So when I got back on Sunday morning from London I was also highly anticipating the arrival of my parental units :-) luckily I convinced them to come over thanksgiving so I wouldn't have to be alone Spain on this very american holiday haha. They called me when they got to their hotel and I came over, making my way up to room 431 (or something) to where my parents told me their room was....little did I know, my GRANDPARENTS would be hiding behind that door! haha they flew all the way over to see me with my parents and I was pretty durn excited to say the least!
After getting over the shock of thinking my grandmother was a cleaning lady in my parents room (sorry Nonnie!) and then quickly realizing who it was, my parents came upstairs from their room and we had a big loud italian family reunion (kind of like My Big Fat Greek Wedding without the cake...)
We decided to make the most of what was left of the day and headed out to La Rambla to show the abuelos around a bit! Grabbed some lunch and did some walking (much to the dismay of my grandfather who's favorite thing to do was grab taxis haha) down La Rambla and to Mare Magnum for some window shopping! My parents and I got a drink at a local bar after the g-pa's went back to the hotel until I had officially overwalked my mother to the point of exhaustion and had to get the old folks home ;-) hehe
The next day I didn't have class so I took the fam to Monserrat which, as you remember, is the gorgeous mountain with the monastery and the church over looking the beautiful valleys and all. I like to think they were pretty pleased with the trip, and I even got to explore some of the places I hadn't gotten to see while I was there the last time I had been there, so it was a very nice day spent with my beautiful family. That night we also met Almudena and Monica for dinner in La Raval and had quite a funny time trying to translate back and forth between english, spanish, and italian (which my grandfather was convinced was the same as spanish...emmmm not so much haha). Good times had by all despite the messages lost in translation haha.
Tuesday I had a boat load of class but I still managed to meet the fam for a bit and we went to Sagrada Familia. I had been there 2 years ago and hadn't really expected anything to change - to be honest last time I was a bit disappointed because there really wasn't all that much to see because it was under heavy construction. When I ever walked into that building that day, I thought my jaw would drop to the floor. They've completely finished the inside of the church (which is now actually a Basilica thanks to the Papa - no not the potato, the pope) and it is one of the most spectacular things I've ever seen in my entire life! It's so colorful and the architecture is phenomenal with amazing columns and stained glass and ceilings - it is a sight to behold, everyone must go there before they die. Anyways I ran to class again and met the folks for dinner and we called it a pretty early night.
Wednesdayyyyy I didn't get to see them until the afternoon but they went to Parc Guell which is of course my favorite place in the city, so I was glad they got to see that. My mom and I went shopping for a bit, although unsuccessfully, and then we met Laia and her mom and sister for a lovely dinner at a beautiful restaurant near my parents hotel. We had another raucous night of translations, laughs, and good conversation and I was really glad my parents and grandparents got to see Laia again and meet her family (in the case of my grandparents)!! Side note. The look on my grandfather's face when the brought him his salmon (which was the size of a small cell phone - aka tiny) was priceless. Almost as priceless as the face he made when they brought him his equally small dessert. Bahahahahah so great.
Thursday was thanksgiving! I skipped my afternoon class and we went to Sitges for a little while and walked around on the beach and around the church there which was very pretty :-) We all met up for out last meal together later at Milk and had fajitas and mojitos for Thanksgiving dinner...not quite traditional, but at least I was with family :-) Plus we're planning our new holiday Thankschristmas (original, I know) which will be sweeping the nation before you know it. Watch out people. It'll be a phenomenon.
The next morning they had to leave super duper early but I was at least able to say goodbye and see them off! It was really good to see them all and now I only have a few short weeks until we're reunited again!
Next up: PARIS!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Got Hermione's wand...she's the best witch, watchin' Harry Potter feelin' fly like it's Quidditch...aka London
Haha so for those of you who aren't familiar with the reference in my post title, please click here for what is possibly the most clever harry potter parody I've ever come across: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXIgNnB_oq4
Anyways, thursday the 18th I went to LONDONTOWN! Hopped a plane after my afternoon class and met Nora at around 11:30 and headed back to her dorm at NYU London! She lives in a really nice area near a mall and all of the shwanky apartment buildings so it was super nice despite the fact that we had to walk through a creepy hedge lined passageway to get there....but whatevs haha Her room was also super nice, NYU sure does know how to do their study abroad accommodations! Because I got there so late, thursday night was kind of a wasted one, but after a good nights sleep we were ready and rarin' to go Friday morning!
We decided to start our day at Westminster Abbey which has to be one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Not to mention that it's immediately across from Big Ben and Parliament which are also gorgeous and it was a beautiful sunny day...basically it was pretty perfect haha. We decided to ignore the fact that we're poor college students and paid the admission to go inside, which was the best 12 pounds I've ever spent. The architecture was fantastic and the amount of history contained in that one building alone was awe-inspiring. We saw the tombs of great kings and queens, of poets and musicians, of the unknown soldier, and many more. I'm pretty sure we spent about 2 and a half hours taking the tour and I don't regret a single minute of it. Truly, if you ever get to go, it is well worth a visit!
After a lovely visit to Westminster, we walked down to Trafalgar Square and grabbed a nice lunch on our way! Saw some Trinity people in Trafalgar which was super weird considering how large of a city it is, but it just goes to show you how small the world really is! After Trafalgar we went to Covent Gardens which is a really adorable shopping area that was all decorated for christmas. We went into this HUGE tea shop and I bought some delicious caramel tea to bring home with me :) We walked around being ridiculous for a little while and then shared a pasty (which are QUITE delicious if I do say so myself) before going to meet Em for our Jack the Ripper tour.
The Jack the Ripper tour was totally not what I expected but was super cool. I thought it would be like a haunted house type tour where people jumped out and scared you and whatnot but instead, our tour guide took us on a walk through the city showing us the spots where the infamous serial killer known as Jack the Ripper committed his atrocious murders. I know, it sounds super weird and creepy, but it was actually really interesting and pretty cool to do! I was also kind of scared because I'm a baby and it was at night and I'm easily scared...so that made it even more authentic haha. After that we went to check into our Hostel, which was alright although I'm pretty sure our roommates hated us because we woke them up at like midnight, but seriously, you're in London, what are you doing in bed so early? haha annnywayssss
Saturday was another packed day! We went first to the London Eye and went for a lovely ride on one of the largest Ferris Wheels I've ever seen! You get to see the entire city and can take fantastic birds-eye view fotos of all of the major London attractions which was really cool!
After a lovely ride, I got my SUPER geek on and went on a HARRY POTTER WALKING TOUR! It was kind of sad to realize that a lot of the landmarks used in the films aren't really commemorated as such (like the Leaky Cauldron which is now an optometrists office) but it was still really cool to see where everything was done! Plus our tour guide was super geeky and cute, so that added to the fun (sorry hon ;-) hehehe) I got my picture taken trying to get into platform 9 3/4 which has been my dream ever since reading the first book, so needless to say my inner nerd was satisfied :)
To round out the all HP weekend, we went to see the 7th movie that night!!!!!!!! We got to watch it in the theater where they hold the London Premire every year which was really awesome and I must say it was my favorite out of all of the movies they've made so far, despite the gripes I still have with it hahah
We got back to the hostel around 2 (again, our roommates hated us) and after 2 hours of sleep, I had to get up and run to the airport to catch an early flight back to BCN to meet the PADRES!!!!!!
Side note: London was one of the most amazing cities I've visited so far. I can definitely see why people study there and would love to do so myself someday! A great weekend with great friends, great food, and, of course, HARRY POTTER! yessssss
Anyways, thursday the 18th I went to LONDONTOWN! Hopped a plane after my afternoon class and met Nora at around 11:30 and headed back to her dorm at NYU London! She lives in a really nice area near a mall and all of the shwanky apartment buildings so it was super nice despite the fact that we had to walk through a creepy hedge lined passageway to get there....but whatevs haha Her room was also super nice, NYU sure does know how to do their study abroad accommodations! Because I got there so late, thursday night was kind of a wasted one, but after a good nights sleep we were ready and rarin' to go Friday morning!
We decided to start our day at Westminster Abbey which has to be one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Not to mention that it's immediately across from Big Ben and Parliament which are also gorgeous and it was a beautiful sunny day...basically it was pretty perfect haha. We decided to ignore the fact that we're poor college students and paid the admission to go inside, which was the best 12 pounds I've ever spent. The architecture was fantastic and the amount of history contained in that one building alone was awe-inspiring. We saw the tombs of great kings and queens, of poets and musicians, of the unknown soldier, and many more. I'm pretty sure we spent about 2 and a half hours taking the tour and I don't regret a single minute of it. Truly, if you ever get to go, it is well worth a visit!
After a lovely visit to Westminster, we walked down to Trafalgar Square and grabbed a nice lunch on our way! Saw some Trinity people in Trafalgar which was super weird considering how large of a city it is, but it just goes to show you how small the world really is! After Trafalgar we went to Covent Gardens which is a really adorable shopping area that was all decorated for christmas. We went into this HUGE tea shop and I bought some delicious caramel tea to bring home with me :) We walked around being ridiculous for a little while and then shared a pasty (which are QUITE delicious if I do say so myself) before going to meet Em for our Jack the Ripper tour.
The Jack the Ripper tour was totally not what I expected but was super cool. I thought it would be like a haunted house type tour where people jumped out and scared you and whatnot but instead, our tour guide took us on a walk through the city showing us the spots where the infamous serial killer known as Jack the Ripper committed his atrocious murders. I know, it sounds super weird and creepy, but it was actually really interesting and pretty cool to do! I was also kind of scared because I'm a baby and it was at night and I'm easily scared...so that made it even more authentic haha. After that we went to check into our Hostel, which was alright although I'm pretty sure our roommates hated us because we woke them up at like midnight, but seriously, you're in London, what are you doing in bed so early? haha annnywayssss
Saturday was another packed day! We went first to the London Eye and went for a lovely ride on one of the largest Ferris Wheels I've ever seen! You get to see the entire city and can take fantastic birds-eye view fotos of all of the major London attractions which was really cool!
After a lovely ride, I got my SUPER geek on and went on a HARRY POTTER WALKING TOUR! It was kind of sad to realize that a lot of the landmarks used in the films aren't really commemorated as such (like the Leaky Cauldron which is now an optometrists office) but it was still really cool to see where everything was done! Plus our tour guide was super geeky and cute, so that added to the fun (sorry hon ;-) hehehe) I got my picture taken trying to get into platform 9 3/4 which has been my dream ever since reading the first book, so needless to say my inner nerd was satisfied :)
To round out the all HP weekend, we went to see the 7th movie that night!!!!!!!! We got to watch it in the theater where they hold the London Premire every year which was really awesome and I must say it was my favorite out of all of the movies they've made so far, despite the gripes I still have with it hahah
We got back to the hostel around 2 (again, our roommates hated us) and after 2 hours of sleep, I had to get up and run to the airport to catch an early flight back to BCN to meet the PADRES!!!!!!
Side note: London was one of the most amazing cities I've visited so far. I can definitely see why people study there and would love to do so myself someday! A great weekend with great friends, great food, and, of course, HARRY POTTER! yessssss
These are a few of my favorite...foods?
Hello all! It's getting down to the end of my study abroad experience (sad :-( sniff sniff) and therefore I have to catch up on my blogging about my life!! Prepare for a wave of posts people. It'll be epic.
Monday Nov. 15th we went to a restaurant in Barrio Gótico called "Cook and Taste" in which a chef teaches you how to make typical spanish foods! Needless to say, I was the first in line for this event. Our menu was ambitious: Gazpacho, Tortilla Española, Paella, and Crema Catalana all in just a few short hours, but we managed, with the help of our skilled chef, to get it all done in a delicious fashion.
The cool part about the meal was that we all got to help make the food we were eating. I helped make the Crema Catalana and Pan con Tomate (which I think I may have over garliqued but oh well haha) and got to watch all of the Trinity kids pitch in to make a truly delicious meal. I don't think I've eaten that much in a long time, and it was quite fantastic. We had Valencian Paella (just veggies and chicken) which was amazing and the tortilla, although a little undercooked for my liking, was still extremely delicious.
Needless to say we had a pretty good time and all left there with our belts a few notches looser....
Good food and wine had by all! Nothing better than a great meal with a great group of people :)
Monday Nov. 15th we went to a restaurant in Barrio Gótico called "Cook and Taste" in which a chef teaches you how to make typical spanish foods! Needless to say, I was the first in line for this event. Our menu was ambitious: Gazpacho, Tortilla Española, Paella, and Crema Catalana all in just a few short hours, but we managed, with the help of our skilled chef, to get it all done in a delicious fashion.
The cool part about the meal was that we all got to help make the food we were eating. I helped make the Crema Catalana and Pan con Tomate (which I think I may have over garliqued but oh well haha) and got to watch all of the Trinity kids pitch in to make a truly delicious meal. I don't think I've eaten that much in a long time, and it was quite fantastic. We had Valencian Paella (just veggies and chicken) which was amazing and the tortilla, although a little undercooked for my liking, was still extremely delicious.
Needless to say we had a pretty good time and all left there with our belts a few notches looser....
Good food and wine had by all! Nothing better than a great meal with a great group of people :)
Monday, November 29, 2010
BARCA, BARCA, BAAAAAAAARCA!
So I'm sitting at my internship....boss left and I have to read the Civil Code of Spain...which is a little tough to say the least. So what do I do instead? BLOG! yay! hahah enjoy:
Wednesday the 10th the Trinity program treated us to a night at Camp Nou, the ever-famous soccer (fútbol) stadium in Barcelona! It was Barca v. Ceuta which apparently wasn't a very big game - only about 1/3 of the stadium was filled (which was still nothing to scoff at considering the amount of people that actually is haha). This also is in comparison to the game tonight which is Barca-Madrid - needless to say I'm pretty sure all of Barcelona is going to shut down around 10 pm tonight because everyone will be glued to the television.
ANYWAY. We met at this little bar near Les Corts and got some tapas before braving the cold and heading out to the game! It didn't even start until 10 pm, which for me was crazy! It was quite funny to see people trying to sneak in with beers and food from the outside - one guy literally tried to jump the turnstyle with the guard right in front of him...epic fail. haha
We managed to score better seats in the front row of the first balcony which was super cool and we were right in front of the Ceuta goal, so we had a pretty good view of everything that was going on. Within the first 5 minutes, Barca scored, and that was pretty much it for Ceuta. They scored once but Barca kind of buried them 4-1. It was a really fun game, there were fans right below us who came SUPER prepared with flags and drums and all that stuff, and at times they were more entertaining to watch than the game haha.
Barca won (obviously) and everyone was quite happy leaving the stadium...except me. Because before my eyes I saw thousands of people running to the metro and knew it was going to be a COMPLETE mad house...but with not other option, I braved the crowds and somehow pushed my way into the sardine can that was the metro car and made it home by 1 am. On a school night. I was dead the next morning.
Hahah anyways, it was quite a good time despite the crazy metro! Hope to get back there before I leave :)
Next up: Cook and Taste!
Wednesday the 10th the Trinity program treated us to a night at Camp Nou, the ever-famous soccer (fútbol) stadium in Barcelona! It was Barca v. Ceuta which apparently wasn't a very big game - only about 1/3 of the stadium was filled (which was still nothing to scoff at considering the amount of people that actually is haha). This also is in comparison to the game tonight which is Barca-Madrid - needless to say I'm pretty sure all of Barcelona is going to shut down around 10 pm tonight because everyone will be glued to the television.
ANYWAY. We met at this little bar near Les Corts and got some tapas before braving the cold and heading out to the game! It didn't even start until 10 pm, which for me was crazy! It was quite funny to see people trying to sneak in with beers and food from the outside - one guy literally tried to jump the turnstyle with the guard right in front of him...epic fail. haha
We managed to score better seats in the front row of the first balcony which was super cool and we were right in front of the Ceuta goal, so we had a pretty good view of everything that was going on. Within the first 5 minutes, Barca scored, and that was pretty much it for Ceuta. They scored once but Barca kind of buried them 4-1. It was a really fun game, there were fans right below us who came SUPER prepared with flags and drums and all that stuff, and at times they were more entertaining to watch than the game haha.
Barca won (obviously) and everyone was quite happy leaving the stadium...except me. Because before my eyes I saw thousands of people running to the metro and knew it was going to be a COMPLETE mad house...but with not other option, I braved the crowds and somehow pushed my way into the sardine can that was the metro car and made it home by 1 am. On a school night. I was dead the next morning.
Hahah anyways, it was quite a good time despite the crazy metro! Hope to get back there before I leave :)
Next up: Cook and Taste!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
But I will still tell you one thing we're better together
So for those of you gagged at the cuteness of the title...I stick my tongue out at you :-P. For those of who awed, two thumbs up :-) haha
Nick came to visit!!!! I got to the airport like an hour and a half before his flight came in because I was too excited...haha :) After getting him checked into his hotel, I sadly had to go to class, but it was probably for the best because I'm pretty sure he would have fallen over from exhaustion haha.
That night was Laia's birthday!! We met her, Ana, Irene, Carla, and Irene at this cute little restaurant called La Flauta and had a fun time making nick try spanish foods. Quite entertaining :)
The next day was our Gaudi themed day. We went to Casa Milá (La Pedrera) and got to see all of the amazing rooftop structures he built for the Milá family. There's also a little Gaudi Museum in the house which shows details about how he designed all of his buildings and where he got his inspiration, so as a Gaudi fan, that was pretty cool! After that, we made the treck up to Parc Güell (and it is quite a treck) much to the protests of our aching feet. But alas, the beauty of the park and being able to show Nick my favorite place ever in the world superseded mundane foot pains haha. We walked around and explored parts of the park that I had actually never been to, which was really cool! That night we went to a nice Italian restaurant and celebrated our anniversary :)
Saturday we went to Montjuic, a beautiful mountain with a fortress on top that has beautiful views of the city. We walked around there for a while taking lots of pictures (much to his dismay haha) and enjoying the scenery. Then we took the gondola down and headed to La Rambla where we made fun of the crazy street performers and walked around La Boqueria too! We walked down to the beach and grabbed some lunch on the boardwalk overlooking the ocean; it was a GORGEOUS day! The weather the entire time he was here was INSANE. A few days before, it had been freezing (I was wearing my antarctica mittens) and then he gets here and it's 70 and I'm wearing a tank top on the beach. insane.
THE POPE CAME SUNDAY! It was crazy. The entire city shut down and you couldn't even get on some metro stops because of his visit. We had decided to go to Barrio Gotico that day, but, as always, I forgot that Sundays here are barren wastelands because everyone just closes up shop and doesn't work...soo that made shopping in Barrio Gotico a bit difficult for us, but we made the best of it and enjoyed the day. We met Almudena for coffee and then had a truly american dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Let me tell you, I needed a true burger and fries like you wouldn't believe. Needless to say, this trip wasn't the best for my diet...but oh well, it was delicious :-)
Monday we went back to look for some gifts in Barrio Gotico and also went and visited the outside of Sagrada Familia. We would have gone in, but the line wrapped around the block, and there was NO way we were doing that...but that's cool! I had class for a bit but then we met Laia and Eduard to go KARTING! It was crazy, you get dressed up in these cool suits and helmets and drive around in this tiny car around this winding track - it was awesome haha. Then we had an amazing dinner, care of Angeles, and stuffed ourselves silly until we basically couldn't move.
Tuesday I was a mess and all but held on to his ankles so he wouldn't leave. But all good things must come to an end (oh yeah, and we both have classes...) soooo I had to let him get on the plane against my better judgement.
And so I went back to my daily life here in Barcelona, writing papers about Spanish philosophy and learning about Spanish parliament, all the while wishing I had a time machine to go back just a few days...
yeah I see all you non-romantics rollin' your eyes. :-P haha
Next Up: BARCA
Nick came to visit!!!! I got to the airport like an hour and a half before his flight came in because I was too excited...haha :) After getting him checked into his hotel, I sadly had to go to class, but it was probably for the best because I'm pretty sure he would have fallen over from exhaustion haha.
That night was Laia's birthday!! We met her, Ana, Irene, Carla, and Irene at this cute little restaurant called La Flauta and had a fun time making nick try spanish foods. Quite entertaining :)
The next day was our Gaudi themed day. We went to Casa Milá (La Pedrera) and got to see all of the amazing rooftop structures he built for the Milá family. There's also a little Gaudi Museum in the house which shows details about how he designed all of his buildings and where he got his inspiration, so as a Gaudi fan, that was pretty cool! After that, we made the treck up to Parc Güell (and it is quite a treck) much to the protests of our aching feet. But alas, the beauty of the park and being able to show Nick my favorite place ever in the world superseded mundane foot pains haha. We walked around and explored parts of the park that I had actually never been to, which was really cool! That night we went to a nice Italian restaurant and celebrated our anniversary :)
Saturday we went to Montjuic, a beautiful mountain with a fortress on top that has beautiful views of the city. We walked around there for a while taking lots of pictures (much to his dismay haha) and enjoying the scenery. Then we took the gondola down and headed to La Rambla where we made fun of the crazy street performers and walked around La Boqueria too! We walked down to the beach and grabbed some lunch on the boardwalk overlooking the ocean; it was a GORGEOUS day! The weather the entire time he was here was INSANE. A few days before, it had been freezing (I was wearing my antarctica mittens) and then he gets here and it's 70 and I'm wearing a tank top on the beach. insane.
THE POPE CAME SUNDAY! It was crazy. The entire city shut down and you couldn't even get on some metro stops because of his visit. We had decided to go to Barrio Gotico that day, but, as always, I forgot that Sundays here are barren wastelands because everyone just closes up shop and doesn't work...soo that made shopping in Barrio Gotico a bit difficult for us, but we made the best of it and enjoyed the day. We met Almudena for coffee and then had a truly american dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Let me tell you, I needed a true burger and fries like you wouldn't believe. Needless to say, this trip wasn't the best for my diet...but oh well, it was delicious :-)
Monday we went back to look for some gifts in Barrio Gotico and also went and visited the outside of Sagrada Familia. We would have gone in, but the line wrapped around the block, and there was NO way we were doing that...but that's cool! I had class for a bit but then we met Laia and Eduard to go KARTING! It was crazy, you get dressed up in these cool suits and helmets and drive around in this tiny car around this winding track - it was awesome haha. Then we had an amazing dinner, care of Angeles, and stuffed ourselves silly until we basically couldn't move.
Tuesday I was a mess and all but held on to his ankles so he wouldn't leave. But all good things must come to an end (oh yeah, and we both have classes...) soooo I had to let him get on the plane against my better judgement.
And so I went back to my daily life here in Barcelona, writing papers about Spanish philosophy and learning about Spanish parliament, all the while wishing I had a time machine to go back just a few days...
yeah I see all you non-romantics rollin' your eyes. :-P haha
Next Up: BARCA
Friday, November 26, 2010
Effin' Brugge - Planes, trains, and automobiles
Sorry guys! I've been crazy this past month with midterms, visits, and traveling that I haven't had a whole lot of time to post! Don't worry though, I promise to catch up this weekend so I can chronicle my last month here (EEP) and try not to forget anything!!
SO this post shall be about Brugge, Belgium. For those of you who haven't seen the Colin Farrel movie, you won't get the reference in the title, but don't worry, just know I'm not swearing without a purpose haha!
Alrighty where to begin. So I had to get up freakishly early on Friday morning to make a 6:45 am flight to Brussels from Barcelona. This entailed getting a cab and then getting on a night bus for over an hour to make it on time, so needless to say, I was up at four. Not fun. But alas, I got there safely and started wandering around the airport trying to figure out how on EARTH I was going to find Nora because a) our phones didn't work in Brussels and b) even if they did, I didn't have her number. Good planning? I think so. haha
Luckily I waited by the arrivals gate and jumped up an down like an idiot when I saw her so she pretty much couldn't miss me. We hopped on a train to Brugge and spent another hour catching up while admiring the Belgian countryside.
When we got to Brugge, we checked in at the Hotel Nicolas which was actually a surprisingly nice hotel for what we paid. We had our own room (always nice and so much better than a hostel) and free breakfast every morning, so we were pretty pumped. After dumping our bags, we had to get lunch because neither of us had eaten and we were pretty much eating ourselves. We went to the main market square (which was GORGEOUS) and found a restaraunt that served mussels which are apparently very typically Belgian with, of course, FRENCH FRIES. Had a lovely lunch and then made our way to De Halve Maan Brewery where we had a lovely (albeit very cramped) tour of the brewery and had a nice belgian beer (the best in the world if I had to elect one). There were all of these funny signs throughout the tour telling you to go backwards down these tiny flights of stairs because they were too steep to go down normally. It was quite a laugh. We also got to see a gorgeous view of Brugge from the top of the brewery which was a gorgeous picture opportunity.
After some delicious beer, we went on a boat tour along the Bruggian canals (bruggian? is that a word? haha well it is now!) which was beautiful and took you around to all the major tourist sites in the town (the Church of our Lady, the old Hospital, the nunnery, etc.). After freezing down to our bones, we got some true belgian hot chocolate. It was possibly the most delicious thing I have ever tasted. They literally give you a huge saucer of hot milk and pure dark chocolate chips and a whisk and you make it yourself. It was FANTASTIC! haha
That night we walked around the square and had a nice dinner and called it an early night.
The next morning we decided to go up to the belltower...366 steps up to the top and no elevator....it was a climb to say the least. The stairs were so narrow that you had to stop and let people come down before you went up and visa versa...it was very tiny haha but the view from the top was beautiful and it's one of those things you can't go to Brugge without doing.
Next we made our way to the Church of our Lady which has one of the only Michael Angelo's that left Italy. It was a beautiful statue of the virgin mary and Jesus and the church itself was quite beautiful too. Then we made our way to the nunnery which had beautiful leaf covered grounds and a gorgeous church as well. We took some pictures by the canals and enjoyed the nice fall day in the nunnery.
After a nice holy visit, what better to do than, of course, GET MORE BEER! haha clearly. Are you seeing a pattern yet? After a nice healthy lunch of belgian beer and french fries (yep, that was lunch haha) we went to the Groening Museum which was supposed to house what the call the "Flemish Primatives," major artwork from famous Medieval painters from Belgium. While the paintings were beautiful, they all depicted religious scenes (every...single...one of them....) and we were pretty holy-ed out by that point.
So we decided to take a nap. I know it's lame because we were in a new place and we should have been out exploring, but we were exhausted. We had another nice dinner and then called it a night. Yeah, call us lame, but we had fun so there :-P
Our last day in Brugge (tear :-( haha) we went to see the windmills which, apparently to Nora, were a bit of a disappointment. we walked to the outskirts of the city to see them and apparently they weren't old or cool enough for her haha. I thought they were pretty nice, but we'll move on.
Then we went to the two most historically relevant and socially necessary museums in the city: THE CHOCOLATE AND FRIES MUSEUMS. Yes, they have both and yes, we visited both. They both showed the process of making each product and then gave you a free sample at the end, which was a lovely way to end our trip to Brugge.
We got on the bus to take us to the train station and then made our way to the airport to go our separate ways. After an 15 minute bus right, and hour train ride, a 2 hour flight, another hour bus ride, a half hour on the metro, and a 5 minute walk, I FINALLY made it home and crashed after a great weekend with one of my favorite people.
So there's Brugge!!! Next up: NICK'S VISIT :-D
SO this post shall be about Brugge, Belgium. For those of you who haven't seen the Colin Farrel movie, you won't get the reference in the title, but don't worry, just know I'm not swearing without a purpose haha!
Alrighty where to begin. So I had to get up freakishly early on Friday morning to make a 6:45 am flight to Brussels from Barcelona. This entailed getting a cab and then getting on a night bus for over an hour to make it on time, so needless to say, I was up at four. Not fun. But alas, I got there safely and started wandering around the airport trying to figure out how on EARTH I was going to find Nora because a) our phones didn't work in Brussels and b) even if they did, I didn't have her number. Good planning? I think so. haha
Luckily I waited by the arrivals gate and jumped up an down like an idiot when I saw her so she pretty much couldn't miss me. We hopped on a train to Brugge and spent another hour catching up while admiring the Belgian countryside.
When we got to Brugge, we checked in at the Hotel Nicolas which was actually a surprisingly nice hotel for what we paid. We had our own room (always nice and so much better than a hostel) and free breakfast every morning, so we were pretty pumped. After dumping our bags, we had to get lunch because neither of us had eaten and we were pretty much eating ourselves. We went to the main market square (which was GORGEOUS) and found a restaraunt that served mussels which are apparently very typically Belgian with, of course, FRENCH FRIES. Had a lovely lunch and then made our way to De Halve Maan Brewery where we had a lovely (albeit very cramped) tour of the brewery and had a nice belgian beer (the best in the world if I had to elect one). There were all of these funny signs throughout the tour telling you to go backwards down these tiny flights of stairs because they were too steep to go down normally. It was quite a laugh. We also got to see a gorgeous view of Brugge from the top of the brewery which was a gorgeous picture opportunity.
After some delicious beer, we went on a boat tour along the Bruggian canals (bruggian? is that a word? haha well it is now!) which was beautiful and took you around to all the major tourist sites in the town (the Church of our Lady, the old Hospital, the nunnery, etc.). After freezing down to our bones, we got some true belgian hot chocolate. It was possibly the most delicious thing I have ever tasted. They literally give you a huge saucer of hot milk and pure dark chocolate chips and a whisk and you make it yourself. It was FANTASTIC! haha
That night we walked around the square and had a nice dinner and called it an early night.
The next morning we decided to go up to the belltower...366 steps up to the top and no elevator....it was a climb to say the least. The stairs were so narrow that you had to stop and let people come down before you went up and visa versa...it was very tiny haha but the view from the top was beautiful and it's one of those things you can't go to Brugge without doing.
Next we made our way to the Church of our Lady which has one of the only Michael Angelo's that left Italy. It was a beautiful statue of the virgin mary and Jesus and the church itself was quite beautiful too. Then we made our way to the nunnery which had beautiful leaf covered grounds and a gorgeous church as well. We took some pictures by the canals and enjoyed the nice fall day in the nunnery.
After a nice holy visit, what better to do than, of course, GET MORE BEER! haha clearly. Are you seeing a pattern yet? After a nice healthy lunch of belgian beer and french fries (yep, that was lunch haha) we went to the Groening Museum which was supposed to house what the call the "Flemish Primatives," major artwork from famous Medieval painters from Belgium. While the paintings were beautiful, they all depicted religious scenes (every...single...one of them....) and we were pretty holy-ed out by that point.
So we decided to take a nap. I know it's lame because we were in a new place and we should have been out exploring, but we were exhausted. We had another nice dinner and then called it a night. Yeah, call us lame, but we had fun so there :-P
Our last day in Brugge (tear :-( haha) we went to see the windmills which, apparently to Nora, were a bit of a disappointment. we walked to the outskirts of the city to see them and apparently they weren't old or cool enough for her haha. I thought they were pretty nice, but we'll move on.
Then we went to the two most historically relevant and socially necessary museums in the city: THE CHOCOLATE AND FRIES MUSEUMS. Yes, they have both and yes, we visited both. They both showed the process of making each product and then gave you a free sample at the end, which was a lovely way to end our trip to Brugge.
We got on the bus to take us to the train station and then made our way to the airport to go our separate ways. After an 15 minute bus right, and hour train ride, a 2 hour flight, another hour bus ride, a half hour on the metro, and a 5 minute walk, I FINALLY made it home and crashed after a great weekend with one of my favorite people.
So there's Brugge!!! Next up: NICK'S VISIT :-D
Monday, November 1, 2010
Long Time No Post...eep!
Hey all,
So so SO sorry I haven't posted (it's been 15 days according to Emily M) which is way too long! There wasn't too much to post about before but now there's a cornicopia of tellings to impart onto all my readers!!!! annnd awayyyy we gooooooo!
Sooo last weekend we went to Montserrat which has to be one of the most beautiful places in all of Spain. We took a train up the mountain to where there are hundreds of spectacular rock formations which have been widdled away by the rain over the years. They all have names and look like different shapes: one's an elephant, another a giant, etc. etc. The mountain is home to the Virgen of Montserrat who was apparently discovered in a cave on the mountain and is now the protector of the mountain. A monastery was built on top of the mountain and still exists today, although you can't visit because it's against monastic law.
After a bit of a setback, we took a tour of the beautiful church and saw a short exhibit on how the monks live their lives on Montserrat. There's a school up there as well where young boys (yes I know it sounds creepy but it's not I promise) go to learn different types of music, most particularly singing. Each day they sing the song of the Virgen of Montserrat to the congregation and it's apparently very beautiful although we weren't lucky enough to hear it.
The tour was really beautiful and the only thing that could have made it better was...um, duh, FOOD. We went to this restaurant overlooking the valley and had a spectacular meal which was a fantastic end to the day. Then we walked back and saw our train arriving and had to try and run on full stomachs to try and catch it...needless to say we failed haha.
We took another train halfway down and then walked to another trainstation and then switched to another train and...ugh it was a long long way home, but we finally made it and it was definitely worth it!!! I had a fantastic time and will definitely be taking the padres back!
Coming up next, BRUGGE (aka paradise.)
love you all!
So so SO sorry I haven't posted (it's been 15 days according to Emily M) which is way too long! There wasn't too much to post about before but now there's a cornicopia of tellings to impart onto all my readers!!!! annnd awayyyy we gooooooo!
Sooo last weekend we went to Montserrat which has to be one of the most beautiful places in all of Spain. We took a train up the mountain to where there are hundreds of spectacular rock formations which have been widdled away by the rain over the years. They all have names and look like different shapes: one's an elephant, another a giant, etc. etc. The mountain is home to the Virgen of Montserrat who was apparently discovered in a cave on the mountain and is now the protector of the mountain. A monastery was built on top of the mountain and still exists today, although you can't visit because it's against monastic law.
After a bit of a setback, we took a tour of the beautiful church and saw a short exhibit on how the monks live their lives on Montserrat. There's a school up there as well where young boys (yes I know it sounds creepy but it's not I promise) go to learn different types of music, most particularly singing. Each day they sing the song of the Virgen of Montserrat to the congregation and it's apparently very beautiful although we weren't lucky enough to hear it.
The tour was really beautiful and the only thing that could have made it better was...um, duh, FOOD. We went to this restaurant overlooking the valley and had a spectacular meal which was a fantastic end to the day. Then we walked back and saw our train arriving and had to try and run on full stomachs to try and catch it...needless to say we failed haha.
We took another train halfway down and then walked to another trainstation and then switched to another train and...ugh it was a long long way home, but we finally made it and it was definitely worth it!!! I had a fantastic time and will definitely be taking the padres back!
Coming up next, BRUGGE (aka paradise.)
love you all!
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