I went to Barcelona and spoke Russian all day

Barcelona is probably one of the most breathtaking cities I have ever visited. It is such a rich, vibrant, colorful, dark, and ornate city, that you cant help but to stop and stare at all of the beautiful buildings that surround you.

I started my day by taking an early morning train from Salou to Barcelona.  Arriving at 10, I managed to immediately get lost.  However, I quickly found my way to a beautiful square (which was a reoccurring theme throughout the day.) My first stop in Barcelona was Palac Guell. Designed by Antoni Gaudi for the Guell familiy, this was Gaudi's first major building in the city. This building is--and rightly so--most famous for its ornate chimneys. I am quite fond of going on the rooftops of buildings, and Palac Guell was certainly no exception.

 After Palac Guell, I went to La Boqueira, a market off of Las Ramblas. There, you could purchase any food you wanted (ranging from fresh seafood, to pastries, to fake or real fruit!) I walked around enjoying fresh mango, passionfruit, and strawberry juice. Afterwards, I kept up my tradition of finding postcards, stamps, and a mailbox. So far, Barcelona has given me the most trouble with my tradition. After--once again--getting lost looking for stamps, I found a beautiful square to enjoy lunch. I paid 10 euro (or roughly 15 dollars) for a delicious meal. The menu del dia offered a traditional spanish carpaccio, seafood, and dessert. It was here that I stopped and realized that each city has its own sound. Oakland, for instance, can be recognized by ambulances, helicopters, and the sound of students walking (from ten 'til to the top of every hour).  The unmistakable Adhan can be heard in Istanbul and Dubai. Barcelona, however, is full of many different noises. Musicians, gypsies, tourists and locals all crowd the streets of Barcelona, singing, talking, and laughing.; mixed in with pigeons, are green parrots.

After lunch, I made my way up Las Ramblas, to a post office, and up to Park Guell. 

As soon as I set foot into this magical park, I couldn't stop smiling. Every care I had in the world was left at the enchanting entrance gates. This is also when my camera died, but at that point it didnt matter; I had a perfect view of Barcelona, the work of a world famous artist and smiling faces surrounding me.  I decided to spend some time just relaxing on the beautiful mosaic benches and offering to take photographs of families where one parent seemed to be struggling to take a photograph of their kids and spouse. 

Accidentally, I met Lena. Lena is from Moscow, and was visiting Barcelona for a second time on her way to Vienna. After chatting in Russian for about an hour, she offered to show me around the city. Being alone, I wasnt in any position to turn down the offer. She even offered to take pictures for me and to send them to me when she had access to a computer! We enjoyed coffee con leches in a park adjacent to Sagrada Familia, rode the subway together, and looked over the city from the Magic Fountain of Montjuic. In a few short hours, I had made a friend.   It was actually really cool having to speak in Russian all day, and I was proud of myself for doing do. It was refreshing to hang out with someone closer to my own age than my family, and to discuss topics such as travel, politics, real estate, and even boys! 

That's what I always heard happens abroad: you go to a country and meet and befriend people from all over the world. Truthfully, I never realized it was that easy! And while I did enjoy the first half of my day before I met Lena, it was so exciting to have a new friend to experience a beautiful city with, especially when forced to speak in Russian.