SO PRODUCTIVE

Would you like to know how many things I crossed off my "last month in Barcelona" list this weekend? Well, I'll tell you. Seven. It would have been nine, but the gondola was closed due to weather conditions and the Fundacio Joan Miro is at the other end of that gondola.
I went to the TOP of Mt Tibidabo this time, I watched the Real Madrid-Barca game from a local bar, I had churros and chocolate (again), I went inside the statue of Columbus at SUNSET, I found Placa del Pi and the market in it (mostly food), I went to the modernist Hospital de Sant Pau, designed by Gaudi protege Lluis Domenech i Montaner, I saw the oldest church in the city, Sant Pau del Camp, and tonight I will be able to cross off Placa de la Revolucio and the Gracia neighborhood when Stacey, Danielle and I go wander the squares. Then it will be eight. Stacey and I also went to no less than three new bars this weekend: Milk, L'Ascensor, and Bodega Tio, and also the totally random one where we watched the game. By the way, you should know that we not only learned the fight song, we tried to sing it when Barca won, but no one else in the bar was singing. We assumed they would immediately break into song each time a goal was scored, or at the very least when they won, but we were sorely disappointed. It was better this way though, because we only learned about seven of the words, where to clap, and when to yell "BARCA! BARCA! BAAAAAAAAAAARCA!" It was great nonetheless.

I'm very into my lists right now: lists of food to eat when I get home (apples, broccoli, asparagus, salads, artichoke, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and sweet potato waffles, skim milk, orange juice, chocolate peanut butter ice cream, bagels, cream cheese, avocados, turkey sandwiches, omelets and all other egg products, Thai Orchid, Montage, Chinese, Sandoval's, Fat City, Kraft mac & cheese, Papa Haydn's, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, Burgerville, Indian cart), lists of things left to do in Barcelona (MNAC, Joan Miro, patatas bravas from L'Ovella Negra, Razzmatazz, see Groove Juice at Harlem, gondola to Montjuic, Palau de la Musica, Dow Jones, maybe the chocolate museum?), lists of school work left to do (study for poetry final, take-home lit final), and lists of people to buy presents for (it's even longer than my list of food to eat when I get home). I like lists.

The weather has been fantastic every day until about 4 pm, when the clouds roll in and all of a sudden it's windy and freezing. But at least the leaves are falling. Most of them. Last night it rained, which was unfortunate for several reasons: the most prominent being we were on our way to an ice bar at the moment. Yes, we went to a bar made completely of ice, where the temperature is kept at -5 degrees Celsius and the cups, tables, and decorations are all ice. They give you parkas, hats, and gloves at the door. Unfortunately, the bottom two inches of everyone's jeans were wet, and some were wearing flats (not I), so it was an extremely icey experience. You're only allowed in for 45 minutes, but we took about 900 pictures in the 30 minutes we were able to stand. I am obsessively photo-documenting every moment now, so I have tons of new pictures which are making their way onto Photobucket. On our way back from Hospital Sant Pau, Stacey and I found ourselves at La Sagrada Familia just as they lit it up for the evening. I thought I had seen enough of the building, but it is even more incredible at night... as you can see! The pictures I included in this post are (in order): Columbus statue at dusk, Las Ramblas as seen from the Columbus statue, Barcelona as seen from Mt Tibidabo, and La Sagrada Familia lit up at night. The day we went to Mt Tibidabo started with clear, blue skies, but by the time we got up to the top it was decidedly less clear and gorgeous, as seen in the cloudy, smoggy photo. Anyway, I am doing my best to make use of all of my time in Barcelona, and getting ready to come home as well (mentally - it's too early for packing). If you can think of a present that someone (maybe you!) would like from Barcelona, you should comment and leave me suggestions, because I have no idea what to get anyone but I assume it should be something Spanish! It would be quite the cop-out to get Christmas presents at home when I've been in Europe all this time.