The place that will always be home

Today I left Barcelona to go back to Florence and never has been leaving a place so hard. I arrived early Thursday morning and stayed until earlier today. I spent my whole weekend visiting my favorite places in Barcelona. I didn't feel like a tourist, I felt that I was exploring my city. I remembered every single metro stop I need to get to a specific place and which side streets my favorite restaurants are on. When I exited the airport when I arrived on Thursday, the familiarly smell of Barcelona was waiting to great me. It smelled like home.
I went to my old neighborhood to see what had changed and thankfully nothing had. Getting off at the Badal metro stop for the first time in almost a year was strange but exciting. All the same people worked in the small bodegas and were walking to and from their homes. The frutaría where I got my fresh produce is still there and run by the same father and son. The only thing was was different was that I'm not living at Roger 20 anymore. And my phone doesn't automatically connect to the wifi.
I had tapas and sangria at my favorite restaurant in Barcelona on Thursday night. It's tucked in a side street along Barceloneta. I went back to my favorite art gallery in the whole world to see my all time favorite artist and her new paintings. As she changes the pieces on display weekly, and sometimes more, I used to go once or twice a week. Saturday I went back to see the progress on La Sagrada Familia. In the year and half since I've been gone, they've finished the side they were working on, added a new structure to the opposite side, and have started construction on the top. This morning, I went to La Catedral de Barcelona in the Gothic Quarter for Easter Sunday mass.

Everyone will find somewhere that's their place. For some, it may be their hometown and for others, like myself, it's a city in a country 3,000 miles from where they grew up. After leaving Barcelona my first semester abroad, I knew Barcelona is my place. I know the city like the back of my hand and I'm completely in love with the city, culture, and language. This little weekend trip to Barcelona confirmed once more for me that I really am meant to be living in Barcelona.
This trip reaffirmed that I should and will be living in Barcelona in the not so distant future. So, see you soon Barcelona. I'll be coming your way for good after I graduate or maybe sooner.