Tarragona, Eric, Pink eye, etc.

Eyescream

AH so much has happened since the last time I updated my blog. I feel the need to backtrack about 2 weeks to when Mara, Becca, and I went to the beach after class. It was a nice day outside and we wanted to just lay and relax. On our way to the beach we came across “Eyescream and Friends”. This gelato place was SO cool. We got to pick our gelato flavor (I chose cheesecake) and two toppings. They shaved the gelato and then put two candy eyes on top. It was so cute. Honestly, the gelato was pretty mediocre, but it was adorable and I’m glad I got my eyescream hehehe.

The following Friday we had our program trip to Tarragona. I was excited because I learned about Tarragona in my Spanish Culture/Civilization class and it was the capital of Spain when Rome occupied Spain. We had a guided walking tour of the city and saw a lot of the Roman ruins, including the Anfiteatre, a Roman circus, and part of the remaining Roman wall that once surrounded the city. We also got to see some great views of Tarragona. After our tour we had a classy lunch in a private room for our group. We were served some small tapas, grilled vegetables in romesco sauce (YUM), the best seafood paella I have had so far in Spain, and cheesecake (that was not actually cheesecake…).

Tarragona

After lunch we walked around Tarragona (fairly tipsy) and found a cool shop with whimsical hand-made jewelry. We spent a while in there, and then a small group of us decided to stay in the city, get a bottle of wine, and sit on the beach. Finding our way to the beach was a little bit of a struggle, but once we made it there we were loving life. The weather was great and we just chilled while listening to Hunter Hayes. Our wonderful beach time came to a crashing halt when we thought we were going to miss our train home and drunkenly sprinted all the way to the train station. We ended up at the station about 20 minutes early…definitely not worth the sprint.

The next morning I made my way to the airport to pick up Eric WOOO! He survived his first international flight, but needed to take a long nap to recover. Once he woke up we walked around my neighborhood and went to Sol Solar for his first tapas meal. I was excited for him to have his first patatas bravas experience ~it’s life changing~

The next morning did not start off as we anticipated…Eric woke up with pink eye (this would happen to us). The worst part was that it was a Sunday, which in Spain means that EVERYTHING is closed. We walked around for a while until we finally found a 24-hour pharmacy. They sent us to a medical clinic, which then tried to send us to an eye specialist, which was totally unnecessary. Also, please remember I was communicating to all of these people in Spanish, which was far from easy. We were a little defeated because no one could help us, but we were determined to salvage the day. I took him to Bo D Be (aka the amazing sandwich place) and we enjoyed our sandwiches outside by the port. We then hung out on the beach for a while and I took him to Park Cuitadella.

The next day we went straight to a medical clinic to get this whole pink eye situation under control. Luckily, it didn’t take too long, it was not too difficult to communicate with the nurses, and we got an English-speaking doctor. We got the prescription for the antibiotic, picked up the medicine, and moved on with our lives. It was pretty hilarious—I can honestly say that I was not expecting to spend our first couple of days in Spain at the doctor’s office.

From there we headed to Pim Pams for amazing burgers, walked around El Born and the Gothic area, went to the Boqueria (and bought fun chocolates), had hot chocolate and churros, and went inside the Barcelona Cathedral. It was a lot of fun to go back and do a lot of Barcelona-things that I haven’t done since January.  We also went to Opium that night so Eric could have the whole clubbing experience, and it was also Dan’s birthday! All-in-all it was a BIG day.

Parc Guell

Tuesday was one of my favorite days because it was beautiful outside (and we didn’t have to run around trying to find a doctor!!). We went to Parc Guell and it was my first time on the terrace. Last time I went to Parc Guell I was underwhelmed, but this time I LOVED it! I think the weather made all of the difference. We walked around the park, sat outside at a café, and walked around Gracia. It was also St. Patrick’s Day so we went to George Payne’s, which is a popular Irish Bar. Our cover got us a free drink and a fun fat. I loved having a Guinness (felt like I was back in Ireland) and some chicken fingers to munch on. The night got aggressive as we ordered a pitcher of beer, tequila shots, and Irish car bombs. It was a fun night to say the least.

St. Patty's Day

On Wednesday we went to La Sagrada Familia. Man, that place continues to amaze me. For dinner we went to Elisabets and had a yummy ham plate with manchego cheese (the best). We met some more people at O’vella Negra to watch the Man City/Barcelona game. We tried “Panther’s Milk” which is a combination of milk, condensed milk, gin, and brandy. It sounds pretty heinous, but it was so good.

Thursday was a little bit of a bummer because I had class all day, but Eric and I still went to the market on my street and bought some amazing cheese. We had more tapas (can never get enough) for dinner and went to Le Cyrano for some dranks that night.

Top of Mt. Tibidabo

Friday was a big day. We went to Brunch and Cake (THE BEST PLACE) and also went to Casa Batllo (another one of my favorite places in Barcelona). Afterwards we went to Mt. Tibidabo, which is something I had not done yet. Getting up the mountain was a little confusing…we got lost trying to find the funicular, and then the funicular closed just as we found it. We had to taxi up the mountain, but it was definitely worth it because the views were AMAZING! We went to the top of the church and had great views of the entire city

Saturday was Eric’s last day in Barcelona, so we went to Camp Nou. I was sad that he wasn’t able to see a FC Barcelona game in person, but visiting the stadium was still really cool. After going through the museum and touring the stadium, we went back to the Gothic area to go to this cute little tea and dessert place called “Caelum”. We had some drinks and split a slice of cheesecake ('twas so cute). Then we relaxed until we had our final meal at Silvestre, which was so delicious. We decided to ball-out and be super fancy. Everything we ordered was so good, but the highlights were the truffle risotto, the boneless lamb shoulder, and the apple pie. Mmmm mmmmm mmmmm.

Early Saturday Eric had to leave for his flight, which was sad, but we had an awesome week. I’m now pretty exhausted from so many activities and ready to re-group before going to ITALY for spring break on Friday. EEEEK!

Also I just watched Barcelona beat Madrid at Dunnes. BARCA BARCA BARCA (still working on learning the chant…)

Camp Nou Stadium

Belgium: Waffles, Fries, and Chocolate

My favorite part of the school week was pretty simple. It was a Tuesday (which are usually my long class days) and it was beautiful outside. A group of us decided to take an impromptu trip to the beach after class and soak in the sun. We were just lying on the some tapestries and hanging out. Becca and I also completed our goal of buying a mojito on the beach from the sketchy people who walk up and down selling them. We weren’t even at the beach for very long, but it really made me appreciate where I am and how much I love Barcelona. It also make me extra excited for the upcoming 2 months and many more beach trips as the weather continues to warm up.

Peeing boy advertising waffles

Then on Thursday I went straight from class to the airport to leave for Brussels with Mara and Becca! We had a fairly routine flight and arrived in Belgium late that night. Friday morning we woke up on a mission to find waffles—which was not difficult at all. We went to Mokcafe in the King's Galley and indulged in our first waffle. Luckily Becca and I also split an order of eggs because those eggs were my only source of protein for about 10 hours...gasp. We were pleased with breakfast and decided to walk around the Grand-Place, snap some pics, and then find the peeing boy (Manneken Pis). This little peeing boy sculpture is probably the most underwhelming and hysterical “landmark” ever. Basically, it's a fountain/sculpture of a small peeing boy. That's it. Believe it or not, this peeing boy sculpture has a peeing sister (Jeanneke Pis). Of course we had to go visit her as well, even though she was much less popular with the tourists. 

Fries with "sauce"

Next on the to-do list was to find French fries. We went to a recommended place and each got an order of fries with "sauce". I still do not know what this sauce was, but it was amazing. We walked around whilst eating our yummy fries (which also served as our lunch for the day) and enjoyed the city. 

After eating the fries we wanted to learn a little more about the city by going to the Brussels City Museum. Honestly, there wasn't a ton of fascinating Brussels history, but the best part of the museum was the entire section dedicated to the peeing boy. They had an area where the peeing boy was dressed in different outfits to represent each country. It was very weird and entertaining. The exhibit also explained the many legends of the peeing boy. My personal favorite was the legend of a little boy who saved Brussels by putting out a giant fire with his urine...I'm sure that happened. But really, no one knows the true reason behind this peeing statue. 

We finished with the museum and were ready for our chocolate tour. We booked a tour in advance and it was especially great because we were the only 3 in the group, so we had a private tour. The tour included a visit to 6 famous chocolate shops, and we were able to try a piece of chocolate from each shop. We went in order from good chocolate to very high end chocolate. The tour was also great because we did a lot of walking and saw parts of Brussels we probably would not have went to on our own. 

The incredible "Amazon Colour"

Our first stop was Leonidas where we tried a "Manon", which was a white chocolate praline with coffee (love). Then we went to Neuhas and tried a dark chocolate ganache truffle (mmm). Next was Mary's (a crowd favorite) where we tried a praline with Tonka. We ended up coming back to Mary’s later to buy more treats. Then we left the King’s Gallery and went to the very high-end chocolate spots. At Frederic Blondeel’s shop we tried a dark chocolate praline with a hint of basil. At this chocolate place they indicate exactly where all of their cocoa comes from, ensuring their cocoa did not come from places using child labor. Next, was Pierre Marcolini’s chocolate place where they have these cool/creepy chocolate dolls. We tried "quatre especies" which was a chocolate with caramel and 4 spices (cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and ginger) and it was delish. The last place we went was wild. It was Patrick Roger's chocolate shop, and this man is a chocolate ARIST. Here we tried the “Amazon Colour”, which was the piece of chocolate that won him the title “best craftsman of the chocolate profession” in 2000. This chocolate costs 600 euro per kilo and was aaaaamazing. The piece of chocolate even came in this really cute blue box and was it was the perfect finale to our chocolate tour.                           

Delirium Red

At this point, we were in extreme sugar comas and had to nap. We woke up in desperate need of REAL food. As much as I loved all of the sweets, I needed some nutrients. We went to a Belgian restaurant for dinner where I had some delicious salmon and started to feel like a human again. After dinner we went to Delirium Cafe, which is an awesome bar with over 200 types of beer. We loved the Delirium Red and its adorable bottle. We lucked out and got a table because the place was packed. We enjoyed our beers, the atmosphere, and the good music (well, I count "Who Let the Dogs Out" as good music).  

True life: We love the Belfort Tower

After a good night of sleep, we got on our train to Brugges Saturday morning. Brugges was so beautiful and unlike any other European city I have visited thus far. I loved the shapes of the roofs and the colors of the buildings--everything was so quaint and pretty. We decided to make out first destination the Belfort Tower because there was already a long line at 11am. It took over an hour to get our ticket because they could only allow 70 people in at a time. After losing our sanity (and all of the circulation in our toes) we were able to enter the tower and climb all 366 steps to the top. It did not help that people were trying to simultaneously go up and down the VERY thin spiral stair case. We were tired and cold, but still determined to enjoy the panoramic views from the top. What put us over the edge was the extreme wind along with VERY loud ringing bells that started to go off as soon as we reached the top. We couldn't help but laugh...a lot. The whole situation was ridiculous and not an ideal start to our day (although it was very comical).

Brugges

After going down all 366 steps, we needed somewhere warm to eat lunch. I was very happy with my Croque-Madame, which is a Croque-monseiur with 2 eggs on top, yum! We finally had more energy and were ready to sieze the day. Simply walking through the streets of Brugges and going inside the different chocolate shops was so delightful. 

The Markt was also cool, but we preferred walking along the small streets. 

The Chocolate Shop

The highlight of our trip to Brugges was definitely going to The Chocolate Shop. This little tearoom was so cute and served the best hot chocolate I've ever had. They brought out steaming cups of milk and a cup of chocolate chips. We were able to add as many chocolate chips to the milk as we wanted and got to stir it up with a small whisk. The point is for each person to create his or her ideal hot chocolate. Of course I used all of the chocolate chips, and it was amazing! We also had homemade waffles that were in the shape of little hearts (so cute) and little chocolates/cookies to munch on with our hot coco. I was in heaven, but was SO full and once again had way too much sugar. 

The final waffle

Brugges was a perfect day-trip, and it was such a nice place to walk around. We took the train back home, had dinner out in Brussels, saw the Grand-Place lit up at night, played some cards (lolz War) and drank a final Delirium Red. The next morning we also had to get a final waffle (mmm banana and nutella) and say farewell to Belgium. 

Belgium is known for waffles, chocolate, French fries, and the peeing boy. I can gladly say I did it all while in Belgium, with the added bonus of getting to see the beautiful city of Brugges. This was the perfect last weekend trip of my semester abroad; it was very relaxing and full of great (sugary) food. I'm now ready to take a break from traveling (4 weekends in a row is exhausting!) and stay in Barcelona until spring break. 

The Grand-Place lit up at night

Ireland!!

Palau de Musica Catalana

Highlights from the school week:

Wednesday afternoon our program had a tour of Palau de Musica Catalana, which is a famous concert hall. The place was stunning! The main hall was surrounded by stain glass, and there were roses all over to represent St. Jordis. I would love to go back and see a concert there with my mom. Which reminds me, MY MOM IS COMING TO VISIT IN APRIL WOOO! So excited (if you could not already tell).

THE sandwich

After our tour of Palau de Musica Catalana we were given 5 euro to get lunch. We were supposed to eat tapas as a group, but Mara and I NEEDED to try Bo De B, so we ran away to this magical sandwich place. I never thought a sandwich would be worth a 40 minute wait, but this sandwich most certainly was. The baguette was crisp and warm, the chicken was juicy, the veggies were fresh, the 3-sauce combo was amazing, and the feta was the perfect add-on. Mara and I also ate the sandwich outside (it was a beautiful day) whilst looking at El Cap De Barcelona in the distance—basically I was in the best mood ever.

This pretty much sums up my thoughts on this sandwich: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THlUD-VQry4

(Mara hates me for posting this)

D9 Bar

Then later that night we went to D9 bar and Razzmatazz for the first time. D9 was surprisingly a great time! They had euro shots and I loved their mojitos (so delicious). We also got to play in a BP tournament—Mara and I were team “Testudo Bitches”…it was funny at the time. I had not played BP in so long, and was overly excited. Afterwards we went to Razzmatazz, which was a lot of fun and played great music. Each night the club has a theme, and that particular night the theme was “baseball”…it was really bizarre. They had dancers on stage in baseball outfits and there were weird baseball decorations everywhere…idk…but it made me laugh quite a bit.

The weekend:

On Friday, Mara, Becca and I began our adventure to DUBLIN!! This was our first Ryanair flight, and it was just a crappy as we expected. Without going into the details, I’ll just say that they made boarding our plane unnecessarily stressful/difficult and I can't wait to fly with them for the rest of my trips!!!!! (said no one ever). 

Also to add to the sadness, Ryanair flies out of a different terminal then where the magical muffins are sold :( hopefully I'll move on.

Guinness Factory

Once we landed I was so pumped to be in the motherland (I'm 1/4 Irish). We met up with Courtney at the airport--WOOO SIZTAS ABROAD--and hopped on the bus to the center of Dublin. After we arrived at their hostel Mandy appeared!! I was so happy to be reunited with such wonderful people. Right away we went to our first destination: the Guinness Factory. This factory is the beer version of Hershey's chocolate world, and it was awesome. I learned about the brewing process (mmmm hops) and we learned how to properly taste a Guinness, which was pretty cool. The tour ended at the sky roof bar, where we got our Guinness' and appreciated the great views of Dublin.

Temple Bar

We were all so happy after visiting the factory and also excited to walk around the city. We walked around the Temple Bar area (very pretty lit up at night), Grafton Street, and saw the Trinity College campus. For dinner we found a nice pub/restaurant with live music (which I loved) and enjoyed our second Guinness of the night. After our late dinner, Mandy and I ventured to her place, which is a little outside of Dublin. Fun fact: all of the commuter bus' in Dublin are double decker buses, which I thought was awesome and I had a little too much fun sitting on the top/front row on my way to Mandy's. Once we arrived we spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out how to inflate her air mattress (lolz) and then we went to sleep to prepare for waking up at 5:20am the next day. 

Cliffs of Moher

Being awake before 6am wasn't too bad because Mandy gave me a bagel with cream cheese in the morning--bless her soul. We then took a taxi back into the center of the city for our bus trip to the Cliffs of Moher. The bus tour was really great because we got to snooze on the way there, learn some history about Ireland, and we also stopped in a few different towns. Our first stop was in the City of Limerick where we got to see King John’s Castle from across the Shannon River.  We also saw the treaty stone, which marked the treaty between Ireland and England. Then we hopped back on the bus and got to see more of the countryside on our way to the cliffs. I loved how scenic all of the green fields were, especially since Dublin was not as green as I expected. After another short nap, we arrived at the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs were INCREDIBLE! It was shocking to just look at these ginormous cliffs and walk along them (Becca stayed very far from the edge). If you go to Ireland, seeing these cliffs is a must. I also kissed the ground by the cliffs (as a favor to my mom), so that was pretty cool too.

Irish Coffee!!

An hour and a half later I was sad to part ways with the Cliffs of Moher, but was ready for lunch. Our bus stopped at Fitzpatricks Bar in a town called Doolin. I had the salmon with veggies and mashed potatoes. There was also a potato on the side of the mashed potatoes…so many potatoes. The food was great and Mandy and I also had an Irish coffee because I NEEDED one while in Ireland. I also kept trying to use the phrase “slainte” which means “cheers”…but I still have not mastered pronouncing it.

The rest of our tour was a little sad because it began to rain. The cold-wind-rain combo was not ideal for walking around, but I was grateful it did not start raining until after we went to the Cliffs of Moher. We still got off the bus to look at some other cliffs (got drenched in the rain) and also stopped to check out Corcomroe Abbey, which was built in the 13^th century. We then had a relaxing 3-hour ride back to Dublin.

Casually making s'more

After a long day, Mandy and I were ready to chill…and also build a fire in her room. So, Mandy lives in a single dorm-room that also has a fireplace in it. She was curious if the fireplace was actually functional, so we decided to test it out (and we also had a vision of making s’mores in her room). We went to the store and got all of the supplies and were so happy making s’more and chatting by the fire. Who goes to Dublin to make s’mores in a bedroom? I DO. Honestly, it was so lovely, and it was nice to catch up with Mandy and hang with her while sipping cider :)

The next day Mandy and I went back into Dublin to meet up with Courtney, Becca, and Mara. We decided to get brunch at a place called Elephant and Castle. I loved my fluffy French toast, especially since I have not had French toast in months. Ideally, we wanted to walk around Dublin some more before our flight home, but it was raining and cold. It even snowed for about 5 minutes, which was wild and also made me so happy to see some snow. Instead, we decided to leave for the airport a little early, which was a good idea because there was a ton of traffic.

Even with the rain, my trip to Ireland was fantastic. I loved seeing Mandy and Courtney and also getting a chance to finally see the “motherland”. Also, everyone in Ireland is SO FRIENDLY. I could not get over how nice everyone was and how eager people were to have friendly chit-chat. So I recommend that everyone should go to Ireland; enjoy live music at a pub, drink a Guinness, see the cliffs and green fields, and if the opportunity arises, make some s’more too!

Living life on the edge at the Cliffs of Moher