I was walking back from the metro stop, Quevedo, to my house after spending the weekend in Barcelona, and it felt like I was returning home. One of the main streets I have to cross was closed off and there was a father and his two sons playing soccer, kids riding bikes, couples holding hands, families spending time together. The weather is beautiful, sky is clear and blue, I even saw a pigeon give a smaller bird a worm. No, but I really did. Madrid was welcoming me home and it feels good to be back after an enjoyable long weekend. It was a holiday today, meaning no school on a Monday and a three day week!
I spent the night at Stephanie's senora's house which actually ended up only being two and a half hours of sleep before we taxi'd to the airport at 5:30am to catch our morning flight.
We spent the weekend sharing a tiny single bed (which we DEFINATELY had to wash the sheets of) in the apartment of Stephanie's cousin who is a student in Barcelona this semester. He lives with his fraternity brothers. Their apartment obviously shows this, but it was a fun group of people and a free place to sleep. Their phrase that defines their lives is "Allllright." Her cousin, Alex, showed us around Barcelona a bit. We walked down Las Ramblas-a main street lined in large shady trees, various stands (some selling chipmunks, ferrets, mice, fish,etc.), and people dressed in insane costumes that you can take pictures with for money. I took one with a golden godess lady? Ultimate tourist. The three of us walked in the market and there were whole fish, some 4 feet long, very fresh fruit, delicious juice which we indulged in, and a variety of candies and other food stands.
We took the metro to the beach and rented 6 euro bikes for two hours and rode along the water and through the city, stopping on occassion to snap a photo. We stopped at a sandwich shop famous among college students and took sandwiches to go. Unfortunately for me my sandwich was incredibly saucy and my sandwich fell through the bag while i was riding my bike and i fell off of my bike after it, picked it up, took a bite, and kept riding. More unfortunately for me after the sauce continued to cover my leg while i was carrying my sandwich and biking two gals walked in front of me so i hit a curb, dropped my sandwich and fell off of my bike again. I shamelessly picked up my sandwich remains that weren't all over the city of Barelona, turned in my bike and ate it. I was hungry. I have a good immune system? It was a good sandwich.
Later that night the guys in the apartment we were staying at and Stephanie and I went over to their friends' house and cooked an elaborate meal of fajitas. Everyone chipped in and we jammed to music, cooked, and had drinks. Very fun. We made a large bowl of guacamole that had the potential to feed a small country. Later we all metro'd to this bar called Chupitos (shots in Spanish) which fit becuase the bar had over 300 shots unique to them, ranging from the Monica Lewinski (which involved taking a shot out of something I do not want to say) to the Boy Scout which involved the bar being lit on fire and roasting marshmellows to the Harry Potter which involved an orange being lit on fire with sugar. Basically there was a lot of fire going on.
We walked on the beach barefoot to the main plaza where clubs are and the nightlife happens. We ended up just hanging out for a bit, taking a taxi home, and Alex, Stephanie's cousin, is so bad with directions that we got lost for quite a while, even though he lives there. I would criticize, but in my book that's definately an easy thing to do, ha.
We slept in and didn't end up leaving the apartment the next day until 4. Alex, Stephanie and I strolled through Park Guell and saw Gaudi's work. There were mosaic park benches in a main plaza that apparently used to be the location for a large market. Two houses that Gaudi designed based on the opera Hansel and Gretel framed the gates to the entrance of the park. They looked magical. Like gingerbread houses. Gaudi's work is so abstract and colorful and the definition of "modern" in the art world. Later Stephanie and I walked through Las Ramblas again stopping in and out of shops while also taste testing every ice cream stand we saw. Probar que...este? We stopped in a restaurant, sat at the bar, and enjoyed white wine (one on the house-thank you!) and delicious croquettes. We walked toward the beach after and stopped to buy chestnuts roasting on an open fire (jack frost knocking at your dooorrrr) from a vendor. We thought they were acorns at first, but then realized we weren't being as adventurous as we had anticipated. I FINALLY bought my "real" Prada bag from a vendor, just before he had to pack up and run away from police. Stephanie was bartering with him but he just looked so sad so I gave him his precio que quiere for a black n white checkered fantastic accessory.
We met up with Alex and the boys at a hoppin' Irish bar where people were watching futbol and getting pretty rowdy. I finally ate spicy food, nachos, and it was divine. Spanish food is NOT spicy food and many Spanish people don't like spicy, so it was funny when the waitress tried to tell me it was way too spicy of a dish because really it barely sparked my taste buds. Everyone kept sticking beer labels on one of the boys' back who we were staying with and I believe he was up to twenty or so before he realized it- typical group of beta fraternity guys?
There were a lot of people from my Madrid school in Barcelona this weekend, so I met up with a few gals and went to club Opium. We were there early-aka 1:35am- so it wasn't quite hoppin' yet but we were able to sit back and watch forty year old men dance in scarves and fleece vests, so i guess being an early bird was worth it just this once. Old men just living the dream? The club was very close to the beach and you could hear the ocean from the patio outside. It was decorated in halloween and even the club workers were in costume. We left and went to a kebap place on the corner and split one but when we wanted another one they said they were closed. A divorcee from Turkey handed the guy a large euro bill and said give the ladies whatever they want so we ate our kebap and chatted about different cultures. He wasn't flirting or hitting on us, he was observing how we all interacted. It was kind of odd, but very interesting. He works in spice exporting, and saves up money to travel by himself, indulge in photography, and meet people from all over the world.
The next day I woke up at 8:30 to peel my contacts out of my eyes, then woke up around eleven to greet the day and be in excrutiating eye pain, sensitive to light, barely opening my eyes, fantastic. My eyes and contacts have been having a battle since I've been here, with me always as the loser. Good news. Was forced to buy cute sunglasses that I had to wear even indoors which forced me to look like Stevie Wonder riding the metro. Fab.
I went to Sagrada Familia, a modern cathedral designed by Gaudi which is still under construction. The interior will be done by the end of this year and the exterior has plans to be completed by 2030 and stand as the tallest building in Barcelona with its eighteen spires. The entrance has sculptures built into the walls depicting scenes of Jesus's life. There is a scene of Judas giving Jesus the betraying kiss; a snake was in the corner of that scene which I found interesting. A scene of John disowning Jesus three times and a rooster crowing. A sculpture of the scene of Jesus on the cross. Jesus riding a donkey entering Jerusalem was carved into the floor of the entrance. Inside the cathedral was magical, magnificant, abstract, unlike anything I've seen, too much for words and pictures to describe. It was as if I was walking into a different world or unimaginable shapes and architecture and designs. Beautiful stained glass, sculptures, glass, shapes, columns, staircases. Very tall ceilings. It was a little eerie, and didn't feel as religious, as if I could feel God's presence like other cathedrals I've been in. It was more a work of modern art.
After, we went to Montjuiic which is a large park on top of a hill overlooking the city. Gorgeous views. Very green, huge trees, smelled so amazing and fresh. Montjuiic encompasses gardens with elaborate waterfalls, sculptures, and various structures including the Olympic Stadium from 1992 which we saw and Palau Nacional which was built in 1929 for the world fair but is now used as the National Catalan Musuem. We didn't mean to see these things we were kind of just roaming in the park and happened to come across them, very cool. We felt like we were going to pass out from lack of food so we wandered back into the city and found a little restaurant. The service was incredibly slow, as always here, and the food was lukewarm, which is normal as well.
That night Stephanie and I dressed up like tigers for Halloween and the boys we were staying with all wore RIDICULOUS costumes as well. They found full animal suits so in the end there was a chipmunk, a lion, and a monkey and then an indian, a soccer player, and some other random things. We went out to Opium club again and there were so many dancers and other people dressed up in costumes that were hired by the club. There was a fountain of chocolate that you could dip fruit in which I of course indulged in. My night was probably catagorized by eating as on the metro I bought chips and somehow got one for free out of the vending machine. Success. Also, after the club we stopped by Mcdonald's and had an elaborate meal. Finally. I've been wanting to go there for months. haha SO american.
The next morning waking up for our early flight was brutal but somehow we did it. Overall Barcelona was a great trip. I am faithful to Madrid and will say I enjoy Madrid better. But I very much liked Barcelona's trees everywhere and the ocean was beautiful.
My roomates did not have as good as an experience, one missed her flight, another's best friend got punched in the face by a taxi driver for slamming the door and had to be taken to the hospital for a blood transfusion (she lost so much in the 45 min it took for the ambulance to get there). The police apparently didn't do anything about it. What kind of man beats up a girl for shutting a car door too hard. How frightening. She's ok now. Apparently studies in London. I'm sure her parents are thrilled with Barcelona. Apparently a lot of people had things stolen.
I'd say my trip was definately a success in light of others.
I am a 21 year old. Tuesday was my birthday and it was catagorized as going out at midnight, going to sleep, waking up to Bailey's in my coffee and going out again that night. A little wild, but you only turn 21 once, and I'm not one to make too terrible of decisions, but I definately think my triple decker PBnJ was a bit too far and will not be eating any more peanut butter anytime soon. The early am I went out with the Wakeforest crew to cavebar. It literally is a bar that looks like a cave and drinks come out of the ceiling. A Britney Spears song request was made. Success. Free champagne for your birthday. In the morning I woke up to a card and chocolates from my senora--she is SO sweet. The day was catagorized as free everything. I wish it was always my birthday! My roomates and I met up at DiBocca, our favorite Italian place near school, for my birthday lunch and we all ordered our elaborate menu del dia with three courses and a glass of white wine for ten euro. They gave me a free dessert with candles and also balloons that I tied to my party backpack. Good friends, good food. Later that night I went out with my girlfriends to a few relaxing bars. We saw a purple light at this one place, rang the doorbell, and Spain gay men in underwear answered the door to a club full of Spanish men in whity tyties. We weren't allowed in, that was ok by me! The gals, Mel, Bailey, Stephanie, Naila, Elyse and I saw these other people dressed up in party hats and it turned out that it was this other gal's brithday from Sweden. We instantly became best friends, at least for one photo session. Apparently an American's 21st is equivalent to Sweden's 20th I found out. Great birthday...
The other day at dinner my senora was making fun of Chinese people and their accents and how they look. I actually was getting a little uncomfortable, I feel like she took it too far? Maybe by fifteen minutes? She then was making fun of American accents which was pretty funny--she said we swallow our words before they come out of our mouth, and that's how we sound...
My mother comes on Thursday, in 3 days! Familiarity will be SO good to see. I cannot wait to play tour guide for Madrid and travel to Portugal and Sevilla with her...
My life is incredible.
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