Barcelona

Melissa and I decided that we'd head to Barcelona for a little birthday celebration! Upon arrival on Thursday night, we went straight to the hotel to check in and get ready for dinner. We went to this tapas place which had been recommended but we clearly did not go on the right night because it was pretty empty- which is unheard of there! Anyhow, we had some yummy food, wine and then crashed in bed!

On Friday, I had to work so Melissa decided to sleep in. Upon awaking, around 1, we decided to get ready so that we could go out for a nice lunch. We had been recommended a great lunch spot which wasn't too far from the hotel, so we took a walk. As we were walking I got a bday phone call from my good friend Oms and then went in for lunch. There were only smoking section options (man Spain, you still smoke so much!!) so we decided to head back to this nail salon we had just passed :) Melissa and I both decided on mani/pedis which felt amazing...oh, nail salons of ny...how do i miss you! We then went back for lunch and had one of those meals you invision Spaniards having...wine, yummy food, not rushed and chatting. We had such a nice meal and really enjoyed this wonderful local spot!! We went back to the hotel so that I could finish some work and Melissa could nap. As she got up, we began to get ready for our big night out. We went down to the old section of town for tapas and drinks---all of which were yummy. Began with some champagne (ok, celebration evening), wine (ok, you're in spain..red wine is yummy), mojitos (ok, not so necessary) a beer (budweiser none the less) and maybe 3-4 vodka sodas. Clearly, going out dancing that night ended up being fun, esp since there was an amazing dj on stage that night. Seriously though, probably the best dj I've ever seen. We danced the night away with random stray Spainiards and then went home around 4:30. Man were we hungry.

We woke up on Saturday and I was shocked that I felt fine. Yeah, that was until I sat up.....fast forward, we're hung over through some food and then went back to sleep. Fast forward, we miss our biked tour....fast forward, we wander through Las Ramblas, see the marina area, go to the market for some cheese and bread and then go back to the hotel for another nap. We end up a dinner spot that was recommended to us from someone at work. We knew there'd be a wait, so we grabbed a drink and hung out. Upon getting seated, after chatting with our new found friend at the door, we order tapas and have a little bit of wine. Yes, we still felt like shit. We both decided that we were tired, looking worse then tired and would only be going out to go out so we decided to go home. Before we did, a guy (about our age) wonder over to chat. He asks if we're going out and if we'd like to join him and his friend. God knows if it was the right decision but we said thanks but no thanks because we both just couldn't be bothered to worry about our attire and get motivated to go clubbing again. Welcome to 28, 2 big party nights in a row is wayyyy too hard!

Sunday we get up and wonder about before we had to leave for the airport. We hit some of the architecural sites and just enjoyed wondering about.

It ended up being such a great weekend and really appreciate the chance I've had to travel to such a cool place and attempt to recoup some of the language skills I used to have. It made me want to go back to Spain ASAP and enjoy their wonderful culture. Te amo Espana!!!