May 2010
1 post
April 2010
5 posts
TIBIDABO
camel coat kinda day in barcelona
macba by school where tons of boys skateboard all day
cava
bambinos
la marina
flor del sol :)
chillin at school
filed trip to el monastero de san pedro y cadaques.. this is the view from the monastery
monastery
interior slate walls.. it is built into the mountains.. freezing
cadaqués . town where dali lived.
...
spring break part two
madrid
easter
I woke up this Easter Sunday really late due to my lack of sleep the past week (spring break). Once I finally got out of bed, I took the metro to Las Ramblas and began my day. I ate fruit as a I strolled along the port, enjoying the beautiful sunny weather. This is what all the Barcelonians have been telling us about. Wandered for hours until I ended up at Santa Maria del Mar, my favorite...
spring break part one
Amsterdam/Brussels
Catching a 6 am flight is no easy feat in Barcelona. The metro is closed until 5 am; the buses to the airport don’t start running until 530. The only option is a cab. I woke up at 415 am, forced myself out of bed and waited in the cold morning air outside my apartment for a cab. Janice and I were probably delusional the entire drive there, we talked with the energy one has...
March 2010
14 posts
2nd to last weekend of march
This past weekend, Ali L had a friend visiting from Rome - Lizzie. The three of us had a really fun weekend, I feel at one with Barcelona after having had explored even more of the city. I am beginning to treasure the weekends I am here in the midst of traveling around Europe at the same time.
There are tons of restaurants on the beach by the marina and clubs of Barceloneta.
We made Lizzie...
guayaba
one of my most favorite things to treat myself to every other day or so is a cup of guayaba (guava) juice from the boqueria. the boqueria is most certainly one of the most popular tourist stops in the whole city. as i enter the market, i know what i want - guayaba. i have to squeeze through tons of tourists who are in awe of the food surrounding them, just to get to my yummy fruit stand.....
live music in the universitat metro stop - a great start to my day while stumbling out of the crowded smelly metro train.
one rainy day, while wandering through the barrio gotico we stopped and drank tea and ate these delicious desserts which all possessed fantastic names .. the best was the marzipan cake
last thursday
During our 4 hour break between classes on Thursdays, the 4 of us made a plan to meet at the Arc de Triomph and explore the nearby Park de Ciutadella. It had been a week since the 4 of us had all been together because of traveling, etc so it was really fun to catch up!(under the arc)
The Parc de Ciutadella is so beautiful. Covered with palm trees and extravagant fountains, the park allows for...
st pattys
Although we are not in Ireland, there was no way we were going to let St Patrick’s Day pass by without our acknowledgement. We stumbled upon one of many Irish bars in Bcn, where we were greeted at the door with free hats and t-shirts. We joined many Americans and Irish drinking Guinness and watching the Barcelona futbol game going on at the same time just 15 minutes away. Fun times had by...
paris
Taking a RyanAir flight from Barcelona means you need to make it to Girona first. A 2 hour long bus ride brings you to the rural airport where RyanAir flights depart from. Friday, I woke up, packed and started my adventure to Paris. My flight left France at 8pm. I landed outside of Paris at the RyanAir airport there – BVA around 9pm. Once again, I got on another long bus ride to get into the...
snowing in barcelona .. in march.
This Friday, we had a field trip of sorts for my History of Spain class. Our grumpy teacher gave us a 3 hour walking tour of Barcelona. We were mainly in the Barrio Gotico, we saw the government buildings where there was a strike, and the cuatra gats where dalí, picasso etc used to sit and discuss ideas. I loved finally seeing the café, I am reading a book in which the characters regularly visit...
marruecos
Friday morning, I met Ali Janice and Ali’s friend from school Margaret at Plaza de Catalunya. Being awake as the sun rose did not feel great but we hopped on the Aero Bus and made our way to the airport. We slept the hour ride to Sevilla. In Sevilla, we had 5 hours to kill before our bus departed so we walked around the city and found a place to eat, and sit for 3 hours . We had some...
talibbbbb
Thursday night, Janice Mattie and I went to a concert at club Bikini. We saw Talib Kweli„ one of my all time favorite hip hop artists.. it was soooo much fun as we danced in the very front row!
a second 21st
Went out to a tapas dinner in the Barrio Gotic on Tuesday night for my friend Ali’s 21st birthday. It was so warm (on a february night) that we sat outside!
milano
I arrived in Milan on a rainy Friday afternoon after taking a 45 minute train ride from the airport. I stayed with my high school friend, Vanessa, and her 2 friends from USC. The three of them live in a fabulous apartment right in the city. The first floor of the apartment has their three bedrooms and the second floor has a huge living room and a tiny kitchen when beautiful old marble balconies...
February 2010
23 posts
back from milan(0), chose to reorganize my closet rather than update.. will do tomorrow.
to milan in the morning
thoughts to ponder thanks to facebook:
2.1.
wednesday the 10th was my 21st birthday. i woke up that morning feeling the same way i do most days - neutral. my first sign that it was going to be a different day was as i was rumbling through my closet to find a sweater, i found one that i forgot i had packed and out fell a special surprise from home! i made my way to the metro and started my first of 3 classes of the day at 11 am. as i...
bday weekend continued
we had to stop in for drinks at SANTAMONICA
bday <3
@ourfavcava bar
carnaval costumes
fc barcelona game
a day @ montjuic
best bday ever!
the beautiful music that the gypsies make with their harmonicas is ignored by all of us metro riders. eye contact with the musician means he will demand that you pay him. its sad that the beautiful harmonies must be ignored. we all look unimpressed and disinterested. is everyone really imagining a grand spanish fiesta filled with flamenco dresses and bottles of sangria and smiles or is it just...
minutes
minutes matter. every few minutes i glance up to see how much time i have used on the internet as to attempt to save my minutes for my next adventure on the net. i watch the minutes count down at the metro stop waiting for each train. sometimes, i want the minutes to go slowly - if i am eating my bocadillo, finding my keys or shoving my wallet down my bag - far away from los chorizos(pick...
rip @ sagrera
a man died sunday morning at the metro stop on my street. he fell between two trains. rip. such a different aura at sagrera every morning now
booked
sitges
milano
paris
amsterdam
morocco
yet to be booked
madrid and/or mallorca
edinburgh
weeeekend.(in helvetica)
http://www.canpaixano.com/en/contacte/contacte.html
Spent our Friday afternooon here aafter class. Took the metro down to Barceloneta, got lost asking people where the hole in the wall Ali’s parents told us we had to go to. Got lost giving other lost people direction to ZARA JAJAJA. Anyways, this bar is literally a hole in the wall, snuggled tightly between stores selling cell phones and...
cordoba
I am in love. with a city,
Cordoba.
After a quick 2 hour bus ride from Sevilla, we arrived in the outskirts of Cordoba. Our bus came to a quick hault as our beloved driver, Señor Antonion, jumped out the door. In five minutes, he was back and explained to us that the bus could not make it over the bridge so we’d need to walk over the bridge with our luggage to get to our hotel.. All 30...
continuing andalucia .. sevilla
Sevilla
We departed from Granada at 4 in the afternoon, and hopped back on the bus. Our hotel in Sevilla was not in the best part of town, it was on a tiny street in a random neighborhood full of Chinese stores. Chinese stores are everywhere here. Basically, they are owned by Chinese immigrants who sell literally, everything,. Silverware, school supplies, body wash, sweatpants, make-up, food,...
Lack of blogs due to lack of internet. Lack of internet = no time at home, therefore more time exploring Barcelona.
All of the above = Thummmmbs up.
llamamama
as i sat down for my 1st class of the semester, our profesor walked in with a solemn stillness to his face. i examined his appearance - deep wrinkles, large eyes, tan skin, pot belly. jumping to conclusions, i was confident he would be boring but an okay teacher. someone who i could deal with, but nothing exciting.
rather than calling role, he asked us to introduce ourselves one by one - 1st...
on the metro after class tonight i was listening to my ipod. once finally reaching my stop @ sagrera i walked towards the door of the train and a man bumped into me. he said sorry i said perdoname. go me
my friend lost her phone charger in sevilla so we went to the phone store to buy a replacement. she was told she’d have to buy a new phone to get the charger, 30 euros a pop. she was then told to go to the pakistanis who could sell her a charger for 5 euro.
we went to the pakistanis and got a charger for 5 euro
dulces
in response to the ham factor..the sweets here are delicious. or , is it because we are so upset by the fact that we were just forced to gobble down some rabbit/ham for lunch that the first sight of a chocolate covered hazelnut nougat sitting in the vending machine in the metro is beyond irresistable..
how to spot an american on the metro - look for someone eating candy/drinking from a water...
jamon
why is jamon on everything??
jamon for breakfast- on pan tostada.
jamon for lunch - on your bocadillo, in your paella
jamon for snack - jamon flavored chips are the only chips you can really find here.. more than disgusting if you ask me.
jamon for dinner - self explanatory.
why the jamon món?
January 2010
8 posts
We left Barcelona at 730 am on a dark and frigid Sunday morning. It was a struggle, to say the least, lugging my bags throughout the metro to meet the bus at the University. It took 14 hours to get to Granada. I sat next to my friend Ali from Ohioooo. We slept a lot, talked a lot, watch Toy Story on her laptop and basically felt uncomfortable in the stuffy bus for half a day....
granada
We left Barcelona at 730 am on a dark and frigid Sunday morning. It was a struggle, to say the least, lugging my bags throughout the metro to meet the bus at the University. It took 14 hours to get to Granada. I sat
i'm back
Got in late last night from our week-long trip to Andalucia. Woke up today at noon, had a long lunch with my mom - conejo(rabbit), chicken, sausage and rice stew. yuck,. I then met my friends at Montjuic (jewish mountain).Sadly, I forgot my camera. There is a huge castle at the top, with beautiful views of Barcelona and the sea. It was freezing with storm clouds looming, but a really fun day....
Off to Andalucia early tomorrow morning. But here are some pics with short captions.
WHILE RAMBLEAMOS, came across this parade of horses.. love the tradition of spain + KFC, you can never get away from some usa..
stumbled upon the placa real that nick has been raving about
and met this handsome man, looks like Mason, he started chasing after some birds and his barks echoed around the...
awwwwwe struck
went to casa Milà today despite being so tired from this stomach flu/food poisoning thing. it was amazing, i literally am obsessed with guadi. the casa milà is an apartment building on the passeig de gracia. two friends and i spent a total of 9 euro for our entrance ticket as well as headphones that gave us an hour and a half tour of the casa milà, as well as a background on ALL of gaudi’s...
las ramblas
i <3 las ramblas.
who doesn’t?
1st of all. Las Ramblas is a maximum 5 minute walk from my school, which means that whenever I have time between classes I will be able to venture over there for some action. Action meaning what? Funny tourists, true Spaniards, beautiful flowers, funny comedians, dramatic street performers(a la 3rd street promenade), etc. La boquería is right off Las...
la vida en un hotel
For the 1st week of my stay in Spain, I lived in Hotel Bonavona Park. The hotel is located, more or less, on the outskirts of Barcelona. It is in a nice area, no great architecture, no one too interesting to look at - but an overall safe and calm feeling. Looking back on it, the location of the hotel was probably a good choice. For the first 2 or 3 days, the group of 25 and I were brought to...