It was a B-city girls' weekend! Six (sort of 5.5) girls travelling to two cities in five days = trouble waiting to happen? But both cities brought their A-game. (Don't worry, the puns end here. You can keep reading.)
In all seriousness, it was an incredible trip with some really beautiful, wonderful ladies. And yes, we took advantage of the all-girl-ness with some nail painting, MASH playing, chocolate eating, photo-op taking, scarf shopping, dress wearing - need I continue? I learned more about them than I otherwise could have and came to appreciate and love each and everyone in new and incredible ways.
I know, enough of the sappy. But what did we actually DO?
We hopped off the Megabus, landing almost in the very heart of Brussels. After getting our bearings a bit, we pulled out the Rick Steve's travel guide as discretely as possible and began exploring the city. We stopped at the main tourist attractions in the famous Grand Place, including the overrated Manneken Pis. Maybe part of that was the fact that I didn't understand his history: apparently, long ago many monarchies and government figures sailed into Brussels for an important, international meeting, and as they were landing "red carpet style", a young, nude child stood on the edge of the dock relieving himself. He was clueless, they were amused, and now a fountain stands in commemoration. We ended up using him as a reference point due to his proximity to our favorite waffle place and his popularity - if ever you turned a corner and saw hordes of tourists, you were almost certainly by this little guy.
We then found some things Brussels is known for: chocolate, lace, and waffles. The Belgians really seem to love their chocolate, or at least know that tourists do. With chocolate shops littered all around and chocolate elephant and Town Hall sculptures, the temptation was all too strong. I've always loved lace, so that was great. And the waffles, oh the waffles. Over the short amount of time in Brussels, I got waffles three times because I loved them so much. Belgian waffles are actually different and incredible. Some were savory, some sweet. Some had the "toppings" as fillings, including one with bacon, cheese, and tomatoes, another with brownie batter. Then there were other sweet ones which had the syrup baked into the waffle itself and dark chocolate drizzled on top. YUM. 
We went to a choir concert inside the old St. Michael's and St. Gudula Cathedral. It was quite a neat experience, and they even sang some songs I recognized from my choir days!
And then we were back to famous foods, eating mussels in Brussels. We were given free drinks of our choice and treated like princesses! At this point we were quite full from all of the Belgian cuisine and retired to our hotel for some good, old fashioned girl time.
The next day entailed a photoshoot at a park with 52 statues to emulate, a trip to the Notre Dame of Brussels, shopping in both an antique market and a typical-for-us shopping mall, a choco-crawl to some of the most famous and oldest chocolatiers (like Godiva and Leonidas), and a tour of a Belgian brewery where the beer was fermented by the yeast in the air.
What a rich food culture! That seemed to be what made Belgium different; the architecture was not very distinct and it seemed to be more of a conglomeration than it's own identity. At least that was our impression until we took the hour long train ride from the city to the southern airport. Needless to say, the airport was quite a ways outside of the city, but it really was a cool chance to get a more well-rounded view of the country.
If I could live in Barcelona, I think I would be one happy girl. We came off the plane (minus a girl who had to return to Amsterdam, hence the earlier "5.5"), it was warm, people spoke some Spanish, and that was just the start. We took a bus to central Barcelona, basked a bit in the sun, and then had an (unhealthy but) satisfying lunch of chocolate and churros. But this was no ordinary hot chocolate. It was almost the consistency of pudding it was so rich. You'd think by this time I'd be sick of chocolate, but I think it just made me more addicted...
And then we went to our hostel, called the Hipstel. Though the name sounds a bit tacky, this was one of the coolest places I've ever stayed. It was clean, safe, warm, welcoming, well-decorated, and had free coffee. It's kind of an issue that this is the first and only hostel I've stayed in and it set the bar about as high as it could go.
In Barcelona, I was just a girl chasin' her dream. In all my years of Spanish I developed a love for the language and the culture - being there was really a dream come true. We saw La Sagrada Familia, a modern day cathedral yet unfinished, followed by Parc Guell, a gorgeous mountainous park filled with artistic formations and mosaics, both designed by the famous artist/architect/mathematician Gaudi. These were things about in school, and I was seeing them with my own two eyes! (And it was still great though it was POURING when we were at the Parc. So much for rain in Spain staying in the plain...)
One of my goals when I go to another country is to try the indigenous foods, which in this case was fulfilled by a Catalan dinner of baked cheesy tomato bread, goat cheese topped beef, and flan with sangria to drink beside. Incredible. I also had helado (ice cream) and paella the next day to top it all off.
Another girl and I decided to go back to La Sagrada Familia so that we could go inside. After a little hassle and confusion due to lack of signage, we had tickets and entered what would prove to be one of the most breathtaking structures I've ever seen. I was overwhelmed with the beauty and creativity of this church - it was so different than any other we had seen in all of our travels and still utterly incredible. For a minute, I was speechless, and when I finally regained ability to speak, all I could say were things like "This is so beautiful! This is amazing! Oh my gosh!". Gaudi is officially my favorite artist. Everything he did was inspired by nature - the columns supporting the church collectively look like a forest, the spires resemble bunches of grapes, some of the detail shows that of a honeycomb. And then he used math to make it all work; the windows are strategically placed to let light into the church at the right angles and positions. So take some of the things I love most (architecture, math, and nature), give it to Gaudi, and out comes beauty.
And then add to the trip a cable car ride up to the top of a mountain overlooking the entire city and the Mediterranean Sea, a dip in the Sea itself and it's sand in between my toes, a walk down the famous La Rambla, and another night with the girls.
I was quite sad to say goodbye the next day and make the long journey home. But I could not have been more pleased with how the trip worked out and how wonderful it had all been. At some point on this trip, we made the realization that we were becoming quite the competent tourists. This was further proved when though arriving at the airport only one hour before our flight, we were still second in line to board.
So in a nut shell, we went to Brussels to have wonderful, fattening food and then to Barcelona to soak up some sun and maybe even a hint of artistic genius.
And then, like a splash of cold water in the face, I was back home to write a paper worth my entire grade for a class in less than 24 hours. Smart? Meh. Worth it? Totally.
Now physics starts, marking the halfway point of my time here! Reflections to come? Until then...
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (ROMANS 15:13)
Wonderfully written, Wendy.
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