Our trip to Espana!

For our first week of Easter break Christina, Erin, and I headed to Spain! We started out in Barcelona which was amazing. It was so great to go to a really nice beach! We took a walking tour on our first day which was really helpful in learning about the history of the city.

We saw tons of beautiful cathedrals, narrow alleyways, and cute little gardens and squares along our walking tour.

 After the tour we checked out the beach which was fabulous. We ended up spending most of the next day there beginning with a great little breakfast right on beach!

Eventually we went back to a store that we saw on the walking tour that was known for its shoes. Erin and I both bought a pair.

We also found the best cookie store one evening after a great tapas dinner.

One of the main sites in Barcelona is La Sagrada Familia which towers over the city. It is such an amazing building and it isn't even finished yet! The expected complete date is 2026 which is pretty amazing since Gaudi took over the construction of the building way back in 1883. Whether you like the Gaudi style or not, the details of the cathedral are absolutely stunning.

The inside of the cathedral is surprisingly clean and simple compared to the outside. We expected a very dark and detailed interior but instead it was very light and open. With so many different architects and designers having to step in over the years we weren't surprised at the mishmash of styles. I loved the colors created by the beautiful stained glass windows.

After 3 days in Barcelona we packed up and got on a bus to Madrid. We fell in love with the city our first night. Our hostel happened to be in a fantastic location which allowed us to do some wandering right away when we arrived. The city was just so pretty and lively at night.

The next day we did some exploring and toured the football stadium of Real Madrid which was pretty amazing.

 We rented a paddle boat later that day and went for a relaxing ride around a little pond in the center of the park there.

The next day was full of shopping and wandering. When night rolled around we went to a flamenco show at a popular restaurant. It ended up being really amazing and we got to see many different performers throughout the night.

I will try and upload the videos on another post. The two guys were absolutely amazing. They moved faster than I have ever seen any human move before and still managed to produce a really nice sound with their tapping. Both cities were great fun and I love to explore more of Spain someday!

Beautiful Oxford

Sunday evening Erin and I hopped on a train to explore Oxford. I can't even explain how beautiful it was! I am very jealous of all of the students studying there and I would love to go back and visit again sometime. Oxford contains about 39 colleges which are all very separate from each other. I thought the fact that you apply to a college and not Oxford itself was very unique. Oxford itself only has about 11,000 undergraduates so each college is fairly small. Oxford is also the oldest surviving University in the English speaking world. Although the University has no clear date of being established, there was some form of teaching going on way back in 1096.

First we went to St Johns College which was beautiful.

 

The college has a beautiful cathedral inside of it.

Once the students were done eating breakfast they let Erin and I go into the dining hall which should look familiar since it was the Hogwarts dining hall in the Harry Potter movies! It was amazing to see in real life although we were both upset that there were really only three tables.

Behind me is where Dumbledore and all the professors sat in the movies. It is also where Lewis Carroll would observe the Dean sitting with his daughter Alice who inspired the movie Alice in Wonderland.

 There are two pictures of Alice placed in the windows of the dining hall.

And also several other characters from the story placed below.

 

Where Alice shopped for her candy when she was young.

Where Lewis Carroll lived for many years and wrote Alice In Wonderland.

Next we went over to the first lecture hall built at Oxford which was used for the infirmary scenes at Hogwarts as well as Ron's dancing lesson.

The beautiful campus.

We also wandered around a nearby park in the afternoon which was really amazing. They also have a nice river that winds around town and provides space for lots of boats. We had a fantastic day in Oxford and I loved hearing about all of the amazing history and seeing the Harry Potter sites!