Day Two...Technically, Even Though It's 4am...

     I went on a five mile hike today, which in itself does not sound all that impressive.  However, what you don't know is that it was up the side of a mountain.  The Serra de Collserola is a mountain range that separates Barcelona from the Vallès plain, and like the place to hike up to for a great view.  The highest peak is Tibitabo, 512 meters. So naturally, my program decided we should all hike up it in ninety degree weather.  We all know that Erin does not do the outdoors.  I like animals, I hate bugs and dirt; so this hike sounds right up my alley.  We hiked pretty much all the way to the top; it took about two - two and a half hours.  Here was the view from our first stop:

By the time we reached the second stop, we couldn't breathe, the heat was so stifling.  

And it only got steeper from there.  8 km of sweat, blood and tears.  No joke.  But we made it and the view was totally worth it!

     At the top, we sat and ate a typical Catalan meal at a small restaurant.  Brianne and I sat together, along with both of our roommates and another girl. They bring you big slices of toasted bread. You rub garlic on it, and then you cut the top off a tomato and rub that on the toast. You drizzle it with olive oil, sprinkle on some salt, and it's ready to eat! Other foods we ate were: patatas fritas - pan fried potatoes; salad - iceberg with tuna, olives, tomato slices; roasted peppers and eggplant; and some meat that I didn't go near.  We all chugged water; I'm pretty sure we cleaned them out of water bottles.  For dessert we had lemon mousse cake. It was very light and refreshing:

We rode the tram back down and took the metro home from there.  I was so happy we didn't have to climb back down! We got lost on the way home, which in this city means that you find all sorts of exciting things!  Like for example:

This is a bullfighting ring, but they only hold bullfights in southern Spain nowadays.

A cool statue in the middle of the rotary.  Not sure the significance of it, but it's pretty, no?

Again, no idea what the significance of this is, but it's pretty cool.

     When we got back to the apartment, we quickly changed and headed for the beach.  One of the really great things about Spain is that the sun stays out until almost 9:30pm!  Brianne, her roommate, my roommate, the girl that sat with us at lunch and I had a great time even though it wasn't super hot. 

     We went home, showered and changed for going out.  We went back to the beach because Bri's roommate had met a bartender when we were there earlier. We hung out at the guy's bar on the beach until he got off from work at 2, but he kept taking longer and longer and eventually we ended up ditching and not waiting for him around 3:30pm.  Before we got to the bar, we had been walking down a strip near the marina and got attacked by club workers.  They literally grabbed us by the arms, torsos, shoulders, etc. and tried to drag us inside their clubs.  These were big burly men; it was so scary!  We are going out again tonight but we are bringing guys this time!  There are older men milling around, trying to sell us drinks.

      It was a long and very strange night...