Metro-día

So today was a busy, fun, tiring, hectic day.
I woke up early, and eventually left for the commute to school. From the hotel, it takes about 30 minutes on the metro to get to the downtown campus of the University of Barcelona. Our stop is called Maria Christina, and is about a ten minute talk from the hotel. From there we take the green line to Espanya, where we switch to the red line, and take that to Placa Universitat. It's a pretty easy commute, and now that we all understand how the metro system works, commuting is a breeze. We'll just have to figure out which stations are closest to our host families homes--we'll find this information out tomorrow evening! I can't wait!

So after spending a little time at school for a couple meetings with the BCA directors, Macie and I decided that we were going to stay downtown till out evening classes started. We took the train back to Las Ramblas, the street we visited last night, and got a delicious lunch at a pita-restaurant, making us feel like we were back on the streets of Athens all over again. We pulled out our cameras after that, and began walking around the area near Las Ramblas, and we found ourselves at the Port of Barcelona, surrounded by all the beautiful boats that make up the Barcelona Yacht Club. The mix of the sea breeze and the beautiful views of some of the city's architecture made for a perfect afternoon of picture taking and sight seeing.

One of the things that I have come to realize about this city is, like Athens, it is an incredible blend of the old and new. Contemporary buildings house art painted decades ago. I snapped a picture as we were walking back to the metro--I'll attach it. I love how the sculpture stands right next to the old tower in a perfect blend of past and present. The whole city is like this, and it's really neat to see.

After afternoon tea at a cafe in Placa Universitat, we had class, and came back to the hotel for a quiet night of homework and relaxation. We are slowly getting used to the bustle of rush-hour metro traffic, but it's pretty exhausting!
More tomorrow...