Tarragona, Casa Batllo and my amazing burger.

I had a really packed three-day weekend. All of Barcelona celebrated Sant Joan – a midsummer solstice celebration which marks the first day of summer. Besides New Years Eve, this is the biggest party of the year. People huddle around bonfires, spend time with family, party on the beach and go to night clubs. On Thursday, I went with a group of interns to a club called Opium and later to the beach. There were lots of fireworks and there are even some going on today – and its Monday!

On Friday, I visited Casa Batllo, one of Gaudi’s houses. There isn’t one straight line in this house. Ballasters are carved to perfectly fit hands, chimneys are covered in mosaic tile and stained glass windows surround the house to allow natural light to creep in. The house was spectacular and photos didn’t do it any justice.

On Saturday I visited Tarragona. This is the southernmost city in all of Catalonia. It is filled with ruins, medieval neighborhoods and beaches that remind me of Florida. I never realized how lucky I am to be a Floridian and live so close to beautiful beaches. Here is a picture at one of the ruins. This particular site was once a circus.

On Sunday, there was a lot of getting lost and visiting a boring museum. But all that really mattered was this delicious burger!!! My lord was it goooood!!!

Peace and Closure.

This weekend I re-visited Montserrat and finally got to go inside the infamous monastery that we missed the first time around. It was part of the weekend excursion to Costa Brava, Spain. I will be blogging about the entire weekend tomorrow, but tonight a much-needed part of the trip will be highlighted.

Outside of this sacred monastery, I lit two candles in memory of two very important people who have impacted my life. It was the most emotional part of my trip, but it ended it with a sense of peace and closure - much needed closure.

Costa Brava.

On April 18th, two months ago, the Stephanie and Kristine Spain Luncheon was initiated to help raise money for an additional excursion to Costa Brava Spain. We were able to raise $600, and that covered the excursion perfectly.

That excursion was this past weekend and it was absolutely amazing (I have to start using another word besides amazing - like, phenomenal? idk.) This trip was well worth the additional $300.

We also went to the Dali Museum. It was really... cool. That is the only thing I can say about it. It was a cool museum that always kept you interested. It wasn't the typical art gallery. The museum itself was his art. After the museum we headed Besalu - a very cute medieval looking town. We shopped a little then went to the hotel.

The hotel was beautiful and I was shocked to hear that the company I intern for represents it!!!! It had great beds, air conditioner, DELICIOUS breakfast and dinner and decor that was jaw-dropping. It was right on the beach and located in Palamos - a province of Costa Brava. The town was so relaxing and beautiful.

On Saturday, we went to Museo del Pescau (Fish Museum), attended a cooking demonstration and went on a guided tour of Palamos with a very animated "Mountain Man" named Jordy. On Sunday, Father's Day, we went to Girona and Monteserrat (again).

At Girona, we had some WONDERFUL lunch and again, did some shopping. I bought Turron - best described as a spanish nougat typically made with honey, sugar, egg whites and some type of nut. My mom loves it and I bought her two kinds. I tried some at the store and it was delicious.

My trip here just keeps getting better and better. I have made such good friends and have seen such beautiful places. I really don't want to leave. I have four weeks left and I will be taking advantage of every minute I have left here in Barca. ;) Enjoy some of my favorite pics from this weekend. There will be more on my facebook by tomorrow :)

Montserrat & Flamenco.

Yesterday I hiked Montserrat and I am feeling it today. Actually my legs aren't too sore. I expected Def Con 5 this morning. In total we hiked 6.3 miles. That is probably the most I have ever done. I feel like the hikes in Costa Rica were shorter - but then again, those hikes were steeper which made me extremely sore.

So as most of you know I am athletically challenged. This makes it no surprise that I slipped and fell on my tail bone on the way down. But hey, no worries. I had brought Tylenol because I had a feeling that I would fall. It didn't stop me though. I kept going and even went on a seperate trail to see a holy cave that honors god's ressurection.

It was sooooo cold!!! I went thinking that it would be 87 degrees. NOT. It was in the 60s and even colder at the top. Apparently Google isn't smart enough to give me the right temperature for the right Montserrat. So I went in a tank and shorts and had to buy a fleece jacket. I actually like the jacket. At first I thought I had bought it for nothing because I instantly got hot as I started to hike, but once we got to the top I was so grateful.

Tonight we went to a town called Raval. After a short tour, we went to go see live flamenco. Those dancers are so talented!! This is a photo of us with a giant cat found in Raval. Wish I could tell you what it signifies, but I was too focused on getting a picture with it and didn't listen to our adviser :)

My favorite ladies in Spain!

Typical Tourist.

Yesterday I met up with some of the new interns and went on the Barcelona Bus Tour. This just made me fall in love with the city even more. It took us to the beach, Sagrada Familia, inside the city center and various other landmarks within Barcelona. The bus was a typical two level bus and we sat on the top. It was so relaxing and at one point, I fell asleep! HA!

Later on that night, I met up with some more new interns, has some drinks and headed to a club called Catwalk. Great music, great people, and great fun!! Definitely one of my best nights here in Barca. I like saying that... Barca (sounds so chic and just rolls off the tongue :)).

Today, we finally made it to the beach. I got a henna tattoo. The Indian guys who were pacing the beach looking for customers didn't know how to spell Barcelona! That's like me not knowing how to spell America, Florida or the United States. What the heck people? Anywho, I was able to talk the price down from €25 to €10 :) So at least it was a bargain.

Tomorrow I will being going to Montserrat with a group of friends. Should be fun. It's known for being an amazing hiking location. Take a look at some of the pictures of last night and of the bus tour and keep checking my facebook for more photos. I wish I could add ALL of the pics from the bus tour on here. At the end, I added a couple that caught my eye.

Other interns, Maria and Danielle <3

Roomies. We are so lucky to have Johnny. He's our body gaurd :)

Kristine and I before we head out.

This is one of the hotels the company I intern for represents. It's the closest one too :) I saw it on the bus tour and screamed a little :)

Besos that way? OK!

Cultured even on a rainy day.

Today was a miserable, rainy day. Since I didn't have work, I woke up nice and late :) We went to the mercat (Catalan word for market) and bought some veggies, fruits and pastries. YUM! I feel like I have been very busy which causes me to blog less and less. This past week I started my Italian class, took a salsa class, and enjoyed some sangria with the only Mexican mariachi band in town lol.

Italian - Um, its gonna take me a little while to get the hang of it. I understand half of which she is saying which is bazaar, but speaking is a while other obstacle in itself. Since I am going to Italy next month, my goal is to learn the survival phrases by the time the trip comes. I really like the new interns in the class too :) I feel like we can definitely have some good times!

Salsa class - Really fun, very basic and VERY crowded! But overall it was an experience. And I think I can say this in my blog because I don't think this particular person will read this but - some one reallllllly smelled. And oh lord, that just made the experience a tad dreadful. Im also wearing my new ZARA shirt in this pic :)

Mexican Mariachi - These people should go on the X-Factor or something. They were so good!! They tried playing puerto rican songs for me but it was a fail. Apparently Mexicans aren't big fans of Marc Anthony, Ricky Martin or Selena Quintanilla (even though SHE was mexican!!)

ROOMIES :)

Yet another chocolate croissant that I ate earlier this week. YUM!!!!

A few things I picked up at the mercat today :)

I prefer "nude" as a color choice.

Some may feel liberalized while nude, but I don't. Especially at the beach. This weekend I went to Sitges, a small town filled with lots of "personality" and known for its constant beautiful weather and beach.

We didn't bring swim suits because the day started out so cold. It turned out to be a beautiful day and we ended up being fully clothed at the beach while others were wearing their swimsuits, OR nothing at all!!!

We still made the best of it and hung out at the beach and later did some shopping. Although I expected a little more from this town, I have to admit it was very cute.

I am looking forward to taking the Barcelona Bus Tour this week. I can't wait to see what Barcelona STILL has to offer!! Including un-nude beaches lol.

La Sagrada Familia.

I have never seen such a beautiful church in my life. The second I walked in, I cried. We also went on the lift and it took us to the very top of La Sagrada Familia. We were able to see all of Barcelona and the view was breathtaking (the stairs on the way back down freaked me out though).

Words aren't enough to explain the beauty of this church. Whether you define yourself as a religious person or not, this place has the capability of making you believe in a higher power. I cannot explain the feeling that went through me as I walked in and saw this massive church. This kind of energy makes you believe that anything is possible. It makes you feel safe. And you can't help but feel that you are in the presence of complete and utter greatness. This kind of energy makes you cry.

I was left in awe. Enjoy the photos and keep in mind that these photos do not depict the detail and energy that left me with goosebumps.

Outside the church.

This is the ceiling!

As we were going down the stairs.

Add these numbers from left to right, right to left, diagonally, outer four corners or inner four corners and it sums 33 - the age Jesus was sacrificed.

The main entrance door of the church - it documents the last days of Jesus' life.

Bulls Reunited.

Mr. Juan Gonzalez graced us with his presence last night. It was so great to meet up with a friend from home. Since we didn't have direct communication through phones, we used Facebook. This resulted in delayed communication which resulted in Kristine and I waiting in the lobby for half an hour.

After bumping into Juan's family in the lobby, we were on our way to find a restaurant. So we found one, then left. Kristine wanted McDonalds and I was TOTALLY okay with that! Even though Kristine got yelled at for taking pictures of the menu, we still enjoyed ourselves.

Juan is in for the time of his life and I truly wish him well. Tomorrow he leaves for Italy on a cruise. Then he will visit Paris. He told us that the trip had been in the works for two years. I am so excited for him. And I loved catching up with him. Before we departed, we took a picture with our signature bull horns. Representing USF til the end baby!!!

Sneak peek of where I work!!!

For those of you who do not know, I intern at IMS Consulting. They do public relations, sales and marketing for luxury hotels and when I say luxury, I mean LUXURY. These hotels are insanely beautiful and very expensive. They are commonly used as venues for high profile events and they accommodate celebrities, CEO's and very wealthy people (who are respectively considered VIP's).

Today, Jessica, the youngest and newest employee at IMS, showed me the route to the post office and also showed me where they commonly meet clients. We bonded and she told me that she interned for fashion PR companies in London and New York. I told her that I would be here for two months and she said that it was not enough time! That's a first!

I look forward to shadowing the other employees. There are some events in the near future that I get to help plan and hopefully I get to sit in on a meeting with journalists. They work directly with Vogue, ELLE, Glamour, Esquire, Harpers Bazaar and other popular magazines. I never thought that hotels would be promoted in fashion magazines just as much as in travel magazines. The placement of their promotions is genial.

I hope to eventually get to a point in my public relations career where I can travel to meet clients as much as these people do. It seems so fun and interesting. And I love how fast-paced it is. I definitely look forward to more days at IMS.

My Office that I share with Tesia (a fellow intern and newest friend)

Fooling around in the bathroom. It was a casual and COLD day!

Tesia, the Atlanta Sweetheart :)