If you've ever read up on visiting Barcelona or experienced it for yourself, then you know that one of the biggest drawbacks are petty thieves. Luckily they aren't violent. Instead they just want to pickpocket you or snatch your bag.
In preparation for my two month excursion I did a lot of research towards ways to keep my passport and cash safe. After seeing pages of neck pouches and travel wallets I finally found one. It clips around my waist and is make of 100% silk so it's super soft. I actually had it altered to be smaller since I wear more form fitting clothing than guys. In addition, I bought this great PacSafe handbad and a cut-proof camera cord. All the items have been fantastic for me so far giving a sense of safety, especially the waist pouch.
Now the biggest way to protect yourself is staying aware of your surroundings. I've found many thefts occur when people aren't paying attention or leave things unattended. Needless to say Ryan quickly showed me how to watch out and the common scams to avoid.
Yet the other night I learned the best insurance of all.
This was evening we were traveling up north for Ryan to play soccer. We were headed for the metro and we trying to get through the gates. Normally we each have a metro pass, but mine had just run out. He had a T-10 which allows you 10 trips and will let you run it more than once. Hence we planned to both just use the card for this trip. Being the gentlemen that he is, Ryan always lets me go first and then he takes the card and follows.
But he couldn't follow. The doors wouldn't open for some reason. It had taken his card, but it wouldn't open. In the shuffle the guy behind Ryan started pushing him forward towards the unopened doors. Confused Ryan continued forward jiggling the doors which finally opened, but when Ryan went to take the card it was gone.
The next second a guy with a hat who had been behind Ryan came over and handed him his cell phone saying it was on the ground. Strange how did he know it was Ryan's? Well because he had taken it, took one look at it, and promptly returned it. Ryan's phone has the best insurance: so old even the thieves don't want it!
I will say that whole situation was a lot of work just for a couple rides on the metro, but hey it reminded us to stay viligent and to always carry old, crappy things.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
My Project
While here in Spain, I've accepted one project while I'm exploring the city and lazing around reading lots of books catching some sun. It is the balconey.
Ryan's apartment has this nice simple balconey that has large double doors in the living room and our bed room. This is the source of the lovely sea breeze I enjoy each day, the sound of those darn children at recess, and of course my favorite place to catch some sun.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
The next step is to hang my lanterns and string lights. I'd also like to find some cushions for the chairs and plant something in that hanging box planter. I'll update with more pictures as things progress :)
Ryan's apartment has this nice simple balconey that has large double doors in the living room and our bed room. This is the source of the lovely sea breeze I enjoy each day, the sound of those darn children at recess, and of course my favorite place to catch some sun.
Upon arrival I notice there were a few plants left from previous owners although most don't look great and some have weeds mixed in with them. There is a large stack of empty terra cotta pots, various pieces of furniture or broken shutters, and a barren metal structure that I assume once was an awning. Living in Barri Gotic equates to old buildings and rarely air conditioning hence why we leave the doors open all day and spend a lot of time outside when the hot sun isn't baking the tile and metal. This quickly became the area that I knew should be fixed up and had such great potential.
I zoomed in on this picture so you can more easily see the plants as I found them. ![]()
You can see some of the trash left although there is a bit moe hiding behind those shutters!
I'm lucky that Ryan loves life and enjoys plants, so our first step is fixing up the plants. In my IKEA post, I had shown you the plant we had bought for our deck. Since then the lavendar took a turn for the worse almost completely dying. I think I have it starting to revive now...I have about 6 stalks that are green again. The huge fan like plant decided it didn't like the sun and has shrivled up. Since then I've brought it inside and feed it water daily. The stallk is still green, so I have hope. A few days ago I spent a lovely afternoon strolling down the la rambla which has numerous florists selling not only cut flowers but potted plants and herbs. After eyeing all the different vendors I choose one which had a little old lady who I believe spoke Catalan and bought a small basil plant and a large mint pot (for all those mojitos ;). So far they seem happy although the Basil did need a little water, whoops.
This first large task is going to consist of me getting rid of the dead plants, trimming back the alive ones, and transplanting a lot of our new ones. One of the tricky questions has been placement since as you can tell a lot of my plants are sensitive to all this sun. It took a few days and some rearranging to get to where I am now.
This side looks much better without all that junk! The Jasmine smells lovely in the evening and early morning and has 8 blooms to date. The Aloe and Himalayan both need to be transplanted soon as they seem to be taking over their pots!
My basil is now flowering (which of course I have to pinch off to preserve flavor and my lavendar is slowly bouncing back.
The next step is to hang my lanterns and string lights. I'd also like to find some cushions for the chairs and plant something in that hanging box planter. I'll update with more pictures as things progress :)
Monday, July 11, 2011
Dali (Part Un)
Over the weekend, I traveled along the beautiful Costa Brava and enjoyed the small town of Cadaques. This is where the famous Salvador Dali spent his childhood summers and eventually built his home here. After my first look of this stunning coastal village, I understood his choice. The water is a mix of blue to green with many large rock formations. All the buildings are stark white with red tiled roofs making it picturesque.
Sunday morning we set off to his home. This adventure of course was met with a blinding hot sun and a hilly 30 minute trek from where we ate. Yet when I first gazed at the sprawling white building and felt the breeze from the Mediterranean my hike felt more like a pleasant walk especially after my dolce de leche ice cream. A quick walk along the dock, I could see the desire to have such a beautiful view and secluded area.
Soon it was time to see the Casa de Dali. Unlike some muesums, it is a bit more guided in part because of chaotic nature of the house and likely in part to move more people through. Many of the rooms feel quite small (especially for U.S. standards) and everything feels a bit jumbled together. Later I learned that the house was built and added to over 30 years as Dali bought more fisherman shacks and surrounding land. In the beginning he started with small one-room house for him and Gala which slowly evolved into a labrinth of white walled rooms and strange decor.
Here are a few of oddities I discovered...
Apparrently Dali kept a cricket in a little "house" on his bedroom wall. I'm not sure why anyone would want to hear a cricket chirp all the time, but then again he is a bit odd.
![]()
One thing he often bragged about was being the first person in Spain to see the sun rise since his home is on the easternmost tip of the Spanish penisula. He even had a mirror positioned in front a window so that he could see the sunrise from his bed.
![]()
I found it interesting that he and Gala had separate beds. Maybe they weren't big cuddlers?
![]()
Two paintings are unfinished which he left in the house when Gala died. I find this quite romantic especially since the gesture is now show-cased to every visitor.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
Sunday morning we set off to his home. This adventure of course was met with a blinding hot sun and a hilly 30 minute trek from where we ate. Yet when I first gazed at the sprawling white building and felt the breeze from the Mediterranean my hike felt more like a pleasant walk especially after my dolce de leche ice cream. A quick walk along the dock, I could see the desire to have such a beautiful view and secluded area.
Soon it was time to see the Casa de Dali. Unlike some muesums, it is a bit more guided in part because of chaotic nature of the house and likely in part to move more people through. Many of the rooms feel quite small (especially for U.S. standards) and everything feels a bit jumbled together. Later I learned that the house was built and added to over 30 years as Dali bought more fisherman shacks and surrounding land. In the beginning he started with small one-room house for him and Gala which slowly evolved into a labrinth of white walled rooms and strange decor.
Here are a few of oddities I discovered...
Apparrently Dali kept a cricket in a little "house" on his bedroom wall. I'm not sure why anyone would want to hear a cricket chirp all the time, but then again he is a bit odd.
It's the tiny box on the wall past the bird cage.
One thing he often bragged about was being the first person in Spain to see the sun rise since his home is on the easternmost tip of the Spanish penisula. He even had a mirror positioned in front a window so that he could see the sunrise from his bed.
I found it interesting that he and Gala had separate beds. Maybe they weren't big cuddlers?
Two paintings are unfinished which he left in the house when Gala died. I find this quite romantic especially since the gesture is now show-cased to every visitor.
Dali made a circular room for his wife which in the center has interesting acoustics. I wonder if she was into music or if it just helped make conversation easier to hear...Either way it was fun to play around with the volume changed. When you stood in the center and spoke, it seemed to amplify your voice. Here is a link so you can completely see the oval room: http://www.salvador-dali.org/museus/portlligat/en_visita-virtual_6.html
I'm not sure if could enjoy my dinner when eating under a Rhino's head with bird wings. How about you?
No matter any claim to the pool being the floor plan of Alhambra, it is a phallic symbol. Trust me.
Here's a virtual link so you can see although the angle doesn't quite show the pool's shape in all its glory:
http://www.salvador-dali.org/museus/portlligat/en_visita-virtual_8.html
Here's a virtual link so you can see although the angle doesn't quite show the pool's shape in all its glory:
http://www.salvador-dali.org/museus/portlligat/en_visita-virtual_8.html
Upon my return to Barcelona, I immediately began researching Dali and Gala. If you have a spare few minutes, just read the Wikipedia entry for either. If you thought their home is a bit strange just read about their lives. Wow.
Oh and here is Chirst of the Rubbish:
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Settling into the Silence
My eyes scan the field searching for Ryan in his florescent yellow tshirt which is now drenched with sweat. I find him just in time to see him strike one towards the goal although the keeper had found him as well and stopped it. Darn. I turn to see my new companion with disappointment across her face as well. I shrugged and she replied with a quick sigh.
You see, I was watching Ryan play soccer with friends far up north of the city discovering something that transcends language barriers: sports and body language. My companion was the girlfriend of one of the other players and was very nice. The only challenge was that she only spoke Spanish and I only English. Therefore, I only had a few useful words such as gracias or vale or si which don't get you very far in deep conversation. Over the course of the next 2 hours, I found that smiles, claps, sighs, eye rolls, grins, shrugs, and other non-verbals became a new understandable language between us. In between the events we sat in a companionable silence equally enjoying the game below us and cool sea breeze coming off the ocean just past the fields.
When we first sat down, I felt uneasy with the silence. Often we want to fill these gaps with small talk or empty statements trying to eliminate the quiet. Quickly my mind raced along with possible things I could say, but the only thing I really could come up with is "Perdona no hablo espanol" Not really something useful especially since I think she kind of already assumed this by my lack of conversation so far. Yet as I pressed forward through the silence for just a bit it became comfortable. We shared an understanding that we could use words to communicate, but we could still enjoy the game together. With each save, strike, and hit we mirrored each other cheering on our boys. Lucky for me her boyfriend was on Ryan's team uniting us ;) She even offered my some delicious gummy candy at least I could say thanks. Together we communicated our distrust of the bugs starting to swarm above us and the humor in one of the players rolling over and over on the field and the amazement in one strike going far beyond the field past the parks boundaries.
As frustrating as language barriers are, they do illuminate commonalities between people and highlight some of the clearer non-verbal communications. You start noticing people's tones and body language since you do not understand the words. It brings you back to early childhood when you don't know everything and have to use your instincts to make sense of the world around you. For that game I learned there is always a way to express yourself and you can make friends without words.
You see, I was watching Ryan play soccer with friends far up north of the city discovering something that transcends language barriers: sports and body language. My companion was the girlfriend of one of the other players and was very nice. The only challenge was that she only spoke Spanish and I only English. Therefore, I only had a few useful words such as gracias or vale or si which don't get you very far in deep conversation. Over the course of the next 2 hours, I found that smiles, claps, sighs, eye rolls, grins, shrugs, and other non-verbals became a new understandable language between us. In between the events we sat in a companionable silence equally enjoying the game below us and cool sea breeze coming off the ocean just past the fields.
When we first sat down, I felt uneasy with the silence. Often we want to fill these gaps with small talk or empty statements trying to eliminate the quiet. Quickly my mind raced along with possible things I could say, but the only thing I really could come up with is "Perdona no hablo espanol" Not really something useful especially since I think she kind of already assumed this by my lack of conversation so far. Yet as I pressed forward through the silence for just a bit it became comfortable. We shared an understanding that we could use words to communicate, but we could still enjoy the game together. With each save, strike, and hit we mirrored each other cheering on our boys. Lucky for me her boyfriend was on Ryan's team uniting us ;) She even offered my some delicious gummy candy at least I could say thanks. Together we communicated our distrust of the bugs starting to swarm above us and the humor in one of the players rolling over and over on the field and the amazement in one strike going far beyond the field past the parks boundaries.
As frustrating as language barriers are, they do illuminate commonalities between people and highlight some of the clearer non-verbal communications. You start noticing people's tones and body language since you do not understand the words. It brings you back to early childhood when you don't know everything and have to use your instincts to make sense of the world around you. For that game I learned there is always a way to express yourself and you can make friends without words.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Montjuic de Nit
Montjuic is a very large hill in Barcelona which is covered in trees, muesums, and topped with the castle of Monjuic which I can see at this moment looking out my balconey far in the distance. Personally this is my favorite area of Barcelona so far...I love the height, views, and natural woods. It also contains the bontanical gardens which I've yet to see but excited for none the less. This giant hill and gorgeous venues hosted a night of music of Barcelona or la nit de la musica de Barcelona. It had 10 venues along the hill featuring over 40 separate acts in addition to having 7 different muesems open. They had 2 bus routes free of service transporting you around the hill from venue to venue. Here's the map so you can get an idea:
Needless to say those extra few hours Ryan and I got from our misadventures with the muesums were much needed. Our first venue was at Greek Theatre which is an open air theatre made for the 1929 World's Fair. Here is a picture at night although it does no justice to the mood or feel at night:
Afterwards we grabbed a quick coffee at this ingenious Nestle coffee bar. The waitresses used these counter top machines that use those prepackaged cups so it took no time to make any of the drinks and they promoted the coffee line for people to buy. I will admit my iced cappacino was delicious....I kinda wanted a few more but there wasn't time for that. Instead we walked a bit further down and bought a sandwich since dinner hadn't really happened yet.
So at this point in the night we are debating if we have time to hit up a muesum or head straight to the castle. Pablo calls so we schedule to meet and nix the muesum which isn't that surprising if you've read my plan b and c blog. Anyway we cram into the bus and begin our ascension up Montjuic. When I say cram, I mean cram. I was in shock when the driver allowed other people to get onto the bus and wasn't surprised by the girl blocking the sensor to allow the doors to shut....it was crammed.
The castle feels old with a bridge to cross over the moat which is now landscaped greenery and stone walls and paths....it feels straight out of a movie aside from all the loud music and hundreds of people in modern clothes. There are two venues at the castle which makes finding the dancers even more confusing from the start...navigating a castle along with finding the right place can be tricky. We first find a food place and a huge lookout to I can only imagine is venue 1. It looks like a classic giant rock concert complete with thousands of screaming fans apart from the castle in the backgroud of course. We stopped and asked a guard where the other venue is (Ryan is actually quite good at asking for directions, I know surprising trait in a guy) and we finally find it. Much to our dismay we have found a bunch of men singing blues...no flamenco in site. Quickly we pull out the agenda to discover they have changed the times and no longer have the dancers. Naturally we are quite bummed out, but decide hey maybe we can go take a look around the Miro Muesum.
Back on the sardine packed bus, down the hill, and WAIT. It's closing in 30 minutes so they aren't allowing anyone else in. Just a perfect cap off to our earlier mishaps with muesums. It seems no muesum or flamenco dancer wants Ryan and I. Quite disappointing.
We travel to another spot to try and meet up with a few friends which of course proves impossible in the crowds and spend the final portion of the night listening to more classic Spanish music. I was mesmersized by all the participates dancing even if I did get elbowed a few times. We called it a night around 2 feeling exhausted and bit let down from flamenco and began the long walk home from Catalunya.
Be sure to check out the event's website to hear some of the artists on the opening screen...it's pretty cool: http://www.bcn.cat/cultura/montjuicnit/2011/index.html
Plan B and C
I'm a planner. I'm one of those people. I strategically think through where I want to go, plan what to wear, when to go, when to eat....everything. I even read all official postings places. What? I just want to know what they are trying to tell me and honestly, it's normally helpful info. This probably stems from teaching or maybe this is why I am a teacher...I'm good a planning or neurotic, however you'd like to put it.
This post is my reluctant admitance that my planning doesn't work in Barca.
Now in St. Louis, I would call Brigitte up and say I want to go shopping. We would find a day that she was off and then I would think what stores do I want to go to and pick the right mall. Then I would choose clothes that would be comfy and easy to try on things with and then start thinking when am I going to eat? Brigitte would arrive on time like always ;) and off we would go on our shopping adventure or wherever we had planned. Normally the only hitches we might hit would be traffic jams, wrong turns, or possible crowds.
Here in Barcelona it doesn't seem to ever work that way.
Late last Friday night, I was researching. The big "free" muesum weekend here is the last weekend of the month so I wanted to decide what muesums we should go through. I read my whole Fodor's guidebook noting all the free muesums in my handy dandy notebook (Blue's Clues anyone?). Then I continued looking up a few other muesums on-line and had a nice list.
Although there were only 2 free muesums on Saturday, I was excited. I really wanted to see the Museu d'historia de la ciutat (the history muesum of the city) for it is filled with Roman ruins and has a great audio tour. Ryan was excited as well, so we set off that afternoon with high hopes. We soon arrived although it felt quiet and reserved especially for a free day. Though I pushed this aside as Ryan started chatting in Spanish and I honed into all the new signs to read. Quickly I read a line in English that was a bit disheartening, free day: Sunday after 4. Wait, it was Saturday and somehow I had gotten the wrong day. We decided to wait to go to that muesum since we could buy tickets any day of the week and maybe we would try on a Sunday. Now we could rush across town to the other muesum or just call it bust which we did. We had big plans for our evening so an extra hour or two relaxing wasn't such a bad thing, just unexpected.
Now Sunday we planned to go to the Picasso muesum partly because it was the most expensive and partly because we really enjoy art. After a long, restoring sleep Sunday morning, we set out with renewed hope and excitement. I also had learned my lesson and double checked on-line the hours and confirmed it was a free day.
Upon arrival, I did not read any signs to confirm this nor did Ryan have any Spanish exchanges. Instead we relied on our observation skills. Namely the three hundred plus people waiting along the street to enter the muesum. As we walked on for ages with growing trepidation that the line might never end, I began to wonder do I really want to go to wait? Now I'm a patient person and can wait for long periods of time, but 2 hours to save some Euros???? When we reached the end after at least 3 blocks of walking, we looked at each the all knowing silent communication of "hell no" and walked away.
I found myself at that moment in a familiar predicament...now what? My plan failed and I didn't really have a back up. Ryan suggested the Catalan History Muesum since it was close by. I was game although I felt unsure if they had a free day or not...as we walked the 15 minutes to get there which by the way isn't "close by." In America close by is either a 5 minute drive or physically next door possibly a block or 2 away. We arrived to discover Sunday is the free day!!!!!!! Of course there was a catch, this is Barcelona after all, the museu d'hisotira de catalunya closes at 2:30 on Sundays or in 20 minutes seeing as it was 2:10. At that point we took the bus home and tried to regroup.
The moral of these misadventures: one plan is never enough. Barcelona doesn't just surprise you with random puddles of dog pee or strange beggars or naked gay pride parades...it also likes to change it's hours, specials, and attract unexpected hoardes of people. It always has a curve ball so you best have a plan B and like plan C. Who knows maybe even a back up to the back up of the back up plan.
Additional Note:
So I even needed to have a back up plan for this post. When I clicked publish, it errored and I lost allllll of my writing!!!!!!! I think blogger is reading my blog and has a sick sense of humor.
This post is my reluctant admitance that my planning doesn't work in Barca.
Now in St. Louis, I would call Brigitte up and say I want to go shopping. We would find a day that she was off and then I would think what stores do I want to go to and pick the right mall. Then I would choose clothes that would be comfy and easy to try on things with and then start thinking when am I going to eat? Brigitte would arrive on time like always ;) and off we would go on our shopping adventure or wherever we had planned. Normally the only hitches we might hit would be traffic jams, wrong turns, or possible crowds.
Here in Barcelona it doesn't seem to ever work that way.
Late last Friday night, I was researching. The big "free" muesum weekend here is the last weekend of the month so I wanted to decide what muesums we should go through. I read my whole Fodor's guidebook noting all the free muesums in my handy dandy notebook (Blue's Clues anyone?). Then I continued looking up a few other muesums on-line and had a nice list.
Although there were only 2 free muesums on Saturday, I was excited. I really wanted to see the Museu d'historia de la ciutat (the history muesum of the city) for it is filled with Roman ruins and has a great audio tour. Ryan was excited as well, so we set off that afternoon with high hopes. We soon arrived although it felt quiet and reserved especially for a free day. Though I pushed this aside as Ryan started chatting in Spanish and I honed into all the new signs to read. Quickly I read a line in English that was a bit disheartening, free day: Sunday after 4. Wait, it was Saturday and somehow I had gotten the wrong day. We decided to wait to go to that muesum since we could buy tickets any day of the week and maybe we would try on a Sunday. Now we could rush across town to the other muesum or just call it bust which we did. We had big plans for our evening so an extra hour or two relaxing wasn't such a bad thing, just unexpected.
Now Sunday we planned to go to the Picasso muesum partly because it was the most expensive and partly because we really enjoy art. After a long, restoring sleep Sunday morning, we set out with renewed hope and excitement. I also had learned my lesson and double checked on-line the hours and confirmed it was a free day.
Upon arrival, I did not read any signs to confirm this nor did Ryan have any Spanish exchanges. Instead we relied on our observation skills. Namely the three hundred plus people waiting along the street to enter the muesum. As we walked on for ages with growing trepidation that the line might never end, I began to wonder do I really want to go to wait? Now I'm a patient person and can wait for long periods of time, but 2 hours to save some Euros???? When we reached the end after at least 3 blocks of walking, we looked at each the all knowing silent communication of "hell no" and walked away.
I found myself at that moment in a familiar predicament...now what? My plan failed and I didn't really have a back up. Ryan suggested the Catalan History Muesum since it was close by. I was game although I felt unsure if they had a free day or not...as we walked the 15 minutes to get there which by the way isn't "close by." In America close by is either a 5 minute drive or physically next door possibly a block or 2 away. We arrived to discover Sunday is the free day!!!!!!! Of course there was a catch, this is Barcelona after all, the museu d'hisotira de catalunya closes at 2:30 on Sundays or in 20 minutes seeing as it was 2:10. At that point we took the bus home and tried to regroup.
The moral of these misadventures: one plan is never enough. Barcelona doesn't just surprise you with random puddles of dog pee or strange beggars or naked gay pride parades...it also likes to change it's hours, specials, and attract unexpected hoardes of people. It always has a curve ball so you best have a plan B and like plan C. Who knows maybe even a back up to the back up of the back up plan.
Additional Note:
So I even needed to have a back up plan for this post. When I clicked publish, it errored and I lost allllll of my writing!!!!!!! I think blogger is reading my blog and has a sick sense of humor.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Feast of Sant Joan
One of the many great things about spending a prolonged period of time in another country is that you get to experience their holidays and celebrations. So let me tell you about Sant Joan...
After reading in my guide book it mentions summer solstice and fireworks and parties at the beach. Sounds like a great holiday to me! It did leave out a few details as all happy guidebooks do.
The evening prior to Sant Joan I was sitting at friend's apartment snacking and chatting. All of a sudden I heard a loud BANG! Now I've been hearing a few of those bangs recently at our apartment, so I was curious. Katie proceeded to tell us that the kids had been shooting them off for days at all hours. She of course just loved hearing bang after bang especially late at night...doesn't everyone? This sparked off a lively discussion of Sant Joan and our plan of action specifically when to arrive to the beach. As I was informed going early, say around 9 or so, warrants swarms of unruly children throwing fireworks in any direction including at you. Needless to say we wanted to avoid this so the plan was to meet for dinner and drinks around 9 and head to the beach around 11 or so. Ryan and I headed home a bit earlier that night so as not to be worn out of the night that lay ahead though we did have the privilege to hear one of those loud fireworks across the street as we walked to the metro. Seriously sounds like a gun shot or a cannon.
I will admit I had some building anticipation mainly about the prospective fireworks. They are tradition for me and always bring me back to my childhood. A birthday without lots of lights in the sky and sooty smell of gunpowder is simply wrong so I was looking forward to having them albeit a few weeks early.
The day had arrived and I was side tracked with buying an air conditioner. You may not know this but I loathe the heat and I find that people do not enjoy the person I become as I get hot. Ryan was starting to witness this horrendous event, so I was on a hunt for an A.C. for the apartment. To my grand luck I found one and one on sale. So rather than napping or snacking or just resting, Ryan and I were hauling the giantic box up our lovely 97 steps. At that point I realized I had approximately 15 minutes to get ready despite being sweaty and out of breath. You should be impressed to know that we left relatively on time.
Esther and Gerardo's apartment was lovely and filled with great prospects of food and drink :) While Esther showed Ryan and I the proper steps for making a mojito, Gerardo was preparing a common dish from Mexico consisting of steak, bacon, peppers, onion, and cheese....I know: YUM. Slowly other friends arrived and I got to play my favorite game: guess what people are saying. One thing I have found though is that if the person can speak English, they will commonly translate for me which is very sweet. Though it is interesting listening to room full of tispy people quickly spewing out rows of Spanish words that I will never understand. That is an experience all of its own. Anyways as the night continued and poor Katie texted and called, I noticed that time was passing. Our original plan of 11 was quickly changed to 1 and then "later." Now we have all been there where the plan is go to do this and as the hours pass the plan never really comes to fruition. This was not one of those times. I soon learned that the biggest tradition of Sant Joan is not just to go to the beach but to stay all night to watch the sunrise.
You can imagine my shock. I'm used to late parties and good times, but no one prepared me for a 10 hour party. No wonder I was being fed such delicious foods!
Finally around 3 after a demanding yet pleading call from Katie, we headed toward the beach. Really we headed for the metro since we weren't anywhere near the beach, just across from the stadium ;) The metro was an experience as well. Despite the early hour, it was filled with people whom were almost all drunk and yelling and singing and swaying. It's a miracle no one fell on the tracks...truly the cars were full of happy, celebrating people and probably a few thieves finding easy prey. At this point I was walking down the street with a group of 12 hoping that we were going the right direction towards the beach particularly since we had a long debate on the metro street corner about this. After a quick dance at the random street party we discovered, I figured, this has to be the right way and it was just another 10-15 minutes of walking.
![]()
It's hard to perfectly describe the scene that was waiting for me...
Miles of beach covered with people, chairs, blankets, and bottles. As we began to walk down the long stretch ahead of us (looking for a few others we were supposed to meet up with, namely poor Katie), I was floored by this drunk mob reminscence of spring break Cancun: everyone screaming drinks in hand. The only piece that didn't fit was the random fireworks and bangs. This was not what I had pictured upon arrival to the beach although in retrospect, I'm not sure why I had thought anything differently. Eventually we met up with the others, pushed our way through a night club, and found ourselves a spot of sand. Now just three more hours to go until dawn!
![]()
The feast of Sant Joan was a great one filled with quality people, good food, and most importantly drunken idiots to laugh at. I don't know that I've ever sat on the beach until dawn especially with thousands of people, but it was a true experience. If nothing else it makes bitching about staying up til 12 for New Years look absolutely ridiculous!
![]()
![]()
One other thing: the metro was stopped so we had a lovely hour wake home. Never have I been soooo happy to see a bed or that new air conditioner.
If you want to read a great description that is much more accurate than my Fodor's:
http://bcnin.com/2011/06/sant-joan-barcelonas-craziest-festival/
After reading in my guide book it mentions summer solstice and fireworks and parties at the beach. Sounds like a great holiday to me! It did leave out a few details as all happy guidebooks do.
The evening prior to Sant Joan I was sitting at friend's apartment snacking and chatting. All of a sudden I heard a loud BANG! Now I've been hearing a few of those bangs recently at our apartment, so I was curious. Katie proceeded to tell us that the kids had been shooting them off for days at all hours. She of course just loved hearing bang after bang especially late at night...doesn't everyone? This sparked off a lively discussion of Sant Joan and our plan of action specifically when to arrive to the beach. As I was informed going early, say around 9 or so, warrants swarms of unruly children throwing fireworks in any direction including at you. Needless to say we wanted to avoid this so the plan was to meet for dinner and drinks around 9 and head to the beach around 11 or so. Ryan and I headed home a bit earlier that night so as not to be worn out of the night that lay ahead though we did have the privilege to hear one of those loud fireworks across the street as we walked to the metro. Seriously sounds like a gun shot or a cannon.
I will admit I had some building anticipation mainly about the prospective fireworks. They are tradition for me and always bring me back to my childhood. A birthday without lots of lights in the sky and sooty smell of gunpowder is simply wrong so I was looking forward to having them albeit a few weeks early.
The day had arrived and I was side tracked with buying an air conditioner. You may not know this but I loathe the heat and I find that people do not enjoy the person I become as I get hot. Ryan was starting to witness this horrendous event, so I was on a hunt for an A.C. for the apartment. To my grand luck I found one and one on sale. So rather than napping or snacking or just resting, Ryan and I were hauling the giantic box up our lovely 97 steps. At that point I realized I had approximately 15 minutes to get ready despite being sweaty and out of breath. You should be impressed to know that we left relatively on time.
Esther and Gerardo's apartment was lovely and filled with great prospects of food and drink :) While Esther showed Ryan and I the proper steps for making a mojito, Gerardo was preparing a common dish from Mexico consisting of steak, bacon, peppers, onion, and cheese....I know: YUM. Slowly other friends arrived and I got to play my favorite game: guess what people are saying. One thing I have found though is that if the person can speak English, they will commonly translate for me which is very sweet. Though it is interesting listening to room full of tispy people quickly spewing out rows of Spanish words that I will never understand. That is an experience all of its own. Anyways as the night continued and poor Katie texted and called, I noticed that time was passing. Our original plan of 11 was quickly changed to 1 and then "later." Now we have all been there where the plan is go to do this and as the hours pass the plan never really comes to fruition. This was not one of those times. I soon learned that the biggest tradition of Sant Joan is not just to go to the beach but to stay all night to watch the sunrise.
You can imagine my shock. I'm used to late parties and good times, but no one prepared me for a 10 hour party. No wonder I was being fed such delicious foods!
Finally around 3 after a demanding yet pleading call from Katie, we headed toward the beach. Really we headed for the metro since we weren't anywhere near the beach, just across from the stadium ;) The metro was an experience as well. Despite the early hour, it was filled with people whom were almost all drunk and yelling and singing and swaying. It's a miracle no one fell on the tracks...truly the cars were full of happy, celebrating people and probably a few thieves finding easy prey. At this point I was walking down the street with a group of 12 hoping that we were going the right direction towards the beach particularly since we had a long debate on the metro street corner about this. After a quick dance at the random street party we discovered, I figured, this has to be the right way and it was just another 10-15 minutes of walking.
Here is the street party.
Miles of beach covered with people, chairs, blankets, and bottles. As we began to walk down the long stretch ahead of us (looking for a few others we were supposed to meet up with, namely poor Katie), I was floored by this drunk mob reminscence of spring break Cancun: everyone screaming drinks in hand. The only piece that didn't fit was the random fireworks and bangs. This was not what I had pictured upon arrival to the beach although in retrospect, I'm not sure why I had thought anything differently. Eventually we met up with the others, pushed our way through a night club, and found ourselves a spot of sand. Now just three more hours to go until dawn!
This is just a few us on the beach...notice the bottle of Coca :)
The feast of Sant Joan was a great one filled with quality people, good food, and most importantly drunken idiots to laugh at. I don't know that I've ever sat on the beach until dawn especially with thousands of people, but it was a true experience. If nothing else it makes bitching about staying up til 12 for New Years look absolutely ridiculous!
Dawn had arrived and most of the partiers were leaving most unfortunately this behind...
One other thing: the metro was stopped so we had a lovely hour wake home. Never have I been soooo happy to see a bed or that new air conditioner.
If you want to read a great description that is much more accurate than my Fodor's:
http://bcnin.com/2011/06/sant-joan-barcelonas-craziest-festival/
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Red Tape
I'd like to say that it's Spain that does everything backwards or makes things so difficult, but in reality I think it is anything official. Let me give you just a few lovely examples...
Banking
So the past few days I've been trying to either transfer Ryan some money or take some more out of my account. Nothing I've done has been successful. First I was going to transfer from my bank account into his U.S. one. Well first I had to wait until 9 a.m. in the states which translates to 2 p.m. here to call. Then the lovely attendant told me I had two options: write him a check or come to the bank to make a wire. Clearly neither of those options are possible since I am IN SPAIN. Scratch plan uno. Then I'll just pull some money out of the ATM like my lovely bank ladies and I had discussed before I left. Down five flights of steps, 4 blocks away, and two banks later I discover my bank had refused me. Okay, I'll just give them a call which still entailed returning the 4 blocks and walking up the 5 flights. Sigh. I called the 1-800 number to discover to talk to a person, they don't open until 7, so I had another 3 hours here in Spain to kill without being able to do my errands. Alright a little sun and reading can't hurt ;) I called and talked to another helpful lady who put a note on my account though she warned me to wait a hour before attempting to use it. Just another hour of waiting....I can do that. So I actually got caught up in my book, Jennifer Cruise is funny, so I really waited a hour and half and then walked back down the stairs and blocks and arrived at the ATM. I scanned the area around me....always a bit nervous when alone and pulling out cash no matter how close la policia are...Guess what???? It STILL rejected me. Back up the steps to call again. The lady of course put me on hold because that is always the penance for asking to get a solution. She said she called someone and the travel notice is finally clear and I can use the card. So now I'm drink a coke trying to relax myself before I go back down and try it all over again. Forgive me but my optimism is a bit shot.
Post Service
In my earlier posts I might have mentioned forgetting a few key items in my hotel. It's the problem with moving too quickly. That and I think I have a deep set desire to leave my i-pod everywhere (I've already lost one to the plane once). So Ryan and I have been trying to figure out how to get the items back since it is an 11.5 hour train ride not to mention the cost of that train. After a few calls and e-mails with the hotel, we finally were given the suggestion to have a postal service pick them up rather than having to send an actual person (thank god). They suggested UPS, which to me is a comfort zone since we have UPS in the U.S. We hope on-line to attempt to start this simple process only to spend the next few hours in confusion and loops and canceling 2 transactions. I'm truly not convinced that they are going to pick it up today since it still told me that the package will arrive in Barcelona today at 10:30 a.m. even though we put in the collection last night at like midnight. Also when we just scheduled a collection it never had me put in my credit card or when it was going, just the zip and city. Even UPS is difficult to navigate! Just send me good thoughts or you may never get any more pictures on my blog seeing as the chargers are in Granada or on a UPS truck.
Spanair
When we were planning our trip to Granada, it turned out that I had to fly by myself since the train was booked. We quickly booked a ticket from Spanair since they were the cheapest and times were the best I could find. Of course a few hours after booking, I received a strange e-mail (in Spanish of course) that said something about the payment not working. Of course it didn't! So Ryan had to call them immediately and fixed it all whilst attempting to work. Ah, problem adverted. When we returned home, we checked his account to not only see the fee for the plan but another 110 Euro charge from them. Wtf???? So Ryan e-mailed them about a week ago. I had been meaning to call them, but was not looking forward to arguing with a Spanish airlines about his bank account. Finally they got back to him today to say it is a retainer or something and after 10 days they recharge his account. Apparently the money should be put back in now, but what is up with that?? Since when can companies just charge an extra 100 euros without telling you and then giving it back....strange happenings.
Unfortunately these are just a few of the lovely occurances dealing with money and companies and I guess life in general have to offer. Though I do think that being in another country clouds it up just a bit. I have a feeling you all have many of your own similar stories.
Bona Tarda
Updates....................................................................................................................................................
Banking: The third time was the charm! I know, can you believe it? When I went back down for that last try it worked and I was able to pull out money. Of course the usual ATM I was going to go to had odd guys standing in front of them, so I had to find a different one, butttttttt I still am now able to pull out cash. Yay!
UPS: This is did not go as smoothly. Wednesday UPS called Ryan's phone in the evening saying there was some kind of issue. Ester, being the sweet person she is, talked to UPS to figure out what the problem was. It helps when you can easily speak fluent Spanish :) She said it was something about there being 2 labels and they are going to charge us twice if we don't call tomorrow with the confirmation number...strange. The next day the package arrived YAY and then I had Ryan call them still to make sure we didn't get double charged. At the moment all is well and I finally have my chargers again which means PICTURES!!!!!!
Banking
So the past few days I've been trying to either transfer Ryan some money or take some more out of my account. Nothing I've done has been successful. First I was going to transfer from my bank account into his U.S. one. Well first I had to wait until 9 a.m. in the states which translates to 2 p.m. here to call. Then the lovely attendant told me I had two options: write him a check or come to the bank to make a wire. Clearly neither of those options are possible since I am IN SPAIN. Scratch plan uno. Then I'll just pull some money out of the ATM like my lovely bank ladies and I had discussed before I left. Down five flights of steps, 4 blocks away, and two banks later I discover my bank had refused me. Okay, I'll just give them a call which still entailed returning the 4 blocks and walking up the 5 flights. Sigh. I called the 1-800 number to discover to talk to a person, they don't open until 7, so I had another 3 hours here in Spain to kill without being able to do my errands. Alright a little sun and reading can't hurt ;) I called and talked to another helpful lady who put a note on my account though she warned me to wait a hour before attempting to use it. Just another hour of waiting....I can do that. So I actually got caught up in my book, Jennifer Cruise is funny, so I really waited a hour and half and then walked back down the stairs and blocks and arrived at the ATM. I scanned the area around me....always a bit nervous when alone and pulling out cash no matter how close la policia are...Guess what???? It STILL rejected me. Back up the steps to call again. The lady of course put me on hold because that is always the penance for asking to get a solution. She said she called someone and the travel notice is finally clear and I can use the card. So now I'm drink a coke trying to relax myself before I go back down and try it all over again. Forgive me but my optimism is a bit shot.
Post Service
In my earlier posts I might have mentioned forgetting a few key items in my hotel. It's the problem with moving too quickly. That and I think I have a deep set desire to leave my i-pod everywhere (I've already lost one to the plane once). So Ryan and I have been trying to figure out how to get the items back since it is an 11.5 hour train ride not to mention the cost of that train. After a few calls and e-mails with the hotel, we finally were given the suggestion to have a postal service pick them up rather than having to send an actual person (thank god). They suggested UPS, which to me is a comfort zone since we have UPS in the U.S. We hope on-line to attempt to start this simple process only to spend the next few hours in confusion and loops and canceling 2 transactions. I'm truly not convinced that they are going to pick it up today since it still told me that the package will arrive in Barcelona today at 10:30 a.m. even though we put in the collection last night at like midnight. Also when we just scheduled a collection it never had me put in my credit card or when it was going, just the zip and city. Even UPS is difficult to navigate! Just send me good thoughts or you may never get any more pictures on my blog seeing as the chargers are in Granada or on a UPS truck.
Spanair
When we were planning our trip to Granada, it turned out that I had to fly by myself since the train was booked. We quickly booked a ticket from Spanair since they were the cheapest and times were the best I could find. Of course a few hours after booking, I received a strange e-mail (in Spanish of course) that said something about the payment not working. Of course it didn't! So Ryan had to call them immediately and fixed it all whilst attempting to work. Ah, problem adverted. When we returned home, we checked his account to not only see the fee for the plan but another 110 Euro charge from them. Wtf???? So Ryan e-mailed them about a week ago. I had been meaning to call them, but was not looking forward to arguing with a Spanish airlines about his bank account. Finally they got back to him today to say it is a retainer or something and after 10 days they recharge his account. Apparently the money should be put back in now, but what is up with that?? Since when can companies just charge an extra 100 euros without telling you and then giving it back....strange happenings.
Unfortunately these are just a few of the lovely occurances dealing with money and companies and I guess life in general have to offer. Though I do think that being in another country clouds it up just a bit. I have a feeling you all have many of your own similar stories.
Bona Tarda
Updates....................................................................................................................................................
Banking: The third time was the charm! I know, can you believe it? When I went back down for that last try it worked and I was able to pull out money. Of course the usual ATM I was going to go to had odd guys standing in front of them, so I had to find a different one, butttttttt I still am now able to pull out cash. Yay!
UPS: This is did not go as smoothly. Wednesday UPS called Ryan's phone in the evening saying there was some kind of issue. Ester, being the sweet person she is, talked to UPS to figure out what the problem was. It helps when you can easily speak fluent Spanish :) She said it was something about there being 2 labels and they are going to charge us twice if we don't call tomorrow with the confirmation number...strange. The next day the package arrived YAY and then I had Ryan call them still to make sure we didn't get double charged. At the moment all is well and I finally have my chargers again which means PICTURES!!!!!!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
An evening stroll
One of my favorite things about Barcelona especially Barri Gotic, our neighborhood, is that everyone is always out. Walking around the narrow, history filled streets is an enjoyable way to spend any part of your day, but I particularly like dusk. As the sun is casting a soft glow on the stone, the entire city emanates romance. Adding to the ambiance is all of the music. Each turn of the street reveals either a guistarist, an opera singer, or even a string quartet. Barcelona is filled with music and romance and beauty.
With this as our backdrop, you can imagine why Ryan and I take many strolls around the city. Just last night we enjoy the cool evening breeze and our lovely neighborhood. We wandered around a few of the stunning and quite old cathedrals, watching the bubble guy create 4 foot masterpieces, and enjoy a few musicians. Then we discovered the artisian bazzar just a few blocks away. I've been in search of honey and Ryan knew this would be the place for it. The stands were filled with herbs, honey, cookies, and cheese. One vendor had goat cheese which is Ryan's favorite and we happened to be offered a sample. I can't say no to free food especially at a sale of this quality. I will admit though I was a bit nervous. I don't mind goat cheese, but normally the over powering flavor isn't of my personal preference. Wow. I was glad I tried it. The texture melted away on my tongue leaving such lovely flavors. These was a work of art, hence artisans I guess! The kind salesman offered us a stronger option which I was sure couldn't beat the former. Once again I was kindly mistaken. I just love with this happens. The second was stronger, but even richer and more delightful. Ryan had the same instant love I did which is why I knew it was essential that we rush over the ATM and grab a few more Euros to buy some. I wasn't going to wait a few more weeks! Lucky for us we came over just in time before the stands were closed up for the evening and purchased our prize.
![]()
![]()
With this as our backdrop, you can imagine why Ryan and I take many strolls around the city. Just last night we enjoy the cool evening breeze and our lovely neighborhood. We wandered around a few of the stunning and quite old cathedrals, watching the bubble guy create 4 foot masterpieces, and enjoy a few musicians. Then we discovered the artisian bazzar just a few blocks away. I've been in search of honey and Ryan knew this would be the place for it. The stands were filled with herbs, honey, cookies, and cheese. One vendor had goat cheese which is Ryan's favorite and we happened to be offered a sample. I can't say no to free food especially at a sale of this quality. I will admit though I was a bit nervous. I don't mind goat cheese, but normally the over powering flavor isn't of my personal preference. Wow. I was glad I tried it. The texture melted away on my tongue leaving such lovely flavors. These was a work of art, hence artisans I guess! The kind salesman offered us a stronger option which I was sure couldn't beat the former. Once again I was kindly mistaken. I just love with this happens. The second was stronger, but even richer and more delightful. Ryan had the same instant love I did which is why I knew it was essential that we rush over the ATM and grab a few more Euros to buy some. I wasn't going to wait a few more weeks! Lucky for us we came over just in time before the stands were closed up for the evening and purchased our prize.
After those few tastes we realized something: we were HUNGRY! This is always a tricky decision that I truly believe every family is plagued with: What's for Dinner? It is the eternal question for all mankind and it doesn't get any easier being in a foreign country. We quickly debated the options: go home and cook, grab a tapa, try a burger... Soon we settled to try the cheap burger advertised at a local bar I spotted a few days ago. As we walked though we were quickly side tracked.
There was a small place, which really isn't saying much seeing as almost all the shops and bars and restaurants here are quite tiny, filled with people with a neon orange sign which read: Wok to Walk. Upon my research now, I've learned they started in Amsterdamn and now are available in 9 different countries. There goal is to make fast food that is healthy and fairly priced. Our reasoning? A line of people and delicious smells.
You don't really walk in because the line is out the door due to the size and volume of waiting customers. What you do see is a clear glass window with 3 men filling sizzling hot woks with mushrooms and noodles and garlic and sauces. They quickly flip and toss the ingredients with one hand while dumping in something else with the other. This site alone won my vote: instantly. Hung against the window is a huge version of their menu (clearly they expect people to be waiting in line outside) as well as a set of menus just at the door. Here is their menu on-line although this isn't exactly our menu since it varies for each country or region:
As you can see just looking at the menu, it was going to be a tough choice! Soon we were inside the building right in front of the wok masters even getting a few random hits of hot oil: we were that close. After staring at all the choices I finally decided: egg noodles, beef, veggie mix (which had mushrooms, bok choy, broccoli, peanuts, and pineapple) and the classic teriyaki. Arriving at the register was an exciting accomplishment especially since not only did we have to stare at the men cooking these enticing entrees, but we had to smell it. Wow. Garlic hitting hot, sizzling oil gives such a love scent. Now we just had to wait for our food while watching the staff attempt to call the names of people whose orders were ready. I think the best was Bob who was called three times and still didn't come up. The next order was for some girl who was playfully beckoned behind the counter and then "Bob" realized his food must be up as well. I have a strange suspicion that his name was not Bob and he had forgotten the fake name he listed. Then my name was called and I was handed this orange box that was incredibly hot and smelled delightful. We quickly asked for a bolsa and bolted out of there. There is never a happier feeling for me than a bag of hot, steaming noodles in one hand and a circle of tasty goat cheese in the other.
I do love strolling through the streets of Barcelona.
Domestic Bliss
If you know me well, you will know my favorite store that St. Louis does not have nor have one any where close by...IKEA! To Europeans, I'm not sure they love IKEA with the same deep gratitude I do. Maybe they are accustomed to this mecca of furniture, housewares, swedish meatballs, and cheap prices. But for me, it a great love of mine. When Ryan first told me that there was an IKEA in Barcelona, I knew, deep down, I would love living in Barcelona.
This past week I've waiting patiently for the weekend so I could get Ryan to take to me. I know I should have just gone myself, but let's face it: there was no way I'd be able to carry everything I'd want to buy! Needless to say as Saturday morning arrived, I was ready.
Now Ryan was not thrilled with the idea of IKEA mostly because it connects with the idea of domestication and while I may be living with him and he has "settled down" in ways, he isn't quite ready for walking around a store picking things out of a house. With the bribe of hotdogs, we set off.
After navigating through a few metro lines, we back above ground ready to shop. Though I will admit I was a bit startled at first. I've grown so used to the crowded streets, old buildings, and noise that walking around the surrounding area of IKEA was a bit unsettling. It was too quiet reminding me of the huge empty city in some action movie just before buildings were going to be blown up or something. It was quite eerie. Yet once I spotted that giantic blue and yellow building, I knew everything would be okay. After passing a few questionable looking gentlement offering delivery services we walked into my favorite store. It was IKEA in all of it's domestic glory and I was going to explore and savor every last inch!
If you are male and reading this and note my father, you are probably breathing a sigh of relief that you weren't accompanying me and that you weren't Ryan. I will say he definitely earned those hotdogs. First we walked through the first floor which are always the show rooms. I love seeing different decors and ideas for all parts of the home and being able to buy whatever it may be right there or at least buy a good smelling candle. After "an eternity" (I was just imagining how Ryan might phrase it, lol) we headed to the next floor in which you finally aid yourself with a cart and begin the true shopping...
Since I will only be here for a few months, I'm not needing much but somehow wound up with a cart full of stuff. It's a lot like going into Target for one thing...it just isn't going to happen. Truly we need a plastic spatula and candles are a necessity unlike the silly light bulbs that wound up in there too. I have to say the most exciting acquisitions were the eight new plants. A side project of mine is cleaning and fixing up the balconey while I'm here. (I hope to do a blog later showing you all the great stuff I've done with it.) I want to point out that picking out the plants was an enjoyable time for all meaning that Ryan was having fun too. I know, just shocking!
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
We had finally reached the sad end of our trip, but not before hotdogs. If you have patroned an IKEA before, you may remember the cheap concession stand or perhaps their affordable cafeteria. I've eaten hotdogs from them before, but in Barca they have "special" hotdogs for jut 50 cents more you get pickles which I passed on and FRIED ONIONS....omg delicious! I know you maybe a bit surprised from my other blogs and "fancier" tastes, but damn these were yummy. I now better understood my leverage with promising hotdogs. Also Ryan bought an ice cream in which you receive a cone and a coin. The coin is to turn on the ice cream machine which I thought was odd. Like how do they limit the amount people take...is it on a timer? No. Instead you place the cone into the holder, insert coin, choose flavor, and watch. The machine lifts up the coin and "magically" puts the ice cream in it. It was worth the 80 cents just to watch it. Dad you would have loved it! Definitely planning a trip back soon. If not for more cheap housewares for two fried onion hotdogs.
Now to leave you with an entertaining image...picture Ryan and I carrying 3 bags of stuff and 8 plants onto the metro and down many streets and finally up the five flights of stairs. Unfortunately there weren't any fried onion hotdogs at the end.
This past week I've waiting patiently for the weekend so I could get Ryan to take to me. I know I should have just gone myself, but let's face it: there was no way I'd be able to carry everything I'd want to buy! Needless to say as Saturday morning arrived, I was ready.
Now Ryan was not thrilled with the idea of IKEA mostly because it connects with the idea of domestication and while I may be living with him and he has "settled down" in ways, he isn't quite ready for walking around a store picking things out of a house. With the bribe of hotdogs, we set off.
After navigating through a few metro lines, we back above ground ready to shop. Though I will admit I was a bit startled at first. I've grown so used to the crowded streets, old buildings, and noise that walking around the surrounding area of IKEA was a bit unsettling. It was too quiet reminding me of the huge empty city in some action movie just before buildings were going to be blown up or something. It was quite eerie. Yet once I spotted that giantic blue and yellow building, I knew everything would be okay. After passing a few questionable looking gentlement offering delivery services we walked into my favorite store. It was IKEA in all of it's domestic glory and I was going to explore and savor every last inch!
If you are male and reading this and note my father, you are probably breathing a sigh of relief that you weren't accompanying me and that you weren't Ryan. I will say he definitely earned those hotdogs. First we walked through the first floor which are always the show rooms. I love seeing different decors and ideas for all parts of the home and being able to buy whatever it may be right there or at least buy a good smelling candle. After "an eternity" (I was just imagining how Ryan might phrase it, lol) we headed to the next floor in which you finally aid yourself with a cart and begin the true shopping...
Since I will only be here for a few months, I'm not needing much but somehow wound up with a cart full of stuff. It's a lot like going into Target for one thing...it just isn't going to happen. Truly we need a plastic spatula and candles are a necessity unlike the silly light bulbs that wound up in there too. I have to say the most exciting acquisitions were the eight new plants. A side project of mine is cleaning and fixing up the balconey while I'm here. (I hope to do a blog later showing you all the great stuff I've done with it.) I want to point out that picking out the plants was an enjoyable time for all meaning that Ryan was having fun too. I know, just shocking!
Here is our lavender! It made all the stinky streets smell lovely as we walked home.
This plant just looks cool. It apparently will flower on the ends and possibly give berries as well.
This one tricked us. The label includes "ginseng" which we thought, woah we could harvest ginseng. Once I looked it up, it's just a bonsai, but a very cool looking one.
These guys remind me of the tropics and I have a feeling will get very tall. I think they will be great by the lounger.
I can't wait to hang these outside...
We had finally reached the sad end of our trip, but not before hotdogs. If you have patroned an IKEA before, you may remember the cheap concession stand or perhaps their affordable cafeteria. I've eaten hotdogs from them before, but in Barca they have "special" hotdogs for jut 50 cents more you get pickles which I passed on and FRIED ONIONS....omg delicious! I know you maybe a bit surprised from my other blogs and "fancier" tastes, but damn these were yummy. I now better understood my leverage with promising hotdogs. Also Ryan bought an ice cream in which you receive a cone and a coin. The coin is to turn on the ice cream machine which I thought was odd. Like how do they limit the amount people take...is it on a timer? No. Instead you place the cone into the holder, insert coin, choose flavor, and watch. The machine lifts up the coin and "magically" puts the ice cream in it. It was worth the 80 cents just to watch it. Dad you would have loved it! Definitely planning a trip back soon. If not for more cheap housewares for two fried onion hotdogs.
Now to leave you with an entertaining image...picture Ryan and I carrying 3 bags of stuff and 8 plants onto the metro and down many streets and finally up the five flights of stairs. Unfortunately there weren't any fried onion hotdogs at the end.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Universal Truths
Bona Nit.
As the dusk turned to evening and evening to night, I've been pondering the right words for my next post. I've been thinking about our experiences yesterday and how they reminded me of the states.
Ryan is in need of receiving a Resident's Card for Spain. If you have ever dealt with any government (especially Spain's) you will know that achieving any such document requires LOTS of other documents. After a few days of filling out forms, making copies, attaining letters, and so forth Ryan was ready to go. Seeing as I have a lot of time on my hands, I accompanied him. As we walked there, he filled me in on his last experience there....
"I waited at least few hours standing in line with the hot sun beating down which felt like forever."
Great I thought to myself, this is not going to be fun. Then again when is dealing with forms, paperwork, or government fun??
We arrived to the building and he conversed with a guard outside who essentially said "Yes, this is where you need to go." Upon entering the air conditioned, quiet, chair-filled room, we talked with another representative who said since he was a student, he needed to go back outside, down the street to another building or as Ryan said "Students may enter in the back." The sun and standing must just be down the road I thought to myself. We arrived to another guarded area where Ryan conversed his purpose and was prompted to go to the left. We arrived in an seating area in a parking garage and took a number. Silver lining: 50 cent bottles of cold water. Downside: this was just a holding area. We only waited about 15 minutes before our number was called 405. This new official gave Ryan a ticket and told him to enter another building. Can you guess what we did upon entering this room??? Yup we grabbed another ticket which read 555.
After sitting down, I scanned the room to figure out what number they were on: 489 only 66 more to go! Silver lining: air conditioning and seats! Downside: lots of crying and small children. We waited and waited and waited and waited. Luckily we came prepared with my guidebook of Barcelona to read and his drawing pad. We chatted. We walked a small child perpetually throw anything around her and drive her mother crazy. We sighed....but slowly the numbers counted up and soon we were only 10 more, 9 more, 8 more to go. You should be told soon is the same as two hours here. On 554 we packed everything up and sat with baited breath awaiting the change....Ta Da!!!! 555 in room 6.
We entered the small room and Ryan and the woman starting talking. This was all in Spanish of course. Ryan kept handing her papers and she kept asking for things. The only thing I truly understood was tres anos or 3 years. Then in her gesturing and tone, I could tell something was missing. Sure enough, he needed some paper from the university stating specificially when he starts and finishes from the unversity.
My new universal truth:
Government always translates to a long oftern unpleasant wait to discover you still don't have all the papers you need.
As the dusk turned to evening and evening to night, I've been pondering the right words for my next post. I've been thinking about our experiences yesterday and how they reminded me of the states.
Ryan is in need of receiving a Resident's Card for Spain. If you have ever dealt with any government (especially Spain's) you will know that achieving any such document requires LOTS of other documents. After a few days of filling out forms, making copies, attaining letters, and so forth Ryan was ready to go. Seeing as I have a lot of time on my hands, I accompanied him. As we walked there, he filled me in on his last experience there....
"I waited at least few hours standing in line with the hot sun beating down which felt like forever."
Great I thought to myself, this is not going to be fun. Then again when is dealing with forms, paperwork, or government fun??
We arrived to the building and he conversed with a guard outside who essentially said "Yes, this is where you need to go." Upon entering the air conditioned, quiet, chair-filled room, we talked with another representative who said since he was a student, he needed to go back outside, down the street to another building or as Ryan said "Students may enter in the back." The sun and standing must just be down the road I thought to myself. We arrived to another guarded area where Ryan conversed his purpose and was prompted to go to the left. We arrived in an seating area in a parking garage and took a number. Silver lining: 50 cent bottles of cold water. Downside: this was just a holding area. We only waited about 15 minutes before our number was called 405. This new official gave Ryan a ticket and told him to enter another building. Can you guess what we did upon entering this room??? Yup we grabbed another ticket which read 555.
After sitting down, I scanned the room to figure out what number they were on: 489 only 66 more to go! Silver lining: air conditioning and seats! Downside: lots of crying and small children. We waited and waited and waited and waited. Luckily we came prepared with my guidebook of Barcelona to read and his drawing pad. We chatted. We walked a small child perpetually throw anything around her and drive her mother crazy. We sighed....but slowly the numbers counted up and soon we were only 10 more, 9 more, 8 more to go. You should be told soon is the same as two hours here. On 554 we packed everything up and sat with baited breath awaiting the change....Ta Da!!!! 555 in room 6.
We entered the small room and Ryan and the woman starting talking. This was all in Spanish of course. Ryan kept handing her papers and she kept asking for things. The only thing I truly understood was tres anos or 3 years. Then in her gesturing and tone, I could tell something was missing. Sure enough, he needed some paper from the university stating specificially when he starts and finishes from the unversity.
My new universal truth:
Government always translates to a long oftern unpleasant wait to discover you still don't have all the papers you need.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Everyday Life
Bona Tarda!
These past few days I've started to settle into my life here in Barcelona. Before I can set out and explore this vibrant, historic city I should probably get a few groceries and finish unpacking. It does seem awfully logical and a bit like me. So I thought I would share with you a few of my every day experiences here.
Back in St. Louis as I thought my trip to Barcelona I fantasized and probably romancized my life here though maybe this post will sound a bit romantic to you...
If you haven't gleaned this from my previous entries let me spell one thing out for you. The most important driving factor of my life is food. I love it and so it was naturally my first big concern here at the apartment. I had to eat and without free tapas here in Barcelona it looks like I'm going to have to cook.
Ryan showed me a grocery store just across from our apartment which is super convinent.
Before I continue I should note unlike many people, I love grocery stores. This enjoyment probably stems from my grandmother and my father. When I was little my grandmother would always take me to the grocery store and Walmart: Yes they were different things back then. I loved walking down every aisle with her, picking out my favorites, staring as she carefully choose just right produce and snuck in a few tastes to confirm, and told the bagger just how she wanted everything separated. Although my favorite part was stopping by the front deli area and getting chicken nuggets. These were heaven to me...my childhood happiness. As I grew up, my father and I have spent countless hours wandering through grocery stores comparing, noting, and buying delicious foods to try. We enjoy cooking so we are often looking for some new ingredient, spice, or produce.
So a new country's grocery store peaks my interest. My first observation was size. In the U.S. grocery stores are huge with everything and if by some ridiculous chance they don't have what you are looking for you just drive down the street to a different one and Voila: you've got it. This is not the case here...stores are much smaller with limited variety of everything not mention that they carry different things then which I am accustommed to. Needless to say our first trip there, I was just taking it all in and trying not to panic with the unfamiliarity. Lucky for me my number one priority was present: coke. Relief spread through my body and I promptly bought four cans to tide me over.
As Ryan set off for work the following day, I knew my task: groceries. The teacher in me makes me a planner so I brought my Rite in the Rain notebook and began at the familiar close grocer. I walked down the aisles noting prices of the things I wanted to get and really taking a much closer look. This time I was buying things to cook and eat not just see the place. There are many familiar favorites here: pasta, tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, a few cereals, jam, honey, butter, eggs, milk, etc. Some of the biggest changes always seem to be meat and cheese. Whenever you travel, you just never know what you are going to get. At this grocer, the meat is mostly behind the meat counter which is not very helpful for me since I'm still learning the language. In the end I picked up a couple things that were on sale and dropped them off back at the apartment.
If you are still picturing a romantic view of life here, know this. Our lovely apartment with balconey is at the top...the top of five flights of steps. Ahhhh...now you see.
Anyways, I started my journey to a unknown store that is part of the Mercat de Santa Caterina. This is another lovely market in Barcelona (I will definitely do a blog on the markets sometime). Ryan had pointed out Caprabo the other day saying it was larger than other. Another romantic characterstic of my daily life is walking. Now Patrick would definitely approve of this seeing as he always ashews cars whenever possible. Truly I don't mind the walk especially through these streets. Every turn you can find a beautiful old church, say built in 1300 or some wacky sex shop or Roman ruins or more possible a beggar. It's enjoyable to walk this city as long as you hold your belongings close and know where you are going.
When I arrive to Caprabo, I was surprised by the prices. I expected the place close to home to have the best prices for the most part, but Caprabo beat almost all of them. This was very exciting for the money saver I am. I promptly walked through the entire store twice (which still is like walking through half of Dierburgs, seriously) and bought 3 bag fulls of groceries. I know you are all very smart and have put two and two together to discover while it normally equals four, here it means: Amy is carrying 3 heavy bags of groceries alllllllllllllllllll the way home and THEN up five flights of steps. Breathless was an understatement. You should know my arms and shoulders are sore today.
I did title this "everyday life" because I wanted to include more than just my grocery shopping although I sure that was very exciting to read ;)
Another big adjustment for me here in Spain is washing clothes. Before you get into a tizzy, you should know I do my laundry back in the states as well. My challenge here lies in the dryer. You see, there isn't one. Nope no dryer just a nice washer, iron, and LOTS of clothes pins. Outside my balcony are lines to hang my clothes or sheets or towels or anything else that may need to dry. It isn't too much extra work although I've found myself holding my breath every good wind. I'm sure I'll lose at least one piece of clothing before this trip is over, lets just hope it's Ryan's!
I almost forgot to mention the best part of my day. It's a toss up really between being awoken by children running and screaming and falling asleep to the seagulls. I guess I'm destined to have children no matter where I am which is why our apartment overlooks a school yard and yes they are still in school. About four times a day I can hear every word, yell, squeal, laugh, and shreek although I still don't understand most of it. The other lovely part of being close to the beach is the seagulls return each evening. Almost as soon as the children are gone the flocks return calling away. No matter where we lived here in Barca, there is no quiet. I do admit though, seagulls and a school of children wouldn't have been my first guesses to the noise tho.
There is one part I do enjoy though, without sarcasm. I love laying on the balcony, taking in the sun, and reading a book. At those moments (before I start sweating to death) it feels like a real vacation.
Ciao
These past few days I've started to settle into my life here in Barcelona. Before I can set out and explore this vibrant, historic city I should probably get a few groceries and finish unpacking. It does seem awfully logical and a bit like me. So I thought I would share with you a few of my every day experiences here.
Back in St. Louis as I thought my trip to Barcelona I fantasized and probably romancized my life here though maybe this post will sound a bit romantic to you...
If you haven't gleaned this from my previous entries let me spell one thing out for you. The most important driving factor of my life is food. I love it and so it was naturally my first big concern here at the apartment. I had to eat and without free tapas here in Barcelona it looks like I'm going to have to cook.
Ryan showed me a grocery store just across from our apartment which is super convinent.
Before I continue I should note unlike many people, I love grocery stores. This enjoyment probably stems from my grandmother and my father. When I was little my grandmother would always take me to the grocery store and Walmart: Yes they were different things back then. I loved walking down every aisle with her, picking out my favorites, staring as she carefully choose just right produce and snuck in a few tastes to confirm, and told the bagger just how she wanted everything separated. Although my favorite part was stopping by the front deli area and getting chicken nuggets. These were heaven to me...my childhood happiness. As I grew up, my father and I have spent countless hours wandering through grocery stores comparing, noting, and buying delicious foods to try. We enjoy cooking so we are often looking for some new ingredient, spice, or produce.
So a new country's grocery store peaks my interest. My first observation was size. In the U.S. grocery stores are huge with everything and if by some ridiculous chance they don't have what you are looking for you just drive down the street to a different one and Voila: you've got it. This is not the case here...stores are much smaller with limited variety of everything not mention that they carry different things then which I am accustommed to. Needless to say our first trip there, I was just taking it all in and trying not to panic with the unfamiliarity. Lucky for me my number one priority was present: coke. Relief spread through my body and I promptly bought four cans to tide me over.
As Ryan set off for work the following day, I knew my task: groceries. The teacher in me makes me a planner so I brought my Rite in the Rain notebook and began at the familiar close grocer. I walked down the aisles noting prices of the things I wanted to get and really taking a much closer look. This time I was buying things to cook and eat not just see the place. There are many familiar favorites here: pasta, tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, a few cereals, jam, honey, butter, eggs, milk, etc. Some of the biggest changes always seem to be meat and cheese. Whenever you travel, you just never know what you are going to get. At this grocer, the meat is mostly behind the meat counter which is not very helpful for me since I'm still learning the language. In the end I picked up a couple things that were on sale and dropped them off back at the apartment.
If you are still picturing a romantic view of life here, know this. Our lovely apartment with balconey is at the top...the top of five flights of steps. Ahhhh...now you see.
Anyways, I started my journey to a unknown store that is part of the Mercat de Santa Caterina. This is another lovely market in Barcelona (I will definitely do a blog on the markets sometime). Ryan had pointed out Caprabo the other day saying it was larger than other. Another romantic characterstic of my daily life is walking. Now Patrick would definitely approve of this seeing as he always ashews cars whenever possible. Truly I don't mind the walk especially through these streets. Every turn you can find a beautiful old church, say built in 1300 or some wacky sex shop or Roman ruins or more possible a beggar. It's enjoyable to walk this city as long as you hold your belongings close and know where you are going.
When I arrive to Caprabo, I was surprised by the prices. I expected the place close to home to have the best prices for the most part, but Caprabo beat almost all of them. This was very exciting for the money saver I am. I promptly walked through the entire store twice (which still is like walking through half of Dierburgs, seriously) and bought 3 bag fulls of groceries. I know you are all very smart and have put two and two together to discover while it normally equals four, here it means: Amy is carrying 3 heavy bags of groceries alllllllllllllllllll the way home and THEN up five flights of steps. Breathless was an understatement. You should know my arms and shoulders are sore today.
I did title this "everyday life" because I wanted to include more than just my grocery shopping although I sure that was very exciting to read ;)
Another big adjustment for me here in Spain is washing clothes. Before you get into a tizzy, you should know I do my laundry back in the states as well. My challenge here lies in the dryer. You see, there isn't one. Nope no dryer just a nice washer, iron, and LOTS of clothes pins. Outside my balcony are lines to hang my clothes or sheets or towels or anything else that may need to dry. It isn't too much extra work although I've found myself holding my breath every good wind. I'm sure I'll lose at least one piece of clothing before this trip is over, lets just hope it's Ryan's!
Just imagine this space filled with screaming children.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Chinese Tapas, Say What???
I'm sure all of you are familiar with the idea of tapas or small plates. This wonderful creation came from Spain and has infilitrated many places around the globe. Something you may not know is that tapas were originally small dishes served when you ordered drinks partially to keep the patrons sober. Originally these were similar to happy hour free snacks in other words your tapas were free with each drink. The other piece of this puzzle is that Granada is the only main city left in Spain that serves tapas traditionally in that they are FREE! This translated into spending say 8 to 10 Euros in a night for 4-5 drinks and a full meal. I miss it already.
Our first experience with this was at Oleum which I have wrote of in a previous entry, Oh so delicioso. Great tapas there although I normally couldn't help but ordering a meal as well, always huevos rotos. Although here is a delicious pic of my tapa when I went back alone. I was soooo very relieved to have been given something without fish, let alone something this delicious!
This was my first choice which was roasted red pepper, cheese, egg, ham, and aioli. It was very tasty, but our adventure gets better.
Our first experience with this was at Oleum which I have wrote of in a previous entry, Oh so delicioso. Great tapas there although I normally couldn't help but ordering a meal as well, always huevos rotos. Although here is a delicious pic of my tapa when I went back alone. I was soooo very relieved to have been given something without fish, let alone something this delicious!
Notice the traditional way they serve Coca: ice and lemon. I'm in heaven :)
The next night we were priviledged enough to tapa hunting with a true veteran of Granada tapas. He brought us to Bar Casa Julio, this tiny bar which has been in business forever (aka 1947) and the owner (possibly Julio?) is behind the bar serving everyone. It's the type of place where you are shoulder to shoulder with people, standing, devouring every morsel and loving it.
This place is known for small fried fishes in which Ryan attested that they were outstanding (I naturally passed). Next were croquetas caseras or homemade croquettes filled with ham. They are very yummy especially to a starving Amy! Though my favorite at Casa Julio is berenjena frita (fried eggplant). Now many of you may be shocked at this favorite or perhaps you may not enjoy eggplant in general. Well I assure you, this is just downright incredible. The berenjenas are sliced thinly and covered in the lightest, crunchiest batter. To make them even better, you drizzle them with hearts of palm honey....pure heaven.
Afterwards, Ignacio offered to take us to Chinese Tapas. Even if you have spent your life in Spain and lived off tapas, Chinese tapas would still be a foreign idea. We had to partake in this once in a lifetime opportunity. So just a few steps away were Chinese tapas. Even walking into the building seemed wrong, like we had stepped into a time warp or alternate dimension. After ordering our drinks, we were asked what tapa we would like. Now this is also an exciting development seeing as traditionally free tapas are choosen by the server or chef meaning you don't get to choose your free tapa. But as always, the Chinese know just how to get us with their all you can eat buffets and now choose your own tapa! I choose the tallarines con verduras (essentially vegetable lo mein) which I prompty devoured.
This is just a few of the choices. Others included chicken wings and some kind of fish or shrimp.
At this point in the night our bellies were full of the gratis food and we headed for one last drink. Commonly in big cities such as Granada and Barcelona people will stand along busy streets with flyers promoting clubs or bars. We had a few such offers and decided, why not especially with beer advertised for 1.50?? Upon arrival, we noticed the place was empty but then again 11 is very early for Spain. The bar tender hooked us up with an even better deal: 1 Euro beers and gave us all a free shot. I think something is wrong with Granada. Don't they understand we are supposed to be paying them for food and drinks? Not that I'm complaining, just every time I turn around we aren't having to spend anything...god it's great.
The following night, Ryan and I wanted to continue this quest for tapas. Truly we wanted Paulina to experience the best tapa at Bar Casa Julio. Try as we might, it was not possible. We wandered, thought, and even attempted to retrace our steps. At that point, Paulina compared us to Jack Sparrow using his compass which unfortunately was quite acurate. Neverless Ignacio has given us a few tips the previous night so we tried those bars instead. Across from Chinese tapas was a small sandwich tapa bar. We received chorizo subs with some potato chips or crisps (depending on where you're from ;). My only compliant: Pepsi. Just not acceptable so we moved on. Next up is a touristy place that is set up like a medival bar with swords and shields on the walls along with new flat screen tvs playing pop music videos. The upside in addition to having COKE were the extra large tapas.
Try to remember: we did not pay for this food and our drinks cost 1.80 each!
Once again we scourred the streets for Casa Julio and even asked someone. I guess I should admit something: at that time we did not know the name of the bar nor the street it was on. As Ryan was explaining it to the friendly guy, he said "It's this little bar, you walk down a small street and turn into it, the place has been there forever, and the guy who owns it has pictures up of himself from a long time ago." I'm sure you are now going, how the hell would any of that information help someone figure out where we were talking about? Well it didn't, but the guy was nice and suggested a place that he thought "might" be what we were looking for. It wasn't, but we tried it anyway. Free food: can't go wrong. This place also did not have coke and served a fish tapa...double strike. Lucky for me Ryan tried the Gazpaco so I sipped on that. While chatting away, we had given up hope on finding Casa Julio on our own so we texted Ignacio for help and being the great guy he is, he met up with us shortly afterwards. Of course we did find Cas Julio before he got there and realized that we couldn't find it before because it was closed when we had originally started our search!?! Never have I been so proud to find something nor as pleasantly rewarded with berenjenas fritas.
Ryan and my final day in Granada was spent exploring the city and capitializing on the last night of free tapas before our return to Barca and actually paying for our meals. We hit up our favorite strip but struggled to decide where to go. Lucky for us Ryan spotted a sign advertising a choose your tapa bar so we figure, why not? The place is Bar Tapas 380. It was a find! We sat at the bar to discover the bartender/new owner has family in the states and has even been to Carbondale. He was chatty and funny and very enjoyable, but the highlight for me were the delicious tapas. The list was long, at least 20 different tapas to choose from and everything we ate was exquisite.
This probably was my favorite: Ham with carmelized onions. Those onions were sweet and savory and I could have eaten an entire plate of them alone!
This is carne con salsa. I ordered it on our final round after Ryan had tried Squid con salsa. He loved it, so I figure why not try it with meat? Good call Amy, good call. Upon complimenting the cook, we discovered they were from Romania and this was a traditional dish there. Wow, I need to go to Romania now.
I leave you with Ryan's new favorite wine. I tried it and it was excellent. We are officially on a hunt to find it here in Barca.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)