Day #162

YAYAYAY TO HEIDELBERG!! Although I haven't moved into my accommodation yet, I am so excited to finally be where I'll be living for the next 5 months. I can't wait to not live out of a backpack and have to repack everything every week or less....

We left Frankfurt on the 12:06 train, and met a really sweet German girl who we talked to for the rest of the trip. Our hostel is really cute and there are a lot of other students staying here before moving into their accommodation also! 

I had a döner for lunch, which is this sandwich thing with lots of meat and lettuce and tomato and cabbage and yogurt-like sauce and was 100% delicious. We explored a local grocery store as well, which has everything. Except onions in bags of less than about 50.

BUT LOOK WHAT IT DOES HAVE

Mangos: no longer a mystery. (Even though I didn't purchase it)

Tomorrow, to the stores to buy sheets and such!

Day #161

A day in limericks:

There once was a girl from the states

Who had two out of three free plates

With drinks and relief

For her sensitive teeth,

She managed to get new roommates.

Her Spanish was not very good-

She knew fewer words than she should.

But with Harry and Ron

Tom Riddle was gone

And the pasta was yummy and good.

Breaking down the limericks:

The hostel provides free breakfast and ALSO free pesto pasta for dinner. Therefore, 2/3 of my meals today were free. This is what winning feels like, I think.

I finished my toothpaste and sincey gums are genetically receding prematurely (thanks mom and dad), I need special sensitive toothpaste, which hopefully I found since I can't speak German. But I'm hopeful based on the container!

Hostelworld messed up our booking (though I'm still very impressed that this was he it's mistake in about 25 bookings I've made over the last 5 months), so we had to change rooms and ended up with roommates from Albania who didn't speak any English? But did speak Spanish! I tried really, really hard to speak to them. Really hard. 

And I finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets today!

Not included in the limericks: Tom made probably the smallest paper crane ever today:

Heidelberg tomorrow!

Edit: ALSO GERMANY HAS PRIMARK AKA MY FAVORITE STORE IN EUROPE HECK TO THE YEAH

Day #160

...am I really already halfway through 320 days? That's straight up insanity right there.

Tom and I woke in the wee hours of the morning to finish packing and catch some airport transportation at 6:30. When we got to the airport and tried to check in, the airline told me I wasn't on the flight and that I was scheduled to fly on MARCH 26. Tired and hungry and frantic, I rushed to the help desk and asked them to PLEASE HELP and they told me I could change my ticket. For €500.

I basically had a heart attack and planned all the ways I could sneak onto the flight in the 30 seconds before he smiled and said he was joking and they would change it for free. Apparently the computer messed up when booking my ticket (I had booked the correct day online) because since February has exactly 4 weeks, the days of the week are the same as March. Thankfully they changed my ticket, and the rest of the adventure to the plane went smoothly.

We got into Barcelona around 11:30 local time, and I've never been so happy to hear Spanish. I even ordered all my food in Spanish! I also proceeded to read almost the entirety of Harry Potter and the Chambef of Secrets (not in Spanish).

We caught our flight from Barcelona to Frankfurt at 5pm, and landed in Frankfurt a little after 7. We were at our hostel by 8:30, and left our bags in our room to go get dinner at a delicious (and inexpensive!) Vietnamese place right across the street. 

I am e tremt happy to finally be in Germany. Yay more countries!!!

Have a picture of my dog being adorable (courtesy of my mom) since I didn't take any pictures today. Note the short legs. He's so cute and vertically challenged :)

Day #159

Sorry folks, I've been pretty busy and out of wifi so here is Wednesday's installment of my life!

We woke up earlier than usual (aka like 8:30) to get up and dressed in time to visit a market down near the river before noon. And we made it! Our zucchini, red pepper, onion and mushrooms came to a grand total of under €3, so I'd say it was worth it.

After a break back at the hostel (the road back is just a really steep incline the entire trip, so we took a breather), we headed out again to find Lisbon's El Corte Ingles store. In case I haven't described them before, they're a giant mall. I'm talking 13 floors that stretch for about 3 blocks. It's overwhelming to say th least. We needed a few things to fly (travel sized containers for liquids, etc) and after about an hour in there I was more than done. We both got sweets to compensate for our lost sanity. I didn't mind the trade so much after that.

Back at the hostel, we made lunch with our newly bought veggies mixed with some pasta. Tom tried to create his own Alfredo sauce...... He tried really hard.... But I stuck with tomato.

I got to skype with Pallavi for a bit, then went to pack. Liquids back in travel-sized containers, I showered and ate dinner in my pajamas, followed by a game of FIFA before bed. Ready to face another long travel day!

Also, it was my friend Kayla's birthday! She was my roommate last year at UMass, and is in Japan for the year. Look how cute we are:

Happy 21, dearest! 

Day #158

Another day trip, yay! And by day trip, I mean only 4 stops away from Lisbon via train to the lovely town of Belém. We went with two lovely people we met at our hostel, both studying in Finland. 

Belém is known for a few things. The first is the Tower of Belém, which was supposed to be this giant fortress thing but then they were like nah I'm not about that, let's actually just make it a lookout tower. Consequently, it's pretty small but had amazing views over the river and bridge.

You can't tell super well, but that's water way down there and I'm leaning out a window. Kudos to me for not dropping my phone, yeah!

After a delicious lunch of Portuguese meatloaf and green wine (which I didn't think was a thing, but after trying it I've come to the conclusion that it's basically just moscato. Which was a-okay with me!), we tried the second (and most important) thing Belém is known for:

PASTÉIS DE BELÉM 

The brown packet is cinnamon and the white is confectionary sugar. Inside this magical puff pastry is cream custard filling. A lifetime of happiness in one small package.

After recouping at the hostel after all that awesome food, we met up with two more friends we'd met at our hostel in Madrid! They were from Virginia and New York, but both go to University of Delaware and are studying abroad in Portugal for the semester. They showed us around a bit and then (as a surprise to no one) we got MORE FOOD! One of the lovely ladies found a restaurant where they give you this really hot cooking block with your slab of meat on it, complete with salt and two sauces so that you can marinate and cook your meat to your own liking! 

This was definitely one of the best ideas anyone's ever had. I was super impressed and enjoyed every single bite. That slab of rock stayed hot for a wicked long time!

Tummies happy, we explored some more before turning in. One more day in Portugal, then off to Germany!

Day #157

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BESTEST PERSON WHO BIRTHED ME THANKS FOR DOING THAT AND ALSO BEING THE BEST EVER I LOVE YOU AND HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR ANGELFOOD CAKE AND GOT TO BINGE WATCH AS MUCH JANE AUSTEN AS YOU WANTED

Today started with me asking Tom if he thought it would rain. We looked at the forecast. 0% chance of rain. 

(I bet some of you know where this is headed already because you're all smart cookies)

We decided to head to Sintra, a town about 14 miles west of Lisbon. The train ride was about 45 minutes, and a round trip was under €5- what a bargain!

We stepped off the train and, you guessed it, folks! (Or maybe you didn't) it was raining! Mostly mist and fog and light sprinkle. We took a picture with all the fog because fog.

Everything was still incredibly green and gorgeous, though. We wanted through a park with strange paper mâché animals for a bit before finding the actual tourist information center and little shops on the side of the hill with delicious food and adorable nick nacks. Speaking of that delicious food...

I died and went to heaven goodbye friends this is what I want to eat for the rest of my life.

By that time the fog had started to clear, and we walked back the same way we'd come... But found an extremely different view:

PSYCH APPARENTLY THERE WAS A CASTLE BACK THERE.

We got some traditional Sintra pastries from a shop in which a HUGE Red Sox fan worked, and he was very excited that we were not only from the states, but code to Boston!

After the train ride home we stopped by the oldest book shop still in use today (1732) called Bertrand Bookshop. I read a book about Star Wars posters.

For dinner, we made a small alteration to our meal from yesterday- we added an egg to our cheeseburgers with lettuce and caramelized onion. Not. Too. Shabby.

Not a great picture, but just look at those layers. 

We met up again with our friends with whom we visited Toledo since they happened to be in Lisbon as well. Safe travels, everybody!

Day #156

Castle time!!! We hiked up the undulating paths to the Castelo de Sao Jorge. With our student discount, admission was only €5! What a steal. We were immediately met with some pretty stellar views

Not a big deal, but this is straight out of my camera.

We walked along the walls, Roman ruins, towers, courtyards, and up and down roughly a billion stairs. As a side note, I have the joints of an 80 year old woman. 

Also, the castle had peacocks. Lots of them.

We rewarded ourself for a castle well explored with Nata, a traditional Portuguese dessert, which is basically puff pastry filled with custard and caramelized on the top. "I'm Nata fan" is never a phrase you hear. Though it is a mighty good pun.

We had heard about a market down by the water from someone in our hostel and BOY DID WE FIND A MARKET. Everything looked (and smelled) like it was cooked inside the pearly gates of heaven by angels in golden aprons made of fairy dust and magic. I partook in a nice fish-mango-avocado dish. By nice I mean a tap dance on my tongue.

Tom and I decided to get two desserts and split both of them. The first was a chocolate mousse with cookie crumble bits and the second was caramelized banana with peanut ice cream and whipped cream. I mean... It just doesn't get any better than that. Ever.

We booked our hostels for Frankfurt and Heidelberg, filled out and emailed some forms to Heidelberg University, and did some other housekeeping back at the hostel. For dinner (yes, more excellent food) we made homemade hamburgers with ciabatta bread buns, caramelized onions, and salad. 

So. Pretty. And yummy. 

Day #155

Now, back to Lisbon! The (free) breakfast here (at the hostel) is super cool- even though it's really just two pieces of bread, two slices of ham, and two slices of cheese (plus cereals, milk, hot chocolate, and jams), they put it on this fancy slab of rock that looks like a high-class cutting board. They even fold the ham and cheese all awesome-like. 

The receptionist recommended we go to the Thieves' (please excuse my grammar of it's not correct, even though I have no excuse since I'm an English Major) Market today, and we were not disappointed. To get there, we walked from the Barrio Alto (where our hostel is, and the highest part of the city) to the Alfoma, which has narrow winding cobblestone streets and the sidewalks disappear into the graffiti'd walls as the trams speed around the bends. I don't think it gets much more beautiful than this.

We didn't buy anything at the market, but Tom got to juggle with strangers in the park next to the market! Then we had lunch at an adorable little white-washed restaurant overlooking the water from about 7 stories up.

We took the long way back and stopped by the castle but didn't go in yet (saving it for another day when we'll have more time to go through it). Instead, we got gelato and walked through more streets, and discovered why some houses have bottle bottoms built into their sides- so that people can prop up their laundry racks on the sides of their houses! I'll take a picture tomorrow because that's not a very good description at all, but here's the ice cream:

Stomached happy, we walked back to the hostel to take a break and find sme wifi. After grocery shopping, we attempted to make pizza and stir fry... And realized too late (aka after the pizza was already completely cooked) that we had bought circular puff pastry instead of pizza crust. Oops. But you know what, it didn't taste half bad! A little different from your average pizza, but we like to live on the edge.

A few games of FIFA later, we finally headed to bed. Get ready, Dad, Matthew, and Nolan- I'll be almost as good as you were the very first time you played that game by the time I get home.

Day #153

Finally catching up [again] WHOOT WHOOT!

On Thursday, Tom and I did the free walking tour that left the hostel at 11:30am. Our tour guide was wonderfully funny, and we learned a lot of history, such as the unfortunate case of Queen Isabel II of Spain marrying her gay cousin. Oops.

We got to see a lot of sights too, including the opera house, cathedral, Royal palace, and what our tour guide called the Madrid version of Beverly Hills. After the tour, we got sandwiches at an authentic Ham sandwich place thing. Although it sounds like I didn't care enough to remember the name, they were actually delicious. Also I'm just super bad with names. 

While we were in Barcelona, we made friends with someone who is from Boston, but studying abroad in Madeid. We got to meet up with him at the beautiful Jardines del Buen Retiro, where I got to pet a dog.

From the gardens, we walked to the Prado Museum, which is free for students ALWAYS! Gotta love living that student life. As always, we were classy with our pictures.

Back at the hostel, Tom and I made dinner and ate with two new friends, an Irish teacher and a German Erasmus student. After some extremely welcome intellectual conversations, we packed our bags and prepared for our bus ride the next day. Madrid, I wasn't expecting a lot from you, but you definitely exceeded my expectations. Well done.

Day #154

Yeah yeah yeah I skipped a day I know I'll come back to it I promise but this day is fresh in my mind SO!

Today was the infamous 12 HOUR BUS RIDE to Lisbon! And you know what? It actually wasn't too bad. You know why? Because I had the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone pdf on my phone and finished the entire book (plus the first two chapters of another book) during the ride. It was a magical time indeed. 

Tom and I also talked to a guy from Osaka, Japan for a little while, which is where my roommate from last year slash one of my best friends is studying abroad for the year! When the old Japanese man got off the bus, he gave us a very official business card and we felt special.

After we got off the bus at 9:45 (8:45 local time- who knew there was a time change? Probably most people, but, as we all know, I am not most people), Tom, two girls we met on the bus, and I tried very hard to figure out a) where the metro was and b) how to use it. Eventually we figured it out (team power!), and were on our way.

When Tom and I got off at our stop, however, we had trouble deciphering the directions to our hostel. A young man offered to help us, which seemed very kind. PSYCH TURN OF EVENTS HE WASNT KIND AT ALL ACTUALLY HE WAS PRETTY MUCH THE OPPOSITE.

Not only was he extremely rude to us AFTER telling us that Americans are all very rude (which I didn't mind as much as the fact that he was extremely rude to us by way of being "funny" or "friendly"), but he also would not leave us alone even when we insisted that we were fine. Furthermore...

After the man made me extremely uncomfortable by making remarks about my appearance and gender, he apologized to Tom because he "didn't want to offend you, man, for coming onto your girl". 

Let me be clear: it is incredibly sexist to apologize to the MAN a woman is with for being rude to the WOMAN because the WOMAN "belongs" to the man. Respecting the man more than the woman you are actually offending is very problematic. Even if Tom and I were anything other than two friends platonically traveling together, it does under no circumstances count as an apology when you are not actually apologizing to the right person. Nor, for that matter, does it excuse or make up for your sexist comments. Grow up unless you want me to punch you in your sexist mouth so you'll have a much harder time offending people in the future.

*mic drop*

IN OTHER NEWS we made it to the hostel and are safe and sound! Free breakfast tomorrow morning yayayay you know me, always excited for free food aka the best combination of things!

Day #152

okay I need to start not completely forgetting about these posts. READY, GO!

On Wednesday, Tom and I made our way out to the bus station early to grab our tickets to Portugal! We made it back in time for the walking tour at 11:30, but found out that there was a day trip to Toledo happening and decided to do that instead. An hour and a half later, we were in a bus with 4 other people on our way there!

HOLY TOLEDO, WE MADE IT!! (We took this picture for the lol's)

The people who came with us were super nice, too- one from California, and three from Brazil. We walked through the alcazar (the parts that were open), the main city square, the teeny tiny curving streets, around the cathedral (it was €8 to get in so I was not about that), through the Jewish quarter, and saw some beautiful scenes from the cliffs and bridges. We also climbed to the top of a church bell tower to get a panoramic view of the city, and I got trapped.

They locked me up for being too good looking. Sorry friends, never coming home.

Additionally, god shone down a ray of holy sunlight that, just for a minute, made Tom into Jesus.

I also gained a new catch phrase: "I'm not in this life for suffering."

It has multiple uses:

"Do your homework."

"I'm not in this life for suffering."

"Clean your room."

"I'm not in this life for suffering."

"I should go for a run... But I'm not in this life for suffering."

That motto is definitely right up there with my catchphrase for Spain: I could eat.

Day #151

The 8-hour journey to Mardid began (and ended) today! We got up at 7:45 to pack, eat, and walk to our 9:30 bus. I'm pretty sure I slept for roughly half of the bus ride. Unfortunately, that does mean I missed the bus's showing of Puss in Boots, the upsetting billionth sequel to Shrek, that they showed in Spanish... But somehow I think I'm okay with that choice.

After the bus we took a quick metro ride to our hostel, which happens to be very conveniently located right outside the metro line and very near many adorable book shops and cheese stores. Also other stores, but cheese stores are the most important. Obviously.

I even treated myself to the €0.90 bread instead of the €0.39 bread today. I know, I know- I'm living large.

No pictures from today, but I'll share another from the FC Barcelona game. If this guy only knew what a wonderful picture he photobombed.....

If only I could somehow tell him I have the perfect new profile picture for him. 

Day #150

We started out our day by packing up and heading back to the Black Swan hostel for our final night in Barcelona! After breakfast and planning, we got some noms at the coveted market, where we each got fresh juice. Whose is whose? Hint: mine is not the pink one.

After making Nutella and apple, Nutella and banana, and Nutella and jam & banana sandwiches (we tried to find peanut butter but couldn't, so we had to settle for Nutella... Life is hard), we chilled and planned for a little while and booked our flight from Lisbon to Frankfurt! 

Tom, Chelsea, Sam (Chelsea's friend), and I all participated in making our last Barcelona paella. It was bittersweet. And delicious, as always.

Tomorrow is our 8 hour bus ride to Madrid, complete with lots of snacks- wish us luck!

Day #149

JAM-PACKED DAY! Tom and I met up with Chelsea and Sam, her traveling buddy from home, and did what allMassachusetts  residents would do- used some Spanish Dunkin Donuts coupons I found to bring us back to MA for a bit. What a nice slice of home after traveling for so long.

I think my favorite part was the fact that they can't use the slogan "America runs on Dunkin" here, so instead they changed it to "Juntos es Mejor" - "Together is Better". I can dig it.

To walk off the sugar coma that followed, we trekked out to the Sagrada Familia again since I was the only one in our group of four who had been inside. I don't think I'll ever get tired of that view.

Next, Tom and I made our way to THE BARCELONA FOOTBALL GAME! And I creepily took this amazingly adorable picture of a dad and his son who we followed to the stadium from the metro stop:

I may have even gotten a little sunburnt, it was so beautiful outside. We were in the way top seats, and could see EVERYTHING. 

We saw both Neymar and Messi score (Messi scored THREE TIMES), and Suarez scored via bicycle kick. I guess you could say if was okay.

I seriously can't get over how beautiful this stadium is.

Time to pack up tomorrow morning and head back to the Black Swan for one more night before Madrid!

Day #148

Edit: the wifi didn't want to post this again, and I was away from wifi all day today (Sunday) so I didn't realize Monday's post didn't actually post until now. SORRY EVERYONE SORRY

We started off today right with our leftover stir fry and made the most delicious omelets in the history of probably forever. Tummies happy, we figured out our travel plans until Germany! We will be busing from Barcelona to Madrid on Tuesday, busing from Madrid to Lisbon, Portugal, then flying from Lisbon to Frankfurt and making our way from Frankfurt to Heidelberg. WHOOT WHOOT YAY FOR PLANNING! And for saving money by not busing through France!

We bought our bus tickets at the station and then explored the beach with imported sand (fun fact, aka all the beaches in Barcelona). Then came the most important part of our day: the siesta.

Fully restored, we went out for baby's first authentic chocolate con churros!

Chocolate con churros is always so delicious, I can't get over it.

By some coincidence, my cousin Kelsey's friend Chelsea is backpacking through Europe and also happened to be in Barcelona! We met up at the Black Swan hostel (where I was last week) for the homemade paella, and had a Massachusetts reunion. Get a load of these puns:

They patatas how to make paella, and we certainly arroz to the occasion!

*laugh track plays to an empty room as I pretend my jokes are funny*

Day #147

Just call me Tour Guide Kim, half remembering important places and people and events while stumbling upon them through the streets of Barcelona!

Basically, I took Tom in a very haphazard version of the gothic walking tour my mom and I attended earlier this week. I remembered most of most things... Everything except names, dates, titles, etc..... But I remembered most of the stories!

We finally found some affordable tapas and had deliciousness and lots of yum for lunch.

After a few more sights, we explored more of the Parc de la Ciutadella where I tried (and succeeded) to hide in a bush.

And we found an awesome fountain designed by (who else) Gaudi!

For dinner, we successfully stir-fried broccoli, mushrooms, onions, peppers, carrots, eggplant, and zucchini. More food pics because I love food a lot:

To conclude our day, we spent over 3 hours trying to plan where to go next. As of then, our options included Morocco, Portugal, Madrid, and France. We'll see how it all pans out.....

Day #146

TOM GOT HERE TODAY YAYAYAY!!!!!

I checked out of my first Barcelona hostel and walked he long 10 minutes to my second Barcelona hostel (Barcelona has about ten gazillion hostels), where I used wifi to skype Kayla for a bit until Tom arrived! Once Tom got here, we walked around and explored a little, and got some deliciously guac'ed up nachos 

Which we ate by the bay and admired a weird wire structure because Tom is an engineering genius and can explain that stuff to me. A nap and some hostelworld surfing later, we left the hostel again in search of dinner, and we're pleaseny surprised to find the festival of Santa Eulucia happening! Summary of her story:

Basically she was 13 and wouldn't denounce her Christianity so they rolled her down a hill in a barrel filled with rusty knives. Ouch. But when they opened the barrel, out flew a white dove! Also thy tried to burn her dead body at the stake and a freak snow storm happened. So she's the saint of Barcelona Cathedral!

I guess to celebrate they do dances in the middle of the squares and have GIANT people (I'm talking 3 stories high) made of paper mâché like material that dance through the streets.

After tapas and paella, we got back to the hostel and finally got some well-deserved sleep. Oh Barcelona, you're always so surprisingly entertaining.

Day #145

YAY FINALLY CAUGHT UP!! Today was a very slow, take care of business kind of day. I looked through heaps of apartment listings and researched All Quiet on the Western Front (the book I'm reading with the kiddies from Reader to Reader as I shamelessly plug my nonprofit organization) and did laundry! But also I watched the rest of the 1999 Mansfield Park where Fanny was super duper AWESOME. Oh Jane, you never disappoint.

Laundry done, we used my computer's HDMI capabilities to plug into the tv in the hostel and watch the Barcelona vs. Vallarreal soccer game and it was INTENSE. I miss watching sports! 

IN OTHER NEWS TOM IS NOW IN EUROPE AND WILL BE HEAR TOMORROW YEAH!!!!! 

Here's a photo of Shmoop (shameless plug for my favorite website) being super sassy, as per usual:

Day #144

Yesterday was a sad day because my mom had to leave :( I cried a million tears (this may be a slight exaggeration. It might not. You decide.) and did homework and searched for apartments.

BUT the good part was that I finally found a post office to mail my postcards! And it was a beautiful day (got up to at least 66°- where was that when my mom was here?) and I walked around in the sunshine without a coat and was warm.

I also got this lovely email from hostelworld:

Oh hostelworld, you never let me down.

I skyped with two friends in the afternoon and got to catch up on the million inches of snow the east coast has been getting. Plus also their lives. But when you live on the east coast and have a winter like this, the snow basically is your life, soooo....

I ended the day with a little more Jane Austen (this time half of the 1999 Manafield Park). Never enough Jane.

Day #143

Still catching up but ALMOST THERE!

Yesterday my mom and I made the journey up to Monserrat, which is this beautiful monestary on top of a giant hill about 23 miles outside of Barcelona which is known for the statue of the Black Madonna. I snapped a pic, of course... but I'm getting ahead of myself. 

We took the metro from U-quinoa (or U-quay quay depending on how you pronounce it; neither are correct. Or are both correct.....?) and then caught an hour-long train to the tram that brought us up the mountain. And when I say up, I mean definitely a 45° angle at some points. AND WE SAW SNOW!

The real show came from our selfies, I'll be honest. 

I call this one "Beauty and the Brightness" because I'm really, really funny.

I guess the cathedral was nothing to sneeze at, either.

We sat in the sun and soaked up some nice vitamin D before grabbing some noms. On the way, we got lots of free cheese samples which are basically my favorite things in the entire world because cheese is the best food and free is the best price.

We also saw THIS incredible view:

And also two cats.

I had my (kind of) first siesta on the train while we went back, even though that was basically an accident. 

Back in Barcelona, we stumbled across a delicious market and got various hot delicious breads stuffed with things from rice to cheese to spinach. And we indulged one last time in the magic that is chocolate con churros.

We closed out the night by finishing Persuasion and helping some guy edit an application. What a wonderful day indeed.

Day #142

Now that my mom is gone *takes a few hours to cry a billion tears* I'll get back to updating the blog regularly since she's the one who messages me asking if I'm still alive every time I miss a day :)

On Sunday my mom and I headed out to Park Güell, which was rumored to have some more cool Gaudi architecture with Alice in Wonderland inspiration. Obviously I took some more pictures of my mom taking pictures.

We walked up hills, down hills; up stairs, down stairs; around and through various cool walkways and even found and school and football pitch (AND SO MANY DOGS), but could not find that darn Alice in Wonderland stuff. It wasn't until we got to the exit of the park that we finally found out (via a map that would have been really helpful at the beginning) that we had literally walked the entire park around the Gaudi Alice in Wonderland portion. Oops. But it was expensive and looks pretty through the gates so we decided it was for the best.

Since it was a Sunday, most museums were free after 3 so we headed to the music museum of Barcelona- my mom's idea. I'll admit that I wasn't expecting much, but WOW were those old instruments impressive. 

They also had a room of instruments you could play, including a keyboard, harp, cello, electric guitar, and another weird non-instrument looking thing. I played them all. Expertly. Because I'm an expert.

(I made the second one black and white so you can really feel my anguish as an artist)

Even though almost every store is closed on Sunday's, we found a few little market grocery store things that were open and grabbed stuff to make dinner. Broccoli and sandwiches later, our tummies were full and happy. And to appease our ever-growing love of Jane Austen, we watched the first half of the 2007 Persuasion and loved every minute.

"I do not think I ever opened a book in my life which had not something to say upon woman's inconstancy. Songs and proverbs, all talk of woman's fickleness. But perhaps you will say, these were all written by men."

"Perhaps I shall. Yes, yes, if you please, no reference to examples in books. Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands. I will not allow books to prove anything."

Day #141

Slowly but surely catching up on these days.....!

So, Saturday! One of my friends from UMass is studying in Seville this semester, and she came up to Barcelona for the day! We took the metro and hiked up to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (and by "hiked" I mean we took these awesome escalators up the giant hill). Even though we didn't pay to go into the museum, there was more than enough to do- we walked through the beautiful gardens to get to the Olympic stadium from when Barcelona hosted in 1992! We took the opportunity to try out some Olympic feats of our own:

We were determined to take a tour starting at 2:30, so around 1 we headed through more gardens and Montjuïc towards the main town. On the way, we feasted on deliciously authentic Spanish cuisine including a rice & veggie burrito and a noodle and meat type dish thing. Very descriptive and very tasty.

Our walking tour was lovely, if a little long. I'm pretty sure I know almost everything about Barcelona. But don't quote me on that because it's probably not true. But i do know a lot. FOR EXAMPLE did you know that since Catalonia wants independence from the rest of Spain, they have a special flag with a star in a blue triangle that signifies that they're willing to fight for their independence? And whether that star is white or red says whether they're willing to fight peacefully or... Not so peacefully... For that independence. Stay out of the red star district, folks.

When we got back to the hostel, we learned how to make paella! Take a gander at this epic display of awesome-ness:

I mean.... Wow. I got to cut up some shrimp and squid and didn't even cry! At all! (Mostly because other people took off the eyes first) 

It was a glorious day followed by a glorious evening and glorious food.

Day #140

A Day in Pictures with Captions:

Actually attended the real walking tour today and we're very glad we didn't pay to go into the Barcelona Cathedral the day before since we got in free today!

Grabbed some absolutely delicious chocolate con churros at the (supposedly) original chocolate con churros place in Barcelona, which had a plaque signifying the business has belonged to the same family for at least over 50 years

Bought a house (just kidding, it's actually part of this amazing used-to-be hospital called Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau with awesome architecture because obviously Barcelona has impressive architecture EVERYWHERE)

Sagrada Familia, which is incredibly STILL unfinished. We did not realize this, and thought they were just doing construction OOPS NOPE. But just take a gander at those colors coming through stained glass windows... The architecture was supposed to depict a forest, with the colored light bathing the floor and people with the colors of humanity while bright white light comes through the ceiling windows to show god's radiance and purity. I just.... How. Tell me how because I'd really like to know how you got to be you, Gaudi.

Not a great picture, but I made my mom stuffed zucchini for dinner to show off my cooking skills from England!

I hope you've enjoyed your picture tour of Barcelona, brought to you by the Browns!