Birthday Weekend

For my Birthday, I got a five day weekend. Barcelona has a lot of strikes and holidays for the university students. When these events fall on a Monday, I am given the gift of a super long weekend. Thursday night, I went to George Payne with some friends, then we went to Ryan's, and then we went to Temple Bar.

Friday, I woke up early and went to a place called Brunch & Cake with most of the people from the same group as the night before. I ordered French Toast, and it was delicious. Usually breakfast here is made up of croissants and coffee, so it was nice to have something that I have missed from home.

After brunch, we all went back to our apartments, changed, and got ready to go to Sitges for a beach day. I was going to spend the day studying, but it had been on my list of things to do before I left home to spend the day in the close by beach town, and I am very glad that I went. 

Although there were some mixed opinions, I liked the Sitges beach much more than the Barcelona beach. There were less people, and it seemed more peaceful. Also, there were some really cool buildings and shops around the beach. Lauren and I went swimming, and it was cold, but really fun.

After spending a few hours on the beach, we all decided that we were hungry, so we went to a Basque restaurant and ordered pinchos, which are pieces of bread with some sort of topping. For example, one of my pinchos had tortilla espanola (kind of like an omelette) on top, and the other had a Galician pepper and cider chorizo on top. Both were delicious and went well with the glass of white wine that I ordered. After the beach, I went back to my apartment so I could get work done before my Birthday.

When I woke up the next morning, I went to shower and my host family wished me a Happy Birthday. Then, I headed over to Brunch & Cake for the second day in the row because I knew they had Birthday cake. I ordered red velvet cake and a glass of white wine.

After cake, Alejandra and I went to buy bottles of wine, and then we went to Cuitadella, a park, to drink them. Although we each had a bottle of wine, we weren't worried about being judged because the only person who could see us was a crazy bird lady who we decided must also have fifty-four cats at home. 

After the park, I went back to my apartment because my family was having a Birthday celebration for me. We ate cake and drank cava, and then I left to have dinner with Jenna and Lauren Benne. After dinner, and another glass of cava, we went to a chupitos (shots) bar. Afterwards, we went to a bar called Shamrock, and then Danni and Sam walked me home. 

I spent the rest of my weekend studying and writing a paper. I also went to this really cool candle shop in Barcelona. It's the oldest store in the city, and it opened in 1761. They have candles in a lot of really cool shapes and sizes. 

Today, I had a final exam and I turned in a paper for my poetry class. I am not sure how well I did in either class, but I am glad that they are over. 

Tonight, I am going to a "despedida," or a good-bye party. I will be home in five days, which is really hard to believe. Between now and then, I will be doing a lot of studying and going to the beach. This semester has gone by so fast, and I really don't want it to end.