Museums, Beaches, and (In)appropriately Named Drinks in Barcelona

I toured with the group today. Our first stop was at the surprisingly uninspiring Picasso museum. I'm not sure what it was about his work, but I found myself completely lacking any sense of awe in its presence.

At our next stop, we crashed a wedding in the Sta Maria del Mar church. It was a strange occurrence. A small area near the altar was roped off, but the church remained open for us tourists to ogle and snap pictures. I suppose that sort of thing is common in Barcelona.

We had lunch at Bubo. It is a casual little restaurant with outdoor seating across from the main entrance of the church. I ordered the 4 cheese pizza. It was pretty bad... but that's what you get for ordering an Italian dish in Spain. Haha, so I can't complain. The rolls were very good, though. Especially dipped in EVOO and balsamic vinegar. I'll have to make rolls with EVOO/balsamic dressing at home.

The final stop for the group was the Miro Museum. Finally, a museum that impresses. Miro's work is a fantastic use of bold, (mostly) primary colors and sharp lines. I found his pieces to be quite awesome. You should definitely check it out if you ever happen to be in Barcelona.

After the final museum of the day, the group split up and we went our separate ways. I decided to join a couple of the students for a trip to the beach. As it was kind of chilly and I didn't have my bathing suit, I chose to sit in the sand with our things as the 2 boys went wave riding in the Mediterranean. Hopefully they enjoyed themselves, I thought it was pretty fun... and Ed's "sand art" was pretty amazing. :) Before we left, I walked into the water, about calf high, to have my picture taken in the Mediterranean Sea. By the way, the water was quite cold!

Once we were finished with our outing to the beach, we returned to the boys' hostel and I waited until they were ready to go to dinner. We ate at a nice little pub down a side street near the cathedral. I shared a seafood paella with Shane and the other 2 had pizzas. I ordered a beer with my dinner and can honestly say it wasn't bad. Especially considering that I tend to dislike the majority of beers with which I come into contact.

Following dinner, we stopped at another bar, had a shot called "ABC" (Absinthe, Bacardi, and a citrus liquor that started with a C). It wasn't bad, definitely wasn't fantastic... and we saw no "green fairies" this time around, but it was fun to try. Afterwards, the boys dropped me off at the apartment. I waited for the return of my family and Lori with a few drinks in the plaza nearby as the boys returned to their hostel to parttake in far cheaper drinks than those available along the streets of Barcelona.

By far, the tastiest, most interesting drink I have had thus far in my travels abroad was enjoyed at an interesting little place called Santamonica. The drink was (in)appropriately named "Porn Star Boost". Inappropriate for obvious reasons, appropriate for the garnish they used... a garnish I didn't realize would be involved until the waiter reached my table. Haha, it sure was hillarious."Porn Star Boost"... see what I mean?