Barcelona: My Quest to Swoon Lionel Messi

Yep. Barcelona is goin down in the books for one of my favorite European cities. I never woulda thought so, to be quite honest! I thought it wouldn’t be much different than Granada or any part of Spain, but it WAS.

Front row :D

Before I get into Barcelona though, I should start by sharing my experience Thursday night at a Nada Surf concert. If you have watched any episode of One Tree Hill, you are likely to have heard a song from this band. Super cute songs and music, love it. I was not expecting for this now 40-year-old lead singer to STILL sound as good as if I had just heard him on iTunes. DENG that boy (man) can sing!!!! I don’t even remember the last concert I went to, so this was fun for sure. Even better? Getting invited onstage by the dreadlocked bassist :) Me and Krista jumped up there and danced our little hearts out during the encore, got hugs and kisses from the band afterward, and also left with their set lists. Great, GREAT, night. Did I feel obligated to buy a shirt afterward? Duh. Okay Nada Surf. You and your marketing strategy win this time!

Earlyyyy the next morning, I met up with Brittany to go to the bus station, then the airport, and eventually BARCELONA!!!! Barca Barca Barcaaaaaaa! The weather was GORGEOUS when we arrived, Shivani gave us perfect directions to her apartment, everything was just joyous and merry and wonderfulllllllll. It got to be so hot though, so I thought, Why not hit up an heladeria? Let’s just keep walking til we find one. So we walked…and walked…and walked… we took a good 40 minute paseo and did not pass one heladeria. None. I was determined to eat some dang helado, though!! So eventually I settled on some ghetto ice cream from a convenient store. (Mango creamsicle. OKAYYYYY :D) That is probably the one thing that I would complain about Barcelona—it’s lack of ice cream. If a city lacks an abundance of heladerias, tempting you on every corner, spellbinding you with its variety of chocolate flavors alone, can it really be considered a city at all??? 

Judge this, Tyra!

 Later that afternoon Shivani took me, Brittany and her other friend Stephanie to explore all the Gaudi art around Barcelona. I’d heard of this art before, but I'd never seen it myself. WOW. Never seen anything like it. So unique, dreamlike and…just impressive!! Park Guell is this awesome place designed by Gaudi himself but I feel like "park" does not accurately describe it. This place might as well have been Disneyworld it was so whimsical and pretty! I was like a little kid, enjoying all the crazy art. One of my favorite parts was running around the straightaway seen in this picture that was used during Cycle 7 of America's Next Top Model where Caridee and Melrose had their runway showdown! What a nutso runway show--here's the link if you haven't seen it before! ANTM Cycle 7 Park Guell Barcelona

Gorgey view from the Park!

La Sagrada Familia--unreal!

More Gaudi art. I believe this was a hotel

After seeing all that, we got some dinner and then headed over to Plaza Espanya. This place... this is what won me over and perhaps put Barcelona ahead of Paris in cities I love. It is absolutely unreal. I kept taking photo after photo but as always it never captures the true beauty of the place. First, you go down this line of fountains:

Stephanie, Brittany, Shivani, Me

That eventually leads you to this HUGE magic fountain that has a light show during the weekend:

Then you go up a set of stairs to another fountain, and you get a pretty cool view of the city.

Then you go up another set of stairs, get another pretty neat view of the city, with more fountains awaiting.

Another set of stairs …the view is getting impressive, and not because you have now been upgraded to views including well-formed male statues.

More stairs…you can now see the whole city. But why stop there? Let's constuct a total of 29 flights of stairs to get to the top of this Montjuic mountain, and make the public work for the break-taking view that awaits them at the summit!!!!!!!!!

I lie. I don't remember how many flights of stairs it was. But when I go back I'll let know you.

But there were a lot!!!! And for once in my life I did not complain about the physical exertion called for in the climbing of these stairs. (Okay, little lie again. There were escalators to the top: minimal physical exertion needed). The view from the top is absolutely AMAZING. Totally unsurpassed--no view I've seen in Europe has even come close to it. You can see every big landmark in Barcelona including La Sagrada Familia and Park Guell, and additionally there's this sick ass castle on the mountain on the opposite side of the city, whose silhoutette you can capture as the sun is setting behind it. We literally sat there for a good 30 minutes without a word, just appreciating the whole thing. Man.

Here are pictures, and no they aren't mine. I'm too shamed to put my pictures of Plaza Espanya up but at least these stolen ones do it some justice :)

Magic Fountain

View from the top

We went back to Shivani’s and passed out. I had wonderful dreams of Candyland-like pastures reminiscent of Barcelona (jk). The next day was when the real task began: getting to Messi. Oh Messiiiiii. Such a marvelous soccer player yet absolutely unselfish and manages to be the biggest cutie the whole time. What more can ya ask for!!! Haha so me and Brittany did a buncha walkin around, site-seeing, eating, shopping that morning, but it was all just time-wasting, waiting for game-time!!! And once it was time to go to the game Brittany and I speed walked/sprinted over to the stadium. Literally I think we made a 45 minute walk take only 25. Ahahhaha you shoulda seen us when we finally saw the stadium—just the way that 2 adolescent girls would get upon seeing Justin Bieber. Embarrassing? Not in the slightest.

When we finally got in the stadium we were drunk of delight (though the beer we had beforehand may have also played a role) and could not stop squealing. We found our seats, took pictures, ate our bocadillos, and before we knew it the team ran out on the field! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. The stadium went nuts. Barcelona was playing Almeria, and you know what? Almeria kept the game interesting, that’s for sure! Barcelona was down 0-1 for awhile, that is, until good ol' MESSAYYYYY came in with a PK (the video I have at the beginning of this post) to tie things up. Followed by a goal assisted by Messi. And finishing it up in the closing minutes with Messi working his ass off to win a ball up front and getting a breakway!!!!! I was euphoric, having the absolute time of my life. Sure beats the Chicago Fire game I saw last summer! 90+ minutes went by wayyyy too fast. Final score: 3-1 Barca. Brittany and I remained seated when the game ended, soaking it all in. Then we got yelled out to get out. So we moved to another section of the stadium, resumed soaking-inage. Yelled at again. Third time's a charm? Nope. Relinquished power to the authorities and sadly left the stadium...but then REBELLIOUSLY circled it for a good 20 minutes!!! Hahahahahhahaaaaaaaaaa...

We went out that night and saw the crazy Barcelona beach night clubs, and that was cool. But I was too phased from the game to really find any of it to be particularly noteworthy.

MESSI!!!!

After reflecting on this post a bit, I have concluded that what smiley faces were to my Paris post, text size is in this one. Please excuse me if it's incredibly juvenile but I LOVED BARCELONA!

Just touched down in Londontown...really though..!

Hiya!

Two very important things happened in London: 1) I ate steak. 2) I ate cake. Really though, it had been far too long and I think as a result that steak was the best I’ve had in my LIFEEEEE.

Before I talk about cute London, I want to share a game I have contrived, called “Let’s see how many people can trip on my suitcase.” Now before you start making judgments, let it be known that this game was not of malicious intent and I did not ever put anyone’s safety in danger. But, on my way to London I noticed that people rushing onto the metro tended to not see my bright blue suitcase, or maybe thought they could walk through it. So in their attempt to do so, they would realize that thing cannot be walked through, and consequently stumbled. It really was impressive, the confidence these people had in their ability to walk through a clearly solid object. Anyway. By the end of my trip to London, the grand total was 8 stumbles, with one of them being an almost full-out fall. I recommend the game to all travelers. Lol.

Onto LONDON! So Spain has clearly spoiled me with its awesome weather. When we got off the plane at London Luton I was whining like a baby: “What the heckkkkkk this is colder than Chicago!!!!” when it was probably like 45F! Luckily it did eventually warm up a bit as the week went on, but it was literally the coldest I’ve ever been in Europe. HOWEVERRR the cooler weather gave me an excuse to wear my favorite winter coat :)

I was super excited for Alexa to show me round her new hometown!! The first night we all went to a pub for a pint, apparently part of the “Spoons” franchise that I had heard Alex talk about so frequently. It was such a cute pub, and I will say right now the pubs in London MUST be the cutest in existence. They all look classy, clean, and put together—the way I imagined everything in London to be, really! After a hilarious night of reminiscing about Paris at the pub, Alex, Kelsey and I returned to her cozy (LOL) dorm for a fairly tame night in.

 

Big Ben!

The next morning I opted to sleep in while Alex took Kelsey to the train for the airport. Good ol' Alexa knows a girl that enjoys her sleep, and consequently let me sleep in to whenever the heck I wanted! When I finally woke up it was time for SHOPPINGGGG. And I already knew where I wanted to go: PRIMARK! People have raved to Primark about me, how it is like Forever 21 on steroids. Though the thought of something more extreme than Forever 21 is daunting, I was in the perfect mood and absolutely up for the challenge. Alex? Not so much ahahha. She dropped me off, asked me how long I realistically needed in the store, and then she went about her business. (Dang she’d make a good boyfriend!!!!! c:) I made Primark my ….slave. I did not let the crowds of ruthless English deter me from my path! I even put to use some of my newly acquired Spanish crowd-pushing tricks. (I will say I tried my best to get re-accustomed to saying ‘excuse me’, though it was harder that I would have imagined.) It really is quite the sweaty, overwhelming, 2-story spectacle. After about 3 hours and probably only 30 euros I left the store with a smile on my face and 2 dresses to add to my wardrobe, amongst other things! LOVED Primark.

London Eye

That afternoon/night Alex and I did a tonnnnn of sightseeing and lotsa walkin as well! I got to see most everything I wanted to that night, including Big Ben and the London Eye. HA I also realized how horrible my camera is for night time pictures, as evidenced by these horridly blurry pictures. But I think it was only when I saw Big Ben and the London Eye that I realized I was in London. Yes, you see the red telephone booths and double-decker buses everywhere, but it was not the foggy, dreadful-weather-city with nothing but British gibberish being uttered everywhere that I had always imagined it to be! (Mary Poppins, you done me WRONG, girl.) It's got so many cultures within its city limits, and, as Alex pointed out to me, on any given day you hear various different languages, and that British accent doesn't seem to be as prominent. After this epiphany, Alex and I returned back to her dorm (BUT NOT BEFORE STOPPING BY SOME OF THE SITES OF THE GREATEST MOVIE, SNATCH!!!!!) to do what we do best: BAKE. I think our true artistry was demonstrated that night, as we had no ingredients or baking supplies. So what's the easiest snack to make? Puppy chow, of course! Heavy on the peanut butter :) We started watching Notting Hill then passed out, perhaps from the high sugar content of our snack, or more likely because we had traversed the whole city of London that day.

Gardens in Regent's Park

The next day was time for some more wandering! This time we headed towards Camden market to look/purchase/ EAT! They don't have markets like that in Granada at all, and all the punk stores reminded me of my sister Sofia HA!!!!! So that was definitely cool to see. After a delicious sandwich we took a stroll through one of London's MANY charming parks,  Regent's park. We saw some people playing football/futbol and decided to watch them play while eating a healthy snack of cake...turns out the players were females and not fun to watch at all, BUT we still got to enjoy the gorgeous park and gardens while chowin down! After walking through Alex's nightmare of a bird-filled path we slowly made the hike to Buckingham palace. Neither Prince William nor Henry were awaiting my arrival, unfortunately, so I just settled for a picture with the palace. :) 

Buckingham Palace

That  night it was time to go out! Alex and I decided to sip modestly on some delicious Magner's cider before hitting up Leister square! That was quite the experience, the British know how to do their night life up, that's for sure. We met some guys at the club (I kept calling it a discoteca. Alex told me to stop because it's not called that outside Spanish-speaking places. Ahahahah) which is always an interesting experience in and of itself. I was pleased with the lack of molestation and handsy-ness of the British men, quite the change up from Spain, ha!!! After the club I ate possibly the most delicious chicken sandwich and we headed home. London did me well c:

...And Bob's your uncle! Paris and London were my first international vacation! I’m a big girl now! (…And I’m not referring to my physical state after doing nothing but consuming pastries, crepes, alcohol, and sandwiches during this vacation :) )

Merci. Fromage. Bourré. Mouchoirs...Bonjour, Paris! ;)

Paris was just a dream. The best kind of dream. The kind that makes you force yourself back to sleep in hopes that if you fall asleep quickly enough the dream will resume. Or the kind that if you fail to fall back asleep, you just lay there for 30 minutes reliving each moment over and over again. AH. So enamored. I’m going back.

WELLLLLLLLLLL. I arrived at Paris de Gaulle airport around 13:00 Thursday…scratch that, I arrived at 12:30 because for once in my life my plane was AHEAD of schedule. Good thing I had to wait til 17:30 anyway for Alex and Kelsey to arrive, thanks for nothing EasyJet Airlines!!! Hahaha really though, I coulda waited there all day long, listening to people around me speak French. It is absurd how much I enjoy the French language. Anyway, Alex and Kelsey arrived, I spotted lil’ ol’ Alexaaaa and got so so so SO elated and ran up to her for a massive hug! I could not believe I was about to explore such a beautiful city with my favorite person in the world c:

Alex, Kelsey, and I embarked on this journey via Couch Surfing…a network that allows you to connect with people who will let you stay at their place for free. Sounds shady, ya? (That’s why I didn’t tell you, Parents!!!) But in all honestly I don’t think the experience could have possibly gone any better, and I don’t think our experience of the city itself would have been the same without our hosts. It was a group of 4 French guys in their 20s who shared a HUGE flat. We met them Thursday evening and then they took us to a local place for dinner (12 euro was the cheapest meal…quite the change up from 2 euro drinks with tapas in Granada!) but it was DELICIOUSSSS. I hadn’t had a proper meal with real pasta in awhile!! They also showed us how to use the subway and took us to the area in Paris with a lot of cool pubs. We didn’t stay out too late the first night but it was a good little intro to the city.

The next day, Friday, we girls woke up around 10 because we were gonna catch the free walking tour of Paris at 11! [SIDENOTE: Alex claims that she heard me talk in my sleep IN SPANISH!! Look at how good at it I’m getting!...The words I was saying are irrelevant, the fact that I’m subconsciously speaking Spanish is what counts…] But we couldn't embark on the tour without a cute ass breakfast of coffee (or in my case, hot chocolate) with pastries! Walking the streets of Paris was quite the site. When I got to Granada I had thought THOSE streets were cute but these were just as narrow and cozy but also with a touch of...sophistication? I dunno, you decide:

 

The tour started at fontaine Saint-Michel (Please ask me to pronounce this in French one day and I will gladly oblige. Repeatedly.) which was a pretty fountain whose purpose was apparently to distract the peasants from other atrocities going on in the city. We continued past Notre Dame, saw the prison where Marie Antoinette was held captive, walked through the ENORMOUS Louvre, walked across a precious bridge with a bunch of love locks (couples bring locks with their names on it, lock it onto the bridge fencing, then throw the key into the river...CUTE!), the Eiffel Tower, a million and a half statues of Napoleon all erected by Napoleon, and all this we saw along the Seine River. It was such a good tour and so interesting and our guide was the besssssst. We ended the tour near the Eiffel tower, where we 3 girls had a picnic which included wine and cheese.  Here are some photo memories:

Fontaine Saint-Michel

The Louvre

View of the Seine River

Love locks!

Le Petit Palais

Can never get enough Eiffel Pictures c:

That evening the guys whipped out a crepe machine and proceeded to make up crepes for dinner. Oh my goshhhhhhhhhhh I could have continued eating those all night...but I obviously didn't wanna immediately come off as a fattie...so I held myself back at 5 crepes, HA. OOH we got introduced to a spread called speculoos, its basically shortbread in a spreadable form and its SCRUMPTIOUS AS F (Kevinito take note, because Alex and I have decided it will become a staple for baking this summer!). Also, I am sorry to say that there exists no photo evidence of these crepes, because Alex and I did not stop to even breathe when we were doing work on those crepes. YUM. Later that night we bought the guys some beer and proceeded to teach them some American drinking games and they taught us a French one. Ahahaha how's that for learning the essential parts of a culture? We also wandered the city a bit, only to return back to the flat because we had been enjoying the drinking games so much. It was a hilarious night and it was crazy to realize how lucky we got to stay with a group of such awesome guys :)

The next morning we packed up, hugged our friends goodbye, then went out into the city for a bit more site-seeing before our flight back to London. We walked by Moulin Rouge which was cool to see (I had wanted to go see a show but apparently they start at 80 euro…) and continued on to le Sacré-Cœur which was beauuuuuuutiful. I stopped by a souvenir shop to get everyone in my fam fam a lil sumpin sumpin, :), and then we went to catch our flight to Londonnnnn.

Man, what a trip. I learned some French!!! I could probably feign a conversation with a French citizen… but only if it involved saying “please”, “thank you”, “I’m sorry”, “tissue”, “you’re welcome”, “toilet”, “exit”, or “cheese”…and no other words. But it can be done!!!! Haha I took advantage of our French hosts by asking them every 3 seconds how something is said in French, but they were very patient with me, and dare I say, were also appreciative/greatly entertained by my attempt to learn the language and mimic their accent. I am absolutely planning on taking the Intro French class once I get back to Grinnell! Ahhhhhh. My host mom always makes a joke about how she too had the best time in Paris with her daughter and they tell each other “we’ll always have Paris” a la Casablanca. I can now empathize with the statement. c: 

And just because I don’t think the quantity of smileys in this post exemplifies how much I enjoyed Paris, here are some more!

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