Today we left Andorra and drove south to Barcelona again. We'll be here for the next six days. The hotel we're staying at is in a completely different part of town than the first time, but I still can get around because of the metro.
At the hotel in Barça, we had our last lunch together as a group. While I'll be happy to get home for a little bit and am excited to move to Mexico, I'm a little sad that my time in Europe is drawing to a close. I've had so much fun exploring new places, trying new foods, and immersing myself in different cultures! But of course, there's the fact that this is still a class, so there's a term paper due at the end of the month (the day after I get back home, as a matter of fact).
I have just under a week left here in Spain. We have a few more planned activities on the itinerary, but a lot more free time to explore, hang out and study as well. Today I went to the Museum of Catalonian Art, which was one of the first places I visited (from the outside) on my first day in Barcelona. I brought my school ID with me and was able to get the student rate! I spent nearly 3 hours inside the museum and saw every single exhibit. (At this museum, you keep your ticket the entire time and every time you reach a new exhibit, you present your ticket to prove that you didn't sneak in). The museum has the largest collection of medieval (romanesque) art I've ever seen! (No pictures were allowed in the galleries, so I only have pictures of the architecture of the building inside and out.) There were also modernist pieces by Picasso and Dalí, a baroque period section... My favorite exhibit was on a history of coins in the region. (Fun fact: the study of coins or the collection of coins as a hobby are both known as numismatics.) There were 2000 year old coins from the Roman empire, all the way to today's euro and (pretend) debit and credit cards. The best part was after you saw the modern money, it went back to the ancient currencies--that were counterfeited! Apparently people have been trying to get something for nothing since the dawn of time. And again, you could see the tools used in counterfeiting and the fake coins themselves through the ages, all the way to the (old) $100 US bill and euros. There was even a machine to check your euros to make sure they were legit!
The best part about going to the museum was that I had to take the metro by myself, in an area I didn't know very well, to an area I didn't know very well--and it was a success! On the return trip, I had more difficulty because when I exited the metro I got a little turned around. I headed in what felt like the best direction and, while at a deli buying a pasta salad for dinner, asked the owner for directions and was only 3 blocks away from where I was trying to go! I also stopped at a greengrocer to buy some fruits before arriving back at the hotel, safe and sound. Since I'm all caught up with classwork, I spent the rest of the evening blogging and uploading pictures (of course).
These last few days will be short, my readership, but the adventure will not end here! I'll update until the day before I leave, but the blog will go on hiatus for a week while I relax at home with family before moving to Mexico. And then... more pictures, more stories, more learning. But don't leave yet! Tomorrow I'm going to someplace... "top secret", at least for now. I probably won't be able to take pictures but I'll write all about it as soon as I can.
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