Breaking In Barcelona

I'm now traveling through Europe, but I thought I'd make one last entry to consummate my time in Barcelona. The following are an assortment of pictures from Barcelona that I didn't get a chance to post in here yet.

Sagrada Familia by Gaudí:

Typical Narrow Streets:

There was a day in Barcelona called "Día de Sant Jordi" that celebrates the Patron Saint of Barcelona. The story goes that he slayed a dragon to win the hand of a princess, and the dragon's blood turned into roses. So every year on April 23 the men in Catalunya give the women a rose. These ones were my favorite:

Some views of Barcelona:

Barcelona at Night:

Gaudí:

More Modernism (Gaudí's era and style):
Palau de la Musica by Domenech i Montaner

Gothic era cathedral (13th century) Basilica Santa Maria del Mar:

Barcelona Beach:

Gardens of my School University of Barcelona, the second oldest University in the world:

Park de la Ciutadella:

Friends Megan and I met in Barcelona:

Arroz Negro (Black Rice, the color is from being cooked in squid ink):

Bubbles! Gothic Quarter:

Plaza Reial on a Rainy Afternoon:

Barcelona, Constantly Under Construction:

The Ladies of my Casa:

All in all, studying in Barcelona was a really good experience. I had the best apartment in Barcelona because I was living with the best people in Barcelona, and traveling Europe right now is showing me that Barcelona was the perfect city to be a 21 year old student living in.
My top three lessons learned from living there have been (in no particular order):
1. How to treat people better, or how to always be a "lady" or "gentlemen" in your mannerisms. Europeans have an intrinsic sense of how to act and how to treat others, which I think most Americans of my generation lack. What I mean by this is a selflessness, an ability to go totally out of your way to help someone, and to do it because you genuinely want to help them. To try to live better by creating a sense of community with the friends, family, and strangers around you.
2. This is a personal realization: I am not a city person. I always thought I was, and dreamed of living in New York or San Francisco, but as I've matured I realize the importance of quiet, nature, and a sense of familiarity and community with your surroundings, which is hard to feel in a big city.
3. I want to live somewhere that is bursting with history and art. Europe functions and sees things differently than the U.S. because of these two elements that make up their culture, and usually I find that I like their ways better. As Henry Miller said in one of the last lines of Tropic of Cancer, "Here, where the river gently winds through the girgle of hills, lies a soil so saturated with the past that however far back the mind roams one can never detach it from its human background."

Next entry I'll delve into the latter idea more with more tales of my travels around Europe, especially of the most spectacular city of Roma.

Much love,
Emily