Girona, Figures, Fútbol, Amsterdam

Oops...kind of forgot to update :(

Hmm...what have I been up to for the past two weeks? Well...two weekends ago we went to Girona y Figures, which are both small towns located north of Barcelona. In Girona, we went on a walking tour of the old city. It used to be a walled city, like Barcleona, and still has a lot of the wall still standing. We got to walk on the wall and see the beautiful view from the top of it. We also saw the Arab Baths of Girona. It was reall cool to see these old bath/sauna houses that they used to use. The sad thing about Girona is that the French came and stole a lot of the statues and destroyed a lot of the city :( Pero, there is still a lot of interesting things to see.

After our guided tour, we went to Figures where we visited the Dalí museum. Dalí designed the entire museum so the entire museum is a work of art. The outside of the museum is pink with egg like sculptures on the top. Its sounds very strange and, well, it is very strange. He is also buried inside. Since there is no guided tours through the museum (because Dalí wanted visitors to tour freely throught the museum and get what they want out of it), we had a scavenger hunt that our program gave to us. Whoever answered the most questions right, won. And yes...guess who won...................ME! haha. I won a Dalí elefante. Sounds strange...well it´s Dalí.

That night Brittany, Elsa and I went to go see 500 days of summer at a local theater that plays movies in their original language. The theater was so small and so cute. And yes, they do sell popcorn there. They also sell beer in the vending machine....quite interesting. The movie was very good and despues we found a crepe place and ate crepes.....yum. I got a banana and nutella crepe. Perfect ending to the day.

The next day we decided to go shopping, what else is new? At least everytime we go shopping we go to different malls. Haha. Then, that night we went to the FC Barcelona fútbol game. This time Brittany and I had much better seats. The game was good, but they didn´t play their best and Messi only played for half of the second half. However, he did score the penalty shot. After the game, Elsa and I went out to the IceBar. Its the first Ice Bar in the world and its located on the beach. It was very fun and the drinks were so good. The entire bar is made of ice including the seats and the cups. If you don´t drink your drink fast enough, it starts to freeze...DRINK UP! We only lasted about 30 minutes inside and then we went outside to warm up and stand under a heater. Haha.

Sunday, we spent the day lounging around with our family; watching movies and chatting. Also, the internet stopped working that day...que malo! The following days were the same old same old. School, homework, research. Wednesday I went to see La Bella y La Bestia (Beauty and the Beast) the musical in Spanish. I was surprised how much I understood! I understood almost all of the speaking parts...the songs were a little harder to understand, but I knew what was going on. I think my favorite part was hearing Lumiere speak in Spanish with a French accent. Que interestante!

Thursday, Brittany, Lindsey and I left for Amsterdam. Our tripped didn´t start out so well. I found out that my bank canceled my debit card and the airlines lost Brittany´s luggage. Usually we don´t check our luggage, but this was the first time we were not flying with RyanAir (a cheap airlines that makes you pay when you want to check your luggage) and we were allowed to check our luggage for free so we figured...por qué no? Well, we should have carried it on. Then, we had to take a train in order to get into the city after we arrived...well, the train decided not to show up, so we were stuck in the train station till 2am. Awesome. We did however entertain ourselves with Lindsey´s kid´s meal toy from Burger king....Patrick from Sponge Bob Square Pants.

Besides the start to our trip, Amsterdam was beautiful. I think it is one of my favorite cities that I have traveled to so far. On Friday, we went to the Anne Frank house. I don´t even know how to describe it; there are no words. It was very powerful to be standing in her room where she wrote her diary. We got to walk through their entire hiding place. We walked through the secret passage way that was covered with a bookcase. It was amazing. Really sad, but amazing.

After that, we went on a walking tour of the city. It was very interesting to learn the history of Amsterdam. Amsterdam is named after the river Amstel (like the beer) and the dam that was built on the river...very creative. It was also, at one time, the financial power of the world. Amsterdam is centered around business and making money. They will do anything to make money; hense why almost everything is legal. We also had the famous Dutch pancakes and also went on a pub crawl. Want to hear something crazy?? You have to pay to use the bathrooms at the bars! See...Amsterdam will do anything to make money. I tried to bargain with them. "But what if we all go together and only flush once?" Yup, we still had to pay :(

Saturday, we went to the Heinkien Factory, the IAMSTERDAM sign, the Van Gough Museum, a romantic canal cruise (right Brittany?), and the Red Light District. The Heinkien factory was so much fun. We went into a simulator where you pretended like you were a Heinkein beer and were being brewed and bottled. It was hilarious seeing everyone pretending to be bottles. We were also able to record a video of use signing karaoke to a Dutch song and then send it to people. The Van Gough museum was also very impressive. I love his work. It's amazing to see how many pieces of art one person can paint in their life. I could never paint enough paintings to fill an entire musuem! Our romantic canal cruise for two was through this company called "Lovers"...haha...it was interesting. And...the Red Light District. Wow, can you say culture shock? Didn't see that one coming. If you want to know more...just ask. haha. Sunday we came home :(

And now...it's just another Monday.

Agenda for the week:
- 2 papers
- 4 presentations
- Meet with intercambio

- BERLIN on Thursday!!

Quotes from the weekend:

- "But what if we all go together and don't flush..."

- "I only have 25 cents"

- "Patrick!!"

- "Bwittney is such a charwictor"

- "There's a cat in our hostel"

- "Is this train going to Central Station? No? GET OFF GET OFF!"

- "Lindsey, help us!" "I can't...we need to leave"

- "This is the cutest little street I've ever seen!" "I know, let's walk down it" "...so yea, that was the red light district"

- "I love men with bodies like yours"

- "Yesterday there were three, and now there are only two." "Yea, we lost one" "Oh, it was a difficult night?"

- "Pues siiiiiiiiiiiii"

- "Lindsey, you are a horrible mother..." "You're a horrible mother, you lost Patrick in the Van Gough museum"

- Pancakes.....

...y ya está. Hasta luego. Muchos besssoos!

La Ovella y La Mantequilla, no es La Aveja y La Mariquita

Hola, hola, hola!

I think I just had the longest weekend of my life, primarily because it started on Wednesday. Last week we had midterms, which, for me, ended on Tuesday! It felt so good to be done with everything that we decided to start the weekend a little early.

Pues, Wednesday we went to L'Ovella Negra, a local bar that is muy divertido! Me encanta. También, muchas días conocer personas nuevas de Barcelona. Anyway, we went there for a couple of beers, some sangria, and to socialize. It was a chill night, but a good way to celebrate. And yes, for all you parents reading, I did make it to my 9am class on Thursday morning!

On Thursday, after going to class of course, we decided to go out again. ¿Por qué no? We don´t have class on Friday. So, we decided to go to Bar Marsella. Bar Marsella is one of Barcelona´s oldest bars. Hemmingway, Picasso, and Dalí were known to go there back in the day. Also, at this bar, they sell Absinthe, which is an alcoholic beverage that is (parents cover your eyes) illegal in the States, only because it is too strong for us Americans. Seeing as I am basically Spanish now, I figured I could handle it. It is actually a pretty interesting process in order to drink it. The bartender hands you a glass (about 1/3 full) of Absinthe, a fork, a sugar cube, and a bottle of water. First, you dip the sugar cubes in the Absinthe to allow them to soak up the alcohol. Then you place the fork across the top of the glass and put the sugar cubes on the fork. You then take a lighter and light the sugar cubes on fire. When the flame goes out, you spray sugar cubes with the water and mix it all together. The end result should be a full glass that looks kind of like lemonade. We were not successful on our first try and therefore had to drink a very strong glass of Absinthe. However, we mastered it on the second glass :) We then attempted to go to a club, however, the line was enormous and Brittany's foot got crushed. Don't worry though, I made her elevate it and it is all better now!

On Friday, we woke up around noon, at lunch, an decided to go shopping. Well, you can never go wrong with shopping and of course we were very productive :) That night, we ate pizza for dinner (this will come in play later in the story). Our señora ordered us our own pizza for the two of us. Of course, we didn´t finish it, however we put the last two pieces in the refridgerator for later. So, once again, we went out. We ended up at L'Ovella Negra once again. This is where Brittany found the love of her life (not really). However, she was able to practice her Spanish again, only this time he was not a native Spanish speaker...actually he lived in England. Before finding this out, she asked him if he wanted to practice his English while she practiced her Spanish. He answered in perfect English...nevermind. haha. We finished off the night at a club called City Hall, and luckily, we didn't have to pay for a cab because we stayed out long enough for the metro to open up again! Again, parents, we are only trying to be financially smart. Well, when we got home...we were a little hungry and we knew that there was some leftover pizza in the refridgerator. I think you can figure out where this story is going...yes, we ate the leftover pizza out of our Señoras fridge. Oops. The best part is, the next day at lunch, our Señora said, "La pizza fue rico no?" She knew....

Saturday was a lazy day. We lounged around all day. But then we remembered that we didn't have Halloween outfits. So at about 5pm, we decided we should probably go find some. We looked for about 2-3 hours and finally settled on being a bee and a lady bug. Our Señora loved our costumes, but her friend thought it was strange that we weren't something scary. After getting ready, we went to say goodbye to our Señora. We stayed and talked to her for about an hour. She taught us the words for bee and ladybug in Spanish, but we kept messing them up. "Aveja" is bee and "mariquita" is ladybug is Spanish. However, we kept saying "ovella and mantequilla" which means sheep and butter. haha. Also we learned that you have to say "UNA mariquita" because if you don't it means you are gay. We had a good time. The rest of the night was way to much fun. Let's just say we took 80 pictures while waiting for the metro, fell asleep with the lights on and snuggling my computer, and my keys were found in the toilet the next morning. ¿Quieres pan Brittany?

Sunday was All Saints Day. Because it was a holiday, Jorge (Laura´s father) came over to eat and spend the day with us. Let´s just say socializing, and eathing seafood is very hard when you are hungover :( I'm pretty sure our Señora wants to test our stomachs every Sunday morning. She also offered me wine, and made me smell this cherry liquor that she has.

A tradition they have here is they eat panallets, castañas (roasted chestnuts), and boniatos (sweet potatoes). Entonces, later in the day, we had these as a snack. These went over a lot better than the seafood...

Today and Monday, were the same as they always are.

Things on the agenda for this week:

- Ice Bar

- Girona y Figures

- FC Barcelona game on Saturday

- La Bella y La Bestia (Beauty and the Beast) on Sunday

-Shopping?

- Parc Cuidadella?

- And, homework of course...

Adios! Bessssssssssos!

Otras cosas que he aprendido en España

I have been here for almost 2 months now and have learned some more things/have noticed some cultural differences. Here are some. Disfrútate!

- The mullet is a popular haircut here
- People dress with the season, not with the weather. For example, if it's 70 degrees in October, people wear jeans, long sleeve shirts, jackets, boots, etc. I wore shorts and got strange looks.
- People think I'm French. I have gotten "merci" more than I have gotten "gracias"
- Pico means beak, not apartment
- Spanish men are short
- Germans are tall, large, and generally good looking (must be where I get my good looks from!)
- "Hamburger" said in English by a German is the funniest thing ever!
- Swedish people speak almost perfect English
- Cava is my new favorite drink
- The TV series "Friends" is called "Colegas" in Spanish and I think it's 10 times funnier!
- It's true that Europeans don't shave.
- Finding shaving cream here was hard...and they only had 1 type to choose from.
- Nata means whipped cream...not scum
- The Marilyn Monroe peircing is very popular
- Spanish people judge you by your shoes
- Cheese flavored snacks do not exist in Spain
- My English is getting worse...You thought my spelling was bad before...Dios mio! Ahora es horrible!
- When Spanish people speak in English, they have British accents
- Gofres con chocolate (chocolate waffles) are my new favorite snack.
- They sell beer at McDonalds, but not at the Barcelona soccer games
- "¿Tienes sueño?" means "Are you tired" not "Did you have dreams?" Do not respond with "No recuerdo (I don't remember)"
- Dogs are so well trained here!! The other day, I saw a dog waiting for its owner outside a shop without a leash. The dog was like a British guard...I tried distracting it and it wouldn't even look at me.
- Nudity is normal
- Spanish children in school uniforms are adorable
- Soccer is a religion
- People smoke like it's there job
- It is legal to drink alcohol on the streets, in the metro...basically wherever you want.
- They don't refridgerate their eggs here and they don't refridgerate their milk until it is opened
- Ice cubes are rare

I think that is all for now, I'm sure I'll have more later!

Hasta luego! Besos

Mallorca, bird pee, and nata.

Well, it is about that time of the year for midterms...so what do Brittany and I decide to do?? Stay in Barcelona and study our brains away??? No way, we decided to go to an island in the Mediterranean called Mallorca. We were looking at airplane tickets one night and noticed that a round trip flight to Mallorca was 15 euro ($23)!!! Que guay! So we bought them. The flight was only 40 minutes, however it left at 7:50 in the morning and the airport is an hour away. Eekk! After waking up at 3:15 am, taking a bus to Plaza Catalunya (main plaza here), catching a taxi to the bus station, and taking a bus to the airport, we finally arrived around 6:15am to the airport. Since we were there that early, we treated ourselves to a McDonalds breakfast! Yummy.

Once we arrived in Palma, Mallorca, we had to take a bus to Plaza España to transfer to another bus to take us to our hostel. Well...being unfamilar with the trasportation system, we got on the right bus going the wrong way. We rode the bus all the way to the end of the line, where it stopped, the bus driver got off and locked us on the bus!!! So here we are, on the ourskirts of Palma, completely out of our way, locked on a bus. Awesome. After about 10 minutes, the bus driver returned, let more people on and continued on our way, this time in the right direction. We finally arrived at our hostel about an hour later because it was located at the last stop at the other end of the line. So what should have been a 25 minute ride from the airport to our hostel, turned into a 2 hour trip! I guess it wasn't so bad, because when we arrived at the hostel, our room wasnt ready anyway.

We walked around a bit, got some ice cream, por supuesto, and returned to our hostel about an hour later to get our room. We then changed into our suits and headed to la playa! The beach was glorious; just the thing we needed. We took a little siesta. While I was napping, I felt a little drip on my head...I thought, "Is it raining?" No...it wasn't raining. Just a bird overhead...

I heard that getting pooped on by a bird is good luck, but I'm not really sure about pee. However, getting peed on TWICE has got to mean something. Yes, you read that right. About 30 minutes later, I felt another drip...another bird. Gross. We headed back to hostel, got some tapas & sangria, and headed to bed.

Saturday, we slept in, which was amazing. Something I haven't done in a long time. Then we decided to take an old vintage train to a small port town called Soller. The train was so cute and it went through the mountains which was so beautiful. We arrived to Soller around convienently around lunch time. Perfect. I treated myself to some pealla...I just can't get enough! Me lo encanta! And, of course, after lunch we found an ice cream place and got ice cream otra vez :)

Then, we hopped on a tram that took us down to the port. It was absolutely breath-taking! Pictures do not even do it justice. We found some beach chairs and plopped ourselves down on the beach. Total relaxation! Unfortunately, we could not stay there all day. We had to catch a train back to our hostel. We finished our night by getting drunk in our hostel while listening to Brittany Spears and Baby Got Back....hahaha. Just kidding...or am I?

The next morning at the airport consisted of NOT seedless grapes, and trying to figure out what was in these boxes that EVERYONE was bringing back with them from Mallorca. We obviously did not get the memo.

When we arrived home to Barcelona, we were greeted by our textbooks. They were so happy to see us, however the feeling was not mutual. Our señora suprised us with chocolate in bed though as a bust to our studying! It was nice. My favorite part of the night was when we were eating dinner and our señora asked us if we liked to eat "nata." We didn't know what it meant, so Laura looked it up on the computer. The online dictionary said "nata" meant "scum." So she asked us again..."Te gusta scum?" HAHAHA Brittany and I started cracking up. We said no!! But we found out later that "nata" means "whipped cream" so I changed my answer to yes :)

Well, I should probably get back to studying for midterms...I'm so good at distracting myself.

The agenda for this week:

-Two midterms tomorrow

-Halloween (we are being Fanta girls!)

-Ice bar?

-Outlet mall shopping?

-Homework?

-No sé hay más

Adios! Besossssssssssss

Fray Concert, Milks Visit to Barca, and Ireland

I'm sorry that it has been so long since my last update, but I'll try to fill you in on everything that I have done since then. Let's see....

On Wednesday October 7, we went to the Fray concert. It was at a club here called Razzmatazz. The tickets were only 22 euro and was first come first serve on seating. We started out the evening by going out for tapas and wine with a group of girls. We arrived at the concert around 9pm, which was later than we wanted, but we still arrived before they started playing. After getting a drink, we proceeded to the front of the stage. We stopped about 10 rows back from the stage! Not bad for 22 euro!! The concert was awesome. The lead singer even tried to speak some Spanish which was very entertaining.

Thursday was a normal day at class...nothing much to say about that!

On Friday, my cousin Jen and my Aunt Debbie arrived in Barcelona. I met them for lunch at a very tasty Italian restaurant. After lunch we walked through the Boqueria, which might not have been the best idea since the market consists of raw meat and dead fish, so we walked mainly through the fruit and veggie sections. The best part of the Boqueria was when we were leaving and my aunt wasn't paying attention to where she was walking and walked right into a pig thigh that was hanging from one of the stands. It was priceless. We continued our journey walking down Las Ramblas and browsing through the local artists' paintings. After that, we stumbeld upon a mall. Funny how us girls always happen to find them. We spent a while in there. Let's just say our wallets were not very happy with us. Once we were done, we walked down the boardwalk, and after being harassed by all the restaurant workers, we picked a restaurant to have some tapas and cava. The cava was soooooooooo good. And if that wasn't enough alcohol, they gave us free sangria at the end. Needless to say, we were all done for the night.

The next day, we toured the Barrio Gotica. I love this area of the city, so I did not mind touring it again :) After that we went to Plaza Reial to get some paella and sangria. I have decided that I could eat paella every day. It is sooooooooo good. Our lunch was accompanied by local musicians and Jen's future husband. However, we were unsuccessful at getting his picture. We then journied to the beach. Luckily for Jen and Aunt Debbie, they did not get the whole European experience. Most of the ladies had their tops on that day. Must have been too cold or something. From there we went to Montjuic and walked around the Olyimpic stadium up there. We also saw went to the magic fountain show. We arrived a bit early to the show, so to pass the time, Jen and I decided to read our free "Blanc y Negro" books that we found on the streets. The first two pages were quite interesting and made the time (30 mins ??) pass very quickly. Some one was dying?? No, wait...he just gets made easily. Gotta love translating! We finished the day with a flamanco show and more tapas.

Sunday, we went and saw the Sardana dance in front of the Cathedral. It was so great to experience part of the Catalan culture. Who knows...maybe one morning I'll join in the dance...

After that, we went to the Gaudi houses, Park Gruell, and la Sagrada Familia. At Park Gruell we found another potential husband for Jen. He has a moto, plays the guitar, and may have a boat...we still have to investigate that one. We finished off the night with some chocolate waffels down by the water...can't complain! Sadly, Sunday was their last night in Barcelona...so we got more sangria to celebrate.

Monday, we had the day off for Columbus day...so what did we do you ask?? We went to

Ikea! Let's just say that Ikea is just as much fun in Spain as it is in the US. We also booked a trip to Mallorca, which is an island off the coast of Spain. Our plane tickets...15 euro! It was a steal. Hopefully we have seats......

This past weekend, we went to Dublin. It was so much fun, but really expensive. We went to the Guiness Storehouse, the Dublin Castle, and the bar used in the movie PS I Love You! Of course, us girls were going crazy! We also went on a tour to the countryside. It was so beautiful. I felt like I was in a fairytale land. We went through Sally Gap, which is where movies like Braveheart and PS I Love You were filmed. I tried to get lost on the road, however the only man to find me was our bus drive/tour guide. To make up for him not being Gerard Butler, he offered my a taste of Jameson Whiskey...I compromised...

We also drove to Glendalough, which is this really old town and monestry. It was incredible! One of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We walked through an old graveyard, a church that was built in the 800's and saw the oldest celtic cross left standing in Europe! We also hiked to these two lakes in the valley. And believe it our not...we also saw SHEEP! haha.

Sunday Brittany and I went to Christ Church Cathedral. We didn't just go there to visit, we went to an actual service. The choir was amazing. I got chills almost everytime they sang. At the end of the service we joined the congregation in the crypt for tea and cookies :)

Afte church, we went to the Jameson Distiliry. I am proud to say that I am not an official whiskey taster. Ask me, I have a certificate.

On the agenda for this week:

-Midterm on Wednesday

- Mallorca on Friday :)

Adios!

Ein Prost, Ein Prost Oktoberfest!

Wow...what an experience. This past weekend, I went to Munich, or Munchen as the German's call it, to celebrate Oktoberfest. You know the saying, "Everything is bigger in Texas,"...well I think it should be changed to "Everything is bigger in Germany." There are no words that can even describe Oktoberfest. Some of you may be thinking, well all it is is a big drinking fest, how fun could it be?? Well let me tell you...it is the largest drinking fest in the world. The 15 or so "tents" as they are called, each hold 6,000 people inside and 4,000 people outside. There are people from all over the world. I think I met more people from Brazil and Australia that I met from Germany.

Let's start at the beginning. Brittany and I decided to go through this company called Bus2Alps, a student travel agency. They had a deal where they would pick you up from the airport, supply accommodations for two nights, and then take you back to the airport. Now, by accommodations, I mean camping. Yes, that's right. Brittany and I, and our new friend Elyse, camped for 2 nights in Germany. They supplied us with a 3 person tent (understatement), sleeping bags, mattresses (yoga pads), dinner for one night, and breakfast both mornings (however we woke up before the crazy Australians that were making our breakfast so we didn't really get any food for breakfast). Yes, the camp was run by these crazy, insane Australians who own a company called StokeTravel. Let's just say they ran around without shoes on in 50 degree weather, drank constantly, and sang karaoke till 2am. Was it cold? Very. As advice, the Ausies told us to drink lots and spoon with a stranger. "That'll warm you up!" There were showers and toilets, so we weren't completely roughing it, however most of the toilets didn't have lights and the water was cold.

On Saturday morning, we woke up at 6:30am and got ready to go to Oktoberfest! The reason we had to get there so early was because the tents open at 8:30 and they start serving beer at 9am. By the time we caught the bus, transferred to the S-Bahn and arrived at Oktoberfest, it was around 8:15. We went to the Hofbrau tent because it is the most well-known of all the tents. By the time we found it, people were already entering. We sprinted around the tent, found an entrance and ran to a table. And that's where it began....

We were seated by a group of Brazilians. Insane Brazilians I should say. They started chanting, dancing on their tables, waving their flag, and cheering. In the meantime, the British group across the tent started doing the same. Being located in the middle, we joined both of them in with both of them :) When the beermaids started serving the beer, the tent went crazy!!!!!! Everyone was cheering, prosting, and yelling. The beer steins hold 1 liter of beer. AND the beer brewed for Oktoberfest is stronger than any other beer brewed. Let's just say I had three steins and I was set for the day! The band started playing around 11am. I was shocked when they started playing American songs, such as "Hey Baby." It brought me back to my high school days. Although their version was a little different/a lot more fun. After you sing, "Hey, hey Baby," you say "Oh Ah" haha.

We then randomly ran into one of Brittany's friends from college and hung out with him and his Spanish speaking friends for a while. Yes, Brittany, like always, found someone to practice her Spanish with. Around 3pm, we were done drinking and took a nap on "Blackout hill," which is located behind all the beer tents. It is quite a sight to see. Just image thousands of drunken people passed out on a hill....you see it? Quite funny. I slept till around 8pm and then made my way back to the campsite to listen to the Ausies sing "Wasn't me" by Shaggy until 2am. At some point between 3 and 8, Brittany and I somehow got separated. But no need to worry...my German is wundibar...did I spell that right? Brittany's adventure needs another blog...

The next morning, we woke up around 7am to do it all over again! This time we went to a different tent and ended up running into some of our Barcelona friends! What are the chances?? Again, they started serving beer at 9am. I still don't know how I was able to drink beer that early in the morning. But what was more impressive was the people who would stand on their table and chug their entire stein. I have never seen anyone drink beer as fast as some of these people. This one German drank his entire stein in about 10 seconds. It was amazing. Once a person finishes the whole tent cheers! It's so much fun. Also, I bought a half chicken, cooked of course. It was the best chicken I have ever had in my entire life. The skin was crispy, but not fried, and the inside was all white, hot and steamy meat. Wow, I would go back just for that!

Now, the one catch about drinking on Sunday was that we had to catch our bus back to the airport at 3pm and our plane back to Barcelona at 7pm. This was quite an interesting experience. We let the beer tent at 2, bought a souvenir mug, and headed to the metro. We arrived back at the campsite just as the bus was about to leave. We threw all our stuff in our bags and ran to the bus. We made it just in time :)

Things we lost/broke at Oktoberfest:
- Elyse
- Earrings
- Brittany's contacts
- Brittany's flip flops
- My purse

Don't worry, Elyse found her way back to Barcelona the next day.


Things we learned at Oktoberfest:
1) German transportation is free, unless you get caught...then it's 30 euro
2) Everything is more fun when you're wearing glasses
3) Dodging projectile vomit is not Brittany's greatest skill
4) Bathroom floors in beer tents are bad places to take naps
5) Camping is painful
6) Brittany need to stop accepting marriage proposals from random spaniards
7) I love half chickens
8) Drinking a gallon of beer in the morning before flying home makes the flight so much more fun
9) There is such a thing as spicy water
10) Hand sanitizer does not come in powder form.
11) No matter where we go, Brittany will always find someone to practice your Spanish with
12) Brittany thinks everyone has a British accent
13) ...in my glasses
14) It wasn't me, HA

On the agenda for this week:
- The Fray concert tonight
- Aunt Debbie and Jennifer come on Friday :)

"Su pico es bonito" ~ Family comes to visit!

Wow, it seems like so much has happened since I last updated! This past weekend was Mercé, which is a festival honoring one of the patron saints of Barcelona (aka another excuse for the Spanish to party and not to work. Hey, I'm not complaining!). Wednesday night I quickly learned not to accept free drinks from locals, for they will claim you as their own and not allow you to talk to others. Even though it was nice to practice my Spanish and not spend as much money, I think I'll say no from now on and buy my own drinks. I think Brittany also learned not to talk to locals since she was asked to go to Russia for the weekend... Who goes to Russia?? Right Brittany?

Thursday was filled with exploring the city and enjoying the free concerts and events throughout the city. As we walked down Las Ramblas, we discovered these giant statues of people and animals, which we later discovered, after being chased by one, were in the Gigantes parade down the main street. It's always fun to be stuck in between two 25 ft. tall, walking, statues.

Friday, my parents we scheduled to come around noon, however my mom got some sort of bacteria infection in Madrid and needed more time to come to Barcelona. They arrived around 4pm. I met them at their hotel and then showed my dad and brother around el barrio gótico, las ramblas, and the sea port.

Saturday, in the morning, Brittany and I took Matt and my Dad to La Padrera, on of the Gaudí houses. After that we went back to the hotel to check in on my mom. Unfortunately, she was not feeling any better. We ended up taking her to the hospital because she was so dehydrated and wasn´t getting any better. While my Dad took my mom to the hospital, I took Matt to meet my señora and have our scheduled lunch. I forgot to tell Matt that in Spain when you meet someone, you give dos besos on the cheeks. It was hilarious seeing him react when they went to kiss him! I felt so bad because she prepared so much food for my family, and only my brother was able to come. Luckily she was very understanding and said no pasa nada. Matt loved the food and so happy they allowed him to play their piano and guitar. My señora even recognized "Smoke on the Water" when Matt played it.

When my Dad was done at the hospital, which was probably around 8pm, he came over to meet my señora and to have dinner. This is where it starts go get interesting. First of all, my señora brought out a bottle of wine, which can always turn into something bad. My Dad, being the social person that he is, decides to make conversation, which of course means I have to translate everything. It was going really well, until I had a little too much wine and started translating the Spanish from my señora into Spanish rather than English to my Dad. Then my Dad wanted to tell my señora that her apartment (piso) was very nice. I told him to say, "Su piso es muy bonito." Instead, he said, "Su pico (beak) es bonito." The night only got better from there. After my brother and Dad left, Brittany and I somehow found ourselves on a ferris wheel with a woman from Chili...and Brittany hates ferris wheels...

Sunday, I took my Dad and Brother to La Sagrada Familia and Park Gruell. La Sagrada Familia was amazing. The detail is incredible and the inside is going to be beautiful when it is finished. To make our tourist trip complete, I brought my Fromers Barcelona book with us to read the history and meaning of the different facades. We felt like we were reading those ISPY books because there were so many little things that were so hard to find. Once we found them we were like kids in a candy shop, excited and wanting more! Park Gruell was beautiful, as it always is. My Dad bought a cd from a street flamenco musician and, of course, wanted to talk to him, meaning I had to translate. I swear they just made me study Spanish so that this trip would be a lot easier for them. We then picked up my Mom from the hospital, finally feeling better (not completely better though).

For dinner, we went to a resturant near the port. My Dad and I decided to order a pitcher of sangria not realizing there were only two of us that could drink it. The waiter, however, saw differently and poured Matt a small glass. At the end of the meal, they brought us out a complementary glass of cava, and again served Matt. Matt now think he is an expert of wine and cava. Just ask him. After dinner we made our way to the end of Mercé firework, music, water, and light show. There were so many people there I felt like I was in Times Square for New Years Eve. It was incredible. They played music from a ton of different movies such as Star Trek, Jurassic Park, Slumdog Millionaire, Pirates of the Carribean, Chicago, and more. It was a good way to end the night.

On Monday, my family was supposed to leave Barcelona and continue on their Spain trip, however with my mom not feeling 100 percento, she stayed here in Barcelona while my Dad and brother went on with one part of the trip. I was happy to see my mom feeling a little better and finally got her out of the hotel and to Sagrada Familia. She really enjoyed it. And you know she was feeling better on Tuesday because we managed to go shopping :) Yesterday was sad because I had to say goodbye to my parents, however this time it was a lot easier than the first.

Whats in store for this weekend you ask??? OKTOBERFEST in Munich! We leave tomorrow and come back on Sunday! Hopefully we'll get by knowing no German! Wish us luck!

Hasta luego! Muuuuuuuchos besos!