Day 24

Day 24

Beach Day.

A much better day. I can´t complain about much when my toes are in the sand and I´m soaking up the sun on the water. A margarita and my man might have made the experiance a little more enjoyable, but my mood certainly improved from the day before and I am thankful.

Melissa and I ventured to Sitges. It was my second trip to the sleepy city and Melissa´s first. We layed out, played in the sea, and did some shopping. I´m pretty estatic about a beautiful black cotton dress I found at The Colors of Benetton. I love it!!! for almost 70 euro I better be wearing it everyday!

After our beach and shopping extravaganza, Melissa and I jumped back on the Renfe train to meet Ashton and Charli in Barcelona. Ashton and Charli had invited us to join them for a live flamenco shop at a local bar. After an hour or so of wandering, asking for directions, and wandering again, we finally found the bar, but not the flamenco. To our surprise and confusion, we stumbled into some sort of grunge band show... not quite traditional Spain.

We gave up on our quest and found an Irish Pub.

Day 23

Today was frustrating.

Like so many others on my trip, I feel as though I´ve crossed the line from being labeled a "tourist" to something else, what that is, I don´t know. We´re not even close to being locals, yet we´ve done all the cliche ¨touristy things. We´re tired, and school is becoming more and more pressing, as we all have a five page economics paper to write, a group project to coordinate, a confusing problem set to conquer, and two presentations to prepare. We don´t have much time left in Barcelona, our class trip to Madrid is looming, and our bus passes expire soon. We´ve all come to dread the hour long ride into Barcelona, where all the action and excitement happens.

I guess what I´m trying to say is that Saturday sucked for me.
I missed Texas. I missed Cody. I missed my family. I missed my Daddy´s superb seafood (Barcelona and Catalan cuisene have nothing on him).

Day 22

a wonderful, lazy day in Spain.

I got up just in time for breakfast, showered, and worked on my Economics paper. 

After getting started on my paper, some of the girls and I went into Barcelona for a little shopping and dinner. I bought a beautiful watercolor of Port Vell, the harbor here in Barcelona. I can't wait to put it in my bathroom with my artwork from Seattle of the harbor and my Paris purchase of the Seine and it's riverboats. 

Attempting new cuisine, we tried a Mexican restaurant called Rosa Negra. I must say that as a South Texas girl, I was disappointed, but I didn't go in with high hopes either. My shrimp, mushroom, and onion quesadillas were okay, nothing spectacular. 

Katie and I bought a bottle of Vodka at the campus store, Spaniards not only allow alcohol on campus, but they make it as easy as possible to purchase, and headed back to my room to drink and chat with a few other girls. A beer girl under normal conditions, the vodka was not very nice to me, and I woke this morning with a dull headache. I'm missing my Miller Light. 

Day 21

Today started off early. We met our bus at 7:45 to travel to Lleida, where the first San Miguel brewery is located. The tour of the brewery was quite nice. We did the standard, "these are hops, this is malt, you add the yeast and then its beer" thing. Then we walked through a non-descript door and a massive ship (well, a reconstruction of a ship) was waiting. We boarded the ship and watched a movie about the history of San Miguel beer. After the movie, we ventured to the bar for some taste testing and were quite surprised by the gift of beer glasses the brewery gave to the entire group. 

Melissa and I decided to try a Spanish McDonald's. The "1 euro menu" was amazing! I got chicken nuggets and a salad and split a coke with Melissa, all for a thrify 3.10 euro. I'm still quite proud of our value meal. 

After lunch we had more than enough free time before our scheduled tour of the Lleida newsoutlet, Segre. Escaping the heat was quite difficult, and we were excited to visit the second rate news station just for the air conditioning. 

Next we went to the town's cathedral, where the first stone was laid in 1203. It was very pretty and quite a workout as we climbed 243 stairs to the to of the bell tower that overlooked the city. 

Day 20

I'm finally getting a chance to update my blog. My trip to Paris wore me out and homework and school has been pretty time consuming, so I put my blogging on the back burner and caught up on sleep. 

Today I took a long nap after class and headed into Barcelona for dinner at El  Tropezon. The food was just as wonderful as our last visit, and the company was fantastic as well. 

Today's my daddy's birthday!!!! I really wish I was there to plant a kiss on his cheek and give him a big hug!!!! Happy Birthday Old Man! I love you!

Day 19

The highlight of my week was a wonderful box from my perfect boyfriend. He takes such great care of me and I am the luckiest girl in the world. 

Melissa, Karen, and I went to Casa Batllo, an apartment designed by Antonio Gaudi. It was absolutely amazing and totally worth the 13 euros entry fee. They give you an audio tour guide that helps you understand the intricate works of Gaudi.

Day 18

Breakfast. Class. Nap. Laundry. Trying my best to recover from Paris. 

Day 17

We squeezed in a trip to Notre Dame first thing Sunday morning. Our visit coincided with a mass, and we were allowed in during the service. I really enjoyed the beauty of this house of worship on a Sunday morning, although I still felt like a tourist, as I didn't understand a word of the priest's latin service. 

We grabbed lunch and headed back to the bus stop for our hour bus ride to the airport.  On our way, we ran across an awesome bird and flower market. The animals were so cute, and the flowers were absolutely beautiful!

The train back to Barcelona dragged on, and we arrived, exhausted and dirty, to our hotel around 1Am. 

I think we an amazing job at conquering Paris in less than 48 hours. I saw everything I needed to see, but a return trip may be in order with Cody to take part in all the romance a city like Paris offers. 

Day 16

We woke up early to get to the 11am Fat Bike Tour. Took some time to visit and get acquainted with the Eiffel Tower. It's kinda a big deal. We took tons of fun picture and explored the park before meeting up with out tour. The Aggie Connection is a strong and worldwide force as we found out at Pilar Sud of the Eiffel Tour. Here is where we met Sarah, a soon to be Aggie, Class of 2013, and her mom, Madie. We chatted with them for a while and got to know the darling mother daughter pair. 

We then headed off on our bike tour. It was an amazing ride, and a great way to see most of th important landmarks in Paris with a little bit of historical references thrown in by our guide, Kylie. After the tour, we met up with Sarah and Madie who invited us to dinner later. We headed to the Louvre, visited Mona Lisa and the Napoleon Apartments, and then up the mountain to the landmark Sarah and Madie had suggested. We enjoyed a beautiful dinner overlooking Paris at dusk and did a little shopping as well. 

Then it was off to see the Eiffel Tower at night, something Karen, Melissa, and I had been talking about all day. We managed to find a bottle of champagne in shop that was closing its doors and enjoyed our evening at the base of the world recognized landmark, taking pictures, and telling stories of life's adventures. We headed back to our hotel just after the tower, in it's best display of grandeur and beauty, twinkled at 1am. It was breathtaking. The best moment of the trip. 

Day 15

Paris Day 1

We woke up at 8, ate breakfast at the hotel and left for the airport in Reus. Our flight to Paris was on RyanAir, a cheap airline that flies within Europe. Our flight was kept interesting by an entire little boys soccer team who screamed and sang throughout the entire flight. It was so frustrating. Our landing in Paris was also interesting, as we sort of nose dived our way into the airport. But we made it, and all was well. Got to our Best Western Hotel with the most amazing roll away beds in the world and then headed out for dinner. We went to Bar Brassiere Flo. Amazing dinner with champagne and wine. I ordered the tartar at the english speaking manager's recommendation, and although it basically looked like raw a raw hamburger, it was delicious. Headed to bed after a long, tiresome day of traveling. 

Day 14

Today our Texas A&M planned excursion took us to the Monestir de Poble and Cova Museu de la Font Major in l'Espluga de Francoli. The monastery was quite beautiful, with is beautiful arches and "simplistic" adornments. I thought the details above doors, windows, and the alter of the church were quite beautiful and unique, but compared to the gothic styles of parts of Barcelona, I suppose the decor was "simple."

 Beautifully quiet, the Monastery of Poblet is one of the oldest and largest functioning monasteries in all of Spain. Built over 100o years ago, it at one time housed 100 monks and 40 laypersons. Now about 30 monks reside in the beautiful buildings on a hillside just a few miles from the village of l'Espluga de Francoli. 

After the tour we enjoyed a traditional Catalan meal. Salad, sausage and noodle soup, fish, and creme brulee made up the four course meal. It wasn't the best, but it was welcome to a hungry belly like mine. 

We walked through the town to a local cave which was more a second rate museum than an exciting cave, disappointing those of us with Carlsbad Cavern-like expectations. 

Hour and a half bus ride back to campus. Melissa, Karen and I are getting ready for our trip to Paris tomorrow!

Day 13

Breakfast, Class, Lunch, Nap.

After our siesta, we took  the train into Barcelona with plans to visit Park Guell, a park designed by the ever imaginative artist and architect, Gaudi. A cute gate welcomes you into the oasis of vegetation, water, flowers, and structures amidst the bustle of Northern Barcelona. We explored the park and I was pleasantly surprised to find the arches featured in a season finale of America's Next Top Model. 

We took many pictures and played around for a while before climbing to the top of a mountain in the park where several crosses have been erected. Also worth noting was the performer signing Elvis songs at the top of his lungs with a thick Spanish accent. Well worth the hike for that alone. 

We souvenir shopped our way back dow the mountain and hopped on the train back to the university. Melissa and I watched Twilight and drooled over the dreamy Rob Pattinson.

Day 9

Worst day of class ever. In my entire educational career I have never been so worthless and distracted. Rosella, our professor from Barcelona taught European Union Economics for 4 straight hours. I couldn't pay attention to save my life. 

But, the best experience I've had in Barcelona thus far saved the day! Kelli, Katie, Scott, Eric and I went on the Fat Tire Bike Tour of Barcelona. It was absolutely amazing. I suggest anyone traveling to Barcelona, Paris, London, or Berlin to do it! We loved it!

During the bike tour alone, we saw:

• Placa Sant Jaume - the Plaza housing two very important Catalan government buildings
  
• The Cathedral - a beautiful cathedral just off Las Ramblas that even the scaffolding and tarps of refurbishment and construction cannot mask
  
• Palau del Musica - a wonderfully interesting building covered in sculpture and decor
• Parc de la Ciutadella - the huge city park where people play table tennis, sunbathe, rent boats, and walk dogs
• La Sagrada Familia - The crown jewel of Barcelona, Gaudi's baby. 
• The Barcelona Beach - a fun ride along the coast was relaxing
• Santa Maria de Mar - a plaza were a flame still burns for the last Christians soliders killed there hundreds of years ago.

All these places were absolutely amazing. Our tour guide was witty, fun, and energetic and we enjoyed the ride. We asked our guide for dinner suggestions and he pointed us to Bar El Tropazon, the most delicious tapas bar hidden in the Gothic part of the city. We feasted on calamari, spicy potatoes, two types of mussels, pork kebabs, peppers, mushrooms, squash, delicious peppers(shown being "toasted" below), and spanish omelets. To top the delicious meal, we downed three pitchers of the most delicious sangria known to man, two of the cava variety, made with a white sparkling wine, and one traditional. 

Stuffed, we headed back to the hotel and stopped along the way for me to make my much anticipated purchase of "Aladdin pants." I'll let you know if I ever wear them. Kyle fell prey to the magician on Las Ramblas who slipped a scarf in his sock and we searched in vain for un bano.

Day 11

A rather quiet day.

Breakfast, Class, lunch. An awesome run up several flights of stairs and homework with my roomie, Melissa. 

Day 10

I finally got a chance to sleep in. The beds in our hotel may be lacking, but the dark shades on the windows are perfect. 

Karen, Katie, Amanda, Jessica, Josh, Rose, Rupal, Colby, Diana, and I left the hotel at 1 for Sitges, a beach to the west of Barcelona. After almost an hour of wandering around Passeig de Gracia trying in vain to find our R2 route, we stumbled upon the correct station almost by accident. A fun 40 minute ride on a double decker train later we were in the cute beachtown of Sitges. 

The beach here is beautiful with its soft sand and large breaking waves. We soaked up what sun we could on the partially cloudy day and people watched for several hours. Apparently Sitges is known as a gay and lesbian friendly area, which I read AFTER our visit, and the gays and lesbians were getting friendly all around us. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful day to spend with fellow "leftovers," who have now become my friends. 

In search of food, our noses led us to the most fantastic aroma know to man; hot, fresh, chocolate covered waffles. We passed them up before dinner but promised to come back for dessert. 

After much debate and aimless wandering we decided to eat at Mamma-Mia, an italian restaurant near the beach. The food was good, I had Lasayna Verde, a green noodle, bell pepper, and cheese creation, and several others ordered delicious looking pizza. The sangria was disappointing and I regret allowing Rupal to taste sangria for the first time at this place.

As promised, we came back for our waffles. They lived up to their expectations and then some.

After scarfing down our sweets we headed back to Barcelona for Font Magica, a spectacular fountain, light, and music show at the base of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. Every Thursday through Sunday night, the fountain puts on a great spectacle throughout the evening hours. Tourists and locals alike gather around the area to watch. If anyone is looking for date ideas, this spot is quite romantic. Getting to Placa D'Espanya in Barcelona might pose a problem, however. 

Cody's African Safari Begins

For those of you who don't know, my fantastic, amazing, and perfect boyfriend is going to Africa on safari for about 12 days. Today marks his first leg of the trip. I'm pretty excited for him, and I'm gonna try to keep his adventures up to date as well. 

I miss him a lot, I'm wondering if having him in the eastern hemisphere with me will help. The northern one didn't do much for me, so I'm doubtful. 

Day 9

Today was great.

I woke up at 8 feeling well rested, a pleasant change from most other mornings here in Barcelona. Got up and dressed and wandered down to breakfast with Rose. We sat and talked over expresso and orange juice while waiting for Karen, Katie, Kolby and Diana to make their way down to breakfast. Our plans for the morning involved exploring the Castell de Montjuic and the Olympic Park in Barcelona. 

Rupal joined the group as we hopped on a train to Barcelona where we would connect to the train and gondolas taking tourists to the castle. 8.30 euros later and we were crammed into a tiny gondola ascending the mountain. Karen, not a fan of heights, was not impressed with our daringness to stand on the seats and attempt to take pictures out of the top of the windows. 

Castells de Monjuic was beautiful. Built originally as a castle, it was converted into a prison in the early 1900s and is now a museum. We wandered around for a couple of hours, taking pictures and drinking in one picturesque view after another from atop one of the highest mountains in the city.  Also worth noting, European Port-A-Pottys are far superior to their American counterparts, they actually flush.

We headed back down the mountain to the Olympic Park of the Summer Games 1992. We toured the Olympic Museum for an hour or so and learned all about the various sports of the summer games as well as several other sports not adopted by the Olympic community. The best part of the museum was the collection of olympic torches dating back the 50's. Next the Olympic Park itself. Grand in scale and but a little lonely, the park was a quiet place to visit and allow the imagination to wander. I couldn't help but pictures thousands of athletes and spectators bustling around the vast expanse of walkways, terraces, and gazing pools. Unfortunately my camera decided to take a little nap during this time, so I have no photographic proof of my adventure. 

Food became the number one thing on everyone's mind and we set our in search of something, anything, to munch on. Turns out our best option was a whole in the wall joint simply called Bar Restaurant. Now for those of you traveling to Spain in the near future, don't go here. I wont even mention where it is so you won't feel tempted. Esta cafe es no bueno. The pizza was of the frozen variety and only edible with some aid from a liter bottle of agua. 

We jumped back on the Metro for a much need siesta back at the hotel. A couple hours later, when everyone was in a much better mood, most likely all forgotten about the disappointing pizza, we headed back to Barcelona for some beachside dining. 

Today was a day of "where not to eat in barcelona." When in the Barceloneta region, do not eat at the last beachside hut. Again, this place had no real name and it was bad. Nachos con guacamole really means TexMex flavored Doritos and some sort of green substance resembling guacamole. The sangria was great, although I believe it went through a very lengthy preparation process of twisting off the lid and pouring it into the pitcher. 

Barcelona redeemed itself a Playa, a whole in the wall Tapas joint right off the beach. I'm now a huge fan of the Spanish Omelet and can't wait for another chance to get one. We finished Part 2 of dinner just in time to make it to the NitBus stop to get back to Plaza de Catalunya, where out particular bus back to the university awaited. 35 minutes later, we were back to our hotel and ready for bed. 

Day 8

Today marks a week of travel. I think it's safe to say I'm a tad bit tired. 

Melissa, my roommate, left for Rome this morning at 5:30 a.m. I know she was as quiet as possible, but I woke up with her and had a difficult time getting back to sleep. 6:30 a.m. and I'm up again, this time, to a thunderstorm. I finally rise at 9:00 a.m. and head to breakfast. It's certainly a different crowd downstairs this time. No loud, chattering Texas A&M students eating cereal, pineapple, and whatever other familiar and identifiable food served for breakfast. I sit alone and enjoy the quiet. I even got brave and assembled a sandwich of cheese and some sort of prosciutto-like meat. I head back to my room to blog Day 6 and 7's adventures and groan at the sound of rain. We were supposed to go on a Fat Tire Bike Tour at 4, and they skies don't look promising. 

I lounge around my room, watching CNN UK, our only english channel, and googling, youtubing and facebooking every thing and everyone I can think of. 

Eventually I gather up the courage to knock on some doors and find signs of life amongst my classmates. Apparently I'm the only one who gets up before noon...

Around 3:00, Rose, Rupal, and I head into Barcelona for some shopping! I bought a really cute top from Zara. We ventured into a few higher end shops, I really wish I had the money to spend on so many beautiful things!

We grabbed a bite to eat at my new favorite restaurant, a tapas bar I raved about in an earlier post, and caught a train back to the University. We had plans to go out tonight, but everyone else wanted to stay in, so here I am, blogging before bed. 

 

Day 7

Day trip to Tarragona!

As part of our program, we go on cultural visits every Thursday. Today we went to Tarragona, a Roman city on the sea. We took in the ruins, explored an ancient city, and watched a litte boy dance at the steps of the Tarragona Cathedral. 

I'm now doubting my open-mindedness when it comes to the local 

cuisine... We went to a buffet in Tarragona as part of the tour and I just don't understand some of the dishes. I'm not big on a fish fried whole with its tail in it's mouth, or the unidentifiable bubbling pot of bones. 

Day 6

ICE BARCELONA DAY!

Breakfast, Class, Pool, Nap. - a great way to start the day. 

Things got "cooler" at ICE BARCELONA, a bar thats more about the experience than the booze. For 15 euros you can sport a camo coat, oversized gloves, and a beer logo beanie, sit in a -8 degrees C freezer, and chat with your friends...

But really, this was the coolest place ever! The drinks were good, the music was awesome, and the ice was beautiful! We made a reservation the night earlier, so we had the whole place to ourselves for pictures, goofing off, and exploring. 

Day 5

First day of school!

Two lectures, then a four hour nap, and a walk to find a restaurant. Spaniards eat really late though, so we had to walk back to campus and grab a bite. I got spaghetti con pesto, it was super yummy. Drinks with the girls at the hotel and bed soon. 

Day 4

8 am run in the most beautiful neighborhood I've ever seen! 

We took the train to the supermarket, AlCampo. Its kinda like a Wal-Mart except it has a Claires inside. pretty random.

We went to the beach in Barcelona! It was awesome, but very crowded. Went to a Tapas Bar called TXAPELA on Pg De Gracia. I has swordfish, shrimp, and asparagas tapas. They were delicious and I can't wait to go back!!!!

Day 3

Exploring Barcelona!

We took a train into the city for a little adventure. I'd never been on a train, tram, subway, or metro before, so it was quite an experience. Tons of fun. 

We arrived in the center of Downtown Barcelona and preceded to get lost about 4 times. 

After we got back on track we walked down Las Ramblas, a buzzing street full of vendors and interesting people. It was a wonderful sight to take in. The smells of flowers and sangria mixed together in a mezmerizing perfume. At the end of Las Ramblas, right by the sea, is a statue of Christopher Columbus, we took pictures there and all around the port of Barcelona and then hopped on board a catamaran for a sailing cruise into the Mediterranen. It was a little rough, and my weak stomach almost gave out on me. The 1 euro sangria probably made matters a little worse.  We grabbed a bite to eat at Subway and ducked into the Metro Station just as a shower washed over the city. 

Day 2

Got off the plain in London to a different world. Everything seemed a little brighter, and much cooler. We waited in the terminal for several hours during which I searched in vain for a mechanical pencil to continue my puzzle obcession. I found a Mont Blanc pencil, but decided it was just a little out of my price range. 

Boarded my third plane of the trip to Barcelona. Quick 2 hour flight to Spain. 

We arrived at the serhs hotel campus on the Universidat de Barcelona campus. Unpacked, ate dinner with the group, and crashed. 

Day 1 

Cody dropped me off at the airport at 12:55 and I got on a quick flight to Houston, were I was meeting the rest of our group for a 7:55pm flight to London. I killed time by wandering around Intercontinental. Our flight to London was better than I expected, I didn't sleep much because I bought a new puzzle book that is supposed to make blank grids into pictures. By the time we arrived in London, I had a panda and a power drill.