So, right now I'm in my hostel in Barcelona. It´s almost exactly the same as the hostels as the movie you saw about backpacking in Europe - except for maybe 'Hostel.' I am in a communal room with 12 bunk beds, the showers and bathrooms are gross, and everyone is generally very shady. But it was cheap, and it´s pretty legit, so I am perfectly happy here.
I´ve been in Barcelona for about 2 days, and I´m starting to get a feel for the city. So far, I´ve been to Museu Picasso, Parc de la Ciutadella, Las Ramblas, and the Catedral. The Museu Picasso was by far the best - it contained tons of Picasso´s early art and showed his development as an artist. The Parc de la Ciutadella was cool, too. We played frisbee, listened to street musicians, and sat around with the circus artists. While we walked through the Barri Gotic, by the Catedral, we caught a Sardana festival going on. Sardana is a traditional Catalonian dance where large groups of old people dance around in circles. It sounds kind of lame, but it was actually very cool, and the band was great, too.
I´m really glad that I chose to come here to Barcelona, because it´s such an amazing city. All of the architecture is amazing, and the culture is strong. Catalonian people have so much pride in their culture, language, and traditions, and they´ve managed to retain their integrity while still being able to modernize and accommodate to tourism. There´s so much to do and see in this city, and I don´t think that I´ll be able to accomplish it all in the few days I´m here. Tomorrow, I´m going to try to check out the Jewish section of town, Montjuic, and some of Gaudi´s architecture, but I´ll still be leaving stuff out. I´m glad that I planned to come back during Europoloza 2008, so I can see the rest of the town. Now, I´m going to the waterfront to see Barcelona at night.