Los Juegos del Hambre

Things I saw today:

1. I went to see "Los Juegos del Hambre" (The Hunger Games) movie in a theater in the Olympic Village  area of the city with my friend Mary. This was the first time I had been to that area, and it was very cool! The buildings have a very different feel than the rest of the city, and there was lots of open space, running paths, and parks. I plan to explore that area again soon. We chose that theater in particular because it is an "original language" theater, meaning the movie was in English (maybe it's cheating a little bit, but I just wanted to understand!). The movie was awesome and now I can't wait to read the third book! Alicia is going to see the movie with her friends tomorrow afternoon. It's cool that we can talk about the series and it's nice to have a common interest. I'm excited to see what she thinks of the movie.

I've seen this poster on the side of every bus stop in the city for weeks!

2. Later in the afternoon, I went for a run along Ave. Parallel to the port and then to the beach. There were tons of people out walking along the water today, enjoying the perfect 70˚ and sunny weather. In the beach village of Barceloneta, there were several street musicians, lots of ice cream stands, and lots of happy people. Here's a photo of the beautiful old building situated between Las Ramblas to the left and the port to the right.

Also on my run, I passed this enormous modern hotel, which is visible from pretty much everywhere in the city. Our conversation teacher said they let the public go up to the roof and look around, so sometime in the next few weeks, we're going to go!

3. Tonight was the big game between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. While I was running, I saw approximately a zillion people wearing the maroon and blue striped jerseys that Barca is famous for. Then when I got home, Alicia and her dad were watching intently and intermittently yelling at the TV. People here take their soccer (futbol) very seriously. In fact, we had to wait until halftime to have dinner. In the end, Barca lost 2-1, and there were very unhappy fans. 

Side note: I realized that one of my favorite things about Barcelona is that you can see the mountains and the ocean at the same time. Even from the beach, you can see monstrous mountains in the distance over the heart of the city. If you've never been here, you should come. If you've already been here, you should come back. It's a special place. 


In this photo, you can see the mountains in the distance over the water.

Check back tomorrow for a special post recapping my first four weeks in Barcelona!