Day Siete

The seventh day here in Europe was pretty great. It was our second day here in beautiful Barcelona.

We started off the day with a group trip to Castillo de Montjuic! This trip was really incredible because I was able to see something I had never seen before: a castle. Yes, we were able to see a castle that originated as a lighthouse in 3rd century and then became a fully fledged castle in the 18th century. This thing was super cool. I really enjoyed looking out from the top of the castle at the Mediterranean Sea at my right, and then Turing to my left and seeing the sprawling city of Barcelona. It was a stunning sight.

After we had conquered the castle, we walked down to see the Olympic Stadium. Although small, this stadium held the 1992 Olympic games. It was pretty neat to see and it was a great place to grab a bite to eat.

From there we made our way down to an at museum. By this point in the trip I have had my fill of art for at least a year, but I will admit that there was some interesting art in that museum. It had old paintings that were originally painted on the walls of churchs. But due to the conditions of the churches, the paintings were skillfully removed and reapplied to the walls of the museum.

After we left the museum we all went to our hotel for a quick siesta before going to dinner at a tapas bar. This was an interesting experience. Tapas bars primarily make small appetizers that are shared among the group. Theses appetizers are known as tapas. The bar that we went to had been recommended by the hotel and was said to be relatively cheap. Unfortunately, we quickly found out that things were not as cheep as expected. I decided to order one tapa for myself because I did not want to spend €20 for something I might not like. I ordered a tapa  from the menu that sounded good, but upon inquiry I learned that they were out. So, I settled upon a tapa labeled Fried Potatoes with Spicy Sause. When my food arrived I realized that I would be needing more food. I received 12, one inch cubes. I was supprized but I was not terribly dissapointed. What aggravated me was what to of our group members got.

To of our group decided to share a seafood plate. Being on the Mediterranean, that plate seemed like a great choice. When the food arrived however, all was not well. When they reached to grab a mussel from the platter, a small white worm stuck it's head out from the shell. Our whole table was disgusted. They picked up the muscle to examine it carefully and another live worm popped out its head. We called over the waitress for her to take care of it. Apparently in Spain if you have two live worms in your food, then they will grab the piece of food with the worm in it and throw it away... that's all. No free meal, now new patter, not even an apology. I was shocked at the lack of customer service.

After we settled our bill and left the restaurant, a small group of us went to a little pizza shop on the corner of our street.  I got a huge slice of ham pizza and satisfied my craving for meat.  From there, we all went back to our rooms for the night.

Tomorrow we will be going up to mountain monastery! I will keep ya'll posted!