Bienvenidos a Barcelona!

Since arriving to Barcelona, life has been crazy and time has passed so quickly; I can't believe I have already been here for over a month. I have been doing lots of walking, exploring, visiting, eating, and just enjoying life. It was quite surreal when I first arrived here seeing things, hearing sounds, and smelling scents that are from a time in my life that feels like so long ago. I realize that 6 years isn't a long time in the grand scheme, and I recognize that I'm still very young; however, my mind associates all of these places and spaces with a time in my past. It has been fun rediscovering Barcelona and all of its beauty. Words can't do justice to how grateful I am for this opportunity, and how thrilled I am to be out of Helsinki (no offense Finland). The classes I am taking are also pushing me to re-learn Spanish at a rapid rate, and to also expand upon my otherwise very limited vocabulary. I'm excited to see how far I can get with expanding my knowledge in the next few months. 

Here are some pictures of what I've seen in my first month here...

I was so excited to be back at the Boqueria, the world's prettiest marketplace I have ever seen.

I naturally wanted all of it..

My second weekend here Valeria and I went on a hike to the nearby 'mountains' and it was a lovely way to spend a Saturday. Thumbs up for agave rather than snow!

I thoroughly enjoy succulents!

Cherry blossoms blooming in February, I dig it.

Valeria took this really pretty photo of the Catalan flag on the hike.

An admittedly crappy panorama of the view from the top of the hike. Barcelona is below, and then the sea.

There have been lots of sunny walks.. lots of sunny walks.

And you find lots of funny things along the way, usually.

And lots of getting lost in tiny streets.

And lunches at the beach :-)

The Sagrada Familia looks no more complete then when I was here last, but that doesn't mean it isn't any less stunning.

Arco Iris - Beautiful architecture and beautiful rainbows.

We also spent an afternoon wandering about the Picasso museum on a random free day. I snapped this when the guard wasn't looking - too bad there is a crappy glare.

Valeria took this pretty photo of our school. One more semester to go!!

Oh and our school has birds of paradise flowers - I'll take it!

There are always festivals for one saint or another. We enjoyed the festivities for Santa Eulàlia; kids swinging around bottle rockets to drum beats.

Favorite store front.

As you can see, February treated me pretty well. And lastly there is a fun story to tell regarding the next two pictures. Long story short, a Canadian girl is living in the city, and is trying to build up her portfolio for her photography business. She is in need of families and couples to photograph, because she is mostly interested in wedding/engagement photography and/or family photography (mostly because this is where the money is). Valeria promptly suggested that we were cousins and got us a free photo session.. it was hilarious pretending to be cousins, but yet so much fun wandering the streets while someone snapped our photos. We've only gotten back two of the pictures, but they're quite fun. I was trying my hardest to not act like I felt really awkward being photographed, and I think I did alright. I am quite eager to see the rest when we get them. 

Candid laughter.

Just a couple of cousins, stoked on life.

Well March has already been great, and is only going to get better. I promise to update at the beginning of April. In the meantime, enjoy this splendid photo from my new balcony as of March 1. I couldn't be more pleased about being able to see the sea from my new apartment! Bienvenidos a Barcelona!!