Birthday Weekend

For my Birthday, I got a five day weekend. Barcelona has a lot of strikes and holidays for the university students. When these events fall on a Monday, I am given the gift of a super long weekend. Thursday night, I went to George Payne with some friends, then we went to Ryan's, and then we went to Temple Bar.

Friday, I woke up early and went to a place called Brunch & Cake with most of the people from the same group as the night before. I ordered French Toast, and it was delicious. Usually breakfast here is made up of croissants and coffee, so it was nice to have something that I have missed from home.

After brunch, we all went back to our apartments, changed, and got ready to go to Sitges for a beach day. I was going to spend the day studying, but it had been on my list of things to do before I left home to spend the day in the close by beach town, and I am very glad that I went. 

Although there were some mixed opinions, I liked the Sitges beach much more than the Barcelona beach. There were less people, and it seemed more peaceful. Also, there were some really cool buildings and shops around the beach. Lauren and I went swimming, and it was cold, but really fun.

After spending a few hours on the beach, we all decided that we were hungry, so we went to a Basque restaurant and ordered pinchos, which are pieces of bread with some sort of topping. For example, one of my pinchos had tortilla espanola (kind of like an omelette) on top, and the other had a Galician pepper and cider chorizo on top. Both were delicious and went well with the glass of white wine that I ordered. After the beach, I went back to my apartment so I could get work done before my Birthday.

When I woke up the next morning, I went to shower and my host family wished me a Happy Birthday. Then, I headed over to Brunch & Cake for the second day in the row because I knew they had Birthday cake. I ordered red velvet cake and a glass of white wine.

After cake, Alejandra and I went to buy bottles of wine, and then we went to Cuitadella, a park, to drink them. Although we each had a bottle of wine, we weren't worried about being judged because the only person who could see us was a crazy bird lady who we decided must also have fifty-four cats at home. 

After the park, I went back to my apartment because my family was having a Birthday celebration for me. We ate cake and drank cava, and then I left to have dinner with Jenna and Lauren Benne. After dinner, and another glass of cava, we went to a chupitos (shots) bar. Afterwards, we went to a bar called Shamrock, and then Danni and Sam walked me home. 

I spent the rest of my weekend studying and writing a paper. I also went to this really cool candle shop in Barcelona. It's the oldest store in the city, and it opened in 1761. They have candles in a lot of really cool shapes and sizes. 

Today, I had a final exam and I turned in a paper for my poetry class. I am not sure how well I did in either class, but I am glad that they are over. 

Tonight, I am going to a "despedida," or a good-bye party. I will be home in five days, which is really hard to believe. Between now and then, I will be doing a lot of studying and going to the beach. This semester has gone by so fast, and I really don't want it to end.

Night of the Museum, Beach, and Tapas

Saturday, May 19, was Night of the Museums in Barcelona and a few other European cities. This means that museums offer free entrance from 7:00 pm - 1:00 am. My friends and I went to La Pedrera, also known as Casa Mila, which is one of Antonio Gaudi's most famous buildings. Gaudi started constructing the building in 1905 and finished in 1910. The building has been declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO. The building serves as both a museum and for its original purpose, an apartment complex. Apparently, Gaudi wanted the people who lived in the flats to all know each other. Therefore there were only lifts on every second floor so people had to communicate with one another on different floors. We waited in line for almost four hours to get into the building for free, but I thought that it was worth it.

The roof of the building was probably my overall favorite part because of the intricate structures and because I hadn't gotten a night view of Barcelona since my very first day in the city. There was a Bruce Springsteen concert going on at the 1992 Olympic Stadium, and we could see the lights from the concert.

 This structure looked like a ghost face to me.

The rest of the week until Wednesday was pretty uneventful other than starting The Hunger Games (I finished yesterday. Can't wait to get home and read the second one.) 

Wednesday was a really fun day, and, like I said in my Facebook status, very stereotypical of Barcelona. I went to class and then went to a pizza place we go to a lot called Mucci's with Lauren Benne, Sam, and Jenna. Then, I went to H&M to give Lauren an opinion of a swim suit she was considering buying. She ended up getting it. It is a really cute navy blue bikini. I ended up getting a 5 euro shirt there which I really like. After shopping, we both went back to our apartments to change into our swim suits. Then, we met at Barceloneta to go to the beach. After the beach, I came home and got ready to go to tapas. I wore the shirt that I bought that day at H&M. For those of you who don't know, tapas is a lot like appetizers, but you order a lot and share them with a group of people as dinner. Alberto ordered a lot of traditional tapas. My favorites were pan con tomate, artichokes, peppers, and (of course) patatas bravas.

After dinner, we went to a place called PaTapa to get dessert, although i didn't end up getting anything. Alejandra did let me try a bite of her chocolate cake though. It was really good. 

Yesterday I went to my last Catalan class probably of my life, finished The Hunger Games, went to my last lecture in my Don Quijote class, and went to a few bars and a club at night. I had a lot of fun because the club was playing hip hop music which I haven't heard a lot when I go out here.

Today, I went to brunch and a nearby town called Sitges. I will go into more details in my next blog post which will be all about my birthday weekend. 21 tomorrow!

Enjoying Barcelona

My last trip of the semester was the weekend I spent in London. Since then, I have been enjoying Barcelona and trying to soak everything in before I go home. I have been trying to focus on saying "Yes" when I get an opportunity instead of using excuses like being tired or having homework. Since London, I have had a few beach days, gone on a few runs, gone out with friends several times, and spent time with my host family.

Wednesday. May 16, was my host father's Birthday party. Some of the pictures turned out a little blurry because seven-year-old children don't like to stay still for a long time, but we had a lot of fun. We ate pizza and cake and drank cava. I bought my host father a singing Birthday card, and the Nora and Marcal were obsessed with it. They kept opening and closing it and singing along. I think they enjoyed the card more than Cacho (my host father). Its awesome how kids can get so excited about something so small.

After dinner, I went out to La Oveja Negra with some friends. Then, Lauren Benne and I went to Temple Bar. After that, I went home and went to sleep so that I could make it to class the next day. I have been taking a Catalan class that one of the CIEE directors, Rafa, is teaching. Thursday we learned about the regions of Europe that speak the language. I learned that there is an Italian island called Alguer where they speak the language. I didn't realize that Catalan was so widely spoken. After Catalan, I went shopping with Lauren Benne, but I didn't buy anything that day. I was looking for a new purse because my zipper broke, but I didn't have enough time to find one that I was sure I wanted to buy. After shopping, I went to my Don Quijote class which I am still enjoying very much. My professor knows a lot, and it is interesting to listen to her talk. One of the funniest things that she has told us is that the Catalan police have their own falcons which go hunting for pigeons during the day and return to the police station at night. It's pretty bad ass. After class, I went home, talked to Jason, ate with my host family, and then went out to a club called Apolo where they were having 80s night. I really enjoyed dancing with friends.

Today, I went to tapas with Lauren Benne, Sam, and Sam's friends from home named Ian and Alex. I ordered a beer and split sausages, patatas bravas, and pan con tomate with my friends. Then, we went to a cafe to get churros since I still hadn't had churros y chocolate since being in Spain. After spending time with my friends, I went back to one of the stores that Lauren and I went to yesterday called Blanco to buy a purse. Then, I came back to the apartment and have just been hanging out ever since. This has been a really fun week in Barcelona and I can't wait to make the next two weeks the best yet.

London

A week ago today, I went to London with Lauren Swanson, Blair, Danni, and Kevin (Danni's friend from home). My flight was very early, and at one point I was afraid that I wasn't going to make it. I got on the bus at 5:30 and it takes a half an hour to arrive at the airport. My gate was going to close at 6:20. Although I was a little worried, I made it to the airport with a little time to spare. Luckily, I was used to Barcelona's T1 terminal and found my way around quite easily. I met up with Blair, Danni, and Lauren a few minutes after I had gone through security and we all made our way over to the gate.

The flight was about two hours long. When we got there, we had to go through customs. Then, we met up with Kevin who had arrived at the London Stansted Airport the night before and spent the night there. We then went to buy our bus tickets and headed to London. We dropped our stuff off at the hostel, paid for the two nights we would be staying, and then we went to meet Lauren Chassin at a restaurant called the Breakfast Club. I was very excited because Spain doesn't have the breakfast food that I am used to eating in America. Pastries are delicious but sometimes I just want all the bacon and eggs you have. After we ate, we went to the Hummingbird Cafe to get cupcakes. I got a black bottom cupcake which was dark chocolate and cheesecake. It was delicious.

Next, we went on a walk to Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the Parliament, and then we rode the tube to Camden, which is a really awesome alternative area with a lot of shops and markets. After Camden, we headed back to the hostel. We were going to see if we could snag cheap tickets for Sweeny Todd, and Lauren needed her glasses if we were going to go. Unfortunately, we got to the theater too late and couldn't find cheap tickets for the next night, so we didn't get to see a show in London. On the bright side, however, we got to go to London's M&M store. I bought gifts for my host siblings. I got them each a cup that says London and has a picture of each of the M&M characters. I also got them bags filled with their favorite color of M&Ms. Julia gets a blue bag, Marcal gets a green bag, and Nora gets a purple bag. After the M&M store, we went to a pizza place called Pizza Express. Being an IU student, I loved the name. This place, however, was a lot classier than the beloved Pizza X (Pizza Chi, as Jason likes to call it). I was glad to be eating pizza. That's another food I miss while I'm here, and I hadn't had any since Italy. After dinner, we were all tired and decided to go back to the hostel since we had all been awake since about 4:30.

The next day, we woke up early and ate breakfast. Then, Danni, Lauren S., Blair, Kevin, and I went to Abbey Road. It was a really cool thing to see. Danni is really passionate about The Beatles, so it was really cool to see how excited she was to be there. After Abbey Road, Blair and I went to meet Lauren Chassin and Wales at The Globe Theater. There was a bit of a delay on the public transportation, so we had to wait awhile to meet up with Lauren. When she got there, we waited a long time for Wales. We finally found out that she wasn't sure how to get to the Globe Theater and made our way to meet her at the Tower Bridge. On the way over, Lauren and I stopped at St. Paul's Cathedral. We were thinking about going inside, but it was too expensive. It is very beautiful, and I wanted to take pictures, but I got yelled at when I took my camera out. We did get some pictures of the outside of the building though, and that is also amazing. When we finally met up, we decided to all go get a drink. I got a Strongbow which is a British cider. I wanted fish and chips, but the restaurant we went to was all out. The girls took me to a "chipie" after we were done drinking so that I could get some fish and chips. A chipie is a stand that sells fish and chips. According to Wales, its more authentic and usually tastes better. After being a little tipsy, the fish and chips tasted amazing. We all made our way over to Kings Cross to meet up with the others and take pictures at Platform 9 3/4. After the Platform, Wales and her friends said goodbye and went to Buckingham Palace, and we went to Fleet Street, where Sweeney Todd takes place. After that, Blair went to go see Sweeney Todd, and the rest of us went to restaurants. I was still full from fish and chips, so I didn't get anything to eat, but I did order some tea. After dinner, the Laurens and I went to a bar and ordered dessert to split. We got chocolate cake and bananafee, which is a toffee and banana dessert. They were both amazingly delicious. After the bar, we said goodbye to Lauren, thanked her for showing us around, and headed back to the hostel.

The next morning, we all woke up, had breakfast, packed all of our stuff, checked out, and headed to the metro. I was going my own way since my friends were going to the Tower Bridge and Tower of London. I went to Kensington Gardens, which I had heard were beautiful. I saw some really cool statues, a palace, a lake, lots of bulldogs, a flower walk, the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, and a Peter Pan statue. The gardens really were beautiful. I felt a bit rushed because they are so big that I literally could have spent all day there. Since the airport was a two hour drive from London, however, I decided to leave really early. I left London at about 1:45 to catch my 5:50 flight. Although I had to wait for awhile at the airport, I was glad to be there on time. I got back to my apartment in Barcelona at about 10:30 and was so glad to be home. Barcelona is much warmer, cleaner, and there are much less people. Once again, I was grateful to be spending my semester in such a beautiful place.

London