Figueres & Girona

EGGS on Dali Museum

Ah I am late on this blog post, but I must write a post before I go to Dublin this upcoming weekend (AH CAN’T WAIT TO GO/SEE MANDY). In Barcelona news: last Wednesday I went to Sutton for the first time and loved it. This club is walking distance from my apartment and had great music—I must return in the near future (and I have no idea why it took me this long to finally go there). Then on Thursday we tried a new tapas place in Gracia called Sol Soler, and it had the cutest little quiches and yummy croquetas. This was the perfect place for a cheap/quick bite.

However, the main event of last week was our program’s overnight trip to Figueres and Girona. On Saturday morning our group met at 8:30am to venture to Figueres. After a short snooze on the bus, we arrived in Figueres and had time for a little breakfast and much needed coffee. Becca and I made the mistake of getting a chocolate muffin, which was essentially chocolate cake. Don’t get me wrong, the muffin was delicious, but the chocolate fudge inside was a little to rich for 10am. After getting some caffeine into our system, we were ready to check out the Salvador Dali Museum.

The Face of Mae West

Teatre-Museu Dali was probably the best museum I have ever been to. For starters, I LOVE the giant eggs that are on top of the museum—they are so cool. The entire museum was so obscure and captivating, and I love the fact that Dali was alive to design the museum. I am also grateful that I am taking Spanish culture/art classes, and I had already learned about surrealism, Dali, and some of his famous works. Experiencing Dali’s art in person was truly incredible. There is such a variety in his art, making it impossible to be bored. We also had access to the Dali Jewel museum, which had his beautiful/whimsical jewelry.

Some highlights from the museum were: seeing/experiencing “The Face of Mae West”, the art collection displaying his technical skill (beyond just surrealism), and seeing a version of MELTY CLOCKS—yes, I know the real name is “The Persistence of Memory”, but I still love to call it Metly Clocks.

Version of "The Persistence of Memory"

*Fun random fact about “Persistence of Memory”: The melting appearance of the watches in this painting was inspired by melting cheese. Hehe

Melty clock mug!

After the museum we ate lunch in Figueres and were able to explore a little. I am not ashamed to mention that I also purchased a mug with the Dali melting watch as a handle. Yet another great mug to add to the shelf :)

Then we hopped on the bus to go to Lake Banyoles. We had a bike tour around this pretty lake and got to enjoy the great views. We were #blessed because the rain stopped and the sun came out just in time. Our tour guide was a little crazy (and loved to take pictures of us on his phone…) but we had a blast. Even though 1 person fell off their bike & 2 bike chains broke, we still managed to make it back in one piece.

                                                               

At this point we were exhausted, and were able to sleep a little on the bus on our way to Girona. We checked into our hotel and had the evening free. Becca, Mara, and I went to a little pizza place for dinner and then rested so we could make it out to bar with everyone at night. We pre-gamed with white rum (which I not-so-happily chased with my left over pizza…bleh) and then met everyone at DO Taverna Catalana. At the bar we shared this one drink (I swear it was skippy) in this glass-kettle-jar-thing and it had a thin spout for pouring the drink right into your mouth—you know for all them classy peeps. We chilled for a little and watched tennis (hahahah, I was into it) and then went night night.

Beautiful Girona

The next morning we had breakfast at our hotel and then we all met up for our walking tour of Girona. Margarita, our tour guide, was awesome. She was so trendy, and we learned a ton about Girona. The city reminded me of Barcelona, but just a lot more quaint. The Eiffel Bridge was beautiful, and overlooked a bunch of happy/colorful apartments. We also walked around the Jewish Quarter and learned some history of the area and about how they had to secretly practice their religion during the Spanish Inquisition (which was founded in 1478), unti; they were expelled from Spain in 1492—my girl Nuria has taught me well. Next, we visited the Cathedral of Girona, which was beautiful (but very cold with the wind). We also went to the Passieg de la Muerella, which gave us some stunning views of the city. We finished the tour at the lioness’ butt, which Margarita told us that we were supposed to kiss for good luck. While some people were adventurous and kissed the butt, I did not (there is no time to be a sickling while abroad).

Once the tour was over we went to a restaurant for a wonderful/excessive lunch. I started with a cod/potato soup (which was creamy and grand), followed by black risotto (mmmm), and then a carrot/ chocolate cake for dessert. We were beyond stuffed, but we still had to go to the famous gelato place, Rocambolesc. This gelato place is famous for putting their gelato in these amazing buns, sealing the buns, and creating a gelato sandwich (also called a “panet”). Helena also paid for mine because I sent her pictures of Barcelona so I HAD to get the gelato sandiwch (even though I was so full). The gelato sandwich lived up to all of the hype. I got vanilla with caramel crunchies, a brownies, and chocolate sauce. I was in heaven. I miss that sandwich.

The amazing "panet"

After a sad goodbye to Girona [and my gelato sandwich] I got on the bus and went back to Barcelona. It was a great weekend with some great peeps (St. Jordis chillin was reunited after many weekends apart) and I highly recommend people going to check out Girona and definitely see the Dali museum! 

Too much love for Prague

The magical muffin

All week we waited eagerly for it to be Thursday so we could visit Prague. I went to my 9am class with my girl Nuria and then rushed home to leave for Prague with Mara, Becca, and Katie. We were relieved when we found out our flight was in fact real (a little sketched out because we booked through a travel site) and we were able to relax at the airport. We ate our ghetto lunches that we packed (Mara's plain pasta in saran wrap) and I got my favorite muffin--seriously, this muffin is grand. I discovered it on our way to Sevilla and it has this magical milky filling and everyone hates when I talk about this muffin because I LOVE IT SO MUCH. 

Also, the entire flight was wonderful. We got free sandwiches and a drink (which does not typically happen on these cheap airlines) and also got a mini box of chocolates and stickers for Valentine's Day. It was so cute and I was beyond pleased with Czech airlines. 

Once we landed in Prague we figured out the tram/metro system (kind of…) and found our hostel. Our hostel was awesome and we ended up in a 5-person dorm, and the last person didn’t show so we won. We really wanted to start walking around, so we dropped off our luggage and headed towards a highly recommended pizza place. They had flavored cider at the restaurant, which became our staple drink while in Prague. With a yummy pizza and mango-raz cider I was quite full.

My first view of Prague 

We then explored the city and went straight for the Charles Bridge. Love love love this bridge. Seeing the Charles Bridge for the first time at night was particularly great; it was not very crowded, the castle in the distance reflected in the water, and the bridge itself was beautiful lit up. We were all merry on our way back to the hostel, until we crashed with exhaustion. We did not want to waste our first night in Prague, so we forced ourselves to go to a bar. The bar we found was like a giant cave with endless rooms and we really liked the vibe of the place. We were just chilling with a beer and enjoying ourselves, until people got a little creepy and it became too smoky, and then we decided to run away.

My only real complaint about Prague was that smoking was allowed pretty much everywhere, and every night we came home our hair/clothes reeked of smoke. Other than that I LOVE PRAUGE!

We spent a good portion of Friday visiting the Prague Castle. The castle is a little out of the town center so we decided to devote the first half of our day there. There was SO much to do at the castle, and many pictures to snap using Becca’s selfie-stick (we had way too much fun with this). Our ticket gave us admission to 8 different sites (churches, museums, etc.) so we were very busy and also very cold. We took a much needed coffee break to warm up and then were wowed by St Vitus’ cathedral and the amazing views of Prague. I love how gray Prague is and love the old-time European feel of the city. Just looking at Prague from a distance was unbelievable and worth being at the castle.

John Lennon Wall

After a busy first part of the day, we headed into the city for a traditional Czech meal. I did not expect to like Czech food too much, but surprisingly did! For lunch I had fried cheese (nom) and minced meat. Next we went to the infamous John Lennon wall. The wall was great for taking cool pictures, but was really over-crowded and not quite as big as we expected. Still, it was worth the quick stop. We then walked around and went back to the hostel to regroup before our amazing Italian dinner. We went to Pasta Fresca, where they serve delicious handmade pasta and we were all in heaven. We also had buffalo milk mozzarella on top of tomatoes and bruschetta as appetizers. Pasta Fresca was the bomb and our dinner was filled with good laughs, especially when Katie spilled her wine on Mara. “Mara please put on my pants”.

After dinner we went to an Irish pub where there was live music and we decided to chill on a beer before going to Lucerna. Lucerna is a club that a lot of people studying abroad in Prague recommended. Friday had an 80’s/90’s themed music night, which I loved, and we had a blast. The club has giant screens all over and plays old music videos, which was hilarious. We went home at a reasonable time to catch some zzzz’s and take on our last full day in Prague.

Views from the top of the clock tower

Saturday morning we went to Bohemia Bagel in the hopes of filling the void in my bagel-less heart (I miss them so much). However, this trip to Bohemia Bagel was not good. They forgot Becca’s meal, even though we asked them about it, and it took an entire hour for her to get scrambled eggs. Luckily they gave it to her for free, but it was ridiculous and not a good start to our morning. We also were sad when we arrived at the Jewish Quarter to view the oldest functioning synagogue in Europe, and we realized it was Saturday…aka Shabbat...aka all synagogues are closed. The day was saved when we went to the top of the clock tower and had amazing views of the city. It was pure bliss. Have I mentioned how stunning Prague is? Because I wanted to just stay on top of the clock tower and admire it all day.

Trdelnick

Next, we found a great place to get trdelnick. This fried dough covered in sugar is a popular dessert in Prague and was fantastic. Then we had a romantic Valentines Day boat tour, which included beer, coffee, and a gingerbread treat—great deal. After we prepared for an early dinner so that we could make it to our pub-crawl on time. We had traditional Czech food again, but this time I had no idea what I ordered, but it was delish. I was also a huge fan of the fried brie cheese appetizer with cranberry sauce. 

Right after dinner we met a huge group for our pub-crawl. The night started at one bar, which served unlimited beer, vodka shooters, wine, and absinthe for one hour. As you can imagine, this was dangerous and the bar was packed. We then made our way to another bar, where we received an unknown “welcome shot”. This bar was more club-like, and I liked the cute umbrella decorations on the ceiling. Another hour passed and we went to a third bar where we had another mystery “welcome shot”. We loved this bar. There was room to sit, meet some new people, and chill. We also tried to order chardonnay, and instead ended up with some gross, warm, Franzia-like, red wine--oh well. The big finale was at Karlovy Lazne, which is a 5-floor club. Each floor had a different theme and I loved it. My personal favorite was the rap and R&B floor—there were great jams. We couldn’t stay too late because we had to wake up early the next day, but I highly recommend going to this club in Prague!

The next day we had our hostel’s breakfast (which was awesome), czeched out early (get the pun???), and headed home. I wish I had more time in Prague, but I am still happy to be back in Barcelona.

Already missing Prague :(

Cooking & Foodie Tour

Being a lil chef

Monday night was exciting because we had our program’s cooking class. Our class was through a company called “Cook and Taste” and we went to this giant kitchen where a chef helped us cook a four-course meal. Our group had 12 people, so we were all working on different parts of the meal. The menu included: pan con tomate, asparagus and zucchini in romesco sauce, a traditional Spanish tortilla (omelet), Valencia style paella, and Catalan crème. I volunteered to prepare the Catalan crème, which is similar to crème brule. We each got to use the blowtorch on our individual Catalan crèmes, which was a first for me (but not a first for Becca…LIAR). The meal was one of the best I’ve had in Spain, and we also got to keep all of the recipes, so everyone at home get excited for some authentic Spanish food!

Tuesday night was also pretty lively because we decided to take up an offer for free sushi and wine at Shoko. Honestly, I expected maybe 2 pieces of sushi and 1 glass of wine, but was very pleased to get appetizers, a plate full of yummy sushi, 4 glasses of red wine, and dessert all FO FREE. We had never been to Shoko, and it was a lot of fun. The music was great and there was a mad-hatter on stilts dancing around—it was extremely bizarre, yet hilarious. We went home more than satisfied. 

I received my first package from my mom on Wednesday. A couple of days late for my birthday, but it still made me incredibly happy :) The package included birthday decorations, cookies from Touche Touche bakery, a birthday and valentines day card, and some pants that I had regrettably left at home. THANKS MOMMY! I was feeling some love from back home.

6 liter drink from Pippermints

Later that night we fulfilled my dream of going to Pippermints. Plenty of people had told me that I needed to go to this bar, especially since it is walking distance from my piso. Pippermints is known for its outrageously large drinks, so of course we needed to get one…or two. The 3 girls started with a 2 liter mixed drink, while the boys split the massive 6 liter drink. We were feeling a little left out with our “mere” 2 liters, and decided to all share another 6 liter drink. To be honest, we did not need this second drink. But, we got free tequila shots, free potato chips, and two free t-shirts…what? Pipperments became aggressive quick, and us girls decided to sleep instead of going to the club afterwards with everyone. We are NOT lame. And in our defense, we had a 9am the next morning…which was no bueno.

Thursday we decided to take it down a notch. Anna left for Granada, Becca was with her mom (who is visiting, yay!) and pretty much everyone traveled this weekend. So Mara and I were feeling a little weird being alone in our apartment, and we had no desire to drink due to the previous night. But something magical happened…we discovered how to get Netflix in Barcelona!! Yes, we are late to the game, but it happened and it was glorious. We stayed in to study for our big exam next week and watch Netfllix. No shame.

Friday morning I slept in, and then decided to go for a run. I cannot express how great my run was. Since my half in October I really cut back on running, and I’m finally getting back into my running routine. There were also so many cute dogs in the park, and one German shepherd puppy ran beside me for a little, hehe. Side note: there are dogs EVERYWHERE in Barcelona and they are the most loyal dogs I have ever encountered. They are never on leashes, they never run away, and are so well behaved. My dog cannot even sit on command—still love ya Cassie.

Get ready for the FOODIE TOUR RECAP:

La Boqueria

After a pretty relaxing afternoon, Becca’s mom treated us to a Foodie tour (major props to Kaye for being awesome!!) Our tour guide took us all over the center of the city to try different traditional Spanish/Catalan foods. We started in la Boqueria and had different styles of ham/pork, followed by amazing cheeses (mmmm Manchego). We also tried a variety of olives, and even though I detest olives, I tried each one. Katie was hilarious during this portion of the tour because she doesn’t like “flavor” hahaha her faces were priceless while she tried to eat the olives. Next, we went into this little dessert place and tried some of the traditional holiday treats. My favorite was the turron de jijona (so so good). Then we stopped in this little chocolate shop and tried catanies, which are roasted almonds caramelized in white chocolate and chocolate powder (amazing). Next, we stopped and tried different olive oils dipped in bread, followed by a traditional tapas restaurant where we drank vermut (popular alcohol in Catalunya to cleanse the pallet) and had pan con tomate with sardines…our tour guide said we had to at least try them…so I did. Can’t say I loved the sardines (or that I will eat them again) but hey, I tried. Then we picked up some churros and brought them with us to dip in our hot chocolates (mmmmmm) at another restaurant. We finished at another restaurant for some savory tapas: squid ratatouille (surprisingly delicious), an amazing Spanish tortilla, and these incredible roasted potatoes with aioli sauce and chorizo. After four hours of eating great food I was ready to fall into a food coma.

La Pedrara

Saturday morning we met Becca and her mom at Casa Pedrera, which is the other very famous Gaudi apartment in Barcelona. The roof was stunning! Again, the architecture was incredible and I loved the free audio tour. I even got a mug at the end of the tour and the handle is one of the designs Gaudi made for the doorknobs in his apartments (they are molded so that you have the perfect grip when you grab them). I splurged on the mug, but I know it is the perfect souvenir, and it will remind me of Barcelona each time I drink coffee from it. 

Later in the afternoon Katie, Mara, and I went shopping in Gracia and walked around aimlessly—which is my favorite way to explore. We tried to search for an amazing little pastry/coffee shop, and failed miserably.  After about an hour, we settled on chocolate croissants from Super Cor…but they were good microwaved!! Then for dinner Katie and I walked around our neighborhood and found Udon, which was a great Japanese noodle place. I got Japanese tapas (chicken curry wontons, sushi, and a “japan taco”) and I also got green tea tiramisu for dessert, yum!  

Flowers from the boi and Gaudi mug

Sunday was spent studying…it was the first time I actually felt like I was STUDYING abroad. There are so many historical dates to remember for my Spanish Culture and Civilization exam. I really like the class, but there is a lot of Spanish history between 1 million BCE and 1808 CE that we covered. I was going a little stir-crazy from being in the apartment all day and was confused when someone buzzed into our apartment. No one had ever buzzed-in before, and it was a Sunday (no one does anything on Sundays). I was so surprised when Mara called me to the door and there was a guy with a bouquet of roses. Eric sent them as a birthday/Valentines day gift, and it was the perfect pick-me-up for my day of studying (you rock Eric). Then later we met Becca and her mom for dinner at Cervecia Catalana for great tapas. My favorite was the huevos cabreaos—basically an over-easy egg on extra crispy patatas bravas. The whole meal was great and I definitely want to go back!

This was my last weekend in Barcelona for 4 weeks (GASP). Get excited for a bunch of travel posts in the future—I leave for Prague on Thursday and cannot wait!

Turning 21 in Barcelona

Casa Batllo

This was a big week in Barcelona! First, I am going to share some random great moments I had. So running in Barcelona is way more difficult than I expected—busy streets, constant stop/go traffic, and people blowing smoke in my face as I run by (uhg)—but I finally found a happy park in my neighborhood called Toro Parc. It is definitely not a big park, but I can run in different loops and look at the cute dogs while avoiding the busy streets (win win win). This week I also discovered crème de brie, which is delicious spreadable brie cheese. Every snack and meal has changed in a momentous way.

Onto other fun things this week:

Wednesday night Mara, Becca, and I found an awesome tapas restaurant in Gracia. We watched the FC Barcelona game at the bar, ate delicious food, drank cheap wine, and were having a blast. We promised to go back to watch another game, and I am determined to learn the FC Barcelona chant and really become a local.

21st at Bling Bling

Thursday night came quickly, and it was time to celebrate my 21^st birthday. My roomies surprised me with a cake, crown/boa, mini champagne bottles, and a virtual shotbook that was filled out by friends from home (thanks to everyone who made me a page!!!) and I was happiest girl in the world. We played some old-school jams (Danity Kane was a must) and prepared for the night out. We met our crew downstairs to go to Le Cyrano for the pregame to commence. We got a big table at Le Cyrano and had fun drankin, hangin, and munchin on buckets of free popcorn. Special thanks to the boys who bought me roses, because I had fun posing with them in every picture. Next, we moved on to Bling Bling and (apparently) danced for a while before heading to VIP for free ice cream and champagne with the fun sparklers. There were only 2 problems of the night: there were no spoons given with the pint of ice cream (it got ratchet) and I lost my boa—but I consider these to be very minor losses. Around 3:30am I was pooped and taken home for much needed sleep.

Brunch and Cake

The next day I recovered surprisingly quick and went to Brunch and Cake with the girls. We started our meal with a delicious slice of chocolate cake, and then I had eggs benedict on a waffle and it was one of my favorite meals so far in Barcelona! After being in food-heaven we decided to have a productive day and visit Casa Batllo. Gaudi designed Casa Batllo and it is another gem in Barcelona that deserves all of the attention it receives. I even caved and bought the picture we took there because it was so pretty and I wanted to remember the unique way I celebrated my 21^st birthday.

Next, we took a little break to regroup before going to get hot chocolate/churros and walking around El Born. I got Wok to Wok on my way home for my birthday dinner and I LOVED it. Wok to Wok is kind of like create-your-own Chinese food/stir fry, which was everything I wanted (and more). I finished my birthday by watching Tangled in my bed, which should not surprise anyone, and made me very happy :)

Wandering around lost on a dirt path
around Montjuic...

The next morning we had a slow start to our day and then Mara, Becca, and I attempted to hike Montjuic. I say “attempted” because we still are not sure if we did it right. We were very excited to go for a hike, but this so-called “hike” included walking up a steep incline street for 40 minutes. We walked up in silence and then were really confused when we reached the top. Then we decided to do the Sea Walk…got extremely lost and did not see any humans for about an hour. Our walk was not scenic and we were tired —however we laughed a lot and ended up walking over 7 miles (even though I could not feel my legs). After a much needed nap, we met up with our friends at La Rosa Negra. La Rosa Negra was GREAT—it had amazing Mexican food and cheap mojitos. After enjoying delicious flautas, tacos, passion mojitos, and tequila shots we went to O’vella Negra. I had a much better time at O’vella Negra this time! It was way less crowded, we got a huge table, a beer tower, and had a perfect night drinking and playing some foosball.

Today we started our day at Pim Pams and had the best burgers. Seriously, AMAZING burgers (half beef/half pork, bacon, cheese, egg, special sauce, and love)!! After, we finally went to Parc Guel, but were a little underwhelmed. It was a beautiful park, but people really hype it up. Once we got home we booked our trip to Belgium (YIPPPY) but Mara almost booked her flight to depart May 3^rd and return August 5^th hahahahaha. After lots of laughs we are now relaxing, eating pretend Superbowl food (shout out to Becca’s wrinkly hotdog), watching SVU, and waiting for Anna to return to us.

This week has been full of yummy food and great times. A big shout out to everyone who celebrated my 21^st birthday with me—thanks to friends at home for celebrating in December (lol), my mom for making every day I was home my birthday, all of the birthday wishes from home, my roomies for going above and beyond, and to my Barcelona fam for celebrating with me here--much love to you all!