Aisling speaks fluent "Vale," gets a dancing lesson from slutty Spaniards, takes a plane ride over Barcelona (not in that order)

Alright, I've got approximately 48 more hours of internet access so I'm going to have to make my posts about Aisling's trip to BCN and my weekend in Munich real quick and dirty. And ... mostly pictures.

Vale!

Met Aisling in Placa Catalunya between classes and then took her to my Mediterranean Environment class where she got to learn all about Barcelona's Agenda 21. Which I'm sure was fascinating. Afterwards, we headed back to my place and bid a fond farewell to my roommates who all took a cruise to Mallorca for the weekend, leaving Aisling and I free reign to trash the place and drink all their cava. Great. Had a few drinks and talked on the balcony before heading out to this supercute Art Nouveau tapas bar near BB+. We got: patatas bravas, ham croquets, cabbage-and-mayo-on-bread, and red-pepper-stuffed-with-fish-in-creamy-pepper-sauce. It was all very delicious.

Stuffed, we headed to BB+ for liters of Estrella. After accidentally spilling all over a Spanish girl who was sitting next to us, I thought I was in for a rumble. Quite the opposite. The girl and her friend (Estefania and ... I forget the other one's name) started chatting us up. Slash making us drink their liquor. Eventually they invited us to go to a club with them, where they spent the night trying to teach Aisling and I how to dance like strippers. We humored them, but when they tried to convince us to pull up our shirts and show our stomachs, we had to draw the line. Jajaja. They were so funny and so, so much shorter than Aisling and I. Baby-sized, really. After an hour or so of intense dancing to techno, Aisling and I bailed. At home, I whipped up spicy spaghetti and then we tucked ourselves into sleep.

I don't have any pictures of Thursday. Lo siento.

Friday we were awoken by Lisa at the door. It was pretty late in the day already. We went out to the Snack Bar on Sarria for bocadillos with her and then walked around a cute park by my house. Then Aisling and I tried to get to the top of Tibidabo Mountain to go to the 20's-era theme park on top ... but it was too late and the funicular had stopped running. Still, we were really high up on the mountain and it was a really clear day, so we stopped at a restaurant and had coffees overlooking all of Barcelona. (Aisling, you'd better post those pictures because I want to d/l them.) We walked through a crazy park to get down the mountain and then through a beautiful neighborhood with huge, sweet houses.

Metro'ed back to Placa Catalunya and hit up the Top Shop (que expensive) before going to the Boquería to browse/pick up supplies for dinnerz. We made fantastic burritos w/ superfresh chicken, onions, peppers, and mushrooms from the Boquería AND a great sangria with fresh strawberries, oranges, and apples. Maybe the best dinner of my life. We watched Freaks & Geeks on le internet during dinner and it was just great.

Afterwards, met up with Kerry and Lauren in their neck of the woods. Went to this neat lounge called Maumau (spelling?) where you have to pretend to be an idiot tourist to get in for free (it's members-only). It's a really relaxed place with non-rowdy young people and a bunch of couches and tables. The beers were kind of expensive, but I think if we were members it would've been a different story. After Maumau, Aisling wanted to see the Mellon District, the crazy apartments where Kerry & Lauren live. Since it's a maximum-security facility (seriously), we had to wait for K&L to throw their ID cards from their bedroom windows down to us on the street (via weighted plastic bags, claro). Watched some classic OC clips, called it a night. Long walk home.


Fruit and sugar. Sangria preparation.


Adding rum and wine.


The most beautiful thing I've ever consumed.


Veggies, chicken, seasoned rice. Can you tell I was really impressed by our cooking skills?


Saturday we got up significantly earlier so we could make it to the Parque de Atraciones, which we did. The park was so much bigger than I thought it would be, because I guess it has been expanded quite a bit since the 20's. We didn't want to pay the 25 euro entrance fee to get into the whole park, so we just rode the plane and the ferris wheel, both of which had great views overlooking the (smoggy) city. Also we had a delicious picnic! Great. Next, we went to Gaudí's Casa Mila, where it was really hard to get cute pictures of us on the roof because apparently all of geriatric France was at this house on Saturday (??). THEN we hit up the Champagnería. I think it was my 3rd or 4th attempt to drink at this establishment. Finally: Success! The place is just so tiny and so jam-packed that it's nearly impossible to get your cava and sandwiches. Anyway, we secured one bottle of pink cava and two cheese sandwiches. Then we decided to go for another bottle. And an order of chorizo with mustard. And a fois-gras sandwich.

La la, talked to some weird Germans then departed for the Magic Fountain light show! I love the Magic Fountain and I have 85 pictures of it to prove it.

Went back to my house and had some cava and wine and Skyped Stephen and Marjorie (for hours). Talked and were nerds all night and got too drunk to leave the apartment, so we watched Freaks and Geeks and called it a night.


The funicular to the Parque de Atraciones @ the top of Tibidabo.


A view from the funicular.


These clowns on Tibidabo that kept demanding that I take their picture.


Panoramic.


This thing (a) looks like it's tipping over and (b) goes really fast.


Carousel and the plane ride.


A ride we didn't go on. All these rides are from the really old section of the park.


Rollacostaaa.


Yes.


Recreation of the first plane to ever fly. The ride swings you over a cliff!


View from the plane.


My friend and yours, Aisling.


The old area of the park, from the plane.


On the Panoramic ferris wheel.


On the Panoramic, with Tibidabo mountain and the Collserola Tower in the background.


Panoramiccc, again.


Failing at taking cute pictures of us on the Funicular ride down to the bus.


Cute but blurry one of Aisling, though.


Giant church on top of Tibidabo.


On the roof of Casa Mila.


Again.


From the kids room inside of Casa Mila.


@ the Champagnería.


Magic Fountain!









Sunday, we slept in a bit and then headed to the beach where we took baby naps and I got a foot tan. Afterwards, we went to Cafe L'Opera on Las Ramblas so Aisling could try churros con chocolate. Then, to Maoz for falafel and french fries. THEN to my apartment for naps and Freaks and Geeks. Dinner, bedtime, Aisling departed early Monday morning. Voila.

Registered for my last fall semester of classes today!

My schedule on ScheduleMan.org <-- Click that to see my schedule.

I'll be done with my professional writing major after next semester and will only have one class left to take for creative writing.

Besos.

Cuando Justín me visitó en Barcelona (23 marzo - 31 marzo)

Finally! I'll start from Sunday, March 23rd, when got back to Barcelona from our weekend w/ Steev and Aisling in Amsterdam.

Uh, Sunday I think we pretty much just hung out around the apartment and watched movies or TV because we were tired.

Monday, however, was a really full day. I gave Justin a tour of Passeig de Gracia -- Gaudí's La Pedrera (Casa Milà) and Casa Batlló, La Manzana de la Discordia, the Hermès store, the Louis Vuitton store, the Chanel store -- you know, all the important things. After that we headed down the absolutely /packed/ Las Ramblas (probably best to avoid the Rambla on bank holidays) where Justin was impressed with the array of live poultry and I was in love with baby bunnies and chicks. We tried to buy a rabbit at La Boquería market for Justin to skin and, uh, prepare, but it was closed for the Holiday. Onwards and upwards to Plaça Reial in the Barri Gotic and a general tour of that area. (I am very practiced at tour-giving because it seems to be a course requirement for /literally/ every class offered by my retresado program.)

We lunched at a busy half-Catalán, half-international restaurant in the Borne district. I had chicken and ratatouille and Justin had sliders (sans roll -- we are still in Euroland, after all). Then, since it was such a beautiful day and we had been stuck in shitty northern European weather for over a week, we hit the beach @ Barceloneta. And then, as most of you already know, we got engaged! Pictures of vom-inducing cuteness to follow! (I said yes. That was clear, wasn't it?)

After the beach we headed back to the apartment and hung out for a bit before going to a celebratory dinner at Splendido, an Italian restaurant across the street from my apt. building. It was so cheap and so delicious. We got a bottle of cava and spilt a cream of asparagus soup (with shrimpzz) to start. Then Justin got some weird pizza thing and I had some weird pesto thing. A cortado for dessert. Anyway, it was real classy and fantastic.

At night we went to Bebopaloobo(SP??) w/ Lisa, her Spanish RA (Rodrigo), and three of Rodrigo's friends. Not that they don't always buy rounds of tequila shots for Lisa/sometimes me/sometimes Luke, but the Spaniards really outdid themselves that night in the spirit of our compromiso. Which was great. Once Bebopaloobop closed down, we went to La Mandarina, which is owned by Rodrigo's friend Carlas. Carlas is constantly opening his bar for just his friends and giving away tons of free alcohol. It is pretty great for the state of my life/finances, but pretty bad for Carlas's life/finances because, uh, he barely ever opens the bar for paying customers. At any rate, Rodrigo played songs on guitar for us and we sung along and generally made merry. I'm glad Justin got to go to the Mandarina with me because it is consistently the greatest part of any night.

(Most of these pictures are stolen from Justin's website.)


Casa Batlló on La Manzana de la Discordia.


Casa Amatller.


Casa Amatller.


Tile in Casa Amatller.


The third house on La Manzana that I always forget the name of.


Las Ramblas.


I LOVE BABY BUNNIES and my parents would never let me have one.


I want to put them in my mouth. In a loving way.




Here I will quote Justin's captions to show you how weirdly excited he was about the birds for sale: "You could also buy larger birds like roosters and chickens."


"...not to mention grouse, cornish hens, and pheasant!" HAAHAH what a nerd.


Carrer Ferran in El Barri Gotic.


Barri Gotic.


omgzz


Freaking out.


Otra vez.


Rumblepack guitar.


On Tuesday we saw Gaudí's Sagrada Familia and picnicked at Domenech i Montaner's Hospital San Pau (Justin's future employer?). Then we tried to go to El Parc del Laberinto d'Horta (aka, The Labyrinth), but it turns out one of my roommates had given me iffy directions. After getting off at a metro that was no where close to the Labyrinth, we caught a bus whose driver said that he was going relatively close to the park. After driving a half an hour towards what looked like one of the mountains bordering the city, the driver dropped us off on the side of a highway (not a bus stop at all, mind you) with some vague instructions to "walk up a hill, then down a hill." We wandered around a really poor, run-down village until we came to a PRISON where were were HARASSED BY INMATES who were outside cleaning. As I was trying to run away in terror (where the hell were we?), I noticed some distinctly labyrinthine bushes across from the prison. We circumvented the bushes and somehow ended up at the Labyrinth, which was cheap and beautiful. The park has the oldest preserved gardens in Barcelona (dating back to the 18th century) and a ton of neo-classical sculptures and architecture. There is also a CANAL OF LOVE which is home to a SWAN OF LOVE (pretty cute) and and ISLAND OF LOVE (where there is a doghouse??).

Hit up a sweet, sweet playground on the way out of the Parc del Laberinto. America really needs to get some more dangerous play equipment in their parks. Like, way more dangerous than Fox Hill (even though those swirly things @ Fox Hill can be somewhat terrifying). We also watched some bike racers practicing at the velodrome (built for the BCN Olympics in '92) before heading back home. Made dinner, went to Bebopaloobop with Luke, Lisa, and Rodrigo.


La Sagrada Familia.






Hospital San Pau.


An ambulance, to prove it's really a hospital.


Inside the hospital.


Preciosa!




HI!


Labyrinth, finally.


I am seriously so glad that we are the biggest dorks ever invented.


This is blurry, but I love it.


In the center, which may or may not have been the end of the maze.


You wouldn't believe how long it took me to get this shot. Some middle-aged man kept getting this German couple to take pictures of him cheesily perching on the railing overlooking the labyrinth.


Another garden in the park.


Estatua.


Classic/hilarious. I hope they pay this swan.


Close to death on the playground.


Looks like he's at a rodeo.


My favorite.


Velodrome!


One-legged, one-armed man who was kind of beating everyone's asses.


Some other guys.


Wednesday: Woke up late. Went to the the Arc de Triompf and then were overcome by hunger. We went to the Champagnería but were overwhelmed by the chaos and instead opted for a salad and pizza buffet that didn't turn out to be very good. Oh, well. At least you got a glass of beer or wine for free. Plus there was a soft-serve ice cream machine and fresh fruit for dessert. And I got to make my own cortado with the espresso machine! So. Not /that/ bad, overall.

After lunch we went to the Parc de la Ciutadella, where we were denied entrance into the zoological museum because we weren't trying to pay. No bother. We found a giant fountain named "Cascada" (lolz) that was under contstruxn. I was a big nerd in a gazebo. Justin took lots of pictures for his Cascada-obsessed housemates. We observed the rather aggressive mating habits of mallard ducks at the pond and found some neat tropical birds. Too bad that giant albino gorilla from the BCN Zoo died, because that would've been a sight.

I may or may not have taken Justin to BB+ for the first time on Wednesday night. I can't remember.


Arc de Triompf.


#11.


CASCADA


Being a bird, maybe? I don't remember.


Tropical birdies.



BB+.


Thursday we met Luke for lunch at Plaça Urquinaona. Justin got to try authentic Spanish paella mixta. Then we went to see the UNBELIEVABLE Palau de la Musica Catalana (Domenech i Montaner). We didn't go in because it was closed for the day AND because it's kind of expensive (so I'm waiting until Mother Dearest comes to see the inside). Afterwards, we searched the Boquería for a rabbit (Justin was obsessed), but couldn't find any with the skin still on them (he REALLY wanted to skin it [?!]), so we abandoned that plan. I don't think he was /too/ disappointed, because he did get to see lots of gross animal products. Onwards to the Barri Gotic to show Justin the Happy Pills store. We ended up stumbling on a really fantastic (but expensive) traveling antique market. The coolest thing I found were several books of dress patterns from the 1920's and '30's. (And Marjorie, believe me, I would have bought them in a second if they weren't 15 euros, which, as I think you are aware, is 1.5x my weekly budget.) Oh, well. I'm sure I can find them somewhere in the states. OR MAYBE ON THE INTERNETS!

Nnnnext, we went to hang out at the (skate?) park on Paral.lel (Catalán is so funny), where Justin got really stoked about the graffiti that was being done. At night time we went for tea and hookah at the really cute tea house by Kerry & Lauren's apt buliding/sanatorium.

Can't remember what happened the rest of the night.


Carving on the side of the Palau de la Musica Catalana.


Palau.


Inside of the Palau as captured through the window by Justin's camera, which, although it weighs ten pounds, is significantly better than mine.


Another corner of the Palau.


The verticals on the railings are all made of glass. My favorite column is on the left.


Tile on the Palau.


Still on my toes.


Antiquesss


Mmmmm soon I will return to my baby blue one and collaborative storytelling! Esp. if Marjorie is in PGH this summer.


From a distance. (Justin, where are the rest of the pictures from the antique fair? Not on your website?)


Boquería.


Candies.


Grody animal parts.


Vom-city.


Spain loves cured meats. I hate cured meats.


Totes my future wedding dress.


Oh, right. We also ended up walking by Palacio Guell. By Gaudí.


La graffiti. I totally stole this picture for a presentation I had to give in my Spanish class. Thanks, Justin. (By the way, it had been painted over with shitty tags a week later.)


Somewhat less impressive than the first.


On Friday we hung out in the apartment basically all day. We made a big lunch of spaghetti with chicken sausage and baguette and didn't go out until night time. We were supposed to meet Lisa and Rodrigo at a Flamenco show/bar, but it was sold out. Instead, we met up with them on Las Ramblas and went to a bar called "El Bosc de les Fades," or "The Forest of the Fairies," that is right by the wax museum. I had been dying to go to this bar forrrrrrrrever! It was un poquito expensive and kind of more for an older crowd, but really cool. I think I'll take my mom there when she comes. It's pretty cute. After the fairy forest bar we headed to Gracia for another bar where the owner was Cuban. He said I looked Catalán (what?). I told him I was American, but that I had a Cuban uncle, which he said meant that I could dance well. Touché, my Cuban friend.

Anyway, that's the end of Friday. No pictures because we were lazy.

Lisa came with us to Parc Guell on Saturday, which was relatively uneventful. I think it was pretty smoggy in Barcelona that day, so the views weren't that great. Later that night we met up with Luke and Lisa again to watch the light show at the Magic Fountain of Montjuic. We got chicken doner kebabs in the Raval and then went to BB+ for the night.


At Parc Guell.


Lisa + I.


Barcelona, kind of.


World's longest bench. Literally.


Gingerbread house.


Gaudí's beloved trencadís.


Magic Fountain.


Luke and Lisa @ BB+.

On Sunday we chilled out. Went to a beautiful park near my house that Lisa told us about and just read and listened to music. Made a big spaghetti dinner again and then took Justin to the airport in the morning.


@ the park. Mushy!

THE END.