"El Correfoc"

After sleeping in Saturday morning, we started our day at La Boquería again. From there, we walked through one of Gaudí's buildings, La Pedrera. It was originally designed as an apartment building, but now serves as an office building. The architecture within the building, though, was just as impressive as outside. The roof also offered an awesome view of the Sagrada Familia just down the street. We then proceeded to the Gothic Corner of Barcelona which is the medieval section of the city. The Cathedral, La Seu, is at the heart of the area and was, of course, beautiful. After grabbing lunch, we decided to treat ourselves to a little bit longer day at the beach.

For as relaxing as our day was, Saturday was the complete opposite. The craziest night of my life started around 9 p.m. with "El Correfoc" or "Fire Run". None of us had any idea what we were getting into. We all assumed this "parade" was going to be set up similar to the States. Ya know, roped off with big floats and some cool fire tricks. Not at all. Apparently we should have listened to the people telling us to wear "protective eyeglasses, long sleeves, and a hood". El Correfoc consists of hundreds of people dressed up in Devil costumes wielding a device that's a cross between a blow torch and a sparkler. Not only did these people not care if they hit pedestrians, that was their goal. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought this was some sort of terrorist attack. BUT, of course I couldn't sit on the side for too long. Once I got the courage, I was testing my luck by jumping in and out of harm's way. After about 2 hours of staring in disbelief and dodging sparks, the group decided to head across town to Plaza Espanya.

At this beautiful plaza, we watched "one of the ten best" fountain light shows in the world. Starting at 11 p.m., Classical music was blared throughout the square while the lights and water of the Magic Fountain were timed to the rhythm. It was amazing; so "mind-blowing", in fact, we stayed another hour to watch it again and danced to the music. So, around 1 a.m. we did the college student thing, and headed to a bar for some drinks. But, as you should have learned by now, nothing in Barcelona is ordinary. This bar, Chupitos, offered over 200 shots with anything you could imagine. I enjoyed a "Willy Wonka" while the girls had a "Boy Scout" and Ben "treated" my roommate to the "Viking". It was a wild night to say the least and I am still alive to talk about it, Mom.