spain {barcelona and mahon}

the part of the trip that i felt most comfortable was definently the spanish portion.  as a spanish minor in school. i could finally understand a lot of what they were saying!  speaking to everyone still kicked my ass though.  they don't exactly teach you how to say tan espadrille in spanish class!  

we spent two days in barcelona and i was slightly disappointed with the city, but in a way it was one of my favorite portions of the trip.  let me explain.... i've always wanted to go to spain and i fell in love with all of the sites we went to.  between the popular destinations la sagrada familia and monserat, our food favorites like paella for lunch, and the amount of handmade shoes i bought in spain alone, it was a dream.  however, due to the economy issue in barcelona, i found the city kind of, dare i say it, dirty.  i really don't expect much from cities.  i know most of them aren't the cleanest places in the world.  but barcelona was down right disgusting in places.  which was kind of a disappointment.

mahon, on the other hand, was simply amazing.  we wandered around the town and ate at a seaside cafe for lunch.  the beachy atmosphere was a nice break from the city life we had experienced the past two days in barcelona.

 

 *this picture is special to me.  on monserat there was a church where you could light candles for loved ones.  i said a little prayer for my dear grandfather, who died a few years ago, and for everett, my friend who died this past may.*

revisit the italian portion of the trip here.
and finally, up next will be france and monaco!