home sweet home :)

Falling into my lumpy mattress to the sounds of dogs barking and Spanish television has never been a more pleasant experience. There's nothing like the isolated, small, quiet town of Tarragona to make one appreciate the excitement of FABULOUS Barcelona. Oh how I missed seeing crowded metros, traffic and PDA. (I'm actually serious.)

As usual, I may be exaggerating a little bit. The WHOLE thing wasn't miserable. There were some really fun parts. Pictures later. OUT TONIGHT! and yay for being home!!!!

vino vino vino

Today's activity: wine tasting!

Shocked? I know. I feel so sophisticated. Actually, I learned a lot. He taught us how to recognize aged wine from newer wine just by looking at the color, the "legs," how it smells, etc. Also did you know the difference between white wine and red wine is that they skin the grapes to make white wine and leave the skin on to make red?? Who knew.
I usually don't like wine but this was a good introductory course because I learned that I like white wine over red (although Sangria is still my fave).


We leave tomorrow for Tarragona! Stay tuned for pics and deets.

xoxoxo

flamenco

A few nights ago I saw a live Flamenco dance! Flamenco is not tradition in Barcelona, but it originated in Spain (Andalucia). There was a live band with 2 dancers. The dancing was really similar to tap-dancing and I actually knew how to do some of the moves they did!! (paddle rolls, lyd!) The dance itself was really sweaty and intense. They didn't really smile at all but it was still passionate and beautiful.

Here are some pictures I took! I'm really proud of them.

rain, rain, go away

ANOTHER rainy day. Although I was forewarned I would be arriving during rainy season, its been like DAYS. Can a brotha get a taco? At least now I can rest assured it was worth wearing my Hunter rainboots on the 8 hour plane ride (since they wouldn't fit in my suitcase.)

Some American things I'm missing today:
-my white American Apparel v-neck
-having a car
-the intense variety offered at American Starbucks (they have a limited menu here) AND being able to order from someone who speaks English

Parc Guell

Um, excuse me. Please refer back to my very first post ever. I AM HUGGING THAT LIZARD. Thank you that is all.

La Boqueria Round 2

2 Boqueria juices and a bag of chocolate later, I'd say we had a pretty successful trip to the local mercado. However, it did make me appreciate the convenience of food in America. For example, I can buy a ham sandwich at Panera without having to buy the pig's entire leg (hooves included) and butcher it, cook it, and carve it myself.
This one line of hanging animal carcass legs had been on display for THREE YEARS. And they were selling for 138 euro each. That is not normal.


If 3-year-old, raw pig legs didn't increase your appetite, maybe I can interest you in some dead, slimy octopus over ice, or a whole rabbit (eyes, teeth, organs and all), which they also have for sale at La Boqueria. Ew I feel sick just thinking about it. At least you didn't have to experience the STENCH up close and personal. Talk about considering vegetarianism.

BLAAAHHH IMA CRACKIN FROM THE SEAA
(thanks stacy for providing me with photographic evidence)

On a lighter note, its apparently socially acceptable here to spoon in the middle of the streets motionless. I think this is supposed to be a form of entertainment or theater? But people were freezing in random positions for a couple minutes at a time and posing with coconuts and eggs. This really confuses me. But its really entertaining at the same time!

Public Display of Cuddling (again, thanks stacy)

and I remembered my camera this time!! some other photos I took..

(eggs are kept at room temperature here. think about it. its weird.)

FAVORITE THING EVER
this time i had blackberry coconut (comparable to Graeter's Blackraspberry ice cream, but FRESH!) and strawberry pineapple MMMMM. i WILL try ever flavor before i leave.
im up to like 6 now.

DRAGON FRUIT. is so pretty.

THERE
IS
A GOD.
NOW DO YOU SEE WHY THIS PLACE IS MY HEAVEN??!?
oh my goodness I was just there a few hours ago and I want to go back just looking at these.

Sadly I finished almost an entire bag of gummi bears containing 7 servings while writing this. My chronic sugar craving is insatiable. I will never feel like I've had enough SUGARRR!!

PICASSO!!!

I don't think I can express in words how enthused I am about this. The Picasso tour/museum had to have been one of my favorite things I've done so far in this city. It started with a walking tour that took us throughout the the city. We saw where Picasso's family started a restaurant, where he went to art school, where he opened his first gallery, etc. Did you know that in 1901 when he opened his first gallery he didn't sell ANYTHING. He was a complete failure. But now look how famous he is! I find that truly inspiring. See, you might just have to wait until you're really old/dead to hit your peak so just be patient.
Ok enough talking. I just want to show you some of the pictures I took because I am SO excited about this.

picasso's family opened a restaurant here called 4 Cats
(you can kind of see the sign in the bottom right corner)

this is where picasso went to art school! how cool is that!
maybe if you take classes there you'll be as good as him

statue inspired by him

building covered in figures inspired by Picasso's early style of drawing

(I wasn't allowed to bring my camera in the museum, but I found a picture of one of my favorite paintings we saw there.) This next painting is literally like the size of a wall. He did this from his IMAGINATION when he was only FOURTEEN. With my face one inch from the glass, I made my excitement very clear to the guy standing next to me when I kept repeating, "That is ONE brush stroke! ONE! Look at that! He was only FOURTEEN!!!" Seriously though, FOURTEEN. I'm still amazed.

"The First Communion," done in oils, 1896.
This practically made me cry of joy. I wish I was kidding.

LOVE FOR PICASSO!!!! XOXO

feliz cumpleaños a kate!

HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY KATE!!!!


Don't worry, we took full advantage of the fact that we had an actual reason to celebrate and went out most nights this week. The first night, we went to the Black Sheep where they serve FREE POPCORN. LIKE SPORTS. This absolutely amazed me and I think I showed more excitement for a free bowl of popcorn than anyone the bartender had ever seen. I spent like 10 minutes clarifying with him that it was, "FREE?! LIKE SPORTS?!!" He didn't get the sports reference but I hope all you IU people can appreciate that other countries eat free popcorn at bars too!!! See, we are all linked in more ways than you could even imagine.
Then, KATE TURNED 21 AT MIDNIGHT!!!!! We explained that this is a big deal in America to MAANYYY staring Spanish people. Next stop: Dow Jones Bar. I know, I thought it was a scam too. But the drink prices actually go up and down when the market "crashes." SO COOL. and when all the prices go down, the bar resembles the real stock market because everyone is screaming and flailing their arms trying to catch the bartender's attention.

the stock market (sorry about the poor picture quality)

For Kate's actual birthday, we ate dinner at Rita Rouge. It was reallyy pretty and we had SO much fun. Our server was awesome and brought us free birthday shots that looked like slushies! They were frozen and half red, half blue (delicious). Next we went to Pippermint, where the smallest drink size is 1 LITER. I know this is the metric system, but let me just convert for you: 1 liter is BIG. but you share! Finally, we made it to Opium Cinema where I accidentally left my phone in the cab. but luckily Alejandro, our driver, had given me his business card and told me to call him. so he brought it back. summary of the rest of the night: dance, dance, dance, dance. All in all, the perfect 21st birthday celebration.

kiwi, pineapple, and fresh eggs from the wilderness

Day 4: I want to try to write this in Spanish so I can get better. I'll translate at the end.

Hoy mi clase de espanol y yo fuimos a un scavenger hunt en la ciudad. Al fin, fuimos a un mercado se llama La Boqueria. Tuvieron la fruta, las verduras, el carne, el jamon, las dulces, el chocolate y muchas mas. My amiga y yo compramos jugo que es fresca que cuesta .50 euro. Solo tiene fruta y hay muchos tipos.

Today my Spanish class went on a scavenger hunt in the city. At the end we went to this market called "La Boqueria." They have fruit, vegetables, meat, ham, candy, chocolate, and more. My friend and I bought this fresh fruit juice that was 2 for 1 Euro! Its ONLY made of blended fruit and they had every flavor imaginable.

I got kiwi pineapple and my friend Maddy got papaya mango. THEY WERE SO DELICIOUS. and only .50 euro??! That's amazing. This might be one of my new favorite things in Barcelona. Here were some of the other freshly-made, mouth-watering flavors: strawberry, mixed berry, mango, kiwi coconut, papaya, strawberry banana, blueberry, and any combination in between. I hope you're salivating as much as I am just thinking about it. DELICIOSO!

Speaking of delicioso, last night my senora made a traditional Catalan meal. Before you gag at the eclectic combination of ingredients, hear me out. So it was a plate of white rice, topped with a smooth, red, tomato sauce (imagine marinara minus the chunks). On top of THAT was an egg prepared over easy, crispy around the edges with a runny yolk. To complete the randomness was a hot dog on the side of the plate to cut up. You're supposed to chop it all up and mix it together so it sort of ends up looking like spicy chicken fried rice but with hot dog mixed in. Surprisingly, it was actually really scrumptious.

I found this picture on the internet. It looked really similar to this,

but with red sauce underneath. Its called "arroz cubana."

All for now! Bon apetit!

Days 1-3

Ah! So many things have happened in so little time. Let me catch you up:
Day 1: (I don't count arrival day because I was a zombie anyway.) REAL day 1 of Barcelona, Kate and I explored by ourselves. We went shopping because GOOD NEWS: right now all of Barcelona has REBAJAS!!! Sales, sales, sales, sales... its like music to my ears. Also, there are 2 H&Ms and 2 Zaras on the same street. Perfecto. After a long, rainy adventure, we finally found a grocery store, where all the food had the same exact labels. So we had to decide what to buy just by looking at the pictures.
That night, we drank wine at a local (sketchy) brightly-lit bar full of old men, then went to Opium Mar!! where we partied til SIX IN THE MO'NIN (foreal this time, eggs benedict.)


Day 2: Orientation, barrio tour, OH and how could I forget. As many of you know, I have been on the prowl for the perfect boots for some time now. I am proud to announce: THE SEARCH HAS ENDED. I found.. the ones. They were sitting on a sale rack at El Corte Ingles. But don't be fooled by a mere reduced price, they immediately stood out among all the rest in all their glory. I saved almost 100 euro AND they fit like a glove. Whoever coined the phrase, "money cannot buy happiness," did not buy these boots.

Guy Laroche

That night, we started at Chupitos shot bar and went to a club I forget the name of (Rebilinos?) with a bunch of Americans. Yay for being able to speak English!

Today (day 3): We walked around La Rambla and went to a street market! There were lots of street performers and little tents selling flowers, plants, jewelry, leather goods, scarves, etc. Then we went to Port Vell. I went a little camera happy so here are some pictures from today's adventures!

building near Placa Universitat

view from Placa Catalunya

street market at La Rambla

Port Vell

I can't believe I live here! This really is the most beautiful city in the world.

I HAVE ARRIVED

finalmente! i feel brain dead after traveling for so long and staying awake for so many hours so more details tomorrow. but a few things before i go to bed:
-thanks to united airlines i got a FREE upgrade to business class for my eight hour flight (complete with a 5 course meal, complimentary wine/champagne/starbucks for the duration of the flight, a fully reclining chair with footrest, personal tv, hot breakfast.. the list goes on. how can some people fly this luxuriously on a regular basis and not be completely obsessed? and WHY HAVENT I DISCOVERED THIS UNTIL NOW?
-I don't appreciate whoever designed the frankfurt airport with every gate 3 miles from the next so it takes 2 girls a total of 45 minutes to walk 20 gates with 50 lb bags dangling from each arm. you do the math. (correct answer: sweat.)
-everyone dresses cooler here
-you aren't supposed to tip. ever. i dont know why i find this so fascinating.


ok just to give a visual, this is frankfurt airport. now imagine RUNNING from one side to the next with multiple HEAVY bags. (keep in mind you cant read the signs because theyre in german.) death.

adios amigos! this spanish exposure thing is actually helping i think. stay posted.