Bartunada and more

Hello, hello, hello!

It's been a while, and I have gotten busier and lazier with this. But I gotta do it! I hope this finds you all very well. 

So. This blog post is a big summary of my past three and a half weeks haha. I'll try to stick to keepin it short and simple.

Ok. So Barcelona. What a wonderful experience. Went with two girls with whom I have become really close (thanks a lot to traveling, but overall, thank the LORD!), Kristen and Brynn.  What wonderful people.  We flew with Ryan Air, which has really bright, colorful seats. Ok, I think I'm just gonna have to accept that I am detail-oriented haha. Something I've really learned about myself while writing these blogs.  Barcelona has a pleasant atmosphere. With trees and cool alley ways and plazas. But, let me tell you, the coolest thing we saw was by far La Sagrada Familia. Wowee. It's this giant, drip-castle looking church, constructed/designed by Gaudi (and they are still working on it, past his death!). It's the most unique architectural masterpiece I have ever seen. And everything is symbolic. He used fruit (what?) and trees and bright colors. Nothing really matches inside. It's a little bit trippy, actually. But magnificent. The pillars inside tower like trees of a forest, which was his intention. He was really into nature, and much of what he built for this church mimicked things that fascinated him in nature. What a unique guy! And a great thing to see.

We spent our nights at this cool hostel, full of bright colors and high up bunkbeds and good cereal for breakfast.  One of our days was beautiful, and the other was a complete, hilarious adventure in the rain.  "Where is that mammoth?!" Says Brynn, as we're soaking in the rain.  She was determined to find this giant mammoth in this park, and the rain did not stop us from reaching it, nor did it stop us from going to the ports and the shore of the Meditteranean Ocean. It was a dreary day with no one outside, but we still had a blast with each other. We ended up eating lunch at this Tex-Mex place, owned by a delightful Bolivian family.  Talk about random.  We had used their bathroom the day before and decided to come back and give them business the next day, they were so nice. Soft tacos. Yummy.  What else? We saw the chocolate museum.  The best part was our ticket, a nice bar of dark chocolate.  It was crazy weird though, the museum...I mean, who thinks to build Louis Armstrong's face and a scene from Up...out of chocolate?  Ya might as well buy a poster of either of those things and look at it every day, and eat the chocolate.  That's all I'm sayin.

Honestly can't remember more of that trip. Oh!! We went to the magic fountain at night, which is this large water fountain in front of steps for all to plop down and watch the water show.  Blasting music, anything from oldies to Disney music, and vibrant colors, all spurting out of this fountain. We danced and had a ball.

So what I've realized is that the quality time with others is really what matters on trips.  To me, anyway.  We could be seeing the coolest things or be trudging through the rain and wet, down to the underwear.  But really what matters is the fellowship we have.  Such good conversations about things that matter, like faith, encouragement.  Man, He's good to bless me with these friends. 

"Portu-gal. You the gal."  That was Kristen's and my rap for the weekend when we went. What a beautiful place.  You'll hear that from everyone.  We stayed in a wonderful hostel, with wonderful people. And guess how much it was per night? 7.99 Euros.  Including good location, internet, sheets, breakfast, and food to make lunch with. Yeah, baby! Oh, and there was a guitar to play. We met really cool people, and we sat in the "family room" and chatted together.  On bean bags. 

Kristen and I went to Belem, which is a delightful neighborhood within Lisbon, known for their pastels de Belem or something like that.  Guess what we did for lunch? Ordered three of those babies and ate them in a park.  Thank God for the gorgeous weather.  The belems are like cups of eggy/crispy french toast, dazzled with cinnamon and powdered sugar. So pleasing. 

The next day we went to Sintra, a trainride away from Lisbon.  Every time I saw that name, I thought of good ol' Frank Sinatra.  Completely different from this place.  It was like this whole different, quaint, jungle-like/town world.  Again, beautiful shorts weather.  We got to witness the coming of a bride at a church that overlooked beautiful scenery. We trecked up the windy hills (not for pedestrians) to get to this medieval castle and crazy cool palace, with yellows and reds and blues, and the inside reminded us of the Biltmore house.  Then we walked down the mountain while snacking on shortbread cookies and stayed for dinner.  Inside this dimly lit, empty place (where they were playing Jamie Cullum--what?!), we were one of two "couples".  Totally felt like a date hahaha.  Again, great conversation. Oh, and at the castle, we met this couple celebrating their 30-somethin anniversary and got to hear their crazy story.  He's Italian, and they met being in a circus. Portugal was truly magical.  And it was chill--the days were played by ear. 

And lastly, Granada.  Totally a Boone feel.  But an actually city.  Went with Brynn, Kristen, (and her mom joined us!), Sara, Molly, and Kaitlyn.  We laughed so much.  And again, got to enjoy stunning weather.  Our hostel was really great, too...organized and fun. A French guy who works there was playing flamenco guitar while waiting for his giant pan of paella to be ready to serve us. This place is more geared towards the college age, I think.  We saw lots of dreads and baggy Aladdin pants. We went to La Alhambra, which is a massive palace built by Muslims. Such intricate detail.  And one recurring theme through it all was water, which is actually a very important symbol of Islam.  There were fountains all over the place.  We just laughed so much!  We met this awesome couple from Holland, and boy, was she funny.  She spoke for the couple, basically, and she was crazy!  In a good way.  We first met by commenting on how cool her bright Teva shoes were and soon we were friends ha.  We also met this lovely Swedish couple and their baby, Dante, who made me want to move in with them and nanny him.  Such blue eyes and joyous smile. The next day, Molly and I decided to hit up the el Monasterio Cartujo, or Carthusian Monastery, which our art history professor had recommended.  So glad we followed his advice. It was... And there was a flock of plump, cute old Spanish women there, and some of them sang to a statue of Mary; their pretty voices filled up the entire hollow sanctuary.  After maneuvering through really sweet Arabian sidestreets, we all ended up in the gypsy "caves", which, were far from the dark, fiery, bat-inhabited caves we were expecting haha!  Instead, it was a very Greece-looking community, jumbled atop (or carved into, rather) a mountain, with white, laundry, and smiley people.  Oh, and cacti!     

So that was my past three weekends, in a coconut shell.

All this traveling.  It's been a great experience so far, and I am so blessed to have the means to do all this.

But isn't it all selfish? 

I have struggled with this very question for some time now.  Today, I have been reminded that everything we do should be for God's glory.  I have been reminded that there is more to life than seeing the world, there's showing this hungry world the Truth and the greatest Love there is.  Does that mean stop traveling? I don't think so. Mabye even quite the opposite.  Just check my motives.  Gosh, how lovely His wisdom and how gently He puts you in your place!  Just thought I'd share this valuable lesson with you all. Your thoughts are totally welcome. I hope you all have a joyful week. :)

Love,
Allison :)