Why you Should go to Spain

      If you are looking for the best vacation spot in all of Europe, Spain would be the place to go! Whether you like to kick back and relax, learn on vacation, or even be part of the action, Spain has an attraction for everybody's interests. Visit everywhere from Pamplona to Barcelona, or see the excitement of Madrid. Whether you're going on a short-term vacation or a long-term stay, there will always be something to see and do. If you're the athletic type, head on over to the Camp Nou tour in Barcelona, or stay in Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls. Ethos - Camp Nou, home to the FC Barcelona Football team, may be toured everywhere from the visitor's locker room to the museum to the field itself. Just don't go into the Barcelona locker room, because that's a restricted area. If you want to take the more dangerous route, go to Pamplona to visit (or maybe join) the Running of the Bulls, a festival where people run from a starting point towards a stadium while being chased by bulls! Or, for a less dangerous thriller, hit the Tibidabo Amusement Park to ride the rides and eat the food. Logos - If you want to relax a bit and keep things going slow, there are plenty of options for that too! Visit the Barcelona Cathedral, the Royal Palace of Madrid, or even just check out some art or history museums. These can be found all over the place in Spain, everywhere from Barcelona to Madrid! No matter what kind of person you are or what you're looking to do, Spain will always have something for you!

Spanish Flag

Sunday, July 15th

     We started off our day by rushing to make our flight home, and we were late thanks to Cope, who spent nearly thirty minutes trying to style his "birds nest" of hair. It didn't help that Matt had decided that he didn't have to pack the night before and spent nearly an hour packing in a rush. We had even woken up before the breakfast, but we realized if we ate breakfast, there was a low chance that we would make it to the airport on time. Evan Langebeck was short on sleep due to him drinking four coffees the night before. When we did get to the airport, we were stopped due to David trying to bring back razors he bought to trim his beard when in Madrid. As we were running to our gate in an awkward mix of pajamas and clothes, our suitcases were bouncing up and down off the tile like rabbits racing after each other. When we finally got to our terminal, we realized that our flight was for delayed three hours.

     As we sat at our gate, no one could help but feel bored. Matt decided it would be fun if we pretended that there was a national security threat going on in Spain. When Matt ran off to try and trick people into thinking their life was at great risk, David started to complain about how much fun Spain was and how he thought that all our lives were going to go downhill. After a few minutes, we heard someone yelling and cursing at Matt and as he quickly ran to try and swiftly evade the people, but instead he tripped on someone's carry-ons and face planted into a chair. After that situation Cope and Langebeck decided to go get some breakfast at the McDonalds. When we were at McDonalds Evan Cope thought that he saw Ben Affleck casually going up an escalator. Cope decided to run after the man who looked like Ben Affleck, but he was really just a businessman.

     After the whole Ben Affleck fiasco, the two Evans found themselves lost inside the huge airport. Cope tried to call Matt and David, but it was no use because their phones were dead. David began to worry that the Evans were not back yet and is ready to go find them, but Matt explained that he shouldn't because bouncing a ball is more fun, so David reluctantly agreed. David put on his "I Survived Spain" hat on to comfort him, knowing all too well that Cope and Langebeck needed his help, but he didn't do anything. As people started to board the flight we were going to take, Cope and Langebeck were frantically trying to find our gate. In a last-ditch effort, Cope decided to ask a young man wearing a hat for directions, and the man turned around, and he turned out to actually be David. As David started to yell at Cope and Langebeck, it was announced that the final boarding our flight was right then, so we quickly boarded our flight 

     On our first flight, Matt kept on annoying the people in front of him by kicking their chair. David was started to be a little sad because he was going to miss Spain.  Throughout the plane ride, David and Evan Cope watched Netflix that they had downloaded as Evan Langebeck continued work on his Suduko that he had worked on for a long time.  Once we got our overlay in Canada, we got a late lunch, again at Caffé di Calabria, as we did before we headed to Spain.  While we were there, we had flashbacks to when we were there last and we all remembered the mustaches drawn all over Evan Cope and laughed, aside from Evan Cope of course, who was saddened by the fact that he would not be able to get his revenge.  After we ate, we headed to our terminal and sat down as we waited for our flight.  When our flight arrived, we all boarded and sat down.  We all played some party games together, the same ones we had played earlier in the trip and had an amazing flight back to the United States.  Once we got to the airport, we were greeted by our families and pets and all headed back to our homes to relax and share our experiences with our families.

Saturday, July 14th History

     We woke up today with the expectation that we would be full of energy, unfortunately, we were all in all super tired for some reason. Matt and Evan Langebeck started to repeatedly slap each other in a desperate attempt to gain some form of consciousness. David and Evan Cope both looked at each other and tried to maintain their state of being awake. We all stumbled down the stairs and just barely made it down without anyone falling. When we stumbled out on to the street we remembered that we forgot to get changed out of our pajamas. We all rushed back up the stairs to get dressed. We finally all came outside dressed and feeling semi-regular.

Plaza Mayor // History

     Once we were all outside we decided to go to the Plaza Mayor. When we got there we all were admiring the sight, however, Evan Cope started to give a history lesson on how the construction started during Phillip III rule. Evan Langebeck decided to continue Evan Copes history lesson by saying that it was a place where many executions took place during the Spanish Inquisition. When Matt heard about the executions he laughed maniacally, scaring anybody in the general vicinity. David was becoming very angry at Evan Cope and Evan Langebeck because they were all ruining the tour with constant facts. We were starting to get hungry so we decided to try out CasaMaria.

     After a delicious lunch at CasiaMaria, we decided to head back to our hotel room to rest up a bit before we took a walk. Before we fell asleep Evan Cope stuffed Matt's pillow with dirty underwear. When Matt released what Evan Cope had done Matt filled a sock with tooth past and started to hit him with it. When Evan Langebeck saw what was going on and grabbed a pillow and joined in. At first, David was rolling his eyes at us until he reluctantly grabbed a pillow. After that catastrophe, we started our walk.
     When we started the walk Matt was circling around Evan Langebeck yelling "I'm running circles around you!" Evan Langebecks clenched his fists then took a deep breath then unclenched his fists. About halfway through our walk, it started to pour down rain so we decided to head back. When we eventually got back to our rooms everyone was running on fumes so we quickly went to bed.

Friday, July 13th

The taxi we got kicked out of

     It was the day of going back to Madrid, after viewing the incredible place of Pamplona. While we were in Pamplona we were able to see the Running of the Bulls. That was a once in a lifetime experience to watch all of the people run away from the bulls in person. While we were there Matt was his normal self and ran around the whole time, Evan Cope looked and tried to touch everyone and every bull that passed. David and Evan Langebeck both were on the job of restraining Matt and Evan Cope. We all had a blast, however, it is time to go back to the wonderful Madrid.
     On the way to the train station Matt got us kicked out of three taxi cabs, two buses and almost out of the station. He was yelling, screaming and being immature, meanwhile the rest of us were trying to hold him back and calm him down. Evan Cope got bored of trying to calm down Matt so he started following the lead of Matt, while David and Evan Langebeck still attempted to calm them down.

The train we took

     Matt was being his normal self and yelling and running around. Evan Cope was following Matt around and causing a mess. David and Evan Langebeck were both hiding from Matt and Evan Cope who were being chased by the police. David and Evan Langebeck got on the train with plenty of time to find a seat meanwhile, Evan Cope and Matt had to rush in at last second and got thrown around the train while trying to find a seat.
     As we were on the train Matt was bouncing off the walls, Evan Cope was too tired to do anything, David read a book and Evan Langebeck did mind puzzles. Matthew was talked to eight different times from the workers for being too energetic. By the time we got to our stop, the workers were shoving Matt out the door who was waking up Evan Cope from his sleep. David and Evan Langebeck just acted as if we did not know Matt and Evan Cope. We all joined up after the train ride to find a taxi to our hotel where we quickly fell asleep due to the long day.

Thursday, July 12th Holiday & Sports

     It had been a peaceful night of sleep for everybody in the group. Sheer terror ran own everybody's back when Matt woke up and shrieked "IT'S TIME FOR THE RUNNING OF THE BULLS! EVERYBODY WAKE UP!!!" By the time Evan Langebeck could pin this maniac down and knock him unconscious, though, everybody was already wide awake and ready to continue the day. As the group began getting ready, David suddenly realized that knocking Matt out was not a good idea, because now they may be late. After spending ten minutes yelling in Matt's ear, Evan Cope was finally able to get him conscious again. As everyone finished getting ready and eating breakfast, David announced for everybody to start packing what they were bringing. Everybody seemed to pack the same three things, food, water, and a high-quality camera to catch the gore of the Running of the Bulls and the Bull Fight. David, who was slightly more sophisticated than the rest, remembered to bring a map of Pamplona, considering that this would be their first full day in Pamplona. At 7:30am, everybody left the hotel to head to the Running of the Bulls, which started at 8:00 on the dot.

Running of the Bulls // Holiday

     Arriving at 7:50, and following David's lead, the group finally arrived at the bull's path and waited for the two rocket fires that would announce the beginning of the run. Matt and Evan Cope agreed that it would be an amazing experience to be in the bull running until David told them that fifteen people have been killed in the Running of the Bulls since people started recording in 1924. Aside from those people, dozens more are injured each year from this festival. This was enough to scare Matt and Evan Cope out of being idiots, but it made Evan Langebeck want to join the race. Just as the two rockets were fired, and the screams of people both in the race and out were audible, a mob of people dressed in all red came sprinting by being chased by an angry herd of bulls. Meanwhile, everybody except for David laughed maniacally at the sight of a man being mowed down and trampled by the whole herd of bulls.

     Evan Cope, starting to think logically, asked David what the point of this was, if there was a point at all. Though it would be amazing to have a national festival where people got gored, he thought, it would make absolutely no sense. David informed the group that the Running of the Bulls was actually a festivity that was originally made due to the need for getting the bulls into the center of the city. Not only that, but the holiday is also celebrated in honor of San Fermin, the patron saint of Navarra. Just as he said this, Matt tried to push Evan Cope into the path of the bulls but failed because Evan moved and Matt fell on his face. While laughing, Evan threatened to toss Matt into the path, making the tiny child squeal in fright. Soon after this, the Running of the Bulls was over, and it was time for the bullfights.

Bullfights // Sports

     We headed to the stadium, where we had a wonderful view of the bullfights. The bullfights are yet another tradition that has been carried out for centuries, as David explained to everybody, but that made everyone question the purpose. After researching, Evan Langebeck actually found the answer before David, telling the others that the bullfights had originally been used to tire out the bulls by means of killing or subduing the beast, following either a set of rules or cultural expectations. The first bullfight was celebrated in honor of the crowning of King Alfonso VIII and are continued on today. Just as Evan Cope finished his speech about Alfonso and the bulls, the Matador stepped into the stadium and prepared for the fight. As the bull was let out and the gate was shut, the Matador walked up to the beast and waved a red handkerchief in its face, which the man quickly regretted. The bull reared back and knocked the man a clear eight feet into the sky, as well as thirteen feet backward. The rest of the bullfights were quite similar, and only in two did the Matadors barely win. As the last bullfight wrapped up with the Matador being stabbed in the arm, we all headed back to the hotel and settled down for a relaxing sleep after the long day.

Wednesday, July 11th Culture

The inside of Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

     We all woke up at 8:00, heading downstairs for some breakfast, all still in our pajamas.  After we scarfed down our breakfast, we headed back to our rooms to take our showers and get ready for our day.  Once we all had showered, we headed to the train station to put our bags in lockers.  Once we got to the train station, we headed in and found the locker area, renting a locker for six hours.  After we had put all our bags in lockers, everyone gave his key to David for safekeeping, and we headed to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, an art museum in Barcelona.

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya // Culture

The Beheading of Saint Baudilus by Lluís Dalmau

     Once we got in, we headed first to the Medieval Romanesque collection of the museum.  There we found art from the 11th to 13th centuries such as murals and panel paintings.  Matt was extremely excited about the medieval art, while Evan Cope was looking forward to the Running of the Bulls that we were going to be watching the next day.  We later headed to the Medieval Gothic Art collection, which housed art from the 13th to 15th centuries from painters such as Jaume Huguet, Lluís Dalmau, Bernat Martorell and Lluís Borrassà, and sculptors such as Jaume Cascalls and  Pere Sanglada.  It included pieces like "The Beheading of Saint Baudilus" and many more.

     After we visited the Medieval Gothic Art collection, we headed to the Renaissance and Baroque Art collection with art from the 16th and 18th centuries.  One example of art from this era is "Descent from the Cross", a painting depicting Jesus being taken down from the cross.  There were many different religious statues and paintings, showing how important religion, and more specifically Christianity, was to Spain in this time period.  After we had explored that collection, we then moved on to the Cambó Bequest collection, a collection full of art from the 14th to 19th centuries donated to the museum by Francesc Cambó, a politician of the 20th century.  This collection included assorted works that filled the gap between the medieval and modern art collections.

Descent from the Cross by an unknown artist

     The Thyssen-Bornemisza collection included many works by Italian artists, still having a majority Christianity-based, showing how important Christianity was to artists in these time periods.  We later headed into the Modern Art collection, the largest collection in the museum with hundreds of art pieces on display.

     We then left the museum around 12:30 PM and headed out for lunch at Can Dende.  After we ate lunch, we headed back to the train station, picked up our stuff from our lockers, and headed to the waiting area for our train.  As we waited, everyone else played games on his phone aside from David, who pulled back out his computer and continued work in his Minecraft world.  Once the train arrived, we all piled onto the train and got comfortable in our seats.  David again pulled out his computer, but this time he pulled up a game for everyone to play as a group.  Throughout the entire trip, we all played assorted games using David's laptop.  Once we got to Pamplona, we headed to our hotel and continued playing party games on David laptop, but now using the TV to show on a bigger screen.  After a few hours of playing, we were all tired and were getting bored of the games that David had.  We all returned to our own rooms and fell asleep almost instantaneously, tired from the day that we had had.

Tuesday, July 10th History & Technology

     Everybody woke up at 6:45 to start getting ready for the day because David wanted to get to the Barcelona Cathedral right when it opened at 8:00. Though everyone was annoyed at being woken up, they all, quite reluctantly, got up to prepare for the day. After eating breakfast and getting ready for the day, everybody headed out except Evan Cope, who had fallen back asleep in the middle of getting ready. David yelled for him to wake up and hurry because the most important thing to him at the moment was getting to the cathedral by 8:00. At 7:55, David arrived at the Barcelona Cathedral, leaving everyone else behind. Shortly after him was Matt, followed by Evan Langebeck carrying a sleeping Evan Cope on his back. After waking up Evan Cope, the time read 7:57, so everyone marveled at the height of the famous structure. Reading out of a pamphlet of the place, David informed the others that the building was 295 feet tall. This seemed to keep Evan Cope awake, which was perfect because it had just turned 8:00. 

The Barcelona Cathedral

     Evan Cope was almost not allowed into the Cathedral because it had been a hot day and he had worn a tank top shirt. Unbeknownst to the group, the Cathedral has a strict rule, enforced by guards, that everyone's shoulders were covered. Luckily, just outside of the Cathedral, there was a group of people selling cheap scarves for three Euros, which Evan Cope bought and wore into the museum. As the group entered the enormous building, they noticed that the inside was as beautiful and tall as the outside. Though this should have been quite obvious (especially the tall part), it was still amazing to experience the building from the inside and the outside. After doing some research, David found out that the Cathedral had been built between the 13th and 15th centuries, on top of the spot where two other churches had stood before. Being clueless as to how to tour the place calmly, Evan Langebeck suggested that we all take a tour of the Cathedral, which the others agreed to since they didn't know where to start.

Barcelona Cathedral // History

     As David, Matt, and the two Evans walked traveled through the Barcelona Cathedral, Matt and Evan Langebeck started asking stupid questions to annoy David, would answer them for fear of the two being serious. Everybody did learn a lot from David, such as the knowledge of the Cathedral being dedicated to Eulalia of Barcelona, which came from the question: "why was this church built?" The obvious answer that Matt and Langebeck were expecting was "to worship Jesus", but David went into detail about stories of Eulalia. Though the entire building was extremely beautiful and detailed, everybody agreed that the best part was the cross with the four pillars around it.
     According to David, the cathedral was built on over the crypt of a previous church.  Construction on the cathedral had started in 1046 at the order of Count Ramon Berenguer I, his wife Almodis, and Bishop Guislabert.  It was later consecrated in November of 1058.  The current Gothic cathedral was built on the foundations of the previous churches on May 1st, 1298.  After 150 years, the construction was finally complete in 1448.  Later more changes were made to complete some of the original plans, finally completed in 1913.

Barcelona Cross + Four Pillars

     Once the group left the Barcelona Cathedral, Evan Langebeck said he wanted to go to the Camp Nou stadium, which he claimed is the largest stadium in all of Europe. Skeptical about this fact, Evan Cope challenged Evan Langebeck to a bet; the loser would have to go back into the Barcelona Cathedral and "confess his sin of not believing the other." Sure enough, as the group walked closer to the front of the Camp Nou entrance, Matt pointed out a large sign near the gate that read, "Camp Nou: The Largest Stadium In All of Europe!" When Evan Cope saw this for himself, he was partially amazed by the size of the stadium, but mostly annoyed and embarrassed since he lost the bet. Laughing, David bought tickets for everybody, which were twenty Euros each, resulting in eighty Euros spent to enter. Evan Cope mumbled that this museum better be worth it since they were spending so much money on it.

The Camp Nou Stadium

     Once the group walked into the stadium, they voted 3-1 on heading to the museum, which turned out to be a ton of fun! David spent the entire time analyzing each player's strengths and weaknesses, while Matt and Evan Langebeck marveled at the greatest highlights of the team and the trophies, including twenty-two League and four Champions League trophies. Evan Cope, meanwhile, spent almost the entire time attempting to recite the team anthem, which he was somewhat successful at, getting the first four lines down but forgetting everything after "Makes no difference where we hail from."

Camp Nou // Technology

     After the museum, Matt suggested going to the visitor's changing room, where they could see the plays written up by coaches of other teams, and seeing the luxuries of the visiting team, such as the massage tables and the Jacuzzi.  Additionally, since it was dark, we got to see the stadium light up, a spectacular sight for more than just soccer fans.  With seemingly the entire outer shell of the stadium lighting up, it could be seen from over a mile away.

Barcelona Trophy Case

     Once everybody had gone through the museum and the visitor's room, everybody explored the stands, the press box, and the field until it was time to leave. Feeling generous, Evan Langebeck let Evan Cope off the hook, relieving him of the consequences of the bet. Thankful, Cope, gave Langebeck an extremely tight, and somewhat creepy, hug that nearly made Evan Langebeck want to put Cope through the punishment after all. Heading back to the hotel, everybody was talking about the long day and scrolled through the pictures they had taken to find their favorites. This continued in the hotel room for about half an hour, when David and Matt fell asleep. Still too disturbed to talk to Cope, Evan Langebeck decided to just go to sleep, and Cope followed shortly after.