Barcelona study abroad Summer 2011: Day 22 & 23/Museu Xocolata (Chocolate Museum) & Bullfighting Museum

I went to the Chocolate Museum today before my first class. Some people had been telling me that I needed to check it out, so I figured why not. It was in a cool part of town, located near the Picasso Museum. Needless to say, I got lost on my way there so it is good that I gave myself extra time. When I finally found it, I walked in and my jaw dropped immediately at the chocolate fondu fountain behind the register. And instead of getting a paper ticket, they give you a chocolate bar as your admission voucher! Once inside, I walked around the entire museum, (it wasn't very big) and checked out all of the chocolate sculptures. They had them ranging from a Roman coliseum gladiator fight to a western saloon to Sagrada Familia, and even a scene from the movie "Up". I wanted to buy some souvenirs to take back home, but they would have melted and gotten smooshed on the plane so I decided to pass on that. I had some more time to kill, so I went to get authentic gelato and tapas before my class. My favorite tapa was sushi-like, with cold salmon and avocado on top of the bread. After class, I went to La Boqueria one last time, where I was finally able to walk throughout the entire market. Some of the vendors were closed though because of how late in the day it was, but I still got to see a lot of other really cool ones! It was so cheap! 1 Euro blueberries, strawberries, and pineapple! And I found a booth with truffles and other chocolately treats so of course I couldn't resist! By the end of the trip, I had spent about 40 Euros, just inside of a farmer's market! It was time to come back home though to take a nap before finishing a paper, so off I went...until I passed some souvenir shops to do some last minute gifting. These last few days are going by way too quickly. There's not enough time!

The next day, for my Sport & Culture class, we went on a field trip to the Bullfighting museum in Barca. It was a little old, but it was cool to see the history in the museum and actually go into the arena where the fights take place. There was even blood on the sand from the night before! We walked around the inside of the arena where we saw the different walls with horn marks in them from where the bulls had tried to attack the fighters. The museum was by the stables and we even got to see a few of them before we headed out. I am bummed that I wasn't able to catch a fight while I was in Spain, so I guess that i'll just have to come back and do it some other time! Not that I condone it, I just want to be immersed in the cultural experience because it is engrained in Spain's history and seen more as an art form rather than a sport. We even got to play around a little bit in the ring, with some of us acting as fighters (or toreros) and others acting like bulls and making horns with our hands and charging each other! It was really funny and good to see that we get amused so easily. This class has really given me the opportunity to see things that I otherwise would not have had the chance too, and actually increased my appreciation of soccer (still not a diehard yet though!)