Day 34 - Sal, Sal, y mas Sal

Today we went to an old salt mine. 

It was probably my favorite Thursday excursion. We jumped in safari like trucks and were driven to the entrance of the mine where we donned flattering hard hats and followed a guide into the darkness. 

The salt mines were surprisingly beautiful. Quick growing stalactites and stalagmites of beautiful, pure, and white salt crowned the entry. As we walked deeper into the abandoned mine, we were exposed to other types of salt in various rusty red colors. It was cool and quite, with the exception of our professors son dropping his hardhat every two seconds. 

I was able to take a few decent pictures inside the cave. I'll try to post them on my facebook soon. 

After the cave we went to a very nice restaurant for our Farewell Dinner. 

We started the meal with a delicious Salmon Tartar. It was a perfect dish and Kelli and I turned into food critics as we analyzed each and every taste the tartar evoked. Then our main course, veal in "paris" sauce with french fries. I wasn't too crazy about the fries, but the steak was delicious and very filling. I also enjoyed the coffee infused tiramisu with an expresso after our meal. 

Kelli and I headed into Barcelona for the LAST time this afternoon to take advantage of the Semi-Annual sales. We both had a laugh at ourselves after realizing our favorite store, Cotrefield, was also the favorite store of every middle aged woman in Barcelona. Apparently we dress like old women, and if thats true, I don't mind. I love the shirts I bought today. 

So today is our last day in Spain. It has been quite a trip. A trip of a lifetime. 

We'll never have the chance to repeat this fantastic adventure. 

This is my last summer as a student, and I love that I'm going out with a bang. 

I've had the best time here, and I have learned so much, laughed so much, and loved the Spanish culture so much. 

An Update Too Late

Sooooo, life has been interesting in Spain for the past week or so. I've been putting of the blog due to a lack of sleep, a little writers block, and two projects/presentations. But now, two days before I return to the wonderful state of Texas, I'm catching up!

Day 33 - O Rosella!

Today I presented my both of projects to the class. I did okay on my individual presentation, not anything I would have been particularly proud of back at A&M, but a solid E is for Effort kind of deal. Turns out I got an A in the class, so I think my amount of effort put forth and my final result was pretty impressive. Thanks Rosella!

After class we went to Can Moja for a fantastic Paella dinner. I loved the rice dish and am so glad I ate it before leaving Spain. We then laid out on the beach, people watched, and advised Katie in a henna tattoo purchase. Later we stopped by the market for one last fruit juice and tray. We wandered around El Corte Ingles, a HUGE department store with everything from fine designer clothing to light bulbs and cheap wine. I bought cava, wine, and brandy to bring home. 

Day 32 - Prepare to Present

I spent all day working on my individual presentation on the Common Agricultural Policy's Grain, Beef, and Butter Mountains: Europe problem of too much food. It was tedious and annoying. Then I worked with my group on our SWOT Analysis of Apple entering the Spanish market. It was more fun working with a group, but also, annoying. 

Day 31 - Organic is Orgasmic

Katie, Kelli, and I went into Barcelona for more shopping!!! I bought the cutest gladiator sandals! We then went to Organic, a vegetarian restaurant Bailey suggested. Apparently Gwyneth Paltrow ate there when she lived in Barcelona. Oddly enough, we ran into Bailey and Mallory at Organic. The food was amazing! We ordered the Mediterranean Calzone and the Vegetarian Pizza. Each of us also had a trip to the glorious salad bar. Catalonians don't typically include a lot of vegetables in their dishes, so we had been craving a little green. The shirts sold at Organic read "Organic... is Orgasmic," hence the title of this day. 

Day 31 - Why yes, my house has 2800 rooms...

Sunday, our last day in Madrid. We woke for breakfast and went back to bed for a little nap. Then Kelli, Katie, and I took the metro to the Royal Palace where we explored and toured the lavish rooms, but not all 2800 of them. Then it was back to the hotel to meet the bus. The trip home only took 6 hours... same strange bus driver. lots of calls. we think he must have a boyfriend who also drives a bus and with whom he met up with several times on our trip to Madrid. 

Day 30 - Not My Thing

I woke this morning with huge stomach issues, and they didn't subside at the Prado Museum of Art. Without a huge deal of convincing, I got Kelli and Katie to accompany me back to the hotel before the tour was over. A nap settled my tummy and I was ready to go out and see more of Madrid this afternoon. We headed to the city park, which was huge and quite beautiful. After exploring the park we ran into what we thought was some sort of daytime rave. Turns out this "rave" was really a parade, and the first "float" was a eighteen wheeler with tr

ailer, being pulled by about 20 people, all with hooks through the skin of their backs. It was bloodly, gruesome, and disgusting. Totally not my thing. Interesting, but odd.

 After our stomachs recovered from all the blood and gore we managed to find the Hard Rock Cafe. I think we've been in Spain long enough, searching out American restaurants is certainly a sign. 

Day 29 - Do You Have Any Idea?

Our first day in Madrid started off with a bang. The hotel breakfast was delicious! I loaded up on tons of great fruits and pastries. 

We took a bus tour of Madrid and went to Museo de Reina Sophia. Here we took in several of Picasso and Dali's works. 

After the museum Katie, Kelli and I headed out to explore Madrid! We went to the mercado, Plaza Mayor, and had lunch at TGI Fridays to satisfy our craving for American food. After a wonderful meal (I had ribs), we hit up some shops. I found a cute black top, a couple of english books, a leather wallet for day, and some organic olive oil. 

We went out to celebrate Charli's real birthday. I had a few beers at a couple different bars, after walking in and out of the largest club in Madrid (a few in our group didn't have ids, who knew they carded in Spain?), and was ready to head home. Kelli and I walked back to our hotel, which took us about an hour. I love Madrid. We didn't feel unsafe at anytime, and lots of people were out and about, even at 3 AM. 

Day 28 - 7 minutes in heaven? try 11 hours of hell

6:00 woke

6:45  time set to leave Madrid

7:15  actually left for Madrid

8:00 bus driver makes call over bus loud speakers

8:15 bus driver makes another call over loud speakers (lots of beeping)

9:30 stop for a break, not planned, bus driver insisted he couldnt make it 30 more minutes to Zarragoza

10:00 stop in Zarragoza. breakfast. 

11:00 leave Zarragoza

11:11 bus driver takes call over loud speakers

11:45 bus driver makes call over loud speakers

12:00 stop for lunch, also not on itinerary, bus driver "had" to stop. Pringles and ice cream for lunch

1:00 leave creepy ghetto truck stop

1:15 bus driver makes mass calls over loud speakers

2:00 I finally tune out the phone calls and manage to sleep

6:00 arrive in Madrid, five hours after scheduled arrival. 

Day 27 - Sleep is your friend.

I slept ALL day. Woke up in time to pack for our trip to Madrid and went back to bed. 

Day 26 - San Joan, I pretty much hate you. 

So let me start this by saying that I harbor no ill feelings toward Saint John the Baptist. He was a great guy; baptized Jesus in the Jordon, washed many a sin away, and was imprisoned and beheaded for his proclamations of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 

It's the festival of Sant Joan that will probably never sit just right with me. Spaniards, and Catalunions in particular, celebrate on the eve of the Summer Solstice with a huge fiesta on the beach involving fireworks, fire, partying, and massive amounts of alcohol. The night started out fun, I actually had a wonderful time meeting people from all over the world, drinking my "Coke Light" and vodka, and chatting with several members of our group. Things went south about the time the vodka bottle dried up. Now, this was not all my consumption, and to be honest, I mixed maybe 5 shots of Vodka in my 1.5 liter bottle and drank half of it. But my friend, Friend A, was the consumer of the rest of the bottle. And maybe Rosella wouldn't fully appreciate my form of economics, but when a consumer who never drinks consumes a good such as vodka in a quantity greater than which they are accustomed to an in a time period of an hour or so, bad things happen. The same also goes for Friend B who drank cava out of cups around strange and somewhat creepy men. 

So while I'm doing great, pacing myself in order to drink at a leisurely rate until the sun comes up, a goal most of us had but no one accomplished, my friends are dropping like flies around me and I am completely sober. I manage to find a chaperone to escort Friend A back to the hotel and gather the other Sober Sallies to assist Friend B. Eventually the boys carrying Friend B find a taxi and I think all is well, until Katie and I stumble upon them in an ambulance after exiting the Metro in the center of town.  

Not expecting anything like this to happen, and at the advice dear Rosella, no one took anything of value with them to the beach. We had only cash, and the bare minimum at that. No one had any sort of means to pay for the inevitable hospital bill for Friend B. So I rode back to the hotel, grabbed my credit cards, Rose, and Scott, broke into Spencer's room for his credit cards and headed back to Barcelona. The trip to and from town is about 45 minutes, so it's approaching 5 am by the time we get to the hospital. Also interesting to point out is our random encounter with an acquaintance walking hand in hand down Las Ramblas with a prostitute.  

We get to the hospital to wait on Friend B to be released.  Finally, the emergency rooms allows Friend B to leave, I pay the bill, and we head back to the hotel around 7. Luckily I get back in time for breakfast! 

Day 25 - Bargain Shopper

After class I decided to head in to Barcelona to check out the hotel that Mrs. Phillips is considering booking for her and Cody's vacation in November. It's a nice hotel, but its pretty far from all of the city's main attractions. Then I did a little shopping. 

So the black dress I went on and on about in my previous post is no more. It has been replaced by its white twin, and it is gorgeous and wonderful and beautiful as well. Really, its just a cotton dress that I really like, nothing too special, don't get excited. Today I decided that the black dress of old was a little too snug. I haven't gained too much weight on this trip, but an XS 100% cotton dress is probably not a good idea, especially when I have a tendency to shrink half of my clothes. So I hopped on the train to exchange the dress for a larger size. Problem. The United Colors of Benetton in Barcelona no longer had the dress in any size in black and they were all on sale, for about 25 euro less than I paid the previous day in Sitges. So. I now own the dress in white, and I got a "free" shirt and panties in order to make up the difference between the full price and sale price.  I went home with a smile on my face. 

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.