Sun, Gaudi, and Catalan v. Spanish

What can I say? Barcelona is, hands down, one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been to. This time leaving France was no problem. It had been snowing off and on for days (with no end in sight) and I hadn't seen the sun since January. Knowing that the forecast for Barcelona was sunny and around 60 degrees made me so anxious I could hardly stand the wait! I've always been someone who is affected by weather and sunshine. This being said, I can't imagine why I've lived virtually my entire life in the land of the six month winter. Equally shocking is the fact that I somehow landed myself on a plateau in the middle of France where it gets colder than most anywhere else in the country, save the actual Alps. Needless to say, I am LOVING my time in Spain. Immediately upon stepping off the airplane, I felt my spirits lift and couldn't wipe the grin off of my face. Since then, everytime I step outside, I am reminded just how lucky I am to be in such an amazingly beautiful place in February, when everyone needs a little sunshine the very most.
It also doesn't hurt that Barcelona happens to be conveniently located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The very first thing Corinne and I did after dropping our stuff at the hostel was take a stroll down to the beach! Granted, 60 degrees isn't quite warm enough to swim, but it was certainly warm enough to plant ourselves at a little beach-side cafe to have some lunch and take in our surroundings. After seriously considering ordering a liter (read: a LOT) of Sangria, we decided we should save that for later and try to see some of the sights.
We spent most of our time in Barcelona just wandering, enjoying the sun, the architecture, and the Spanish all around us. On our second day, we headed up to the Parc Guell. This place was, for me, the highlight of our trip. It is such a beautiful place and seeing so much color (in the form of mosaics) was a welcome change from France. Another highlight was the 10PM dinner we had on our second night. We forced ourselves to wait until a socially acceptable Spanish dinnertime and made our way to a restaurant in a square full of palm trees with our roommates from our hostel. It was really fun to just talk with new people and enjoy pizza better than you can get anywhere in France as far as I'm concerned. Plus, the night before, we had tried Paella...and let's just say we didn't want anymore Spanish food after that.
Corinne left this morning, so I was left to my own devices in Barcelona while waiting for my 9PM flight to Malaga. While I obviously love traveling, I've always been afraid to travel alone, especially in a country where I don't speak the language, but today I had no choice. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do in Barcelona. For one day. All alone. It ended up being a beautiful morning and I spent it just walking around Barcelona, stopping every once in awhile for cafe con leche and a place to sit and read. I also challenged myself to speak Spanish, as pitiful as my skills may be. Even if the only things I really managed to successfully communicate were 'vino blanco' and 'por favor,' nobody spoke English back to me like they do in Paris where my langauge skills are definitely passable. This practice in Spanish language got me thinking about my so called 'plan' to go to Mexico next year to teach English and learn Spanish. The first two days in Barcelona I felt literally paralyzed by my inability and couldn't even muster up a 'si' rather than a 'oui.' Today, however, things were different! Maybe I can only understand a quarter of the things that are said to me (if that), but that's already something! I think the trickiest part might be finding Spanish words instead of French words and not just making up new words assuming that they'll be similar in the two languages. Really, I've heard Spanish should be easier than French... I'm not so sure. We'll see how I feel on Tuesday. Maybe after over a week in Spain I'll be singing a different tune!

Now I am about to head back to my 'hostal,' pick up my giant backpack, and head to the airport. The sun in Barcelona is gone, and it's actually even raining a bit. In Malaga, however, it should be sunny the entire time I'm there. I kind of feel like I'm literally chasing the sun, and I don't mind it one bit! Maybe Kim and I will chase it all the way to Morocco!