K E L L Y L U K E R

My absolute favorite building by Gaudi.  The roof is supposed to resemble dragon scales

Parc Güell

After giving a presentation on the Italian province of Abruzzo in italian as my oral midterm, 5 friends and I began our spring break adventures.  First stop, Barcelona.

The closest airport to Siena is Pisa, so we start our trip with a 3 hour train ride to Pisa, switching trains twice.  As mentioned before, I hate RyanAir, but what other options are there for a college student budget?  Well, we finally arrive in Barcelona at the Girona airport, (another airport an hour away from the city….) and make it to our apartment a little after midnight.  Of course, the city is very much alive at this hour.  It’s Barcelona.  Our apartment is right off Las Ramblas, the main drag of the city center that runs all the way down to the port.  Ashley, Brenna, and Annabelle are all tired, so Kristina, Veronica and I decide to check out the Barcelona night scene ourselves.

We simply start walking down Las Ramblas and so many different people are handing us “tickets” for free entry into clubs.  At one point we are escorted up to a semi-fancy bar, drink some free champagne, and chill.  Given exclusive passes to a club, we head out to another bar.  At this point it is 2 am.  Now, on Barcelona time, they eat dinner from 10 to midnight, then go out to the bars midnight to 3:30 am, then go to the clubs 3:30 to 6.  While it was not our intention to follow this nightlife code, we find ourselves at another bar, chatting with some German pilots (I swear we met so many pilots on spring break).  Eventually we find the club, and man, this club is baller.  At some point, we are pretty close to the stage and the guy that is in charge (named Jamal.  He was wearing a really awesome 80’s esque costume too.  Great guy, just looking out for us American girls) brings Kristina, Veronica and I onto the private stage area so we can dance without having the sketch Barcelona dudes creeping on us.  Every time a guy would try to come past the ropes, a huge security guy would push them out. VIP STATUS WASSSUPPP.  Oh yeah, and a flow of free drinks.  Umm…. I’m not sure how it ended up being the next time I looked at my watch it was 6:30….. We were just dancing into tomorrow I guess.  Don’t worry mom, I was just trying to get the full Barcelona experience.

We spend all day Saturday sightseeing via the big red bus (seems like all the cities are copying London).  I am literally obsessed with the architecture.  Actually, Gaudí is my new artistic inspiration.  His work is just so interesting and intriguing, I love it.  I am also in love with Parc Güell (pronounced gway), a beautiful park designed by Gaudí, overlooking the city, offering a fantastic view.  We finish our day of sightseeing in the park, which was a great choice, being able to point out different landmarks we saw earlier. 

With all intentions to go out Saturday night, we decide to take a “nap”, since they don’t go to the clubs until 3:30 am anyways… FAIL.  I guess we were too exhausted.  I was happy for the sleep though. 

Next stop: Capri!