Week with Mommy and Fred - Part 1

Hola!

For the first time in a few days, I'm finally able to relax in my bed and write a blog post!  But I'm not complaining because I had such an amazing 5 days with Mommy and Fred in Barcelona! We ate, drank and were complete tourists and made such great memories we'll always remember.

They got to Barcelona on Friday morning (February 14) and after walking them to their hotel, we put on our walking shoes and headed down towards Las Ramblas.  They couldn't have picked a better week to come because for the first time, we were able to walk around outside without jackets on! We to Placa Real where we ate lunch.  We had our first of many pitchers of Sangria and enjoyed the most beautiful weather! After lunch, we walked around La Boqueria (which as of right now, is my favorite place in Barcelona) and up and down Las Ramblas.  There were so many street performers outside (even Fred tried to participate!) and people walking around.  We walked to the end of the street and looked at the Christopher Columbus statue and the port.  After shower and siesta time, we went to a restaurant called Margarita Blue.  It was Mexican and it was delicious! It was a little local place with great drinks (I got a mojito) and cheesy, yummy food.  We split nachos and each got an enchilada. After finishing, we went to L'Ovella Negra and had a pitcher of Sangria and then walked to the Hard Rock Cafe for a change of scenery.  After a long night of eating and drinking, we made a quick pit stop at McDonalds for a late night snack and went our separate ways.

The next morning, they met me at my apartment and I showed them around my neighborhood.  Saturday was Gaudi day since we were planning on going to see the Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell.  After the apartment tour, we walked to Sagrada Familia and went inside.  I am obsessed with it.  Every time I walk by the outside, I see something new.  The outside is so intricate and detailed.  I had never been inside either so I was excited to see if the inside matched what I had seen outside.  The inside was so beautiful too! There were stained glass windows, chairs set up for the church and huge columns that looked like trees.  It was amazing and indescribable.  We kept talking about how pictures don’t do the church justice.  After, we took the metro to Parc Guell.  First, we walked around the outside of the Parc and then went inside and had a snack of a baguette, cheese and salami.  Just what we needed (except for all the pigeons around)!  The view was beautiful as always.  Aside from La Boqueria, Parc Guell is also one of my favorite places here.  After going home and taking a siesta, we met up with my roommate Lainie (my other roommates were travelling in London that weekend) and we went to a restaurant called La Pijama.  We had burgers, fries and beers.  Probably one of the best burgers I’ve had.  After, we went to a little local bar called Una Mas.  It was pretty empty for a Saturday night so the bartender came over and each made us a special drink.  We called it a night pretty early because we had had a long day.  I don’t think Mommy and Fred knew how much walking we were actually going to be doing!

Sunday morning, after I snuck into their hotel for the breakfast, we went to the Gothic Area (Barri Gothic) and Cathedral.  We tried to get inside but because it was a Sunday, by the time we got there, it was closed.  We met a headless man and watched street performers as we decided what to do.  Instead, we went to get sangria and paella and Restaurant Port Vell, the place where my friends and I went the first week here.  After getting lost (of course) we finally made it!  Fred and I shared seafood paella (yum!) and Mommy got chicken paella.   Delicious as usual.  Later that night, we went to a steak restaurant called Alfonsina.  Literally the best steak I’ve ever had (and I’m not just saying that because I had been craving steak but it was just so amazing and good).  We also got empanadas and risotto to go with it.  I’m thinking about it now and it’s making me hungry.  After dinner, we went to the W Hotel and had fancy drinks! I had the second best drink in all of Europe (according to the bartender) and it really was that good! The environment of the W was so cool with all of the lights and the modern furniture.  It was pretty quiet because it was a late Sunday night but we had a lot of fun drinking and talking!

Quick Update

Hola!

I know I haven't posted in a while, I've been so busy! Just wanted to say that by Monday or Tuesday I'll have 2 or 3 new entries. I didn't forget about this!

But for now, it's 4:20am and I have a 7am flight to Amsterdam! I'll definitely post about my trip when I'm back!

Besos!

Weekend in Valencia

Hola,

My roommates and I just got back from a weekend trip to Valencia.  Valencia is a coastal city, south of Barcelona.  My program sponsored this weekend trip with a round trip bus ride and hotel accommodations.  The city was very different than Barcelona and it was interesting to see another part of Spain.

We left at 9:00 on Friday morning and arrived in Valencia around 1:30pm.  We dropped our stuff at the hotel and we went on a walking tour of the city.  Valencia is a much older city and you could tell with all the buildings.  They were all made of marble or stone and had a rustic feel.  Our tour was during siesta time so there was no one on the street.  I was so surprised about how empty it was!  In Barcelona, siesta time isn't as prevalent because some stores have to stay open in order to stay in business. In the smaller city, almost every store was closed and the streets were deserted.

(I would try and label these pictures but I can't remember what they were but they're pretty!)

After our walking tour, we got on the bus and they took us to places a little further that we couldn't walk to.  Valencia is home to a huge arts and sciences center which is beautiful!  The building was modern in contrast to the other parts of the city and there was a big reflection pool in front of it.  It was a bright, sunny day so we stopped to take pictures in front of it.

When the bus tour was over, we went back to our hotel to get ready for the night.  Since Valencia is the home of paella, it was a necessity that we ate it!  My roommates and I met up with six other girls and went to a restaurant called El Rall.  It was close to our hotel and it was recommended to us by people who had been there before.  We ordered sangria (of course) and seafood paella for seven people. When it came out, I had never seen a paella so big!  It was massive and filled with rice, shrimp, mussels, clams and calamari.  The home of paella did not disappoint.  We left feeling full and very satisfied!  While we were there, a man started singing right near our table. He was so good! We cheered and clapped for him and joked he should go on American Idol!

The next day, we had breakfast at our hotel (which was free! yay for free breakfast!) and decided with the group of girls that we had dinner with the night before to do a bike tour. Now, I am not the most athletic or coordinated person in the world so I knew this would be an adventure.  I kept telling my roommates I was probably going to fall off.  And guess who was right? While on our bike tour around the city, I tried to take a picture while riding and crashed into a bench.  Don't worry, a nice Spanish man helped me back up and put the basket back on the bike.  (I'm okay now, just have a few battle wounds in the form of scrapes and bruises but I'll live.)  We rode all over the city, through a park, by the arts and sciences buildings and finally to the beach.  Usually Valencia is known for its beautiful beaches and beach weather but we didn't get so lucky when we went.  Although it was kind of cloudy and windy, we still hung out on the beach.  I can also say now I've touched a new ocean!  We found a jungle gym on the beach and started playing on it like little kids.  We also found a bridge that had love sayings on them.  People had signed their names with their loved one and put a romantic saying next to them.  The picture you'll see below of the bridge says, "with you, I see things in a different way." So cute!  Finally,  when we got tired, we rode all the way home, trying not to get blown over by the strong winds!  

Later that night, we were so hungry that we searched for so long to find a good restaurant to go to. Right around the corner from our hotel we found a cute restaurant called La Cata.  Alyssa, Bridget, Lainie and I (my roommates) all split two orders of patatas bravas tapas (which are like mini french fries with a sweet and spicy sauce on top), calamari, a margarita pizza and a pizza with prosciutto, arugula (which they called "rocket salad") and cheese.  Like usual, we had sangria and cava (champagne). Typical to the Spanish culture, we sat around the dinner table for almost three and a half hours enjoying our meal and talking.  When we finally got back to the hotel, we hung out in each other's rooms and laughed at Naked and Afraid in Spanish.  We had to get up early the next morning for our bus ride home so we went to bed on the early side.

Although I didn't fall in love with Valencia like I have fallen in love with Barcelona, it was exciting to see a different part of Spain.  Even though the weather could have been nicer, my roommates and I made the best of the weekend and had a great time ourselves.  

Now it's back to the regular week but I can't wait for my next travel weekends!

Besos!

Another Weekend, Another Adventure (January 31-February 2)

Hola,

This weekend, my roommates and I were determined to check a lot of activities off on our list on things to do in Barcelona.  Luckily, we picked one of the most beautiful weekends to stay in the city and explore!  After a long, busy weekend, I am excited to take it easy tonight and relax with my roommates.

On Friday, we went to brunch at the cutest restaurant called Brunch and Cake.  It's a little place with white walls, wooden tables and couches and of course, cake!  We had high expectations for this place because we had heard so much about it from people who had already been.  They were so right!  Brunch here was amazing.  I had eggs with turkey and cheese on a "bagel" and it came with a side of guacamole.  I put it all over the bagel and ate it as a sandwich.  I never wanted it to end it was so delicious.  With it, I had a cafe con leche which is basically a latte.  We came out of the place wanting to try everything on the menu so we know we will be back.

After brunch, we walked around the neighborhood we were in.  My favorite thing about Barcelona is how different each neighborhood is.  In this one, every other store was either a bakery or a candy shop. We walked into so many different stores tempted to buy all kinds of things.  It took a lot of restraint to come out of each store empty handed.  We found ourselves on the street called Passeig de Gracia which is one of the main shopping areas of Spain.  It is similar to 5th Avenue in New York.  As you walk down the street, you see Burberry, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, etc.  There are also less expensive stores like Mango, Zara and local Spanish chains.  In this area as well is one of the Gaudi houses called Casa Battlo.  The house was originally called the House of Bones because on the outside it looks like there are skeleton bones.  I love how surrounded by the most high end stores there is an ancient, beautiful Gaudi building.  It offers such a contrast between old and new.

Saturday we had big plans to sit on the beach but mother nature ruined that with rain.  Instead, we went to Bo de B, a sandwich shop that abroad students love.  Again, we had heard great things about this place and again, we weren't disappointed.  You pick what kind of meat you want and you get to design your own sandwich.  It is similar to Chipotle but sandwiches.  I had steak on a baguette with lettuce, cheese, corn, little brown things (I don't know what they were), and three different kinds of sauces.  It was one of the best sandwiches I had and it was so cheap!  Luckily, it is close to my school so it is an easy metro ride to have a good lunch.  Later that night, we went to a bar called Ovella Negra.  This bar is famous for its huge beer and sangria towers.  As usual, we got lost on our way there so we find ourselves there a little late.  We ordered a pitcher of sangria and hung out for a little bit before heading back to our apartment.  This is an awesome place to come with a big group of friends to sit and have a good time!

Fountain at Passeig de Gracia

Casa Battlo

Casa Battlo

Ovella Negra

On Sunday, we took the metro to the far part of Barcelona to a labyrinth park called Parc del Laberint d'Horta.  It was a beautiful park filled with trees, ponds and flowers.  Many people brought picnic lunches and sat on the benches enjoying the sunny day.  We spent a few hours there walking around enjoying one of the first warm days.  In the park, there is also a maze.  We thought we would be able to get through it pretty easily but we couldn't find our way!  Once we did find our way to the center, we were stuck and couldn't get out!  To everyone else at the park, we were those girls who were entertaining to watch.  After taking some pictures and enjoying the scenery, we were on our way home with another weekend in the books.

Besos!