My Friends Come to Visit before Break

Right before I left for Spring break Jess and Pizza met me and the gate from my flight in Gran Canaria and I took them back to my apartment. The first thing we did was go to my market to get some snacks and food for the week. They loved the market and afterwards we walked to the Gothic Quarter from Passaige de Gracia where I showed them Gaudi buildings before we went to Brandy. I loved having them in Barcelona and they really loved it too, Pizza could not stop taking pictures of everything. It made me and Jess laugh so hard.  I almost forgot that Jess bought me modern and peanut butter! I was so happy to get them it seemed like I was more excited to have the bagel then to see them! But I wasn't I swear!





That first day we went basically everywhere, down La Rambla, to the Boqueria and ate lunch at Bilbao, the tapas bar. We the went to Mixtel•la for dinner, which was so good we stuffed our faces.

The next morning we woke up and went to Mount Tibidabo, which I was so excited to go too! We had to take the metro to a bus just to get up there. It was so cool with sweeping views of Barcelona and a cathedral and a little amusement park. That day was also St. Paddies Day so we went to dinner at Dunnes with some of my friends. In the Irish tradition I had Guinness stew and cider, which was yummy!


The next day I had class but was able to show them Parc Ciudella and the beach. It was so nice we were actually able to lay on the beach and get harassed by some Pakistanis. That night Jessco, Pizza, and I went to dinner with a few of my friends at Rosa Negra before going out to Shoko and Opium. The night was very crazy and funny to say the least.

The second to last day they were here I met Pizza and Jess at Parc Guell before going to Mont Juic. We ended up going when it was closed and had to walk down the whole thing.

The next day was Jessco's 21st birthday! While I was in class they went around on their own, but I met them at Milk, which was really good brunch place before walking around the Gothic Quarter some more. Pizza got a churro because apparently the time was ending for you to get them because it was almost spring! 

That night was there last night here and for dinner we went to Agua for Jessco's birthday. It was lovely and so good! We had for desserts and we were so good we did not eat any bread so we didn't have to pay for it!

That next morning they left for the US and I literally had no time to do anything because I was leaving that night for Spring Break.

Gran Canaria

This week I skipped school and went to the Canary Islands. I love Gran Canaria and Puerto Mogan, which is this cute little beach/port town. I am also ecstatic to say that I am officially a certified Open Water Scuba Diver!

When I got to the Hotel Paradise Lago Taurito on Wednesday morning I immediately went down to the beach and found the scuba place Blue Explorer Dive Center and met my dive master Sabrina, who was awesome. She was this cool Brit who was young and made my diving experience fun and relaxing. I was nervous I was going to get a strict old man, but I got the complete opposite!
Right away we drove to Puerto Mogan because he beach in Taurito was ruined from a storm that hit last week. I put on my gear which included a full wet suit and hood and then went right into the water from the beach. We did basic skills for the first two dives and I got to see a cuddlefish and tons of sea urchins and starfish, which I got to hold. Afterwards I went back to my hotel and laid by the pool with a rum and coke.

The next day I woke up early and went scuba diving off a boat for my third and fourth dives. I first went to Mogan and laid on the beach there and then went and dove. Our first dive was to the ship wreck the Mogan II. Here we saw a barracuda, an eel, and I held an arrow crab. The wreck was so cool and made me think of the Titanic of course. It was like I was in a different world.

After lunch I did my last dive where I had to swim using a compass and do a skill called Cesar. I was nervous about those two, but I made it! I got to see 2 cuddlefish, an eel, and an ANGEL SHARK! It was so cool, Sabrina even woke it up and it turned toward us so we swam away. All of this was in and near the Perchel Caves. Afterwards, Sabrina, Fiona, and I celebrated my certification with some rum and cokes on the beach, which was so much fun.

The next day I woke up and met Owen, Lior, and Megan in Mogan to go on a booze cruise out of Puerto Rico. The booze cruise ended up not even having hard liquor, but only beer and sangria so we bought our own haha, but it worked out and was a lot of fun! We laid out and just relaxed and then went banana boating in the freezing water. The whole booze cruise ended up working out and being fun. The only problem was that I got sun burn of course, on my knees and back and have been peeling ever since!

I seriously loved the Canary Islands though and would love to go back. I would highly recommend going there to anyone because it was just so amazing!

Madrid & New friends

 Once my Grandma, Aunt and Lynn left I had a break for guests for a bit and got to meet a bunch of new people in my program and get to know my classmates better.

The Wednesday after my family left I went on a Hemingway bar crawl with a bunch of kids from my Lit class. We (Sam, Mary, Farrell,Emon, Mitch & his friends and I) literally went from class to the bar crawl and then to a club afterward. I literally went out in the clothes I wore to class. We went to London Bar, Quatro Gats, Bar Marselle and Belushi's (not Hemingway). For each bar my friend Sam had a little blurb about it that we read before drinking. It was so much fun. We played drinking games and Belushi's and just chilled at the other bars before going out to the club, which was just as insane. But I am so happy I made new friends.

That Friday I woke up early after happily not going to Abroadfest, which is this huge party thing where DJs play House music and people do drugs and get shit faced. Not my scene. So anyway, I went to Madrid Friday with CEA. We took a high speed train to get there and I sat on the train with Sam. When we got to Madrid it was pouring and cold, but I wasn't going to let that ruin the city. I roomed with my friend Lior and while she recovered from her night out I went on a tour of Madrid. It was pouring so we (Sam, Emon, Michael, and Josh & I) were first just in a bus and saw lots of things including the Real Madrid Stadium, the US Embassy, and an Egyptian Pyramid. The tour was nice, but made me sleepy and our tour guide was very strange giving his opinion and pointing out stupid things and not getting Greek mythology right. After the bus tour we did a walking tour in the pouring rain and saw Town Hall, the Royal Palace, Mercat de Miguel, and Sol Square and another Square that I can't remember the name of. We also saw and later went to the best Churro place in Madrid.

That night we went to a real Flamenco show with CEA and it was so cool and intense. The people singing were amazing and the dancers were great. I was happy I was able to appreciate their dancing me thanks to going to Milana's dance competitions and seeing what real good dancers look like. On a side note, the male dancer looked like a mix between Adrienne Brody and Brody Jenner and kind of could have played Jesus in a play. I thought about that too much.

After the show we added 3 more people (Haley, Pegy, and Todd) to our group and went to a pub called Ulysses after the James Joyce novel. We got pints of beer and cider and played cheers to the governor, which was so much fun. For the rest of the weekend this was our group and even though it was a little large it was a good group and we got along great. After the pub we went to get Churros at Sin Granas(?), which is supposed to be the best. They were good, but I still love cinnamon and sugar Churros more.

The next morning we all woke up early had our free hotel breakfast and made sandwiches for later and headed to the Palace. The Palace was gorgeous and insanely beautiful with a huge courtyard and ornate rooms. Everyone was wishing they were a royal at the end. We kept getting yelled at though because everyone was sneaking pictures and Emon decided he wanted to touch a real gold wall. We also tried to sneak onto a Canadian tour. Somehow we did not get kicked out though.

All of us then went to Retiro Parc, which is like Central Park for Madrid. The park was beautiful with a huge lake in the middle that has paddle boats and a crystal palace that is now used as an exhibit. The park also has the only statue of the devil (supposedly) in Europe. The most insane part is that the park used to be only for the Royal Family to use and walk around. I can't imagine Central Park not being opened to the public. So insane.

We then went on a tour of the Art Museum Reina Sofia, which is in an old hospital. I saw lots of Picasso's, but the most important and one I was excited about was seeing Guernica because I have learned about it since middle school. After the Reina Sofia we went to the Prado, which is supposed to be the Louvre of Madrid. At this point I was dead from walking around all day, but I managed to see more paintings and photographs. By dinner though I did not want to see any art for the rest of the weekend.

That night thankfully did not involve art, but instead we tried to go on a Hemingway bar crawl in Madrid, but instead went to a local Disco Techa and met these 3 Spanish guys. They were really nice and fun to talk to because only one of them actually spoke English so we had to try hard to speak to them. Sam, Todd, and I ended up going with them after to get Churros at the same Churro place before heading back to the hotel. It was cool because they were so much more open to talking to us then people in Barcelona and you could clearly see the differences between Castillian and Catalans.

The next morning I headed back to Barcelona with some new friends and absolutely loved Madrid.

More Family Time

             After my parents left Barcelona, the next wave of my family came in the form of my Aunt Kelly, Grandma, and her best friend Lynn. They rented an apartment down the street from me, which was bigger than my apartment here and had 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. It was so nice.

                 While it did rain 2 of the days they were here we still made the most of their visit and trekked through the down pour. One of the days they were here we went to explore everything Dali. We first went to the Dali Museum in Figueres, which is so cool and one of the most interesting art gallery's I have ever been too. There were statues, paintings, and interactive art that was just all Amazing. The funny part of the museum is that it is literally the only thing in the town, there is not even a great restaurant to eat at.

               My Aunt Kelly then drove us to the town where Dali lived, which is this little beach town on a peninsula of a natural preserve. The drove was one of the craziest and scariest drives of my life, only to be compared with when my Uncle Timmy, Annie and I almost died while driving I Italy on the Amalfi Coast. This drive though was not only through a natural preserve on these windy mountain roads and curves where you don't see the other side, on top of that it was raining. Kelly was screaming, Gma trying to calm her and I was laughing at it all. It truly was insane.

         When we got to Cadaques though, it was worth it. It literally was so beautiful I want to go back there, but don't know how to get there, probably a bus, which I can't imagine. Even so, the town was so cute and had tiny little windy roads, Kelly almost pulled a Timmy and hit a side wall, but we made it through with the car intact. When we got to the bottom we hit the Mediterranean and ate lunch right on a little restaurant on the beach. It was still raining, but the food and the view was still great. We had native Catalan food, which I am happy my family got to taste and like.

             We then went to Dali's house, which was just as crazy as his museum. The house itself has its own little area where no one else has houses because Dali bought up all the land and had a contract with the town. His house has his studio in it with a model room, which is very Moroccan and then there is his different living rooms and his bedroom, which had this mirror in it so Dali could see the sunset from bed. There was also this sitting room attached to the bedroom that was like the inside of a Genies bottle. The craziest thing was Dali never had many people over his house and only him and his wife live there. Dali also had a huge amount of land and these huge patios and decks and an amazing pool (that was filled). The pool was so cool and seemed like it was still used! There was also a huge statue in the backyard that is supposed to be Jesus made out of trash. Interesting. ..

Dali was one crazy guy for sure.

           While I loved having my family in Barcelona, that was such a crazy and special trip that I will never forget and I am so thankful and lucky to have my Aunt and Gma and so happy they got to find out first hand that Spain is not Mexico!
I already miss them like crazy.

Adventures with my Parents

These past two and half weeks I have had none stop visitors to Barcelona and while it has been a crazy few weeks it has also been great and fun and I am so grateful and happy that I had people come visit me! 

The first people to come to visit was my parents and I was so happy to see them, I already miss them so much. They took me and my friends to such great restaurants and we went and explored parts of Barcelona I haven't seen as well as parts I have been to before. We went down all of Las Ramblas and went to Parc Guell and went down to the beach as well, all things I have done before. We also went to Casa Mila by Gaudi, which is the big apartment building that Gaudi designed and we got to go on the roof and see the cute little apartments that we inside and were used in the early 1900s. We also went to Montjuic, which I had not been to before either and it was so cool. We road a gondola up to the Castelle and walked around the Fort, which has sweeping views of the whole city and sea. It was so pretty.

My parents also took me to some great restaurants, which included an Italian Restaurant up the street from me which was so good. I had gnocchi and my dad had pizza and both were so delicious, I've already been back to it. We also went to a tapas place in El Born, which I have been to before and was so great per usual. My dad got a Gin and Tonic, which was amazing and delicious and I don't even like Gin and Tonics. My parents also took my friend Owen and I to a gastronomy restaurant called Ohla, which is where I have gotten drinks before. Everything was so good and the drinks were amazing, it was such a great meal.

Another night my parents took my roommates and I out to a restaurant on the beach called Agua, which was so great. My dad had a dessert called boiled strawberries that was so yummy I loved it. Afterwards my mom touched the Mediterranean for the first time and we went to the Ice Bar, which was such a cool experience. Everything in their was made out of ice from the bar to the seats to the cups, it was cold but fun! It was too cold for my mom though and she had to go out of the bar at some points. It was so funny. After the Ice Bar we went to an absinthe bar called Absenta, which is right by the beach. It was such a quirky bar with nick-knacks everywhere and a huge fairy doll on the ceiling. 

 That second weekend my parents were here we went to Andorra, which is a teeny tiny country in between France and Spain and of course their national language is Catalan, I can't escape it! The drive there was amazing and probably one of the coolest drives I have ever been on. We literally went through the Pyrenees Mountains and went through one tunnel that was 5 miles lone in a mountain. Also each time we came out of the mountains the terrain would be different, like once it was snowy and then arid and then grassy. It was so interesting.

When we got to Andorra, it was so cool. The town we went to, Andorra la Vella, was literally in between the mountains and as soon as we got into the country there were signs for France, that is how small it is.

In Andorra, we just walked around everywhere and (I) went shopping and got two sweaters (one stripped with elbow pads) and a light jacket, which I love! And the best part was that it was cheaper and had no tax...I should of gotten more. Also in Andorra we went to the Thermal Spa, which is supposed to look like a glass mountain. It was amazing inside with huge pools that had different water jets for massages and had different sauna rooms and showers. While there I got a facial and it was the best facial I have ever had! Amazing I wish it lasted longer!

Also in Andorra no one spoke English, but all the signs were in English, it was so strange! Even so, when we told people we were from NY they would get so excited because they had never met anyone from America before. It was crazy!   

The night before my parents left we went to Woody Allen's favorite resturaunt called Barceloneta with Corinne, Bob, Owen and Owen's family. The resturaunt was okay, nothing special, but the sangria was great. Afterwards we went to L'Ovella Negra and got a huge tower of Sangria and then us and Corz and Bob went to Bar Marselle and got Absinthe and shots of tequila. It was so much fun and a great way for my parents to end their trip here.  

Barcelona - La Riberia & El Born

In my history class we went on a field trip to my favorite part of Barcelona, El Born and La Riberia. El Born is a part of Barcelona that has been heavily gentrified and now contains many shops and expatriates. This part of town reminds me of the winding streets of Florence, but leads to the sea, which is one of my favorite parts about it.

The picture shown above is from a square in El Born, and is the flame is actually a memorial for all those Catalans who died fighting for their independence in the War of Succession against the French in 1714. This square, called  --> El Fossa de les Moreres was actually where thousands of Catalans died and were buried. The tower in the background is from the Church Santa Maria del Mar, which was made in the 13th century by Pere III and is considered a traders/workers Church because it was built and funded by the traders in that area.

On the other side of La Riberia is La Ciutadella Park, where I go running usually. This park has so much history behind it that you could not tell just by walking around it. Before this park was built, there was a huge pentagon fortress that enclosed 150 acres and dominated the city. The fortress, which was built after France won the War of Succession and was the most hated symbols of Castilian rule for a century and took 20 years to demolish it. Now there is a park that I love with a zoo and lake and the gorgeous fountain that is pictured above.   

In this area of the city, the Guilds could be found. The guilds were the core of the medieval city economic life and lasted from the 13th century up until the French took over after the War of Succession. These guilds were important in both Political life as well as the Church, having great influence. The picture seen above is an example of La casa taller, which is the building where shopkeepers worked and lived. The ground floor of the building was the shop and then the first principle floor was where the owner’s family would live, which has bigger windows and the upper floors has smaller windows where the servants would live. 

Also, on our field trip we passed the Llotja, which used to be the cities Stock Exchange building. The building was built in the 1350s and then rebuilt by Pere III in 14^th century. The contract room of the Llotja was the oldest continuously running stock exchange in Europe until it was moved to Passaige de Gracia. The building is a neoclassical building that conserves the 12^th century building inside. It has been used as many things including an Art Academy, where Picasso studied.

 

First Month in Barcelona & My Crazy Week

      I have officially been in Barcelona for a  month and while the time is going by so quick, I feel like I have been here for even longer. I have been so many places here and in Europe already, but at the same time there is so much to see. This past week in Barcelona I saw and did so much in and around Barcelona.   

                 To start off my crazy weekend in Barcelona, on Thursday night my friend Owen, roommate Julia, and I went to go see the start of the Carnival in Barcelona. We went to a Parade for the King in the El Born district of Barcelona. It was so crazy and all the costumes were so colorful. The King and Queen were actually these big porcelain doll type things that people went into to move and dance. There was also a court jesture and this whole story that was being told that we did not know. Afterwards, we went to a real Tapas bar called Golfo de Bizkaia, which was delicious and cool because you literally got to go pick which ones you want and only pay a euro for them.  Then we decided to go to a Gastronomy Bar called Ohla for some funky drinks. I ended up getting a Margarita with a passion fruit on the side and it was made with all these different things including jelly. So interesting! 

          On Friday I went on a CEA trip to Tarragona and to the Torres Winery in El Penedes. The picture above is from Tarragona and it is seriously one of the prettiest I have been to and has so much history attached to it. The old quarter of the city, where we went is surrounded by Roman walls and has a Circus, Praetorium, and a Amphitheater. We got to go to the top of one of the old Roman towers, which had sweeping views of the Mediterranean. Afterwards we went down to the Amphitheater, which can be seen above in the lower left-hand quarter. It is so completely different than the Colosseum in Rome, even though they may look very similar and be used for the same purposes. We were able to go into the seated area and walk around the seats and go into the arena part as well. We basically had the run of the stadium, which was so insane for me. 

         After we went the Circus, which is where the chariot races were in Ancient Roman times and then we went to eat some yummy Catalonian food. We ate sausages and fries and something called Calcotada, which is a spring onion that is cultivated only in this region of Spain. It almost looks like a celery stick, but you have to peel the first layer of the onion rod and and then dip it in this special sauce. It was an interesting taste, and not bad, but not amazing at the same time, just different. It was exciting to eat though because it literally is a once in a lifetime opportunity.   

      

          From lunch we finally went to the Winery, which was literally an experience. I have gone to other Winery's in NY (as many of you reading this know), but this one was intense. They take you on a train ride like in Disney and then take you into this tunnel that is literally right out of Willy Wonka. There are no lights and then all the sudden you start to drive and they start to play a video on the walls, it is so strange, but cool. Afterwards we got to tour the actual winery and then have a glass of wine, which was actually yummy! I ended up buying 4 bottles of wine because they were so cheap and yummy! During this trip also, I got to meet new people and hung out with them afterwards, so I am expanding my friends! Yippee!

 

        After the winery, I actually went out with some of the people I met on the tour, along with my friends Lior and Owen. We went to this bar called Marsella, which is where Hemingway used to come and drink absinthe and then write his novels. The original ceiling is still in the bar and is literally falling off at certain points. Since we were there we decided to be like Hemingway and all order absinthe (which can be seen above). The whole idea of absinthe is fun, especially for Americans, but I don't know how people drink more than one. It was not bad and fun because we got to light sugar on fire, but I had to always chase it with water. And no sadly I did not see the green fairy. They don't serve that kind of absinthe there. 

         The following day I went to Parc Guell with my friend Lior and we just walked around there. While we were there though, we met these guys who go to St John's in the City, but are studying in Sevilla. They were really funny and we hung out with them for a while and told them where to go and what to see in Barcelona. We also got to witness the people who illegally sell things around the Parc get chased by this guy with a cane. He was like a pimp or something, he did not look like a cop at all. We decided that he was just a concerned citizen who took it upon himself to chase these people with a can. It literally was like Tom and Jerry, it was so funny.
            That night we ended up going to eat on top of a Mall called Arena Madre. It was right at the entrance of Monjuic and had sweeping views of Barcelona. We got tapas that were pretty good and awesome Gelato. Afterwards, Lior and I met up with our new friends from the night before and went to this bar called Peppermint where they serve you a 13 liter drink for all to share in a huge glass that is probably the size of a helmet. It was huge. It was crazy trying to finish the whole thing, and I am happy I came late because I don't think I could have made it if I was there from the beginning. Even so, it was a lot of fun. 
 

      On Sunday, I woke up and went to an FC Barcelona game with CEA and met some more people, but I didn't really hang out with them a lot, only during the game. The way they do things is so different than American sports, I was not used to it, but there weren't as many distractions. For instance, there are only two boards in the whole stadium and they only tell the score. There is no play backs or announcers telling the fans what it is going on. Also, if you get out of your seat during the game people stare at you and on top of that alcohol is not served. They come solely because they love the team, nothing else. It was a fun experience though, better than football for me because at least I like soccer.

          That night I went to Carnival in Sitges, which is a little shore town about 45 minutes south of Barcelona. It was insane and so much fun. I went with Bus2Alps and actually met someone from Marist who worked for the company. The bus was fun, but once we got to Sitges we got to do whatever we wanted. The whole town had a constant parade going through it and you could literally go dance in the parade, which my friends did. I ended up making friends with some British girls from New Castle and hung with them for a lot of the night. I also went and hung out on the beach and literally just wandered because the whole thing is outside. The majority of the people were wearing costumes of all different kinds and it was just a fun atmosphere. I have heard Venice is the place for Carnival, but Sitges sure was fun. I guess I'll have to compare eventually.