The next stop on our trip was Florence.  This happens to be one of my favourite cities I have ever been to.  It is beautiful and what expect Italy to look like; small streets, old, colorful houses, small markets all around, delicious food everywhere, and gelato stores in every other building.  Once we got there, we walked around in the leather market, which is just street after street of leather goods that are rather cheap since they are all made right there in Italy.  While we were wandering around, Molly, Alexia, and I ran straight into the cast of Jersey Shore.  It was very strange seeing them in person. They were just as orange and trashy in real life as on TV.  They had a couple police and body guards following them, along with a camera crew.  Apparently the mayor or governor (who ever is in charge of Florence) made strict rules that they all have to follow while filming in Florence, so they seemed pretty tamed compared to how they normally behave in the States.  After this oh too exciting event, we decided to go to dinner and then out for the night.  We ate dinner and then sat on the steps of the Duomo with our glasses of wine.  As we sat there, we saw a group of exceptionally tall guys walking past the Duomo.  It happened to be the Canadian basketball guys we kept running into in Rome, it was quite the coincidence once again.  So we went out with them for a night out in Florence.  The next day we went to see Michelangelo's David, ate some delicious Italian food, and wandered around Florence for awhile, then went back to the hostel and swam in their disco-esc pool.  The next day we flew back to London.  We went back to London for a day and a half to do laundry and repack for Barcelona.

Barcelona was wonderful, really warm.  Once we got to Barcelona, we just wandered around / got lost amongst all the tiny unmarked streets, ate some tapas, drank some sangria and went back to the hostel for an early night.  The next day we went and saw all of the Gaudi work, then went to the beach for the afternoon.  I had no idea that the beaches were topless, until everyone at the beach was topless, women of all shapes and sizes.  There were also people selling coconuts, mojitos, air brush tattoos, and massages.  All of this plus the topless women made what should be a relaxing beach experience, quite the opposite.  Molly and I went to swim in the ocean for a bit and while we were swimming near where the waves break, I saw something white and squarish in the water swimming towards us.  I thought it was a stingray so freaked out and yelled at Molly to get out of the water.  We both went clambering out of the water screaming and falling onto the shore and a plastic bag comes floating up next to us.  It was quite embarrassing.  The next day we wandered around Barcelona some more then went to a flamenco dance show, I have never seen anyone move their feet so fast. The next day we spent the whole day at the beach, our flight was not until 9pm so we did not know how else to spend our day beside relaxing at the beach.  Our flight was packed full of Barcelona football fans, the big football game (equivalent to our Super Bowl) was two days later, Barcelona vs Manchester United.  Unfortunately, yet unsurprisingly, Barcelona won.  My last week and a half in London was spent wandering around my favourite places of London.  

My whole London experience was the best experience I have yet to have and probably the best experience I will ever have.  Six months have never gone so fast.  Now that I am back in the States, it truly all feels like a dream.  If anyone who is reading this, if anyone still is, has the chance to go live abroad for a length of time, I say don't think about the repercussions of moving away and just do it.  The chance to go live abroad is quite slim the longer you wait, since the opportunity may never again represent itself, take the chance and I guarantee you will not regret it.  The world is too large and life too short to miss out on any of these opportunities.  I made some great friends in the most unlikely places around Europe and definitely cherish every moment I had abroad.  I also definitely took too much for granted while being in London, but overall, I believe I took advantage of a lot of the time I had while there.  I have never enjoyed a place more than I have London.  I cannot say enough good things about London and the people there.  Hopefully this is not me saying goodbye to London forever.  I hope to move back after I graduate.  So for now, this is more of a see you later London.