Park Guell, La Mercé, y Costa Brava...

So here I am again, sitting in front of this computer in a complete loss for words. I thought, previous to this week of course, that Barcelona and its surroundings couldn't possibly get any better. And then, they did. I also continue to forget all the insane things that I want to relay - so hopefully as I type it will slowly start coming back to me. Other than the normal life of going to class (or in my case - not going to class), taking the metro, buying groceries, drinking sangría and eating paella  - this week has been astoundingly more fantastic. This Wednesday began a weekend long celebration in Barcelona called La Mercé. This festival celebrates Barcelona's patron saint, Nostra Senyora de la Mercé (Our lady of Mercy), and ignites the entire city (literally). There are concerts 24/7, excluding siesta time of course, vendors all around, magicians, jugglers, and various other crazy activities. Basically, you can just walk around the city and stumble on something fantastical. There are parades of gegants (giants) and castellers, human castle builders. We haven't quite caught the human castles yet because apparently they get better each day and we're waiting for the finale tomorrow. =] We have found some awesome concerts and weird things like people in giant balls dancing to songs... (there are actually people in those white balls in the picture above... WHAT?!?).

Other than exploring the city during Mercé, my friends and I finally got to make it up to Park Guell. This park, that was actually designed to be an upperclass neighborhood by famous modernist architect Gaudí, is now a national park with stunning architecture, gem structures, and boasts a beautiful view of Barcelona (check out the view on the left and the cool gem thing to the right). We walked around this park for a good 2 hours just admiring the beauty. It was pretty incredible.

Yesterday, a big group of us grabbed a bus to Tossa de Mar - a lovely little beach city on Costa Brava. There we took a boat with a glass bottom on the Mediterranean sea to see the fish and the bottom of the sea. The water was astoundingly beautiful, and the landscapes were breathtaking. There was also this awesome old fort that we climbed up and saw this view of the town.

Honestly, I don't think that pictures can do any of this any justice. You guys should definitely stalk my pictures on facebook for some more good stuff, but I can definitely say that you can't even begin to imagine the beauty unless you saw it with your eyes. Yes, this is a little plug for Barcelona, and Spain and so you should save your money and travel here. It hasn't stopped amazing me since I arrived here almost a month ago. I can't get over the lifestyle, the tapas, the bars, the views, the people and everything else you can think of.

This place may just be the most perfect place on the planet.

xoxo until next time...