Ñ and Ç...our use of this equals total immersion

So we are in Barcelona and it has been a great two days. Today we had a Gaudi themed day and saw a lot of his work, all of which was very impressive. Yesterday we combed through most of the old city and loved getting lost in all the very narrow side streets. You can see a lot of free churches that way f.y.i.
Here are some of our favorite observations pertaining to Spain and Europe in general:

1. Overzealous Photography. For some unknown reason we have discovered that many people are OBSESSED with taking pictures of everything. And by everything we mean even the most mundane rocks. One question that keeps popping in our minds is "What are you really going to do with that when you get home??"
Also, no one ever smiles in any of the pictures. They seem sooo excited to have their picture taken, but as soon as the camera starts to shutter they start to imitate their favorite statue...their very own modern Mona Lisa. Maybe this is so they can play it off to their friends when they get home claiming "I didnt really want that many pictures of myself and I wasnt happy about it" Yeah. Right.

2. Port Tour. Imagine a beautiful Mediterranean ocean with lush green hills, centuries-old buildings and bright blue sky all on a cute little boat with a nice breeze.
That is NOT what you get on a port tour. A port tour is exactly what it sounds like, a tour of the port. There are no hidden surprises. Cargo boats loading and unloading, and loading again. Oh, and dont forget the machinery used to load the cargo onto the boats. It is shiny in the sun however. Later in the day, we did rent a rowboat which redeemed our lack of beauty in the morning...minus some ducks attacking a dead pigeon and Kristen breaking off the paddle. Whoops.

3. Market Pastries. A bag full of pastries and little cookies totalling less than 2 euro is definitely too good to be true. Sick. Cardboard with a little sugar on top.

4. Skinny people. This is a culture that is rich in food and a very chill mentality. The hundreds of pairs of skinny legs should be named one of the wonders of the world. How in the heck do they keep the weight off while still enjoying the gelato placed on every single corner?

5. Absence of toilet paper in any bathroom. Note to self: dont leave one of Kristens two cherished rolls of emergency toilet paper in a shady bathroom..she will be mad. Oh, and it happened to be left in the bathroom where the seat was on the toilet but not attached so the second Kristen sat down...yes we got to observe this with the lack of door...she slid right off on the ground along with the seat.

6. Rattail/mullets/oversized accessories(actually, just one GIANT visor. Kathleen laughed so loud that the poor girl removed it in shame.) Apparently rattails and or mullets are all the rage in Europe. Oh my.

7. P-D-A. i.e. public display of affection. Okay, at first it was sweet and made us single ladies want a boyfriend. Now, it just makes us throw up a little in our mouths. No joke...hardcore public makeout sessions everywhere. Subways, street corners, parks, famous monuments...you name it, weve seen it there. Never knew a statue covered in pigeons could be so romantic.

8. Mystery of the unfinished church...apparently one of the most amazing in the world. Minus the fact that absolutely nothing is completed 100 years later except for one half of an exterior wall. Gaudis Sagrada Familia will be beautiful if its ever finished. We really were scratching our heads wondering why we paid 7 euro to walk around a construction site for 5 minutes.

9. Hole in the wall dining. A wonderful little greek restaurant and a small breakfast place might have had the best food we have eaten the entire trip. (This excludes the Nutella. Nothing beats the Nutella)

10. NO SLEEPING IN CHURCH. After resting our eyes in the presence of the good Lord Jesus..I was tapped on the shoulder by a tiny little blonde woman who told me that it was the house of God and if we wanted to sleep, go somewhere else. She thought it was disrespectful. Kristen did not agree and was not afraid to defend our love of Jesus. This quickly turned into a theological debate concerning denomination, baptism and Jesus drinking wine with the disciples. No worries, it was all in good intentions. No fists were thrown, but the lady did look a little floundered.

Time for making fun of each other:

Kathleen...okay, so I didnt know that we were going on a SELF guided chocolate tour suggested by our new best friend Rick Steves which he said would cost around 5 euro. My mouth was starting to water, and I asked, "Does the price of the tour include the chocolate as well?" note to self...self guided tours dont cost money for the actual tour.

Noelle: So the managers of our hostel dont speak a lick of English. While checking her email, one of them asked Noelle if she spoke spanish and after a confident "un pequito.." she was whisked away to answer the hostel phone and translate directions to a lost tourist. Hopefully he made it here...we havent seen anyone come in yet though...

Kristen: After a long afternoon of walking and sightseeing, she has reached an all time low. Determined to have a nutella banana peanut sandwich for a late night snack, she got the idea to steal peanuts from an all you can eat buffet. (which we had already paid for..come on have a little faith in us) however, we were short on proper peanut storage but kristen, being the resourceful eater that she is, selflessly offered the coin pouch of her oversized wallet. she still defends that it would have held a good amount of nuts. with a look of determination on her face she marched up to the buffet line only to find it was empty. they hadnt had a chance to refill the peanut bowl from our last trip through the line. Note to self: Kristen also would prefer a cone with her soft serve please..."Noelle, I want a cone, I want a cooooooonne!" Unfortunately, Noelle is unable to supply cones on demand. Her coin purse isnt as big as Kristens.

Okay, thanks for bearing with us. Its been a funny two days and we love making our readers smile. Gotta live up to the hype you know. Tomorrow Kristen and Noelle fly to Rome and I will begin a cruise with the ENTIRE stewart family. this has the possiblity of becoming an arrested development spinoff. Stay tuned for some good stories.
Love you all!!
kristen noelle and kathleen.