Barca Betches meet the Boyband.

So what do you get when you put four Romans, one Grecian, three Londoners, a Tammy, and a Janjanproblem in a four bedroom apartment in the middle of Barcelona?

You get a struggle to survive, the Barca Betches versus the city. An endless fight against the tapas, disposable cameras, 8 am bedtimes, sunny days, hours of beach time, and of course tequila. And while we struggled through our weekend, fast forward four days and let me just tell you now,

Barca wins.  Barca always wins.

Let's run down the daily Barcelona routine:

Waking up around one in the afternoon we'd put on some Phil Collins and get ready, the girls taking significantly longer than the boys and the boys yelling at the girls for taking significantly longer. After about an hour of this, ending in the boys leaving until we can catch up, we'd stroll around the wide streets of the city, scouring for breakfast in our shorts and skirts, while unconsciously making our way towards the spot where we would decide to lounge around, doing nothing for the remainder of the day.

Forgoing any touring to watching the sun set behind the coast, we'd eat baguettes and brie, talking and laughing at each other, and drinking wine straight out of the bottle.  I think that's one of the things being abroad has taught me, when you're young you can drink wine straight from the bottle and make a day out of sitting around doing absolutely nothing, and it's perfectly fine. It's even good. Wine straight out of the bottle is good because it's what you aren't supposed to do, and people will look at you and think you're just a bunch of reckless, ridiculous college students. And that's what we are, so its ok. It's ok to be lazy and irresponsible and drink wine out the bottle because we won't be able to forever. So while some may not (sorry any parents out there), I complete condone our lazy days sitting in the sun in Barcelona and our bottles of white wine, uncorked by the laughing register workers in the grocery stores, because even though it's stupid and carefree, it's exactly how we should be acting and how i want to spend my time while i still can. And anyways, glasses are expensive and plastic cups are bad for the Earth so really we're just being good citizens.

After the best hours spent doing absolutely nothing, we'd head down for dinner around eight, sharing tapas and sangria around the table until we're so full the thought of going out makes us cringe. But do we go out you  may ask? well yes, yes we do, and after another long struggle to get us ready to go in time and scaring the boys out of ever living with five girls ever again (sorry about that guys), we'd head out to the Barcelona clubs to dance with our London boy band and make friends with multiple bartenders, DJs, and Edward Scissor Hands. Fast forward to six in the morning, we'd stumble home with iPhones full of pictures and the sun trying to rise before we're even ready for the night to end.

Wake up repeat. Barcelona wins.

Some of Barcelona's bests:

• The day spent sitting around on the beach was exactly what being abroad should be about.  Remember those long summer days in high school where you'd sit around a bonfire with your friends doing nothing and yet, at the time it all seemed so important? Well thats what the beach was.  It smelled like summer and easiness and while we sat with our feet buried in sand and our heads on each other's stomachs, singing acapella songs out of tune (really out of tune), and getting lost in the hours we really couldn't be any happier. It was an escape from everything for an afternoon. Like we were in our own little world where no one could bother us until we were done being high schoolers again for one last time. And even though it was a nothing sort of day, it was one of the best I can remember and we have the endless concert videos to prove it.
• Milk was one of the most amazing breakfasts I have had. If you ever go, order a breakfast burger, wash it down with a couple mimosas and make sure you eat every bite because hungover brunch really doesn't get any better than that.
• Family dinner is amazing for a number of reasons. 1. we proved our domesticity with, what I'm still convinced is, the best meal ever cooked by tipsy college kids. 2. wine, cooking, and wobbling in the kitchen with your best friends while the boys try to sleep is always a fantastic thing. 3. Tammy became one of the betches, and what more can you really ask for out of life than that?
• The best drink definitely goes out to the 13 liter Pippermints creation.  good work on finishing that team, good work.
• Spontaneous boat rides should always happen, especially when free champagne and 70 degree weather is involved.
• Giant rocks are good for sitting on for hours at a time, especially when you just want to be lackadaisical with the afternoon. You may not believe me, but I want you to trust me on this. Also, if you have the chance play Forever Young while you're up there, it'll be like you're on top of the world and someone will undoubtably almost cry (ahem Tara). So it's worth it.
• Stock Market bars + spotlight makes for quick best friends and embarrassing confessions and so it's basically the perfect combination.
• Staying up all night listening to The Gambler by Fun and looking at old pictures before a 7 am flight may sound like a bad idea at the time (and seem like a bad idea when you're about to die in an airport from exhaustion) but its not a bad thing at all, take Tara and I's word for it.

So in the end Barcelona won, and we couldn't be happier about it. It was a great trip with too many pictures, too many drinks, and too many memories to even try to write about. So shout out to the Orphans, Londoners, Tammy, and everyone else who tried to conquer Barcelona, because even though we failed, we had a hell of a time trying.