Exploring My City

         This past week was rather stressful.  I had a lot of homework, presentations, and papers to work on.  Also, I was having problems with my plane tickets to Vienna.  As it turned out, I wasn't able to go to Vienna this weekend.  Between my bank and the airlines, I wasn't able to go without spending over $300 for a weekend.  I was pretty bummed, because I don't really have another weekend where I can travel to another country.  However I decided to make the best of it and explore more of Barcelona and check some things off of my to do list.  It turned out to be a pretty good weekend.
        Friday, I ate lunch on my roof, rented roller blades, took pictures of things I see everyday, and went to the beach.  Yesterday, I explored El Born and ate a delicious lunch with a friend.  I also found the Opera House, Concert Hall, Fine Arts Building, and some cute little music shops. I even found a string shop! I might check it out one day when it is open.  Later, I practiced violin on the roof.

      Today I decided to check out a random park, so I pulled out my map and chose one. :) It was Parc Guinardó and it was beautiful! I took a metro there, and then climbed to the top of the park.  The view was incredible! You could all of Barcelona and beyond!  There were the ruins of an old battery that was there during the time of the Civil War as well. 

I took the metro there, but then decided to walk home.  I was refreshed and starving by the time I got home. :)

Rome

      Last weekend I took trip to Rome with my friends Gaby and Mayra which is why I haven't written in a while.   Rome was incredible!! I don't know why, but I was surprised by how different it was from Barcelona.  Everything was so much older and the architecture was totally different.  Because the streets were so much older, the cobblestones were very uneven and our feet were killing us by the end of the weekend.  Our flight was at 5:55am so I had to leave my house at 2:00am! I ended up not oging to bed except for an hour long nap.  Our first day in Rome, we took a metro from the bus station to the Vatican City.  It was crazy to be someplace I had studied before! All of the art and architecture was overwhelmingly beautiful.  I was very excited to see the Sistine Chapel because I have wanted to see it since I read about it middle school.  It took forever to get there because you had to go through all the rooms full of art and artifacts first.  Everything was really cool, but slightly overwhelming because we were so tired.  When we finally got to the Sistine Chapel, I was nervous that it wouldn't be as awesome as I had read about.  I was not disappointed.  It was unbelievable! You could see all of the different painted panels from any point in the room and they seemed to stand out as if they were 3D.  I can't even imagine how someone could paint something like that.  
     After the Vatican City, we ate gelato and planned our next plan of attack.  We asked a man for directions to the first monument, and then walked from monument to monument and ended up at our hotel.  We saw the Trevi Fountain, a few main plazas, Vittoriano, the Pantheon, and more.  When we finally got to our hotel, we were exhausted and, after dinner, when right to bed.

The Pantheon

      The next day, we walked to Piazza de Popolo.  We had a great view of the city and there were pines just  like you see in the postcards! :D We also saw the Spanish Steps, and stumbled on other beautiful buildings and monuments.  Next we went to the Roman Forum. 

 This is the original part of Rome with all of the ruins.  It was so neat to see all the history I have studied in real life! I saw buildings Julius and Augustus Caesar had built, and monuments to the different emperors.  The only thing I regret is that I didn't know about the Mammertine prison and so I didn't get to see it.  This is the prison where Peter and Paul were kept.  I was so close to it!! Next was the Colosseum.  It was beyond words and I could hardly believe I was actually there.  

There was so much more to see in Rome I guess I'll just have to go back!