uh, i think i sort of understand them. high school spanish taught me something?

Since I can now feel all my appendages, I thought it was about time to fill you in on my latest adventures. And because we are on the topic of all things warm, I would love to tell you about Spain. (We may have stayed on the beach in Barcelona if that tells you anything...) Let's just say that it was actually warm there which was a big difference to where I went this past weekend: Vienna. I'll save that one for the next post.

Two weekends ago we headed west to Spain, hitting up Barcelona and Madrid. This was one of the countries that I was really looking forward to seeing. They were definitely two different cities with Madrid winning over Barcelona in my book. I am not saying that I didn't like Barcelona, but it felt like they were trying too hard. They probably weren't at all. They were just being themselves. I don't care. It doesn't change the fact that I didn't like it as much. Deal with it, Barcelona. (Wow, that sounds like I really didn't like it...which isn't true!)

My good friend, Caitlin, was gracious enough to give me a list of things to do before we went. This past summer she studied in Spain and traveled to a few places while there. She loves Spain and was super excited to put this together. She is such a sweetheart. (She also let me borrow her Skype account to call my mom on her birthday yesterday which gives her extra brownie points with mom.)

First, let me tell you a little something about Barcelona. Barcelona screams party town. (That means as a college student, I should just love it for that sole reason. Alas, I may or may not be growing up a little. Shocker...I know.) The night life is pretty fantastic though. While I can't rave on and on about it (because we were only there one night), many friends have told me all the places and crazy things that can go on in that place. We did manage to get our dose of culture in though. How can I NOT experience that?



I don't know how much you know about Barcelona but there was this architect named Antoni Gaudi who is extremely well known in Barcelona for some of his creations around the city. His most famous is a church called La Sagrada Familia. This church as been under construction since 1882 and Wikipedia claims that it may not get done until 2026! That is sooo far away. I will be nearing 40 at that point. Yikes! Anyways, this was Gaudi's masterpiece. He died trying to finish this (but not from doing too much work). He was run over by a tram at age 73 and is the reason that there are no trams in the city. (Pretty influential man, eh?) Other works that we saw of his were Casa Batlló and Casa Milà. We tried to see Park Güell but ran out of time because we had to catch our flight to Madrid. My favorite out of all three was Casa Batlló. I think it was because it reminded me of a Dr. Seuss book. I used to love Dr. Suess! Actually, I still enjoy him every now and then. Below are some lovely pictures of the buildings:

Casa Milà had to go through a lot of governmental hoops to be completed. Since the 1980's it has been restored to be much closer to the original and is now part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Casa Batlló; Wikipedia also has some great images. 

 

The last three are of different parts of La Sagrada Familia. Each part of the church has a significance to the Catholic faith. The 18 towers are for the 12 apostles, the 4 evangelists, the Virgin Mary, and the tallest one is for Jesus. No one cane say that Gaudi didn't have an agenda for his creation!

We also saw the Columbus Monument where my momentary lapse of history kicked in. Yeah, I thought he was a Spaniard. Wrong. He wasn't. Definitely was an Italian. I was corrected and made fun of for the rest of the trip. Go, me! This is why I should learn to just not say half the things my mind thinks. (Yeah, like that will ever happen...) It has just been awhile since I have had any American history, okay? Don't judge me.

In the evening, we walked up Las Ramblas which is a big pedestrian street. There were things everywhere. I was in heaven. I love the crazy street-performing and market-selling commotion. Just ask my mom. I was in Vancouver when I was younger and LOVED watching everything and buying the knick-knacks that no one probably needs. I think it has to do with the fact that I love people watching so much. This is like hitting the jackpot! There were shops all over selling silly souvenirs and little stands selling everything else. By everything, I mean even chickens and other birds. I thought it would be funny to buy a bird and try and bring it home, then I remembered birds freak me out. Plus, would I have to buy it its own plane ticket? That is where things get complicated and after my Columbus fail I thought I might want to stop having complex thoughts for awhile.

Chickens! 

 

Look at all that candy! This was in their big market off La Rambla.

Eventually, it was time to head to Madrid so we got another plane and maneuvered our way further west. Like I mentioned before, I really enjoyed Madrid. It was just so laid-back and easy-going. We saw all the important monuments and such. Then we ventured to this massive park called Parque del Retiro. It used to be the grounds of the palace of Felipe IV. It was a Sunday and there were families everywhere. Kids were running around, playing games, and just being kids. We also wanted to find this monument of a bear holding a tree and were all excited to find this HUGE monument. Little did we know that it was actually not that big. Fail. Since it was Sunday, we also went to El Rastro which is this giant flea market where they literally sell everything...and I mean everything! I saw so many random things that I would have loved to get, but the whole taking it home thing dilemma set in and I restrained myself. But, imagine the possibilities! Oh, my.

Many of the street signs also had pictures on them too. Really cool!

 

People at Parque del Retiro, Madrid's most popular park.

 

Palacio de Cristal in Parque del Retiro, inspired by London's crystal palace. It is made entirely out of glass!

 

 

Oh, and I found this: a restaurant called Nebraska...in Madrid, Spain. How crazy.

All in all, Sangria was enjoyed and so was Spain. I would love to go back and visit some of the other cities and towns in Spain especially Seville sometime. But that will have to wait for another time! This whole adventure has made me realized how many places I want to go see more of. So much to do, so little time! Wait, I am only 21 years old. I have plenty of time. I don't care what anyone says.

Oh, and like the title of the post says, I did get to use some of my Spanish. I will admit that at first I was really nervous about it. High school was a few years ago and I have barely used to it since. But after a few times listening to people saying things I could get the jist of what they were talking about it, especially when they talked slow. I was so proud of myself. In all honesty though, I wouldn't have been able to totally make it without Maggie who knows Spanish pretty well. (I guess that is what she gets for having a roommate back home from Mexico...lucky!)

Today, is also Thanksgiving: the annual turkey eating fest. I, unfortunately, will not be enjoying turkey this year. Instead, we have picked up the closest thing we could find: some nice rotisserie chicken. Yeah, I know. At least we have managed to make a meal without any pasta! (That is if we don't make mac & cheese...which depends on if we can find cheddar cheese...long story) I'll let you know how it goes! I just wanted to say how thankful I am to have such great friends and family (like you) in my life. I have been really lucky. So, thanks for being there at some point in my life, you have really made me into the super fantastic person that I am (conceited...) and I can't say how grateful I am for that. I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving day and eat some extra goodies for me! I will be thinking of all of you today.

Ciao, ciao!