Rainy Day Explorations- Churros y Tapas

Today was the first time we have had to deal with rain here in Barcelona.  Since we couldn't do anything outside after class, I pulled open my handy dandy Rick Steves' book and found a great little spot known for its churros con chocolate.  It was on a little tiny street behind La Rambla (famous, huge street).   Apparently Spanish women are known for going to this little cafe and having "tea time."

Pre:

(churros are dipped in the chocolate/whip cream)

Post:

On our way out we popped into lots of little stores to avoid the rain, and then stumble upon an awesome tapas bar.  Tapas are one of the most popular foods here that we have been meaning to try more of, so we were excited to find this place! 

This is how a tapa bar works:  You walk in and are handed a plate, then you can scan the bar and pick whichever tapas look good to you, put them on your plate, and eat them standing up on either side of the bar.  When you are finished, you either tell them how many you ate or they count the toothpicks that are left on your plate and you pay.  In Spanish culture, it is common to go to more than one tapas bar in a night.  So some people may go "tapas bar hoping" and eat one or two at each place.

 They are all so different and beautifully presented.  They have bread on bottom and whatever kind of fish, meat, veggies on top, and are stuck together with a toothpick.

These are the tapas I picked.  The one on the left is chicken salad with anchovies (hum... couldn't really taste them). I picked it because I thought all of the stuff on top looked cool, but I am not sure what that was.  The other is serrano ham (thinly sliced and dried) and cheese, which is a very common tapa or sandwich here.  They were delish.

So, all in all it was a successful rainy afternoon!

Magic Fountains

On Sunday night, we went to see "Magic Fountain Show" outside of the National Palace in the Plaza de Espanya.  On weekends there are 20-minute shows with music, colored lights, and lots of fountains.  You feel like you are in a fairy tale and these pictures will not do it justice!

Sarah and Hutton are in town and met us there!

 Four giant columns in front of the palace.  Lights were shooting out of the palace!

Doner Kebab

"What is a Doner Kebab?" you might be wondering... Well it is a delicious turkish pita/meal/sandwich they have all over the city.  And, since we are trying not too spend too much $$$$, it is perfect that they are only about 3.50 euros (about $5) for so much food!

Cutest Video!!

This has nothing to do with my travels, it's just the cutest video ever and I wanted to show ya'll!  Lots of hugs, I love you all!

Sitges

We spent our Sunday on the beach at Sitges.  It is a quaint little beach town 45 minute train ride from Barcelona.

For lunch, we stopped by a cute little hole in the wall and got the best sandwich ever.  

Forca Barca- Next Day's Celebration

Blair and I got off the metro stop near our house after we went to Sitges beach for the day and were so confused why everybody was still wearing all of their gear and getting off close to our house.  Usually our metro is pretty empty because it is in a more residential neighborhood.  So, we ran up to ask our Señora what was going on.  She told us their was a huge parade with the players about to come by our house one street up, and that they were on the way to the stadium to celebrate, which little did we know, is two blocks away from our house.  

So, obvi, we ran out, still sandy from the beach, to go check it out.

It was a pretty cool last minute find!  We would have had NO idea if we didn't live with our precious host mother.  

The stadium was filled with people and they had to lock the gates so we could not go in, but we watched it on TV during dinner and could hear the fireworks and crowds from our balcony.

Forca Barca!

Barcelona won the Europe League Championship on Saturday night! I learned quickly just how much people here LOVE soccer and their team, Barca.  We learned the chant song and got some Barca gear to show our support while watching the game.

Pre-Win:

Post-Win: 

 The street madness after the game.

We saw this the next day and thought it was too great--

The whole family's Barca gear out to dry.

Parc de La Cituadella (City Park)

Barcelona's parks are all amazing.  And, Parc de La Cituadella is just insanely cool.

Here is the big fountain in the park.  It is huge and detailed and was built in honor of Spain's "exploration."

 So much great green grass and patches of red flowers.

Wahoo, I can't wait to bring a picnic here.

El Born

I have discovered my favorite area of Barcelona! It's called El Born.  There are a million little streets with colored buildings and cafes and restaurants and I think I could walk around in it forever. 

There is also a beautiful cathedral in the middle of the area called Basílica de Santa María del Mar.  It was finished being built in 1383-- that is before Columbus even went to America, wooww!  It is "del Mar" (or of the sea) because it is right next to the port where sailors would go out on journeys and many would never come back.  It was built for people to come mourn when their sailor did not return.

"Peaceful" Protest Update

Well, as many of you may have already seen on the news, the "peaceful" protest that I mentioned just the other day quickly became a little more crazy.  I am not telling about this to scare anybody, because we are so safe and fine and it wasn't scary, just super crazy to see!! 

We got to school on Friday and saw a million people going crazy in the plaza right outside.  The government had decided that the people had been there for too long and started to break it up. 

Our street was lined with swat team cars and there were police men everywhere.  

I am pretty sure its all over with now.  We watched it from the balcony at school.  So no worries, just interesting.  Since I figured that you had heard about it already, I decided to update.

El Park Güell

After class today Blair, Aly, and I took the metro down to Gaudi's super famous Park Güell.  The park was originally designed to become a super luxurious housing development, but when nobody could afford to invest in the properties, it turned into a massive public park that represents the Catalán (region in Spain where Barcelona is the capital) culture.

It was so big and so cool, unlike anything you have ever seen before. 

 Here is the entrance to the park.  Everything is very over the top and detailed.

 The entire place is covered with mosaics.  This ceiling was in the center of the park where people were dancing, selling things, etc.

 Check out this guy-- on the way up to the top, this guy is doing a wall sit with one leg and with out a wall!! And he wouldn't move.

 Here's Aly and I enjoying the view of Barcelona and the ocean.

 

There were three stone cross structures on the top peak of the park.  This gave you the greatest view of Barcelona and all around.  Below, there was a crazy man wearing a leopard uni-tard playing the guitar and purring. 

 Here is Gaudi's house at the park where he lived when it was completed.  I loved loved this house! Now it is turned into a museum with lots of furniture that he designed and other things from his life. 

 A super cool wooden bench.  Would this be too detailed for Pop to make a replica of for my house next year? (Haha, kidding!!)

Another fav part was the ceilings.  Each room had a different design on the top.

La Cena (Dinner) at La Casa de Francisca

Francisca is our host mother and is a mighty fine lady.  She doesn't speak any English and has two grown sons. She has hosted American students for ten years, so she is a pro.  We eat breakfast and dinner with her at the apartment every day.  Usually dinner is around 8:45 or 9, which is early for around here, but she knows we Americans are not used to eating so late.  

Here is what our table looks like every night: 

Super lovely!

Last night we ate this...

Salad (not on this plate), then artichokes covered in fried egg, grilled pork with red peppers on top, and Spanish potatoes that are super popular around here!  For desert we usually have fruit, like cherries or strawberries.  

Our dinner ritual:  We hear some sort of call from the other side of the apartment, then we all sit together at the table and she turns on the news.  Then we talk about the news and what is going on and who everybody is.  So, we are totally "in the know" of what is going on here in españa.  We eat our desert and then we help her bring in the dishes, and that's the end!

Manifestación (Protest)

We are currently witnessing a huge "peaceful" protest in Barcelona.  It has been going on for many days now.  The people are protesting against the current government because so many younger citizens can not find work or make any money.  It is kind of confusing because Barcelona's government has so much strange history, but basically the idea is that they want a change in the government to have better benefits and equality. It is happening in a main plaza, called Plaza de Cataluña, which is in the middle of the city near our school.  But, no worries, it is not dangerous, just lots of people camping out.