This is also a little late, but I didn't have my pictures on my computer until yesterday so now I'm going to write about spring break week (4/4-4/11). Most of the program cleared out of Barcelona on Thursday as it was the beginning of spring break for us. Me and one of my roommates were the only two in our apartment and we both hung out until Saturday when we both got visitors. Mom, Dad, Julia, Gma, Gpa, and Mads all came to visit me!
Because it was my spring break too, I wasn't going to stay in my apartment, so I moved into the hotel with them. We stayed at Hotel Arts right on the water down in Villa Olimpica. Because I took so many pictures, I am going to add a link that has all the pictures for you to look at.
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=371857020/a=312151020_312151020/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish
If you go to that link, you'll be able to look at all the pictures from our trip! Enjoy
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
dublin
I know this is a few weeks late, but this is the first chance I've had to post. From March 26th-29th, I went to Dublin and met up with Sarah and her friend Devika who is also studying in Florence. We also met up with Trish and Erika and some of their friends from Alicante one night in Temple Bar.
I got to Dublin on Thursday night and everyone wasn't getting into town until Friday, but I scheduled my flight on Thursday because I wouldn't have gotten into Dublin until 11:00PM on Friday. So I was solo on the first night, which wasn't a big deal considering I didn't get to the hotel until around midnight. I stayed at The Clarence Hotel, the hotel U2 owns that faces the River Liffey and has it's back right on Temple Bar. It was in a great location and it was an awesome hotel even if I was only there for one night.
Friday morning I had to check out at 12:30, so I had time to get up, order room service, and shower before I had to leave. I walked from the hotel to Grafton Street which is the main shopping street in Dublin. I walked around there for a little while, made my way to TopShop at the end of Grafton Street.
After that, I decided to walk over to the other shopping street with more affordable shopping. On my way there, I stumbled upon Trinity College and decided to go in there while I passed it so that I could see the Book of Kells as well as walk around the campus a little.
As soon as I walked through the archway I realized how much I wish I went there, the campus is grogeous with cobblestone roads and brick buildings. It would be an amazing place to go to school. By that time, it started raining so I went into the Book of Kells and Old Library Exhibit. Like I had read in most travel books on Dublin, the Book of Kells was in a little wooden case with a lot of people grouped around it looking in. I made meself up to the front luckily so I was able to see it. My favorite part of the tour; however, was definitely the Long Room. The Long Room was the room with all the oldest books of the college, it was really cool to see how all the old books are still around and on display for the public. Obviously, I wasn't able to take pictures of this exhibit so I can't show you all.
After Trinity, I walked down Henry Street and then made my way back to the hotel to get my suitcase and go meet Sarah.
Sarah, Devika, and I stayed with Sarah's family in Black Rock, a town right outside of central Dublin. We stayed with one of Jerry's (Sarah's dad) and his family. It was a great situation and they were so amazing to us. When we got there, we all ate dinner that Judy (I swear she was a chef/baker in her past life) cooked for us. Since we didn't get to the house until 9:00PM, we didn't finish with dinner until around 1:00AM and we were exhausted. We went to bed because we were waking up early the next day to go to the Guinness factory.
Saturday, we met Sarah and Devika's friend, Ali and her boyfriend, at the Guinness Factory. The factory walked us through the fermentation process, but the best part was the free pint we got at the Gravity Bar at the top of the building, which also offered 360 degree views of the city.
After the Guinness Factory, we attempted to go to the Jameson Factory, but the guided tours didn't fit into our schedule so we walked to Temple Bar instead. There, we ate lunch at Elephant and Castle, which is a restaurant they also have in NYC. From there, we walked back onto Grafton Street because Sarah and Devika wanted to shop at TopShop, even though I went for the second day in a row, I was still able to find stuff I didn't see the day before and walked away with a leather jacket!
After that, we took the Dart, Dublin's definition of the metro, back to Black Rock where Brendan picked us up and brought us home. We hung out at the house for a while, showering and eating dinner and getting ready for the night. Saturday night, we went out with Brendan's daughter, Sheena, and her friends and we all went to Temple Bar. We went to a bar called Fitzsimons and ended up staying there until closing because of Daylight Savings Time, we lost an hour and the bar ended up closing early. We were still able to have a great time and that is where I met up with Trish, Erika, and their friends from Alicante. It was a really fun night and I wish we had more time there because the nightlife is right up my alley.
The next day, Judy and Brendan took us to a town right near theirs called Dun Laughrie (spelling is probably wrong). It was a really cute town and we walked along the water for a while. There was also a little park that had a market where we got some food that was delicious. Unfortunately, I had a 6:00 flight and Sarah and Devika had an 8:00PM flight so I had to leave everyone early.
The trip was amazing, I loved everything about Dublin. The thing I liked most was that it was a small city with the nicest people and a great nightlife. There aren't too many sights there, but I didn't mind it at all, it was such a nice break from the exhausting, sight-seeing weekends I had been having. I will definitely be going back to Dublin.
I got to Dublin on Thursday night and everyone wasn't getting into town until Friday, but I scheduled my flight on Thursday because I wouldn't have gotten into Dublin until 11:00PM on Friday. So I was solo on the first night, which wasn't a big deal considering I didn't get to the hotel until around midnight. I stayed at The Clarence Hotel, the hotel U2 owns that faces the River Liffey and has it's back right on Temple Bar. It was in a great location and it was an awesome hotel even if I was only there for one night.
Friday morning I had to check out at 12:30, so I had time to get up, order room service, and shower before I had to leave. I walked from the hotel to Grafton Street which is the main shopping street in Dublin. I walked around there for a little while, made my way to TopShop at the end of Grafton Street.
After that, I decided to walk over to the other shopping street with more affordable shopping. On my way there, I stumbled upon Trinity College and decided to go in there while I passed it so that I could see the Book of Kells as well as walk around the campus a little.
As soon as I walked through the archway I realized how much I wish I went there, the campus is grogeous with cobblestone roads and brick buildings. It would be an amazing place to go to school. By that time, it started raining so I went into the Book of Kells and Old Library Exhibit. Like I had read in most travel books on Dublin, the Book of Kells was in a little wooden case with a lot of people grouped around it looking in. I made meself up to the front luckily so I was able to see it. My favorite part of the tour; however, was definitely the Long Room. The Long Room was the room with all the oldest books of the college, it was really cool to see how all the old books are still around and on display for the public. Obviously, I wasn't able to take pictures of this exhibit so I can't show you all.
After Trinity, I walked down Henry Street and then made my way back to the hotel to get my suitcase and go meet Sarah.
Sarah, Devika, and I stayed with Sarah's family in Black Rock, a town right outside of central Dublin. We stayed with one of Jerry's (Sarah's dad) and his family. It was a great situation and they were so amazing to us. When we got there, we all ate dinner that Judy (I swear she was a chef/baker in her past life) cooked for us. Since we didn't get to the house until 9:00PM, we didn't finish with dinner until around 1:00AM and we were exhausted. We went to bed because we were waking up early the next day to go to the Guinness factory.
Saturday, we met Sarah and Devika's friend, Ali and her boyfriend, at the Guinness Factory. The factory walked us through the fermentation process, but the best part was the free pint we got at the Gravity Bar at the top of the building, which also offered 360 degree views of the city.
After the Guinness Factory, we attempted to go to the Jameson Factory, but the guided tours didn't fit into our schedule so we walked to Temple Bar instead. There, we ate lunch at Elephant and Castle, which is a restaurant they also have in NYC. From there, we walked back onto Grafton Street because Sarah and Devika wanted to shop at TopShop, even though I went for the second day in a row, I was still able to find stuff I didn't see the day before and walked away with a leather jacket!After that, we took the Dart, Dublin's definition of the metro, back to Black Rock where Brendan picked us up and brought us home. We hung out at the house for a while, showering and eating dinner and getting ready for the night. Saturday night, we went out with Brendan's daughter, Sheena, and her friends and we all went to Temple Bar. We went to a bar called Fitzsimons and ended up staying there until closing because of Daylight Savings Time, we lost an hour and the bar ended up closing early. We were still able to have a great time and that is where I met up with Trish, Erika, and their friends from Alicante. It was a really fun night and I wish we had more time there because the nightlife is right up my alley.
The next day, Judy and Brendan took us to a town right near theirs called Dun Laughrie (spelling is probably wrong). It was a really cute town and we walked along the water for a while. There was also a little park that had a market where we got some food that was delicious. Unfortunately, I had a 6:00 flight and Sarah and Devika had an 8:00PM flight so I had to leave everyone early.
The trip was amazing, I loved everything about Dublin. The thing I liked most was that it was a small city with the nicest people and a great nightlife. There aren't too many sights there, but I didn't mind it at all, it was such a nice break from the exhausting, sight-seeing weekends I had been having. I will definitely be going back to Dublin.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
happy easter!
I know I haven't written in a while because it's been spring break, but as soon as I'm back in Barcelona I'll post about Dublin and our family trip this past week!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
my 21st birthday!!
Today I'm 21 years old!! Last night my roommates and I went out to Pippermint, a pregame bar, and then to the club Shoko right by the beach! It was a great night and we got to meet up with people at the club!
Tonight we are going to dinner and because I have a presentation and I leave for Dublin tomorrow, I don't know how late I'll be able to go out for, but I will let everyone know how it went in the next few days!
Tonight we are going to dinner and because I have a presentation and I leave for Dublin tomorrow, I don't know how late I'll be able to go out for, but I will let everyone know how it went in the next few days!
christina and sammy's last days
Since Christina and Sammy were horrible at updating the blog, I will finish up their trip for them.
Tuesday, Saint Patty's Day, I had to go to class in the morning so Christina and Sammy went to the Picasso Museum and we met up after that for lunch before my next class. We met up and I took them to lunch by my campus. Lunch was a little rocky for Christina and Sammy. First, the whole menu was in Spanish or Catalan which did not make Christina very happy; Second, Sammy, being the vegetarian she is, decided to order the "hamburguesa de vegetales" thinking it was a veggie burger (turning out to be a real burger with veggies on it); Third, Christina decided to be like Julia the picky eater and get all huffy about not having anything she likes (she ended up with a grilled chicken sandwich). My sandwich was delicious, I guess Spanish food takes some getting used to. Anyways, after that, I went to class and Christina went to the Hospital de Sant Pau right next to my campus which is a hospital built by one of the famous modernist architects Domenech i Montaner. They thought it was a little strange I was sending them to look at a hospital, but it looks nothing like a hospital:
After they walked around the hospital, they went to Las Ramblas to go to the Boqueria, the famous food market in Barcelona.
I met up with the two of them after my class and we went to the Gothic Quarter by the Cathedral to go to the Museu de Historia de la Ciutat which is an underground museum that has all the Roman ruins from the 5th Century. Barcelona has the most ruins underground than any other city! We got to see basically the whole town from the laundry buildings, to the wine cellars, to the fish workshop, but after a while the museum got a little repetitive so we went back to my apartment to get ready for the Saint Patty's Day festivities!
We went to this Irish Pub called George Payne by the main campus of school as well as by my apartment. We were there for a few hours for happy hour and then it became 10:00 PM and we were all starving so we ended our day with a meal at the Hard Rock. When we got back from dinner, Jaime tried to convince us all to go out again, but we were all exhausted so we hung out, watch gossip girl and went to bed.
Wednesday I didn't go to my classes and we went to Montjuic for the day. Montjuic is the hill in Barcelona that has the old military fortress as well as amazing views of both Barcelona as well as the Mediterranean.
We went to the Castle at the top and then took the train down to the bottom of the hill where we saw the Palau Nacional as well at the Font Magica.
We then took another bus to El Estadio Olimpico where the Olympics were held in 1992. From there, we tried to get to Camp Nou (the FC Barcelona Fútbol stadium) for a tour, but we were too late, so we just went back home.
For dinner, we tried to find a Cuban Restaurant I had found in one of my guidebooks, but we couldn't find it and decided to eat at El Japones, a great Japanese restaurant were we drank Green Tea Beer.
Thursday we rented bikes and road them down to the beach! The weather has been gorgeous here so the beach was packed. Our bike ride down was a little scary in that we had to drive on the sidewalk of a main street with all of the pedestrians and cars. We made it down to the beach safe an sound though, which was good. We sat out by Villa Olimpica by all of the nightclubs and by Hotel Arts and had lunch at on of the clubs, Carpe Diem.
After that we drove back to the bike rental place, this time on a less populated street with not many cars or people. After we brought back the bikes we went to Camp Nou for the Stadium Tour! We thought the tour was going to be guided, but it was basically just a path that we had to follow. We got to see a lot of the stadium including: the visitor locker room, the chapel where the players pray before their games, the area where the team and coaches sit on the sidelines, the President and press box, as well as the sponsor seats.
From there, we went back to the apartment and rested for the night because I had friends that had just gotten into town and we were all meeting up! Thursday night we went to dinner at Taller de Tapas and then went to meet everyone at Oveja Negra before going to a club. Oveja Negra was fun and then we went to Opium on the beach where I ran into a lot of my friends from Miami who were visiting Barcelona from other countries for their spring break.
Friday morning, we woke up a little late and got dressed to go to Parc Guell, the last sight they had to see before leaving Barcelona. We got to Parc Guell around 2:30PM and hung out there for a little taking pictures (unfortunately, as most of you know, we lost those pictures when Sammy's camera was stolen from us on Friday night).
From Parc Guell, we went for lunch at Pizza Marzano right on the top of Las Ramblas before heading out shopping. First stop, obviously, was TopShop because Christina had only been talking about it the whole trip. We all managed to find really cute clothes and got them. Sam and Christina did want to find shoes, but we were unsuccessful on that front.
Me, being the dummy I am, bought tickets for the Girl Talk concert thinking it was Friday night when it was really on Saturday night, so our plans got a little shifted on Friday night but we managed to have fun anyway, before the mugging that is.
We started off going to dinner with my friends from Miami: Pia and Chelsea. Then we met up with the other Miami people as well as Erika, my roommate from Miami, and some of her friends from Alicante at Chupitos, the shot bar. The bar was packed, but we managed to find a spot at the bar and have some fun shots! After a little while there, we all went to another bar Dow Jones, which has a drink list that looks like the stock exchange and the price of drinks go up or down depending on how many people order them. That was a pretty fun bar, until it closed for the night around 3:30AM. It's after this that the whole night took a turn for the worst...
We all took a few cabs to Las Ramblas to try and find another bar to go to, but it was full of creepy people and it was getting late and Christina and Sammy wanted to go home to get some sleep before we had to leave for the airport in the morning. So the three of us started to walk home (2 blocks away).
Once we reached Carrer Comtal, we were only about 2 minutes away and these two guys attacked us trying to take our bags. One guy tried to grab my bag, but it was across my body and under my jacket so there was no way he was getting it, so he moved on to Sammy as I fell to the ground. Sammy got scared that he was going to hurt her so she threw her clutch so he wouldn't touch her. That guy grabbed the clutch and ran off. Then I looked up from the ground and saw the other guy grabbing at Christina's bag, which was also across her body like mine was, so I got up and rammed into him pushing him into the wall and hitting his head on the concrete. Once I did that, he ran away because by that time he realized that we were fighting back and that there were two other girls there that would help us.
The two girls behind us said that they thought the guys were our friends and were just joking around; I guess humor is a little different in the US. But anyways, they walked us back to my apartment and we locked the door and watched TV until we had to go to the airport at 7:30AM.
Other than that one minor mishap, I think the girls really enjoyed Barcelona!!
Tuesday, Saint Patty's Day, I had to go to class in the morning so Christina and Sammy went to the Picasso Museum and we met up after that for lunch before my next class. We met up and I took them to lunch by my campus. Lunch was a little rocky for Christina and Sammy. First, the whole menu was in Spanish or Catalan which did not make Christina very happy; Second, Sammy, being the vegetarian she is, decided to order the "hamburguesa de vegetales" thinking it was a veggie burger (turning out to be a real burger with veggies on it); Third, Christina decided to be like Julia the picky eater and get all huffy about not having anything she likes (she ended up with a grilled chicken sandwich). My sandwich was delicious, I guess Spanish food takes some getting used to. Anyways, after that, I went to class and Christina went to the Hospital de Sant Pau right next to my campus which is a hospital built by one of the famous modernist architects Domenech i Montaner. They thought it was a little strange I was sending them to look at a hospital, but it looks nothing like a hospital:
After they walked around the hospital, they went to Las Ramblas to go to the Boqueria, the famous food market in Barcelona.
I met up with the two of them after my class and we went to the Gothic Quarter by the Cathedral to go to the Museu de Historia de la Ciutat which is an underground museum that has all the Roman ruins from the 5th Century. Barcelona has the most ruins underground than any other city! We got to see basically the whole town from the laundry buildings, to the wine cellars, to the fish workshop, but after a while the museum got a little repetitive so we went back to my apartment to get ready for the Saint Patty's Day festivities!
We went to this Irish Pub called George Payne by the main campus of school as well as by my apartment. We were there for a few hours for happy hour and then it became 10:00 PM and we were all starving so we ended our day with a meal at the Hard Rock. When we got back from dinner, Jaime tried to convince us all to go out again, but we were all exhausted so we hung out, watch gossip girl and went to bed.
Wednesday I didn't go to my classes and we went to Montjuic for the day. Montjuic is the hill in Barcelona that has the old military fortress as well as amazing views of both Barcelona as well as the Mediterranean.
We went to the Castle at the top and then took the train down to the bottom of the hill where we saw the Palau Nacional as well at the Font Magica.
We then took another bus to El Estadio Olimpico where the Olympics were held in 1992. From there, we tried to get to Camp Nou (the FC Barcelona Fútbol stadium) for a tour, but we were too late, so we just went back home.
For dinner, we tried to find a Cuban Restaurant I had found in one of my guidebooks, but we couldn't find it and decided to eat at El Japones, a great Japanese restaurant were we drank Green Tea Beer.
Thursday we rented bikes and road them down to the beach! The weather has been gorgeous here so the beach was packed. Our bike ride down was a little scary in that we had to drive on the sidewalk of a main street with all of the pedestrians and cars. We made it down to the beach safe an sound though, which was good. We sat out by Villa Olimpica by all of the nightclubs and by Hotel Arts and had lunch at on of the clubs, Carpe Diem.
After that we drove back to the bike rental place, this time on a less populated street with not many cars or people. After we brought back the bikes we went to Camp Nou for the Stadium Tour! We thought the tour was going to be guided, but it was basically just a path that we had to follow. We got to see a lot of the stadium including: the visitor locker room, the chapel where the players pray before their games, the area where the team and coaches sit on the sidelines, the President and press box, as well as the sponsor seats.
From there, we went back to the apartment and rested for the night because I had friends that had just gotten into town and we were all meeting up! Thursday night we went to dinner at Taller de Tapas and then went to meet everyone at Oveja Negra before going to a club. Oveja Negra was fun and then we went to Opium on the beach where I ran into a lot of my friends from Miami who were visiting Barcelona from other countries for their spring break.
Friday morning, we woke up a little late and got dressed to go to Parc Guell, the last sight they had to see before leaving Barcelona. We got to Parc Guell around 2:30PM and hung out there for a little taking pictures (unfortunately, as most of you know, we lost those pictures when Sammy's camera was stolen from us on Friday night).
From Parc Guell, we went for lunch at Pizza Marzano right on the top of Las Ramblas before heading out shopping. First stop, obviously, was TopShop because Christina had only been talking about it the whole trip. We all managed to find really cute clothes and got them. Sam and Christina did want to find shoes, but we were unsuccessful on that front.
Me, being the dummy I am, bought tickets for the Girl Talk concert thinking it was Friday night when it was really on Saturday night, so our plans got a little shifted on Friday night but we managed to have fun anyway, before the mugging that is.
We started off going to dinner with my friends from Miami: Pia and Chelsea. Then we met up with the other Miami people as well as Erika, my roommate from Miami, and some of her friends from Alicante at Chupitos, the shot bar. The bar was packed, but we managed to find a spot at the bar and have some fun shots! After a little while there, we all went to another bar Dow Jones, which has a drink list that looks like the stock exchange and the price of drinks go up or down depending on how many people order them. That was a pretty fun bar, until it closed for the night around 3:30AM. It's after this that the whole night took a turn for the worst...
We all took a few cabs to Las Ramblas to try and find another bar to go to, but it was full of creepy people and it was getting late and Christina and Sammy wanted to go home to get some sleep before we had to leave for the airport in the morning. So the three of us started to walk home (2 blocks away).
Once we reached Carrer Comtal, we were only about 2 minutes away and these two guys attacked us trying to take our bags. One guy tried to grab my bag, but it was across my body and under my jacket so there was no way he was getting it, so he moved on to Sammy as I fell to the ground. Sammy got scared that he was going to hurt her so she threw her clutch so he wouldn't touch her. That guy grabbed the clutch and ran off. Then I looked up from the ground and saw the other guy grabbing at Christina's bag, which was also across her body like mine was, so I got up and rammed into him pushing him into the wall and hitting his head on the concrete. Once I did that, he ran away because by that time he realized that we were fighting back and that there were two other girls there that would help us.
The two girls behind us said that they thought the guys were our friends and were just joking around; I guess humor is a little different in the US. But anyways, they walked us back to my apartment and we locked the door and watched TV until we had to go to the airport at 7:30AM.
Other than that one minor mishap, I think the girls really enjoyed Barcelona!!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Day 2 (Monday) for Xtina and Sam
Hey guys! It's Christina again. Sorry we didn't post yesterday; Sam was suppose to but she failed to do it. By the end of our first day here we were exhausted so Zan made us soup and pasta, probably one of the best meals we will eat here... NOT. After dinner we all passed out because we were so tired.
The next morning Zan had class at 11 so before she left, she woke Sammy and I up so we could get ready for the day. She left us with directions to get to the Picasso Museum, and a recommendation for breakfast. We got dressed quickly because we knew we had an exciting day ahead of us. We left Zan's apartment to get breakfast, we found the place she recommended but, then we realized we had no euros. You would think there are many places for us to find money, but there aren't. After 15 minutes of looking around, we went to an exchange place, however we didn't have our passports so that was unsuccessful. We then found an atm and after trying to get it to work for 20 minutes we finally got Euros. We found a little cafe across the street and right on the way to the museum. After we ate quickly we went to find the Picasso Museum, however there was a little misunderstanding in the directions, and we walked passed the street where the museum was located. We turned around and finally found the Museum. You think our morning was a mess but when we got the museum we were surprised to find out IT WAS CLOSED. We were late getting their anyway so we just met Zan at a metro stop, we got there a little earlier so sat in the sun!
Next the three of us took a metro to one of Zan's campus and ate lunch at a cafe nearby. The lunch was delish! After lunch Zan pointed us in the direction to a metro that took us to the Segrada Familia while she went to class. This is Antoni Gaudi's, a famous architect in Spain, unfinished legacy church, it is a testament to his singular vision: the art of the impossible. It is a mind-altering creation. We even got to take an elevator up to the top of one of the towers. It was so cool! Although the church is still unfinished the cu
rrent aim is to complete it by 2026.
After the Segrada Familia, Zan met up with us and we were off to see some more of Gaudi's creations. The first was La Pedrera, this is an avant-garde apartment building, known as Casa Mila. There isn't a straight line anywhere in the building. Practical features, such as air vents on the roof, are cleverly turned into surreal sculptures, and the overall effect produces one of the most striking sights in Barcelona. The inside was interesting, but the best part of the building was the roof. Gaudi's work is extremely impressive.
Next we went to the Casa Batllo, Guadi completed a remodeling of the building in the early 1900s. His work is imprinted everywhere throughout Barcelona. This was by far all three of our favorite place so far. Both the outside and the inside was extraordinary.
Next we were all a little hungry so we stopped at this Tapas place on Las Ramblas, which is the city's showcase promenade. It was my first experience with tapas and it was mostly enjoyable. Afterwards we did a little shopping, and then went to the food market. By that time it was 830, so we went to relax back at the apartment. Part of the culture here is you eat later,t the norm is to eat around 930/10 o'clock. Grandma I don't know how your going to make it haha. We all got a little preoccupied with what we were doing, and by the time it was 945 we realized we needed to eat dinner. Zan had been talking about this Italian restaurant that she really wanted to try, Da Greco. We quickly got dressed and headed for the restaurant. We got there and were seated quickly. The menu looked amazing; I ordered an avocado, mozzarella, and tomato salad and parmesan risotto, Zan had an arugola pear and parmesan salad and gnocchi with tomato sauce and parmesan, and Sam had the arugola salad as well and a piece of fish. What was special about this restaurant was that for every pasta dish someone order, an extra plate of it would come to the table as a tasting dish for the others who didnt order it. The pastas were amazing! Zan said she definitely is planning on taking The parents, Juko, Mads, Gpa, and Gma there when they visit.
Next we went to this bar called the Black Sheep, it was a quiet night to go there so we hung out for a while. But we knew we had another full day ahead of us tomorrow so we went back to the apartment and went to bed.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Sam and Christina's First Day!
Since Zanny isn't on top of her posting Sam and I decided that for the time we are here, we would fill you all in on our adventures in Barcelona! We arrived in barca at 820, Zanny met us at the airport. We then caught a train back to the area where her apartment is. As Zan mentioned earlier we were shocked with 4 flights of steps, that consisted of 200 steps. We had to carry our huge luggage up the steps, it was rough. Her apartment here is nothing like her brand new one in Miami, but it isn't that bad. We haven't met her roommates yet, so i will fill you in on them later. After we got settled into her apartment we went to go find somewhere to eat breakfast. Since Sunday is the day of rest not a lot was open. We walked down La Rambla, where we saw many human statues. We found a quaint little cafe to eat. While walking to get breakfast Zan realized she locked her keys in her apartment, something Sam or I would do, and her roommates weren't going to be back until 11 tonight. But don't worry CEA came to the rescue and after breakfast we had to meet the women back at Zan's apt to let us in. Next on our journey we walked through El born, as described earlier, we passed the palau de la musica de catalonia, we will take a tour of the inside later this week. But the outside is beautiful with pastel tiles.
Next we went to the Santa Maria del Mar Church. The inside had beautiful stain glass windows, we even got to witness a mass going on. Sam really wanted to stay for the entire three hour service, however it is was in Spanish, we couldn't understand it, and we knew we had a lot more we wanted to get in today.
After the church we decided to visit the Museu de la Xocolata. This musuem had extraordinary sculptures made out of chocolate, yes you heard me right CHOCOLATE.
After the Museu de la Xocolata we walked to Parc de la Ciutadella, this park is cherished as one of the few truly green spaces in the city.It is a green haven criss-crossed with shady pathways, where picnicking families, bongo-players, lovers and elderly locals come to soak up the sun and enjoy the peace. Since it is so nice out we planned to return later in the week to get some color. We walked through out the park taking some pictures along the way! We figured we could photoshop juko and mads in for our christmas card next year!
After walking around the park we crossed the street to Arc de Triomf, at that point we were getting a little tired so we sat on the grass for a little.
We decided it would be best to head back and rest up for the rest of our busy week. We are now just chilling in Zan's apt. I think someone punched Sammy continuously in the legs! Haha, just a funny joke we tell each other. I will post more later. Love you all!
Next we went to the Santa Maria del Mar Church. The inside had beautiful stain glass windows, we even got to witness a mass going on. Sam really wanted to stay for the entire three hour service, however it is was in Spanish, we couldn't understand it, and we knew we had a lot more we wanted to get in today.
After the church we decided to visit the Museu de la Xocolata. This musuem had extraordinary sculptures made out of chocolate, yes you heard me right CHOCOLATE.
After the Museu de la Xocolata we walked to Parc de la Ciutadella, this park is cherished as one of the few truly green spaces in the city.It is a green haven criss-crossed with shady pathways, where picnicking families, bongo-players, lovers and elderly locals come to soak up the sun and enjoy the peace. Since it is so nice out we planned to return later in the week to get some color. We walked through out the park taking some pictures along the way! We figured we could photoshop juko and mads in for our christmas card next year!
After walking around the park we crossed the street to Arc de Triomf, at that point we were getting a little tired so we sat on the grass for a little.
We decided it would be best to head back and rest up for the rest of our busy week. We are now just chilling in Zan's apt. I think someone punched Sammy continuously in the legs! Haha, just a funny joke we tell each other. I will post more later. Love you all!visitors
On Thursday Trish and her brother Al came to visit for two days. They were only here from Thursday night to Saturday morning so we didn't have much time, but we did manage to fit A LOT of sights in.
Friday morning, we started off by walking down La Rambla and into the Boqueria; we got there early so everything was really fresh. After that we walked through Placa St. Jaume where the Catalan Government and City Hall are and went into El Born area. We went to Santa Maria del Mar Church which was built during the Middle Ages when El Born neighborhood was the economical center of the city. The church was gorgeous, it was huge inside covered with stained glass windows. After that we walked down to the port passing by La Llotja (stock exchange) on the way. It was my first time down to the port since I've been here and it's a great area. This weekend it got to be about 65 degrees so it was a beautiful day, the beach was full of people. We ate lunch at a restaurant right on the beach and got Fisherman's Paella; it was really good, just a little messy because we had to de-shell all of the prawns. That whole area was called Barceloneta and it's right at the end of the city by the port and the beach.
After lunch we walked back to La Barceloneta metro station and took it to Passeig de Gracia (the main high end shopping street in Barcelona where all the rich people used to live during the Industrial Revolution). From there we saw Casa Batlló which is one of Gaudís houses he built. The building was amazing, it looked like it was out of a fairy tale. We didn't go on the tour inside but I'm going to go with Christina and Sam this week so we'll add pictures then.
From there, we walked up the street to La Pedrera, another of Gaudís apartment buildings that looks like a sea cliff right in the middle of the street. We did go inside here and got to go to the roof which offered amazing views of the city as well as an interesting rooftop layout.
From La Pedrera we took the metro to La Sagrada Familia to see Gaudís famous church. We didn't go inside as it costs 9 euros and does not have much inside, the real sight is all the symbolism of the two facades on the outside. There is so much symbolism on the outside that it could take hours to get everything in.
After La Sagrada Familia we walked back into El Born to see El Palau de la Musica de Catalonia, the huge music hall built by Domenech Montaner covered with tiles and columns. Christina, Sam, and I will also be going on a tour of the inside of that sometime this week. After that we went to the Picasso Museum and then finished our day by going home, showering, eating at 4 Gats again, and then going to Bar Marsella; an absinthe bar where Ernest Hemingway used to hang out at.
Trish and Al left on Saturday morning at noon and I rested up for the arrival of Christina and Sammy on Sunday.
They got in at 8:00AM and I met them at the airport. We all took the train back to Barcelona and then a cab from the station as they had two huge luggages each plus carry ons. To their surprise, we had to carry everything up my 4 flights of stairs. We went a little sightseeing today but I am going to let Christina and Sammy write the next few blogs about everything they saw!
Friday morning, we started off by walking down La Rambla and into the Boqueria; we got there early so everything was really fresh. After that we walked through Placa St. Jaume where the Catalan Government and City Hall are and went into El Born area. We went to Santa Maria del Mar Church which was built during the Middle Ages when El Born neighborhood was the economical center of the city. The church was gorgeous, it was huge inside covered with stained glass windows. After that we walked down to the port passing by La Llotja (stock exchange) on the way. It was my first time down to the port since I've been here and it's a great area. This weekend it got to be about 65 degrees so it was a beautiful day, the beach was full of people. We ate lunch at a restaurant right on the beach and got Fisherman's Paella; it was really good, just a little messy because we had to de-shell all of the prawns. That whole area was called Barceloneta and it's right at the end of the city by the port and the beach.
After lunch we walked back to La Barceloneta metro station and took it to Passeig de Gracia (the main high end shopping street in Barcelona where all the rich people used to live during the Industrial Revolution). From there we saw Casa Batlló which is one of Gaudís houses he built. The building was amazing, it looked like it was out of a fairy tale. We didn't go on the tour inside but I'm going to go with Christina and Sam this week so we'll add pictures then.
From there, we walked up the street to La Pedrera, another of Gaudís apartment buildings that looks like a sea cliff right in the middle of the street. We did go inside here and got to go to the roof which offered amazing views of the city as well as an interesting rooftop layout.
From La Pedrera we took the metro to La Sagrada Familia to see Gaudís famous church. We didn't go inside as it costs 9 euros and does not have much inside, the real sight is all the symbolism of the two facades on the outside. There is so much symbolism on the outside that it could take hours to get everything in.
After La Sagrada Familia we walked back into El Born to see El Palau de la Musica de Catalonia, the huge music hall built by Domenech Montaner covered with tiles and columns. Christina, Sam, and I will also be going on a tour of the inside of that sometime this week. After that we went to the Picasso Museum and then finished our day by going home, showering, eating at 4 Gats again, and then going to Bar Marsella; an absinthe bar where Ernest Hemingway used to hang out at.
Trish and Al left on Saturday morning at noon and I rested up for the arrival of Christina and Sammy on Sunday.
They got in at 8:00AM and I met them at the airport. We all took the train back to Barcelona and then a cab from the station as they had two huge luggages each plus carry ons. To their surprise, we had to carry everything up my 4 flights of stairs. We went a little sightseeing today but I am going to let Christina and Sammy write the next few blogs about everything they saw!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
london!!!!!
This past weekend I met up with Trish and Erika again but this time in London!!! This is probably the trip I was looking forward to the whole semester. As you know, I'm obsessed with London, I wish I did a summer program studying abroad there after my freshman or sophomore year because it's such a great city and I love everything about it.
I arrived on Thursday night because I was supposed to meet other friends there, but they didn't end up booking a ticket. Luckily, I know the city very well so I was able to walk around a little where I lived when I was interning at the Westbury Hotel in high school. Thursday night I stayed in a hotel near Russell Square (where I lived when I was there) and I had a low key night, I was exhausted from the week so I went to sleep pretty early, but that was ok because I had to wake up the next morning to check out and then transfer to the other hotel to meet Erika and Trish and Trish's friend, Margaret.
Our hotel was called Hyde Park Suite Apartments and it was right across the street from Hyde Park and a block away from two tube stations that were on the most popular tube lines. Each day we just bought an unlimited day pass so that we could just go on the tube as many times as we wanted to see as much as we could.
Friday we went to the Westminster area and saw the London Eye, the Millenium Bridge, Big Ben, Parlaiment, and Westminster Abbey. We were soooo lucky with weather, it was sunny all day, even if it was colder than Barca, at least there was no rain.
Friday night we went to the Fall Out Boy concert because Trish and Margaret had a friend in the opening band that invited them. Luckily for Daddy, I got amazing seats and surprisingly had a great time! I forgot how much I liked Fall Out Boy's old music which was a lot of what they played. After the concert, we went back to around our hotel and Trish and I had Indian food for dinner which was amazing. After, we just went back to the hotel since it got late and we had a busy day planned for Saturday.
Saturday morning we woke up and went to Porotbello Road, a huge outdoor antique market that is only opened on Saturdays. It's a great place to find antique anything as well as jewelry; I got another horn necklace because I lost mine in Geneva.
After Portobello Road, we went to Kings Cross Station to see Platform 9 and 3/4's from Harry Potter!
After taking a million pictures at Platform 9 and 3/4's, we went to Leicester Square to buy tickets for a show that night. We should have planned it out better because a lot of shows were sold out by the time we got there, but we were able to buy tickets for We Will Rock You for later on that night.
After Leiscester Square we walked over to Picadilly Circus to take the tube from there to Baker Street to go to Madame Tussaud's. Obviously Madame Tussaud's is a huge tourist sight so we had to wait in a half hour line, but it was fun to take pictures with all the wax celebrities!
Saturday night we went to see We Will Rock You by Tottenham Court Road Station which is a play of all Queen music. I had seen it when I was in London during high school, but it was great to see again, I love all of Queen's music and it's such a fun show to go to, not to mention the amazing voices all of the actors have!
We went back to Leicester Square after the show to Chinatown and had some Chinese food for dinner. We went to ZooBar after that, but Trish and I left early from there because we don't like clubs and because we had early flights this morning. Since the tubes were closed because it was after midnight and because we didn't have any money, we decided to walk to get a little closer to the hotel and then take a cab from there. We walked from Leicester Square passed Picadilly Circus, up Regent Street to Oxford Circus and then we walked across Oxford Street passed Bond Street and Marble Arch which was the beginning of Hyde Park, but at that time, it started to rain and we were not close so we took a cab the rest of the way. We got back, packed up, and went to bed.
Luckily this morning my flight was at 11:25AM and Heathrow was only 15 minutes to where my hotel was so I was able to sleep later and leave later as well. I got home at around 4:00PM Barcelona time because Barcelona is an hour ahead of London. Since then, I've just been relaxing before school tomorrow, thankfully I won't have too much work for the next few weeks, just in time to welcome Christababa and Simone!!
I arrived on Thursday night because I was supposed to meet other friends there, but they didn't end up booking a ticket. Luckily, I know the city very well so I was able to walk around a little where I lived when I was interning at the Westbury Hotel in high school. Thursday night I stayed in a hotel near Russell Square (where I lived when I was there) and I had a low key night, I was exhausted from the week so I went to sleep pretty early, but that was ok because I had to wake up the next morning to check out and then transfer to the other hotel to meet Erika and Trish and Trish's friend, Margaret.
Our hotel was called Hyde Park Suite Apartments and it was right across the street from Hyde Park and a block away from two tube stations that were on the most popular tube lines. Each day we just bought an unlimited day pass so that we could just go on the tube as many times as we wanted to see as much as we could.
Friday we went to the Westminster area and saw the London Eye, the Millenium Bridge, Big Ben, Parlaiment, and Westminster Abbey. We were soooo lucky with weather, it was sunny all day, even if it was colder than Barca, at least there was no rain.
Friday night we went to the Fall Out Boy concert because Trish and Margaret had a friend in the opening band that invited them. Luckily for Daddy, I got amazing seats and surprisingly had a great time! I forgot how much I liked Fall Out Boy's old music which was a lot of what they played. After the concert, we went back to around our hotel and Trish and I had Indian food for dinner which was amazing. After, we just went back to the hotel since it got late and we had a busy day planned for Saturday.
Saturday morning we woke up and went to Porotbello Road, a huge outdoor antique market that is only opened on Saturdays. It's a great place to find antique anything as well as jewelry; I got another horn necklace because I lost mine in Geneva.
After Portobello Road, we went to Kings Cross Station to see Platform 9 and 3/4's from Harry Potter!
After taking a million pictures at Platform 9 and 3/4's, we went to Leicester Square to buy tickets for a show that night. We should have planned it out better because a lot of shows were sold out by the time we got there, but we were able to buy tickets for We Will Rock You for later on that night.
After Leiscester Square we walked over to Picadilly Circus to take the tube from there to Baker Street to go to Madame Tussaud's. Obviously Madame Tussaud's is a huge tourist sight so we had to wait in a half hour line, but it was fun to take pictures with all the wax celebrities!
Saturday night we went to see We Will Rock You by Tottenham Court Road Station which is a play of all Queen music. I had seen it when I was in London during high school, but it was great to see again, I love all of Queen's music and it's such a fun show to go to, not to mention the amazing voices all of the actors have!
We went back to Leicester Square after the show to Chinatown and had some Chinese food for dinner. We went to ZooBar after that, but Trish and I left early from there because we don't like clubs and because we had early flights this morning. Since the tubes were closed because it was after midnight and because we didn't have any money, we decided to walk to get a little closer to the hotel and then take a cab from there. We walked from Leicester Square passed Picadilly Circus, up Regent Street to Oxford Circus and then we walked across Oxford Street passed Bond Street and Marble Arch which was the beginning of Hyde Park, but at that time, it started to rain and we were not close so we took a cab the rest of the way. We got back, packed up, and went to bed.
Luckily this morning my flight was at 11:25AM and Heathrow was only 15 minutes to where my hotel was so I was able to sleep later and leave later as well. I got home at around 4:00PM Barcelona time because Barcelona is an hour ahead of London. Since then, I've just been relaxing before school tomorrow, thankfully I won't have too much work for the next few weeks, just in time to welcome Christababa and Simone!!
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