hash. It’s a good thing I figured it out because now I can wake up early for the days that I like and sleep in for the others.

I really wish I hadn't gone to global studies today. It was sooooo boring and I couldn’t even pay attention. Note to self….ditch global studies the day before port.

Drawing is such a great class. It is pretty easy and she is such a nice professor. We have a lot of free reign towards what we can draw. The port assignment is to draw 4 pages worth of drawings of things that remind me of the country. Ill probably just take pictures and sketch them later on the ship.

I really love Religious Studies. The material that we are leaning is so interesting and we are covering a lot of topics that I have always wanted to know about. The reading is very good, the class itself is a little slow. I have been getting along with the professor though and I'm pretty sure she likes me so that’s always a good thing.

After class, it was time to stake out my place at the pool. The rest of the afternoon was spent laying out by the pool and getting my tan on. Its so nice to be able to lay out till 5 in the evening. The Mediterranean sun is soo hot and strong!

This evening I spent getting my stuff together for the first day in Barcelona. We also had a pre-port briefing with a lot of good information regarding what to expect while in Spain. We should be docking tomorrow around 8am and should be able to get off the boat around 10am. I am so excited!!!!