Carnaval and Wine tasting!

Like every post I make these days, the theme is that it is hard to describe my events because words cannot paint a clear enough picture for how amazing these adventures are, nor can I write enough to even explain them. BUT, the week after London, two great events also took place, and since I am finally recovered from it all, I know will tell you about them. The Tuesday after returning from London, all of Barcelona picked up and went to a small beach town 30 minutes south of BCN, called Sitges. Here at Sitges, a giant festival/celebration took place: Carnaval! The streets were flooded with people, and what made it even more special was that it was also on the beach! The celebration is basically a combination of Halloween/Mardi Gras because there is a giant parade, lots of partying, and everyone is dressed in costumes. This was one of the craziest celebrations I have ever experienced, and definatley a site to see when in Europe.
Later in the week, our program took us on a day excursion to Penedes, Spain for a wine tasting and tour. This again was awesome! We arrived at a vineyard, got a tour where we saw different parts of the vineyard from the grape plants, to the underground barrles, to the bottling section. Then we watched a video explanation of the history of Torres wine, and finally we began a tasting of 4 differnt wines. I personally learned so much from this experience because myself and a few others took advantage of the lady's expertise and asked her question after question about wine. Slowly but surely my skills are picking up in the Vino World!! But yes, anyways, it was extremeley cool to be on the a vineyard and be exposed to so much great tasting and information about such a strong aspect of Europen lifestyle, wine. I am glad we are all caught up, and I apologize for any delay, but life does not slow down when in Barcelonaaaa, so stay tuned, because I am sure some more exciting adventures are not too far away!

PS- if my English seems to be getting worse, it is because I am living in SPAIN, I apologize but please understand :).

Picadilly Circus and a Sad Sunday Farewell!!!!


Abiding the law on Jordan's Birthday, what else?




Just deciding which shades to buy at Harrods.


More market.

Some foooood at the market.

The Camden Market!

A Pub we enjoyed.



The old Roman Tower.


Tower Bridge.

Another Angle + London Eye.


New Angle + Dusk!

The crew at Big Ben/Parliment.



Myself and the birthday boy at the Palace.

Pubbb Life!

Yours truly at Hyde Park!

My host and I enjoying the first night!

Living London, for a longggg weekend!

So I traveled to London, not this past weekend, but the one before. It was my good friend Jordan's golden 21st birthday weekend, and lets just say, everything about the weekend was perfect. Despite losing a friend in Madrid while connecting to a new flight, and Jordan nearly losing his bag in Heathrow Airport, the first leg of the trip was great. We went Thursday the 19th- to Sunday the 22nd. Upon arriving in amazing LondonTown, we met our good friend from school, and immediately went and grabbed our first Pint at a Pub. After a pint, or maybe a few, we grabbed some Fish n Chips, and then finally got to our buddies amazing flat at Primrose Hill . From that point on, we did London like no one could imagine. We woke up Friday, did a walking tour throughout the entire city for 7 hours touching tons of sites, ranging from Hyde and Green park, To Buckingham Palace, to Big Ben, the London Eye, and both the London Bridge, Tower Bridge, and the old Roman Tower. These were just a few of the breathtaking sites we saw! Then, after the tour, we proceeded to another pub for the night where we enjoyed Pints of various beers fresh on Tap all night and of course the presence of one another. It was AMAZING! London has an incredible vibe, and somehow, we had a sun-filled weekend which is not common at all. Then Saturday came around, and we woke up at went to an amazing outdoor open public market, called the Camden Market. At this market one could shop at outdoor sites, or eat any type of authentic international cuisine they pleased. We all tried a little bit of everything, ranging from Mexican, to Chinese, to deserts, and some fresh squeezed OJ, and it was great. Continuing on with Saturday, lets not forget today was the golden birthday of our buddy Jordan, so we were truly having an amazing day! We did more and more walking and sponging in of London, then at night time, we went to Picadilly Circus for a bar/club in a very crazy but cool area of the city, and we had a blast! Each day got better and better, and London kept feeling more and more amazing. It was sad to see Sunday come after such an amazing weekend in London, but between the birthday weekend being present, us seeing the entire city, eating great food and having amazing beer (pub life=awesome), or simply hearing English, London blew me away and I truly had the time of my life. London has it all, it is a big city, but with tons of culture and so much appeal that I could definatley see myself lodging there for longer than a weekend! Adios all!!

life in the fast lane

Heading to Sevilla and Córdoba for the weekend was yet again a priceless experience. Beyond catching a 24 flu and projectile vommiting nearly 5-7 times the trip was unforgettable! Haha, sorry foe the details, but its my blog right?? Well anyways, yes the south of Spain was fantastic. Our program flew us to Sevilla where we then stayed in a hotel for the weekend, and sight saw non-stop. We saw the world's largest gothic cathedral, the Alcazar Palace, Plaza Espanya, and much more. In Córdoba we went and checked out the Famous Mosque/Mezquita (check this link out for awesome info), and this was mind-blowing. The amount of information I learned at La Mezquita about the ancient times involving the Christians, Muslims, and Jews was spectacular. Simply being present there was an awesomeee. The trip was amazing, between the weather, the people I was with (friends from my program) to the night-life, I couldn't have gotten more out of my trip. One big thing I am realzing from this traveling is that I also love Barcelona so much. Every weekend, I am so excited to return "home" and this is a great thing. Therefore, a weekend get-a-way is always amazing, but living in the center of Barcelona, one of the best cities in the world is truly an experience of a lifetime. Now, I am off to London for the weekend. Life is the fast-lane truly, as in that time is flying and every moment in Europe is one to remember.

The Mil-town crew before going to Kapital!



Action shot from Kapital (Famous 7-story club in Madrid)


Myself and Benett at the Palace Real with the Cathedral in the back.


Stolen pictures from the Palace- huge risk, GREAT reward!--- DINNER at the Palace.


Another room in the Palace


The Throne!!





Armory shot from the Palace


Reina Sofia Museum, very very cool but was too scared to snap pictures inside.

Foutain at Parque Buen Retiro.


Palacio Real.

More parts of the Parque


Amazing man made lake at the Parque.

Madrid

** Blake and Benett at Parque Buen Retiro, Amazing!!!


This past weekend I met my good friend from home, Benett, in the capital of Espana, Madrid. This weekend was amazing. Granted the journey getting to and from Madrid were not too fun because of the numerous trains and planes, everything in between the flights was spectacular. We did everything one can do. Toured all the sights, ate great food, explored the fantastic night life, and simply enjoyed exploring a new city. As much as I loved Madrid, I am very happy I live in Barcelona. Barcelona, I think, has more character, culture, and simply a better feel, but Madrid is an amazing place as well. The experience of traveling within Spain is extremely rewarding because noticing the the differrent dialects, accents, and demograhpics is very intriguing. Overall, its hard to put an amazing weekend like Madrid into words, but it was one of the best times I have ever experienced and priceless memories were created this past weekend.


This weekend (Feb 13-15) I am going to Sevilla, Spain with my program, and I am greatly anticipating this as well!!

Its mid February!?

Life has been crazy lately. I cannot beleive how fast everything is already going. As of late, I have been scrambling and simply living life out here in Europe! Classes officially picked up not too long ago. I am in a variety of classes ranging from media and society, to film, all of which are about Spain and tought in Espanol/Castellano. These classes are still at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, meaning I am surrounded by international and Spanish kids constantly!
Furthermore, I have also begun working at my internship! What I am doing for my internship is working on a brand new temporary exhibit opening this month, for The Barcelona City History Museum staged in the breath-taking Gothic Quarter of the city. What I do for the Museum is, like I said, work on this brand new Exhibit opening. The reason they chose me to work is because this exhibit is about "transnationalism" in Barcelona. Basically, Barcelona is changing rapidly with heavy amounts of people coming to live here, that were not born here, like myself. Therefore, I am the person who is charge of English communications jobs, ranging from creating survey's for visitors, to writing a international press release document, to simply being used for English perspective! It has been an amazing opourtunity thus far, and I can't wait for the exhibit to open.
Also, beyond school and working, I have been settling into home-stay life. I am loving living with a host mother and living in a residential neighborhood. Everything with the home is going very smoothly, and I am truly feeling like a citizen these days, not a visitor. Over the past few weeks I have done tons and tons of things from exploring the neighborhood, to finding a place to get my haircut, to simply walking around, and nothing ceases to get old around here! The weather has been decent, but not amazing, but beyond that, life could NOT be better!!
On a final note, I have discovered a local joint for some great food (get excited Caleb). It's small, tucked away, and delicious! You walk in, place your order, and the chef fires up a burning hot, toasted Bocadillo for you, and it is not to be beleived. For those of you coming to visit, get excited, and for those who are simply reading... you may want to head to Kopp's now to clear your thoughts because this place is TOO good! Beyond all of this news, thats all that really comes to mind about my past few weeks, besides my Madrid trip which, will I post a seperate blog for!

Adeau (Catalan for seee yaaa)