Paris was a whirlwind of tourist pictures and comparing study abroad stories. Andeville was more calming, and being able to carry a conversation in French with the Portier's made me happy. I love spending time at the Portier's house. They really do feel like family, even though I have seen them a total of 3 times in my life. The central heating in their house was broken which made cozying up in front of the TV with the whole family (except Alizée who is studying in London this semester) so much better. After spending a wonderful two days chez the Portier's, reconnecting with my original France family, it was time to head to warmer and crazier Spain.
10 days of travel= 3 boarding passes, 2 train tickets, 1 bus ticket
Jason and I in Paris
Ana and I repping 106!
Portiers meet Mertens'
Paul and I went to the Beauvais airport and met up with 3 other Bordeaux students who were on the same flight. After the short, 1 hour infomercial of a flight (they tried to see us cigarettes, perfumes, lotto cards, drinks), we were in the lively city of Barcelona. I was getting anxious to see the hostel, the girls and of course, Chris. We arrived at HelloBCN, our stellar hostel (compliments to Paul for finding it), sans problème. Even though my brother was fast asleep when we arrived, the speed of his rally was incredible. The Mertens clan was reunited in Spain, ready to hit Las Ramblas and the marina.
Day 2 we went to Parc Guell and the Sagrada Familia. Both made the top 5 favorite things to do in Spain for sure. The parc was multi-layered and was designed by Gaudi. He also designed the Sagrada Familia, which we went to only after getting a traditional Spanish afternoon drink of Vermouth and tapas at a local hangout. The Sagrada Familia was one of the most impressive, beautiful, modern and colorful churches I have ever seen. The attention Gaudi paid to how the sun would hit the stain-glass windows to create colorful and geometric shapes all around the dwarfing and pristine white walls of the church was unbelievable.
Mertens clan
View from Parc Guell
Sagrada familia
We then got Paella for dinner, only to have an accordion player serenade Chris. It was an amazing seafood and veggie meal for only 13€. We watched the end of the Barcelona soccer game at a bar and ended up walking around the Marina again.
Day 3: Monserrat. This mountain range that is one hour outside of Barcelona was such a different side of Barcelona to see. While the monastery was pretty, we set off to climb the highest peak- Sant Jeroni. In less than 2 hours, after water breaks, pictures, singing and flip videos, we made it to the top. Such a gorgeous view of Spain-I had no idea it was such a mountainous country!
That night, everyone was exhausted but Sandy, Adrianna and Lea were able to cook a huge pasta feed for the group before setting out to Moog to enjoy some minimalist techno Chris was stoked on listening to. Moog in a sentence: minimalist techno is not so good, but we sure know how to start the dance party at a club.
Day 4 Chris, Paul and I met up with a friend from Stone Church, Dan, who is studying there for the semester. He took us to his favorite sandwich place, the beach, another old church, the Olympic stadium, Parc Montjuic and the castle to watch the sunset over the city. It was so neat to reunite with part of my real family and my church family all the way in Europe. It just goes to show what a close-knit community Stone Church is.
Stone Church reunion
That night, everyone went out, but I stayed behind due to some lagging food poisoning. All was well, however, because I got to sleep it off and get ready for Malaga and the 9AM flight we had the next morning.
Barcelona was such a blast--I can't believe Chris and Paul have already came and left. It was truly amazing to see them and really spend time with them. I miss you both already!
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