Adios Barcelona, Annie and Uma. Hello Germany, Paris and the rest of my time in Spain.

Barcelona is an incredible city. It is clean, cosmopolitan, diverse and so much more that I look for in a city. There were old and new buildings galore, pieced together in an expert manner. So much so that you would almost think that the descendants of the original architects and city planners were the ones who continue this process today. There were people from every part of the globe, all speaking their own languages, in addition to English, Spanish and the local language, Catalán. For this, I felt like less of a tourist and more like a member of a community that continues to move and change in Barcelona. And although its a pretty big city, with over 1.6 million people living in the city proper alone, it is definitely livable for me personally. There are parks everywhere, public theaters and music venues, museums and any other type of stimulus that you may want. It also has distinct sectors of the city that feel much like those of New York or Berlin, which is something I really like; its like visiting several cities within one. I would say that above all, its most defining factor is that it is the least Spanish feeling city that I have been in here. Maybe this is why there is a separatist movement...

As some of you may know, this trip wasn't all fun for Uma, Annie and myself. It started out difficult and ended that way. I am going list these things off so that you can read through them, feel bad for us, and then move on with your life like we are trying to (...haha?).

• Thursday night - We were supposed to stay with some friends in Málaga and the timing didn't work out. Uma had wicked blisters and we walked around for awhile, hungry and trying to figure out what to do with ourselves. We got into an argument, paid for an expensive hostel and slept for 5 hours there.
• Friday morning - We showed up to the airport late, Annie couldn't check her bag, Uma didn't print her tickets and missed the flight. This sort of worked out since Uma ended up bringing Annie's bag with her after she had bought a new flight for later in the day and paid a substantial amount for the extra bag.
• Friday afternoon - In the train, at each others' throats, Uma was robbed of 400 euros, her passport and credit/debit cards. Good grief. Then we had an hour and fifteen minute transit to the hostel. We arrived hungry and tired, the food was crap. Annie had squid rings that tasted like spaghetti-os. Wait, she didn't eat them, I did.
• Monday afternoon - I realize that Annie and I won't have time to catch our flight back to Málaga by public transit from our hostel. A taxi would be super expensive to the airport in Girona (a city outside of Barcelona that has an airport used by budget airlines like ours), so I get a hotel and we try to make our way to it. We miss the last bus and then train by 2 minutes. We break down and pay one-hundred and fifty euros for a taxi. We arrive to the hotel and I open my email to look at the tickets to see when and where we are leaving from in the Girona airport. I realized we don't leave from Girona, but from Barcelona. Yes, I made the biggest mistake possible. We paid 150 for the taxi and another 70 for a room that we didn't need. In addition, the plane tickets were no good since we couldn't make it back to Barcelona in time to catch the flight. What do we do? Buy new flights so that Annie can get back to the U.S.
• Tuesday afternoon - Waiting for Annie's flight to leave from Málaga, I realize that I left my computer charger at the hostel. Emotionally distressed because of recent happenings and the fact that Annie is leaving, I have my iPod either stolen from me or I lose it in the last 30 minutes of my time at the airport.

Despite all of this, we are alive, well and I am happy that it didn't go any worse. I won't let the events sour me on Barcelona, because the city is amazing; I am the idiot. I am hoping that if I decide to come back to Spain next year to teach English (second choice) that they will locate me in Barcelona. I'll just make sure I figure out flight details before hand.

I've traveled five out of the last seven weeks. I'm tired, beyond broke and needing a break. Did I mention that I teach here? That part of my life is going well, I am comfortable in classes, I know what to expect and have a good rapport with the students. I'm going to take the next week to read, run and ride my bike. I need a break from moving long distances; I'll only get a week of such a break, since next week I am heading back to Germany to road trip to Paris with Ben, Tom and Jani. I'm really looking forward to it, since it will be my last trip while I am here in Europe.

My time here is coming to a close. Just over two months left, and it really feels like I have been here for three months or so. I've seen so much, want to see so much more, but am thankful for it all. I'm excited to see my friends and family again, and sad to say goodbye to the new friends and family I've made here.

Listen to this song. It's among my favorites these days. Here are some pictures too.