Futbol Barcelona Style and Dali's Weirdness

Another week’s worth of catching up is in order.

You all might have noticed my excited post and pictures last week about the FC Barcelona soccer match. I went to Barcelona’s soccer stadium, Camp Nou, with a capacity for almost 99,000 people. It was a Champion’s League game; these are the best club teams from Europe and most likely the world. From my pictures you’ll be able to see that the stadium was relatively empty when we got in and then it filled up so that there were almost no empty seats. One thing that I thought was strange was the fact that not everyone wore team colors. Most of the people sitting around me were middle aged men still wearing their suits from work. It definitely wasn’t like standing in the student section at a Mountaineer football game. I got to see Messi score two goals and do a lot of sick tricks to embarrass the other team. Many people would argue that he is the best player in the world right now. The final score was Barca 3- Milan 1. This was definitely an event that I will never forget.

Friday was another study abroad group trip. This time we took a bus to Figures to see the Salvador Dali museum. I can’t even find the words to describe that place. It was weird, but very intriguing. Luckily, we had a tour guide to explain his more popular pieces. His art is full of metaphors; even the pieces that appear to just be portraits of people. Second, we went to the town of Besalu. It is a small, medieval village much like Toledo, but much much smaller. We only had an hour there so once again I hurriedly walked around the town trying to take as many pictures as possible before meeting back at the bus. I was so efficient that I accidentally gave myself too much time and ended up with some free time to sit back and take in the beautiful surroundings.

Sunday I rented a bike along with some other friends and we rode around Barcelona for four hours before our time limit was up. Not only was it nice to get back in touch with the city I’m living in, it was great to do some real physical activity. We explored new parts of town that I probably wouldn’t have found otherwise. Barcelona is huge, but very easy to navigate by bike. This inspired Leah and I to get out and see more parks in the city. There are gems hidden everywhere. Monday we spent 2 hours in a park that was about a 10 minute walk from our apartment. On a map it looks much further away.

This weekend is my second attempt at going to Norway. Plans have changed this time. I’m very glad that Leah is going with me. We decided to travel to Bergen instead of Oslo. Bergen is on the Atlantic coast and much closer to the fjords that Norway is so famous for. From Oslo, we just wouldn’t have the time to see the fjords. I can’t wait to tell you all about it. This is the one trip I’ve been looking forward to more than anything else while in Europe!