I got home from the airport around 6:00PM and at 7:30PM we went to la Catedral de Barcelona for the celebration of Santa Eulália. Santa Eulália was a woman who rebelled against injustice at a time when the Roman Empire was persecuting Christians. She never gave up her fight and she was killed by being put inside a barrel pierced with nailes and rolled down a hill.
Santa Eulalia is now interred in the Crypt of la Catedral and she is celebrated every year with a big celebration in the Placa Nova right outside the Catedral.
We walked over to Placa Nova and there was a huge parade of people with sparklers dancing around the streets. It was quite a thing to see, there were hundreds of people: old and young, celebrating around the Catedral. I will also add pictures of this tomorrow when I get them onto my computer! I will write back later on this week.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
firenze: saturday and sunday
Saturday was our wine tasting day in Tuscany! We left Florence on a tour bus at 2:00PM and went into Tuscany. Our wine tasting was at a castle with a lot of history. The castle used to be the home of the Pacci family. The Pacci family was the second most powerful family after the Medici's.
The Pacci's attempted to conquer the land from the Medici's by killing the two Medici brothers when they were at church in the Duomo on a Sunday. The attack only killed one of the brothers and Lorenzo escaped. Lorenzo then took revenge on the Pacci's by killing anyone who supported them as well as the family themselves.
We were able to be in the room where the Pacci family plotted the attack on the Medici's, which was also the room where Lorenzo came to after he killed all the Pacci's to destroy the Pacci coat of arms that was above the fire place. The room also contained one of Raphael's original works; La Belle Jardiniere (The Beautiful Gardner). It was really interesting to see all the history in that one room.
Under the castle were the barrels full of wine. We went to the Chianti region so all the barrels contained Red Chianti wine. Also downstairs were the old terracota pots that used to hold all the Olive Oil. We were able to learn a lot about Chianti wine as well as Olive Oil and why Extra Virgen Olive Oil is the only kind that should be purchased by anyone.
After our tour, we got to try one white Chardonnay wine that the family makes and two of their Chianti's. We were also given a sample of the olive oil and other small snacks. After that we went into the shop where I bought some Olive Oil and we all shared a 10 Liter box of the Red Wine to drink.
Saturday night, Valentine's Day, four of us went to a restaurant Tres Panchi which is a tiny little restaurant that is not well known to tourists. At dinner, we decided to continue on with the Chianti taste so we got a bottle of Chianti Reserva (Reserva meaning that the wine was aged in the barrels and in the bottle). We then each got a salad to start, I got and arugula, parmaggiano reggiano cheese, fresh mozzarella, and avocado salad. After that we all shared three dishes. The first was Truffle Risotto; me being a huge Risotto fan, LOVED this dish. Then we got a chicken breast in Lemon Sauce which was also delicious and the third was Ravioli was Gorgonzola and Arugula sauce. Each dish was amazing. For dessert we shared Cheesecake and Chocolate Cake as well as some Limoncello and Cappucinos. We all were stuffed after that meal, luckily the Limoncello helped us feel a little bit digested.
Saturday night we hung out with a group of boys who also go to NYU and then we all went to a bar and then to a club called Space. The club was huge with three floors and we had a lot of fun! The only bad thing was the walking home at the end of the night because we were so far from the apartment.
This morning I woke up around 11:20AM and packed and caught the 12:27PM train back to Pisa for my flight home. The flight back to Barcelona was on time and everything went very smoothly. Now I'm back in my apartment resting from the weekend and getting ready for school tomorrow. I will add pictures tomorrow of everything from Florence!
The Pacci's attempted to conquer the land from the Medici's by killing the two Medici brothers when they were at church in the Duomo on a Sunday. The attack only killed one of the brothers and Lorenzo escaped. Lorenzo then took revenge on the Pacci's by killing anyone who supported them as well as the family themselves.
We were able to be in the room where the Pacci family plotted the attack on the Medici's, which was also the room where Lorenzo came to after he killed all the Pacci's to destroy the Pacci coat of arms that was above the fire place. The room also contained one of Raphael's original works; La Belle Jardiniere (The Beautiful Gardner). It was really interesting to see all the history in that one room.
Under the castle were the barrels full of wine. We went to the Chianti region so all the barrels contained Red Chianti wine. Also downstairs were the old terracota pots that used to hold all the Olive Oil. We were able to learn a lot about Chianti wine as well as Olive Oil and why Extra Virgen Olive Oil is the only kind that should be purchased by anyone.
After our tour, we got to try one white Chardonnay wine that the family makes and two of their Chianti's. We were also given a sample of the olive oil and other small snacks. After that we went into the shop where I bought some Olive Oil and we all shared a 10 Liter box of the Red Wine to drink.
Saturday night, Valentine's Day, four of us went to a restaurant Tres Panchi which is a tiny little restaurant that is not well known to tourists. At dinner, we decided to continue on with the Chianti taste so we got a bottle of Chianti Reserva (Reserva meaning that the wine was aged in the barrels and in the bottle). We then each got a salad to start, I got and arugula, parmaggiano reggiano cheese, fresh mozzarella, and avocado salad. After that we all shared three dishes. The first was Truffle Risotto; me being a huge Risotto fan, LOVED this dish. Then we got a chicken breast in Lemon Sauce which was also delicious and the third was Ravioli was Gorgonzola and Arugula sauce. Each dish was amazing. For dessert we shared Cheesecake and Chocolate Cake as well as some Limoncello and Cappucinos. We all were stuffed after that meal, luckily the Limoncello helped us feel a little bit digested.
Saturday night we hung out with a group of boys who also go to NYU and then we all went to a bar and then to a club called Space. The club was huge with three floors and we had a lot of fun! The only bad thing was the walking home at the end of the night because we were so far from the apartment.
This morning I woke up around 11:20AM and packed and caught the 12:27PM train back to Pisa for my flight home. The flight back to Barcelona was on time and everything went very smoothly. Now I'm back in my apartment resting from the weekend and getting ready for school tomorrow. I will add pictures tomorrow of everything from Florence!
firenze: thursday and friday
This weekend I went to visit Sarah in Florence. I left Thursday afternoon and got home today. The trip was amazing, even though I've already been to Florence twice, it was great to be there again!
Thursday started off a little rocky when my flight was delayed two hours and I was stuck in the tiny Girona airport right outside of Barcelona with nothing to do. Then once I got to Pisa, the bus I was supposed to take to Florence had technical difficulties so I had to take the train. Eventually I got to Florence Santa Maria Novella train station at around 10:30PM and met up with Sarah.
We walked back to her apartment which is a side street right off Santa Maria del Fiore which is where the Duomo is. Her apartment had 10 girls in it with three bedrooms (two with 4 people each and one with 2 people) each room also has their own bathroom, so it was a nice apartment.
That night we all went out to a club called Twice. It was fun, the crowd was a lot of American students so it wasn't very cultural, but it was a fun night. That night I shared Sarah's tiny twin bed with her, we slept head to feet it was a little squished, but it worked out fine.
Friday we woke up around noon and had a few things planned for the day. We started by going to lunch at an AMAZING restaurant by San Lorenzo Market called Trattoria Mario. This tiny local restaurant is only open for lunch each day and is a local restaurant that is packed everyday. We went with two of Sarah's roommates and only had to wait 30 minutes, which was a small price to pay, believe me. Inside, we ordered Shrimp Pasta for us all to share. This was my favorite thing, the pasta tasted like they made it from scratch when we ordered it and the tiny shrimp were cooked in a garlic and oil sauce. After that, we got bread and white bean soup which was also amazing. Then, we ordered Sea Bass as our main meal. The menu at the restaurant is handwritten daily on a piece of paper and hung up by the kitchen and the waiters cross off dishes as they run out. Friday is fish day so we got to order the Sea Bass which was also amazing. If I'm ever back in Florence, I will eat there for lunch each day!
After lunch, Sarah and I walked over the Ponte Vecchio and up the Arno River towards the Hotel Lucchesi (the hotel we stayed in both times we were in Florence). It brought back great memories of our trips to Italy. We then went to the Duomo to climb to the top. When I was there before, I had climbed up the Campanile (Bell Tower), but this time, we climbed up the Duomo itself which is higher than the Bell Tower. We climbed up the 463 steps to the top of the duomo and got to see all the amazing views of Florence. The view was well worth the 463 steps.
Friday night a group of us went out to dinner at Acqua al 2 which is a famous restaurant in Florence. This restaurant is a little touristy, so there were a lot of American's but the food was great. Sarah and I shared the Pasta Sampler where they brought out 5 different pastas to try as an appetizer. Then for our main course we got the Steak Balsamico which was also delicious. Our dessert was also a sampler with Cheesecake, Chocolate Cake, Tiramisu, and Apple Pie. After dinner we went to a lounge and hung out there. We went to another lounge after that, and then we went back to go to bed. One of Sarah's roommates was away for the weekend so we were able to take her mattress into Sarah's room so that we could each have our own beds.
Monday, February 9, 2009
fc barcelona match
Saturday was a lazy day where I only left the apartment twice and stayed in bed watching tv the rest of the time.
Sunday, on the other hand, was a very eventful day. I woke up at 12:00PM and worked on one of the two presentations I had to complete for Monday. I had to make a presentation in both of my classes today (Monday). One in Cross-Cultural Management on the differences of family life in Spain and America, and in my Barcelona City History Class I had to present the neighborhood in which I live. So Sunday afternoon from 12:30-3:00 I did my neighborhood presentation and then I had to stop because we had to go to the FC Barcelona Football match.
We left our apartment to go hang out at our friends' apartment before the game. We had to pick up our tickets at 6:00PM so we left the apartment at 5:40 to make sure we would have enough time, but we didn't account for the massive problem we were about to face.
At our friends' apartment, there is a tiny elevator, not meant for more than 300Kilos (660 pounds), well we decided that it would be a good idea to fit seven people (three guys and four girls) in the tiny elevator. Obviously the weight was too much and the door wouldn't open on the main floor and instead fell down the the basement floor. Luckily the elevator was old fashioned and there was a little window so we could see out the door, because I think I would have passed out from claustrophobia.
Only one person had cell phone service and we tried calling the elevator company and the CEA emergency line but no one was helping. At this point, I was getting nervous, so I took the phone and called the fire department (in Spanish of course, which was a little difficult) and eventually they had to come and help us get out. They basically had to lift the elevator so that we could get out (total time = about 30 minutes inside). When we got out, the whole apartment building was waiting for us because they heard the alarm we were pressing in the elvator. Of course, only us dumb Americans thought it was funny and a lot of the residents were not happy. Luckily, we didn't live there so we're not going to get into any trouble.
After we left the apartment, we all jumped in cabs and rushed to the meeting spot to get our tickets and then we all rushed to Camp Nou to make it to the game.
The game was a lot of fun! It was freezing outside, but we had front row seats which was good and bad. Good because we were so close to everything, but bad because we couldn't see a lot of what was going on when the ball wasn't in our area.
FC Barca beat Sporting 3-1 so the game ended up being worth it and a lot of fun!
Once we got home, we ate dinner at a tapas place right below our apartment and then I had to do my other presentation for the next morning.
Today both of my presentations went well, both teachers were impressed and pleased which is good. Tomorrow I have a Spanish quiz which shouldn't be too bad and hopefully I'll be done with work for the week. Thursday I'm off to visit Sarah in Florence!! I'll update you all before I leave!!
Sunday, on the other hand, was a very eventful day. I woke up at 12:00PM and worked on one of the two presentations I had to complete for Monday. I had to make a presentation in both of my classes today (Monday). One in Cross-Cultural Management on the differences of family life in Spain and America, and in my Barcelona City History Class I had to present the neighborhood in which I live. So Sunday afternoon from 12:30-3:00 I did my neighborhood presentation and then I had to stop because we had to go to the FC Barcelona Football match.
We left our apartment to go hang out at our friends' apartment before the game. We had to pick up our tickets at 6:00PM so we left the apartment at 5:40 to make sure we would have enough time, but we didn't account for the massive problem we were about to face.
At our friends' apartment, there is a tiny elevator, not meant for more than 300Kilos (660 pounds), well we decided that it would be a good idea to fit seven people (three guys and four girls) in the tiny elevator. Obviously the weight was too much and the door wouldn't open on the main floor and instead fell down the the basement floor. Luckily the elevator was old fashioned and there was a little window so we could see out the door, because I think I would have passed out from claustrophobia.
Only one person had cell phone service and we tried calling the elevator company and the CEA emergency line but no one was helping. At this point, I was getting nervous, so I took the phone and called the fire department (in Spanish of course, which was a little difficult) and eventually they had to come and help us get out. They basically had to lift the elevator so that we could get out (total time = about 30 minutes inside). When we got out, the whole apartment building was waiting for us because they heard the alarm we were pressing in the elvator. Of course, only us dumb Americans thought it was funny and a lot of the residents were not happy. Luckily, we didn't live there so we're not going to get into any trouble.
After we left the apartment, we all jumped in cabs and rushed to the meeting spot to get our tickets and then we all rushed to Camp Nou to make it to the game.
The game was a lot of fun! It was freezing outside, but we had front row seats which was good and bad. Good because we were so close to everything, but bad because we couldn't see a lot of what was going on when the ball wasn't in our area.
FC Barca beat Sporting 3-1 so the game ended up being worth it and a lot of fun!
Once we got home, we ate dinner at a tapas place right below our apartment and then I had to do my other presentation for the next morning.
Today both of my presentations went well, both teachers were impressed and pleased which is good. Tomorrow I have a Spanish quiz which shouldn't be too bad and hopefully I'll be done with work for the week. Thursday I'm off to visit Sarah in Florence!! I'll update you all before I leave!!
Friday, February 6, 2009
torres winery, "calcotada" lunch, and sitges
Today we had our make-up day-trip that was canceled two weeks ago because of the wind. We all met at the buses at 10:30 AM and headed an hour away to the Torres family winery. I thought we were going to be having a wine tasting and see how the wine was made; however, we only got to watch movies about how the wine is made and we only got to try one glass of white wine. It was interesting to see the vineyard though and I walked away buying some wine of my own that I'll be able to try.
After the winery we went to a restaurant to have a "calcotada" lunch. Calcot is the name given to a local variety of spring onion which is cultivated in the Tarragona region of Spain. There is a whole multi-seasonal process that people go through in order to grow the onions. Once the calcots are picked, they are cooked over an open flame that causes the outer layer chars and then, in order to eat them, the outer layer is peeled off leaving the inside that is then dipped into a spicy sauce. Because the onions are picked from the ground between November to April, the calcots represent the coming of Spring and they're really good.
Along with the calcots, we were given toasted bread, tomatoes, garlic, and alioli (garlic and oil sauce). We took the toasted bread, rubbed the garlic on it, rubbed the tomatoe on top of that, and put the alioli on top and it tasted just like a cross between bruschetta and garlic bread. This is a popular starter dish in a lot of restaurants here, it's called "pan con tomate" in spanish and "pam a tomaquet".
We were then served artichokes that were also cooked over an open flame and we ate the hearts. After that, salad was served. Then they brought out roasted red peppers and sausage along with french fries and white beans. The meal ended with a glass of cava and some ice cream. The meal was huge, which is pretty traditional for lunch in Spain; usually lunch consists of a multi-course meal and dinner is very light (like tapas).
After lunch, we drove an hour to the beach town of Sitges which is 35 minutes away from Barcelona by train. The town was soooo cute, it reminded me of Ocean Drive on South Beach but with much less people and much less going on. There were a lot of beaches that I will definitely be heading to once the weather warms up a little. Supposedly they have an amazing Carnival celebration there so I'm also going to try and visit that depending on my travels.
Speaking of travelling, I've already booked London and Geneva!! I think I'm going to go visit Sarah Walker in Florence this coming weekend, the weekend after that is Geneva, then I think I might stay in Barcelona because people are coming to visit from Monaco. London is the first week in March. Christina and Sammy come on the 15th so I might book a mini trip from the 12th-14th to meet up with Sarah again. I'm thinking of either Paris or Milan for the weekend of my birthday and I still have to fit in Amsterdam. Hopefully I'll be able to fit everything in, I'll keep you all posted.
Tonight I think we are going to meet up with girls from our day trip and go out all together, and tomorrow I really want to get to Gaudí's La Pedrera and Casa Battló but it's supposed to rain. I also have to get all of my homework in because we have our FC Barcelona football match on Sunday at 6:15PM which should be A LOT of fun! I'll write back Monday letting you all know how the rest of my weekend went.
After the winery we went to a restaurant to have a "calcotada" lunch. Calcot is the name given to a local variety of spring onion which is cultivated in the Tarragona region of Spain. There is a whole multi-seasonal process that people go through in order to grow the onions. Once the calcots are picked, they are cooked over an open flame that causes the outer layer chars and then, in order to eat them, the outer layer is peeled off leaving the inside that is then dipped into a spicy sauce. Because the onions are picked from the ground between November to April, the calcots represent the coming of Spring and they're really good.
Along with the calcots, we were given toasted bread, tomatoes, garlic, and alioli (garlic and oil sauce). We took the toasted bread, rubbed the garlic on it, rubbed the tomatoe on top of that, and put the alioli on top and it tasted just like a cross between bruschetta and garlic bread. This is a popular starter dish in a lot of restaurants here, it's called "pan con tomate" in spanish and "pam a tomaquet".
We were then served artichokes that were also cooked over an open flame and we ate the hearts. After that, salad was served. Then they brought out roasted red peppers and sausage along with french fries and white beans. The meal ended with a glass of cava and some ice cream. The meal was huge, which is pretty traditional for lunch in Spain; usually lunch consists of a multi-course meal and dinner is very light (like tapas).
After lunch, we drove an hour to the beach town of Sitges which is 35 minutes away from Barcelona by train. The town was soooo cute, it reminded me of Ocean Drive on South Beach but with much less people and much less going on. There were a lot of beaches that I will definitely be heading to once the weather warms up a little. Supposedly they have an amazing Carnival celebration there so I'm also going to try and visit that depending on my travels.
Speaking of travelling, I've already booked London and Geneva!! I think I'm going to go visit Sarah Walker in Florence this coming weekend, the weekend after that is Geneva, then I think I might stay in Barcelona because people are coming to visit from Monaco. London is the first week in March. Christina and Sammy come on the 15th so I might book a mini trip from the 12th-14th to meet up with Sarah again. I'm thinking of either Paris or Milan for the weekend of my birthday and I still have to fit in Amsterdam. Hopefully I'll be able to fit everything in, I'll keep you all posted.
Tonight I think we are going to meet up with girls from our day trip and go out all together, and tomorrow I really want to get to Gaudí's La Pedrera and Casa Battló but it's supposed to rain. I also have to get all of my homework in because we have our FC Barcelona football match on Sunday at 6:15PM which should be A LOT of fun! I'll write back Monday letting you all know how the rest of my weekend went.
Monday, February 2, 2009
barcino, born, museu picasso, superbowl
In my history class, Barcelona City: Past and Present, we have three different field studies where we go to different neighborhoods and areas throughout Barcelona and our professor conducts class on the site. On Wednesday, we went to Barcino, which is part of the Gothic Quarter and is composed of all the Roman Ruins that remain in Barcelona. Right outside of the walls is La Catedral de Barcelona (unfortunately the exterior is under construction). We didn't get a chance to go inside, but I will be making a trip back sometime this semester so I can go in. The area within the Roman Walls is very interesting and it's fascinating to see walls that were built by the Romans when the Roman Empire had control over the Iberian Peninsula in the 1st Century B.C. Even though we were able to see some of the Roman walls, the majority of the ruins are actually beneath ground and can be accessed by the Museu d'História de la Ciutat de Barcelona.
Also, in the main square in Barcino is La Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalunyan Government) as well as the Placa de la Constitución. This main square within the Roman walls is known as the forum and it has the main religious, political, and economic buildings in it. It is also the site where the two most important streets in any Roman city cross.
I'll definitely be heading back sometime soon when I'm not on such a time constraint so that I can go into the Museu and see the ruins that are underground.
This weekend was very quiet. My roommates went to Amsterdam and since I'm going a different weekend with a different group of friends, I stayed in Barcelona.
Friday was the first crappy day since I've been here; it was rainy and cold. Of course that didn't stop me from going out exploring and shopping. I went to the Born neighborhood which is in La Ribera. This area is right across the street from Barcino and ends at El Parc de la Ciutadella and it's very close to my apartment. It's a very popular area with a lot of small streets and a lot of restaurants and tapas bars. Also, in this area are: Museu Picasso and Museu de la Xocolata (Chocolate). The Picasso Museum is open all the time; however, the first Sunday of every month is free entry to the public, so that is where I went on yesterday.
I got to the museum around 3:00PM and there was a little bit of a line to get in, but nothing too bad. So with my free entry I was able to see every room in the museum. Picasso was born in Málaga and moved to Barcelona when he was young, this museum here in Barcelona captures Picassos learning period and his early year of art. In the first room I had a hard time enjoying his still lifes because he is so abstract; however, each room told a little biography on him and through the paintings in each room, I was able to appreciate it more. I found his later work during his learning years to be much more interesting, especially his meditation on Velázquez's most famous work, Las Meninas. This meditation is composed of 44 paintings where Picasso took aspects from each person in Las Meninas and adapted his own form of each.
Last night was, of course, the Superbowl. Yes, it'e very big here as well, and we all went to the Hard Rock to watch the game. Of course the game didn't start until midnight, but it was still a great time because of all the people who were there to watch the game. Unfortunately I didn't make it through the whole game, especially since they weren't showing ANY commercials :( so I went home and now I've been looking up the commercials on YouTube today.
This is the first week that I'm going to be having work, starting with a spanish presentation tomorrow morning, I'll try and write to keep you all updated!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)