So, my Spring break started when Mom was here visiting! We had so much fun going around Salzburg. We went to the Hallein salt mines, the Festung castle, Mirabell gardens, up and down the river, Hellbrunn Palace and Sound of Music Pavilion, Mirabell Market, and she tried lots of yummy food as well including kebaps, gelato, Sachertorte, Wienerschnitzel, pastries, different drinks and some pizza! She saw the Augustiner Beer Hall and we watched some movies at night to wind down as well, and had lots of fun times. It was rainy for some of the time but she got two solid fair weather days, so I'm glad she saw Salzburg in the sun as well :) I'm just so thankful she was able to come visit and that I could see her almost exactly halfway through my stay! It definitely makes Europe less lonely.
No, I didn't forget about my blog I've just been really busy traveling with Mom, and then after that with Kris! The day Mom left I packed my bags and left to meet Kris in Barcelona the next day. It was one of the longest days ever..I had to get up in the morning, take a train from Salzburg to Munich, take an S-Bahn from the train station to the airport, had a 4 or 5 hour layover, flew from Munich to Zurich, had to wait another 2 or 3 hours, and flew from Zurich to Barcelona. It was a very, VERY long day, very tiring and I couldn't sleep because I was alone and nobody to watch my luggage. I slept for maybe a very short time on the planes, but not much at all. It was my first time flying alone, and it's a little scary, but nothing I can't handle. I was proud of myself for figuring everything out!
Kris and I only had about 4 hours in between when I arrived in Barcelona, before we flew AGAIN to Mallorca, Spain! It's an island about a 50 minute plane ride from Barcelona, and it is beautiful. It was totally worth it, but let me tell you, I was overtired for the first day or so after the constant traveling! We didn't have perfect weather in Mallorca at first but by the end of our trip we got some nice sun. Luckily it never constantly rained or anything like that. Mallorca was just what I wanted though. It had an island feel, turquoise/blue water, white sand, everyone relaxing, on vacation and ready to hit the beach. Almost everyone we met was really friendly, and the cool thing about the beach area we were at, El Arenal, was that it has a heavy German influence, so there was a mix of Spanish and German. That was pretty cool since Kris is studying Spanish, and I'm doing German. We spent as much time as we could on the beach, laying around, attempting to swim (I only waded because the weather wasn't the hottest, but the water was definitely at least a little warmer than the Atlantic..it's still early though) shell collecting (I found some pretty ones!), going to a few restaurants, and also one day we rented bikes which was a really great decision, and biked about 18 miles total to Palma and back, which gave us some BEAUTIFUL views, good exercise and we got to see Palma, which is where a cathedral and the castle are (I think it's the capital of Mallorca, and it's a big city compared to where we were). That was a lot of fun, and I'm so glad I got to see more of the island that way!
I was really sad to leave Mallorca, but also excited to see more of Barcelona! Since I hadn't even seen Barcelona in daylight before, it was nice to finally see it. We haven't been doing a lot of crazy sightseeing because I think we're both pretty worn out from all the traveling before, but I have seen so far, Park Guell, which is a park designed by the famous Gaudi architect (unfortunately I hadn't heard of him before being in Barcelona, but he does a lot of cool work) basically it's a park you can walk through with lots of pretty tile work, sculptures covered in tile, and cool shaped buildings, tunnels and stairs. There's also a famous dragon that everyone is obsessed with for some reason. It was pretty cool.
Also this morning Kris and I went running and ran to La Sagrada Familia which is a huge Catholic church in the middle of Barcelona (also designed by Gaudi) it's really beautiful and so unique. The interesting thing about this church, is that Gaudi actually passed away in the middle of building it, so it's still in construction today and being finished according to his plans. I think it's pretty amazing the way it is but apparently it's going to be even larger. I looked it up and it's anticipated to be finished in the year 2026. He started adding his design to the church in 1883 and died in 1926, so that can give you just a small idea of how complex the church is. It has sculptures just covering it and a really intricate shape, I can't really describe it but I got pictures! I also looked it up and apparently the Sagrada Familia has divided some people in Barcelona because some people say that it's not necessarily being built the way Gaudi would have wanted, as well as that it may overtake another Barcelona cathedral, the Santa Eulalia, which I also want to see.
Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and 75 degrees with a 0% chance of rain, so I think we're going to the beach in the morning before Kris has his internship. Other things on my list are, La Rambla, which is a famous street in Barcelona with street performers and other stores, the outdoor market, the Magic Fountain which plays on weekend nights and has a light show that goes with the fountain part, as well as hopefully the Casa Batllo, which is another Gaudi building.
The culture here is definitely very different from the German culture, I guess not really in a way I can describe in words, but the people are obviously different as well as the language. Some of the people here dress very nicely but others seem more casual (sweatshirts, etc) wearing things you would never see in Austria. The people seem..louder? There are more pushy street vendors trying to get you to buy things, the people just seem to talk louder in general. I have heard that stereotype before, and I think it's partly true. It seems like a pretty laid back culture, but I think that might be true for Europe in general. Barcelona is also a HUGE city, it's the second largest in Spain with 1,621,537 people (I just looked that up) so it's a lot different than Salzburg, which has about 145,000 people...just as a comparison Portland, Maine has 66,194 people. For some reason I thought Salzburg was smaller than Portland, but I guess not. Anyway, I really like the size of Salzburg. Someday I wouldn't mind living in a city about the size of Salzburg, but probably not any larger. Who knows though! Europe has really opened my eyes to many different styles of living, and I always have been intrigued by living in a city, so you never know.
Anyway, I'm glad I have seen some Spanish culture in my travels. Now I've experienced German/Austrian culture, Italian, and Spanish. Up next in May..French culture! And I'm hoping I have enough travel money left to get to London and Berlin, Germany as well, but we'll see how it goes! London is my top priority for June before I leave!
Well, I suppose I'll do a little homework and relax before Kris is out of his internship. I will try to update again sooner rather than later!
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