Day Three: Part 1

Hey All!
Day three is officially complete in Barcelona!! Today was our first full day in Spain, and it was completely filled with new and exciting adventures. A good portion of the team struggled pulling themselves out of bed for our 7:30 a.m. departure for our training session with the La Liga professional clinicians, surprise, surprise, I know! Upon arrival to the facilities we promptly warmed up and got started, due to our session only being an hour. The training session ran smoothly, and the players recovering from injuries received a solid fitness session due to the clinicians misunderstanding of what they could and couldn't do (funny to all except those recovering)! After the completion of our training sessions we departed for the hotel to eat breakfast, which had extremely fresh fruit and fruit juice like everywhere else here, and get prepared for the day. We then departed for the Monserrat Mountain Monastery, which is a Monk Monastery over 3,000 ft. above sea level. Many overcame their fears of heights on the journey up in a double decker bus making tight turns on curvy roads climbing the mountain. The group split up, some taking a trolley to the very top of the mountain, while others stayed behind to watch the boys choir (ages 8-14) sing in the famous cathedral. Both were amazing experiences for all, with groups exchanging pictures and videos so no one missed out! After our tours of the Monastery, we ventured into the streets of downtown Barcelona. Different groups chose different restaurants to eat at, most choosing those with foods they knew they would enjoy (let's just say a few were not any too enthused with all of the seafood and sushi for dinner last night). Groups explored downtown, taking in all of the events occurring due to today's holiday, dia del llibre i de la rosa, very similar to our Valentines Day, only a much bigger celebration. Coach Pins received a rose from our tour guide, how cute! After our ventures we were taken to the largest futbol store in Europe, exciting but also dangerous for all of us huge soccer fans! After a few of us purchased new jerseys and gear, we took off to the famous Antonio Gaudi Park. The park was absolutely beautiful, but due to limited time (we had to get to the Flamenco) we didn't get to explore all aspects. However, we all sat and enjoyed a jaw dropping Flamenco performance, with incredible fast feet and graceful movements. We decided that the dancers would have amazing foot skills on the soccer field, and we want to recruit then to come play with us! To top of a very entertaining day, we had dinner at a restaurant which had foods all would enjoy (salad, fruit, pizza, pasta, and meat) then returned to our hotel to get some rest for another busy day tomorrow.

It's bed time here in Barcelona, hope all is well in the States!
Good night! (or good afternoon to you all!)

Lauren Bauer
Wartburg Women's Soccer
Class of 2014