La Sagrada Familia, Picasso, and Montserrat

Inside of La Sagrada Familia

After going to Sevilla last weekend, we were determined to make this weekend all about Barcelona. The weekend started Thursday night at Le Cyrano since numerous people told us that this bar was awesome, and it really was. Large tables, cheap drinks (and you get to pour your own amount of liquor—how is this possible?!), free popcorn, and a free water bottle on your way out the door. FINALLY, we found a place where our whole crew can pregame without getting a noise complaint/almost getting evicted--too soon floor 4 boys? After we walked to Bling Bling, but I only lasted about 30 minutes before needing to go to sleep.

 

Ceiling of La Sagrada Familia

We woke up Friday morning ready for a productive day and headed to La Sagrada Familia. We decided to really ball-out and got tickets for entrance, the audio tour, and a trip up to the top of the Passion Tower. I know La Sagrada Familia is extremely touristy, but it surpassed all of my expectations. The inside was incredible. No picture or words can justly describe it, but Gaudi truly is a whimsical genius. I loved all of the colorful lights that shine through the decadent stain glass windows and the giant tree-like art on the ceiling. Advice to those who plan to go up the tower: consider taking the elevator on the way down because you will feel claustrophobic and dizzy if you choose to walk down the spiral staircase—lesson learned.

After being WOWed by La Sagrada Familia, we found the happiest burger place. Free appetizer + delicious burger + fries + cortado (aka my favorite espresso drink) + white wine  = bliss. We were practically on cloud 9 and decided to do some well overdo shopping. I got a warmer jacket for my trips to Prague and Dublin—CAN’T WAIT—and we exhausted ourselves walking all around the city. After some rallying later that night we went to L’Overlla Negra. I think I would have liked this bar a lot more if we went earlier, because it was packed. Still, it was a great atmosphere and I had fun sipping sangria, and I will definitely try going earlier on a different night.

The next morning we woke up extra pumped because we were going to Milk for brunch. MMMMMMM so good! I got eggs benedict, and it did not disappoint. We then walked around the Born area (which we love) and decided to ask how much tickets were for the Picasso museum. We were pleasantly surprised to learn it was FREE for students and we decided to do an impromptu visit, and it was excellent! I was even more thrilled because the week before I learned some history about Picasso in my Urban Interventions class. I will definitely be back.

Montserrat

We spent the rest of our day strolling around Born and had an early night in preparation for our program trip to Montserrat in the morning. Montserrat was great and well worth waking up at 7am. We were given a tour of the monastery (home of the black virgin Mary) and even got to see the choirboys signing during mass. My favorite part however was the hiking afterwards. The mountain is huge and we had amazing views. We got to just sit upon giant boulders and talk about how cool our lives are. I still cannot get over how unreal these past three weeks have been and how grateful I am for this trip of a lifetime.

Hiking Montserrat

Ps. next time I update my blog I’ll be 21 :0 

A Weekend in Sevilla

Making $$ at the casino

This week I started classes and nothing too exciting happened. I did however have my first homework assignment, which was to visit a museum called La Virreina, and it was really cool. All of the artwork was done by Al Weiwei, who is a serious activist, and all of his artwork was extremely aggressive—but awesome. I wish schoolwork always involved discovering a new museum. Since we were adjusting to our new school schedule we didn’t really go out during the week, except one night we went to a casino. It was a very strange and entertaining experience. I gambled one euro and lost my euro, so I’ve given up on gambling. We also ended our night at the 24hr bakery, which makes any night a good night.

After a long week of classes I was pretty exhausted and knew I had to wake up early the next morning for my flight to Sevilla. Then I chatted with Eric and he told me he bought a ticket to Barcelona...WOOOO (ps hi Eric if you're reading this) and I am so so excited --sorry I am being such a girl about this. So I was extra jittery and super pumped to leave for Sevilla in the morning with the Floor-5 roomies (Katie = honorary 5^th roomie). Waking up at 4:20 was shockingly not too bad, and the Aerobus made getting to the airport extremely easy. I got on the flight, took a nap, and woke up in Sevilla. We were pretty delusional when we first landed, but after sitting in a cafe for 1.5 hours, eating some chocolate pancakes, and sipping on a cortado I was ready to start our adventure. We headed to la Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza, which is the 2^nd biggest bull fighting arena in Spain. It was so interesting, and I learned a ton about bull fighting, but I am really glad I didn't see a match because it would have been pretty gruesome. 

My lil bulls

 Alcazar Plaza

Then we walked around all happy in the sun and we loved all of the orange trees throughout the city. Seriously, the Orange trees RULE! And then we checked in at our hostel, which was really nice (shout out to Samay hostel in Sevilla). After a little regrouping we went to Plaza Alcazar and I was amazed. Every detail in this palace was breathtaking and it was HUGE. We spent so much time in the palace and still didn't see every part of it. Ugh I would have killed to live in there with all of the beautiful tiles (reminded me of an ancient Anthropologie). After a quick nap we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner at Vineria (best meal yet!!) and were so so happy. We then headed to a bar that was referred to as a “sangria beer garden”. It was this old authentic bar and had live music. Mara, Anna, and I even got up to dance, which was pretty hilarious considering we do not know how to dance like Spaniards. After a pitcher of sangria, ½ a pitcher of pinto de verano, and some disgusting (but funny) nuts from a vending machine, I was ready for bed.

La Plaza de Espanol

The next day we woke up ready for another full day. We started off with breakfast and then reserved our Flamanco tickets for later that night. Next, we visited the Seville Cathedral, which is the largest gothic cathedral in the world. It was HUGE!! We worked up an appetite and finally cracked and became Americans—we ate hamburgers. No regrets, it was delicious. After, we walked to la Plaza de Espana, which was also incredible. So “big and good” (HA). We finished our night on a high note going to the Flamanco show at la Casa de la Memoria. My jaw literally dropped watching the show. I honestly did not know anything about Flamanco dancing, except that it was something I needed to do while in Sevilla. Now I need to make sure that EVERYONE goes to Sevilla and sees a Flamanco performance because it was fantastic! It was elegant and fierce tap dancing on crack,. YOU MUST GO! You cannot find anything like it back home. After being amazed, we went for dessert and wine at a restaurant and enjoyed the rest of our night.

The five of us had the greatest time in Sevilla. It is unbelievable how perfect everything was and I loved traveling with these 4 girls. Special thanks to Becca for being mother goose and directing us all weekend. We would be lost without you (literally)! 

Also from now on I will be uploading pictures to Facebook on a more regular basis because trying to upload over 100 pictures at once was a HORRID experience. FB wouldn’t load and I wanted to cry and had to re-upload them in chunks and then Mara and Becca gave me a hard time and they are both evil.

First Week Complete

San Pau Campus 

I cannot believe it has already been a week since I arrived in Barcelona, and at the same time I feel like I have been here for months. We start classes on Monday, so life will start to normalize. I am actually kind of excited to go to school, especially since the San Pau campus is absolutely beautiful. I do not think I will be able to return to the depressing BPS building after this semester.

La Sagrada Familia

Las patatas bravas

 On Tuesday Mara, Anna, and I were exploring a new area while waiting for our meetings with Ryan. We realized how close we were to la Sagrada Familia and we decided to sit at the park and just stare at it. It blows my mind that you can find such incredible sites in Barcelona without even trying. Another great discovery: las patatas bravas. Once you eat these delicious potatoes life will never be the same. 

Geese inside of the cathedral

Another highlight was our tour of the Gothic Quarter. There is so much history I would have never known, and the tour guide was fantastic. My favorite part was visiting the main cathedral of Barcelona. Fun fact: There are 13 geese inside of the cathedral in memory of Eulialia, who was 13 years old when she was killed for refusing to convert from Christianity. We also learned about Sant Jordi, who is displayed throughout the city. According to legend, Sant Jordi slayed a dragon that was killing all of the virgin women in Barcelona. When he killed the dragon a rose appeared from its blood, and Sant Jordi gave the rose to the princess. La diada de St. Jordi (the equivalence of our Valentines Day) is on April 23^rd and is based on this tale. This is why it is tradition here to give a rose (or book) to the person you love on April 23^rd. Sorry guys, I’ll stop with the history lessons.

Hot chocolate + churros

After our gothic tour we were scheduled to take part in a gymkhana (aka a scavenger hunt). Unfortunately we were exhausted from the tour, so we half-assed the gymkhana. Instead, Katie, Mara, Becca and I went to a café and ordered hot chocolate and churros. Hot chocolate here is SO good—it is pretty much a cup of half melted chocolatey wonderfulness. We were very happy, but pretty much failed the gymkhana.

That same night we decided to take on Opium for the first time. Most of you may have heard of this club before (it’s the one that everyone who goes to Barcelona talks about). We went with a big group and I was surprised by how much fun I had. The club is right on the water and was like nothing I had ever been to before. It was a great time until someone stepped on my foot, which resulted in a very bloody foot. Even so, I will definitely go back.

The next day we explored Born, which is a hip area in Barcelona. We perused the streets, munched at a café, and went into another cathedral. On our way back we finally got SIM cards for our phones (yay for being able to communicate!!) and then we prepared for another night out. Somehow we ended up at Smalls Club. This was not our intended destination; I repeat not our intended destination. We found someone advertising the club, and girls were offered a complimentary drink, so why not go in, right? To my surprise, we had a blast at Smalls, even though its name was Smalls. Even better, we found a 24hour pastry shop our on way home (this will be dangerous in the future). 

Exploring Born

Other exciting news: five of us planned our first trip--we are going to Seville this Friday!! I also booked my spring break trip to Italy WOO. Can't wait for all of the adventures ahead. 

**I just need to add that the weather here has been beautiful and my heart goes out to those living in polar bear temperatures. 

I started a blog?!?!

View from our balcony

Hola from Espana! I am all settled and living a “casual” life on Carrer de Santalo, in a posh neighborhood. I had the best possible time traveling to Barcelona. I did not experience flight delays, lost baggage, or physically getting lost in Frankfurt (sorry to Anna who had 2/3 of these things happen to her). Really, the only bad part was when I bit into a tomato and it squirted onto the person sitting next to me—oops. Besides that, traveling was a breeze (#blessed) and I got to settle into my piso with my roomies. We went to a small super market, got wine for 2 euros, and spent our night sipping wine and hanging out until we fell asleep.

Boo Restaurant

The next day we had an early orientation at Boo Restaurant, which was right on the water.  Although it was long, we had a coffee break with croissants and the location was amazing. Afterwards we had a great lunch with tapas, paella, and wine. After becoming full and tipsy, a large group of us decided to explore the city. We aimlessly walked along the water and magically ended up at Parc de Cuitadella. The park was STUNNING. We then headed into the city for the 3 kings parade for Dia de Los Reyes. I was excited for the parade but it was SO crowded and extremely chaotic. We stayed for beginning, but escaped early to beat the crowd. I’m glad we at least saw some of it (aka the giant sperm-look-alike balloons) floating in the air. After taking the metro back home, we were in desperate need of a siesta. 

Parc de Cuitadella

I woke up from my nap at 10:48pm and then it was time to begin the night. We went to pregame with people in our building and had fun getting to know one another. Then around 1am (who is shocked that I was up that late?!) we headed to our first club: Otto Zutz. At first it was pretty empty because it was the equivalent of “Christmas eve” for locals. But it began to get more crowded and we had a blast drinking and dancing until past 4am—GASP. I do not know how I survived because I am usually #1 weenie. 

Stuck on the elevator

We eventually decided to walk back for munchies and sleep. When we arrived at our piso we had a brilliant idea to cram seven people into the VERY small elevator. Bad idea. Very bad idea. We pressed our floor number and it made an awful noise. Next I saw us moving down until we stopped completely between two floors. We all nearly had a panic attack. It was hot, 4:30am, jam-packed, and we were stuck in an elevator. Tensions were high, but we were able to laugh (well, everyone except for Mara). We had to call Ryan at nearly 5am and a technician had to come and save the day.  After 50 minutes of yelling, near crying, and laughing we were free. So at 5:30am we were back in our room with extreme adrenaline rushes and feeling slightly stoopid. But hey, at least it makes for a good story.

Aftermath of "pussy lick" shots 

The next morning I didn't wake up until 2pm (who am I?) and I had a slow start to my day. We headed to brunch and I got eggs benedict mmmm. At night we went to Dow Jones bar. It was pretty cool because it had a stock market theme and the drink prices went up and down based on demand. The theme was fun, but it was extremely crowded and filled with Americans (kind of reminded us of Bents). After roughly 20min we ordered 12 "pussy licks" (lolz). It was an upside down shot that had to be removed with our teeth and then licked off a plate. We had a good time, but it closed pretty early and we had to hike home. I did not go to sleep until 5am...once again, HOW AM I DOING THIS?! 

Until the next adventure...adios.