Let the Good Times Roll

The fairy bar!

ICE BAR!

Flowers in the streets in Sitges 

Over the past couple weeks, I feel like each day gets even better than the next! I've been so busy the past couple weeks but I've been having such an amazing time! I've gotten so accustomed to this city, I feel like I've lived here forever! By now I've gotten used to the layout and have really been able to explore, and find some cool hole-in-the-wall places that are unlike anything I've ever experienced before! This may start to sound like a bar crawl, but trust me it was spread out over a few nights ;). My friends and I went to this placed called the ICE BARcelona, which was right on the beach, and was literally made entirely of ice! Even the cups were made of ice, and they gave you a coat and gloves too! We found this other place called Chupitos- every single shot was 2 euros, and there were over 500 to choose from! They're all really cool and get lit on fire, or come with a lollipop inside or chocolate! We could order some called harry potters, and finding nemos- both came with fire and m&ms! Next place we found was called El Bosc de las Fades (Forest of the Fairies)- and it looked exactly how it sounds! This place was sooo cool it was honestly a forest inside, with hanging lanterns and waterfalls and trees and leaves and fairies everywhere! And speaking of fairies...we also found a secret spot in Barcelona that sells absinthe..aka the green fairy. This is the same place that Picasso and Hemingway used to come and drink  way back when, which also happens to be one of the places that they filmed a scene in the movie Vicki Christina Barcelona!! It was almost impossible to find, but totally worth it! It was really old and dusty inside but had so much character! Besides bar exploring, I've also got to do some really cool things here. I went to a flamenco show, which was in this little theater with live music, and these girls danced the traditional spanish flamenco in the bright frilly dresses and it was incredible to see! I also got to watch my host mom perform her skit that she's been working on in here theater classes :) it was the cutest thing ever, plus I got to meet the super-guapo son!!! As sad as I am that I'm missing the 4th of July, Spain has the equivalent of it called Sant Joan, except it is 10 times better! I've never witnessed so much craziness in my life. Basically the entire population makes their way to the beach, and there is nothing but fire. People light fireworks, and make fire pits and jump over them. Problem is, theres no laws here regarding fireworks, so people literally set them off right in front of you, and throw them in walkways to explode when people walk by...as fun as it was, I was scared for my life. People go crazy...and let their kids play with matches and light fireworks...the kids were the worst! They were the ones who would throw the little fireworks at tourists! Parents need to keep their kids on a leash here...they are out of control. But that night of San Juan, I came home for dinner to find that my host mom was having a parter and I got to have dinner with here and all of her friends who had drank a bit too much cava prior to my arrival and it was so much fun laughing and talking to all of them, they're just as precious as my mommy Pilar is :). Anyways, I took a train to a nearby town called Sitges today! It's beautiful little city on the water with the most beautiful beaches, and it's only about a 45 minute train ride from me. This cute place has a lot of character because its like the San Francisco of Spain if you catch my drift...and the gay stereotype was proven true today- they all wear crocs. But my reasoning for going today was that it was a very special tradition they have today to fill the streets with flowers. Literally every street is filled with flowers of a different pattern - they call it "flower carpets" and it really looks like that! It was beautiful, and such a neat tradition!