First day of feeling like a real person

Today was the first day I actually felt fully rested and acclimated to the time difference. I wasn't constantly checking my clock to see what time it was back home and am ready to get a good nights rest sans melatonin.

 Today we had a group walking tour of the Gothic District and paid a visit to the only standing cathedral in Barcelona called "La Seu." The church absolutely takes your breath away (I sound so much like my mom!) but its so hard to imagine someone building this in 1213. You really have to have such drive and passion to complete a huge project such as this. And the inside of the church is equally as ostentatious as the exterior. When you first enter the cathedral there is a stand that holds candles that were lit by previous guests to make a prayer requests which is something I noticed was very common in the churches in Italy.

For lunch we settled on this amazing restaurant that included a special pri fixe menu for 9 euro for 3 courses! We stayed there for a solid 2 hours talking to one another and getting to know each other a little better. I notice a lot of times in the states (and I can be guilty of this too) that people are obsessed with constantly trying to stay in touch with their friends, co-worker, boss, etc. that they're not 100% interested in the company they're already with. You look around a restaurant at home and each patron either has their phones out or are on them. They're screens are so close to their face that they don't take the time to look around and appreciate all that is around them. The restaurant we went to was filled with people who seemed relax and full of life! They were laughing, nursing their mid afternoon wines, and soaking it all in! Since me and my friends don't have functioning phones we did not have that as a distraction and didn't feel the urge to refresh our facebook pages or check out whats going on instagram. It has been such a luxury not having a phone with internet access I finally feel free and able to actually pay attention to whats going on. 

Later in the afternoon we visited another Gaudi masterpiece called the Sagrada Familia which is one of the most historic landmarks of Barcelona. The church reminded me and my friend of the drip castles we used to create growing up- though I don't remember mine looking this good.... 

THE BEST PART OF TODAY: going to see our first fútbol match Barcelona vs. Córdoba!!!!!! The tickets were only 9 euro and we got awesome seats! The stadium was filled with crazy awesome Barca fans and there was so much to take in!! Barca creamed Córdoba 5-0 wooohoo! It brought back so many great memories playing soccer growing up and having the opportunity to see Beckham play for Manchester United several years ago. I cannot wait to go to more games and hopefully blend in with the avid Barca fans chanting and screaming after every goal or decent play. 

Lots of love 

Ali