Saturday July 18th/ Sunday July 19th

Saturday we woke up early and headed to Costa Brava! Costa Brava is a beautiful coastal region of northern Spain that is famous for its clear water and beaches. We first took the fast train to Figures, which was about 2 hours long. Then we took a 30 minute bus to Rosas. After Croatia, I was having big doubts on this place, but I was surprisingly amazed by its beauty! The beach was SO SO clear and blue , and it was such a fun city. Some of our friends decided to go hiking, but me and another girl decided to chill out on the beach. It was interesting- there weren't a lot of Americans. A lot of people actually spoke french, considering we were so close to the border of France. It was such a nice break from school, and it felt so nice to sincerely just relax, drink sangria and watch all the windsurfers and parasailers out in the water.

That night we splurged and went to a nice restaurant on the beach. I had such great pasta (can't tell you what it was called though... something Italian). Traveling Europe on a budget, it was nice to splurge a little and have a nice dinner. One of the girls we were with kinda did her own thing, and we didn't meet her until dinner time. Turns out she actually rented a vespa/motorcycle for the day and traveled along the coastline and throughout the mountains. Everyone in my program knows that I have been DYING to ride on the back of one of these scooters. I basically go around saying "Tienes un vespa?". SO, it was very exciting that I FINALLY got to go for a ride on one! AND... it was worth it! So so fun! Unfortunately my hat flew off, and then got run over :(.... but overall it was a great time.

The hotel situation was interesting.... It's amazing what you will do to travel Europe cheaply. I joined the trip last minute, but my friends booked a room for only two people (It was the only one left, and later we understood why). So... having a total of 5 people, we squeezed 4 on a queen size bed and I volunteered to sleep on the floor considering I'm a typical heavy sleeper. As it turns out, I actually got the best night sleep.

In the morning I realized that my sunglasses had gotten stolen. I've had my ray bans for over 2 YEARS, which is an incredibly long time for a pair of glasses. They've made it through Steamboat 2 times, the Dominican, Nicaragua and all of my other trips. I had them in a bag that I gave to a friend when I rode the motorcycle. Long story short, she accidentally left the bag downstairs, and when we went downstairs in the morning, only my water was left in the bag. I was so so bummed, but I've been trying to remember that items are replaceable. Things on earth are ITEMS, and not the end of the world. Sometimes its hard being mature about things like this, but I feel like this is one of the things the Lord is trying to teach me here. Reality check: I had them for two years, and I was standing on the beach in Spain. Things could have been worse to say the least.

Overrall the trip was great! We spent Sunday morning on the beach, and then headed back on the train and bus. I got back to Barcelona and crashed. I slept for so long!