First Month in Barcelona

      I have officially been in Barcelona for a  month and while the time is going by so quick, I feel like I have been here for even longer. I have been so many places here and in Europe already, but at the same time there is so much to see. This past week in Barcelona I saw and did so much in and around Barcelona.   

                 To start off my crazy weekend in Barcelona, on Thursday night my friend Owen, roommate Julia, and I went to go see the start of the Carnival in Barcelona. We went to a Parade for the King in the El Born district of Barcelona. It was so crazy and all the costumes were so colorful. The King and Queen were actually these big porcelain doll type things that people went into to move and dance. There was also a court jesture and this whole story that was being told that we did not know. Afterwards, we went to a real Tapas bar called Golfo de Bizkaia, which was delicious and cool because you literally got to go pick which ones you want and only pay a euro for them.  Then we decided to go to a Gastronomy Bar called Ohla for some funky drinks. I ended up getting a Margarita with a passion fruit on the side and it was made with all these different things including jelly. So interesting! 

          On Friday I went on a CEA trip to Tarragona and to the Torres Winery in El Penedes. The picture above is from Tarragona and it is seriously one of the prettiest I have been to and has so much history attached to it. The old quarter of the city, where we went is surrounded by Roman walls and has a Circus, Praetorium, and a Amphitheater. We got to go to the top of one of the old Roman towers, which had sweeping views of the Mediterranean. Afterwards we went down to the Amphitheater, which can be seen above in the lower left-hand quarter. It is so completely different than the Colosseum in Rome, even though they may look very similar and be used for the same purposes. We were able to go into the seated area and walk around the seats and go into the arena part as well. We basically had the run of the stadium, which was so insane for me. 

         After we went the Circus, which is where the chariot races were in Ancient Roman times and then we went to eat some yummy Catalonian food. We ate sausages and fries and something called Calcotada, which is a spring onion that is cultivated only in this region of Spain. It almost looks like a celery stick, but you have to peel the first layer of the onion rod and and then dip it in this special sauce. It was an interesting taste, and not bad, but not amazing at the same time, just different. It was exciting to eat though because it literally is a once in a lifetime opportunity.   

      

          From lunch we finally went to the Winery, which was literally an experience. I have gone to other Winery's in NY (as many of you reading this know), but this one was intense. They take you on a train ride like in Disney and then take you into this tunnel that is literally right out of Willy Wonka. There are no lights and then all the sudden you start to drive and they start to play a video on the walls, it is so strange, but cool. Afterwards we got to tour the actual winery and then have a glass of wine, which was actually yummy! I ended up buying 4 bottles of wine because they were so cheap and yummy! During this trip also, I got to meet new people and hung out with them afterwards, so I am expanding my friends! Yippee!

 

        After the winery, I actually went out with some of the people I met on the tour, along with my friends Lior and Owen. We went to this bar called Marsella, which is where Hemingway used to come and drink absinthe and then write his novels. The original ceiling is still in the bar and is literally falling off at certain points. Since we were there we decided to be like Hemingway and all order absinthe (which can be seen above). The whole idea of absinthe is fun, especially for Americans, but I don't know how people drink more than one. It was not bad and fun because we got to light sugar on fire, but I had to always chase it with water. And no sadly I did not see the green fairy. They don't serve that kind of absinthe there. 

         The following day I went to Parc Guell with my friend Lior and we just walked around there. While we were there though, we met these guys who go to St John's in the City, but are studying in Sevilla. They were really funny and we hung out with them for a while and told them where to go and what to see in Barcelona. We also got to witness the people who illegally sell things around the Parc get chased by this guy with a cane. He was like a pimp or something, he did not look like a cop at all. We decided that he was just a concerned citizen who took it upon himself to chase these people with a can. It literally was like Tom and Jerry, it was so funny.
            That night we ended up going to eat on top of a Mall called Arena Madre. It was right at the entrance of Monjuic and had sweeping views of Barcelona. We got tapas that were pretty good and awesome Gelato. Afterwards, Lior and I met up with our new friends from the night before and went to this bar called Peppermint where they serve you a 13 liter drink for all to share in a huge glass that is probably the size of a helmet. It was huge. It was crazy trying to finish the whole thing, and I am happy I came late because I don't think I could have made it if I was there from the beginning. Even so, it was a lot of fun. 
 

      On Sunday, I woke up and went to an FC Barcelona game with CEA and met some more people, but I didn't really hang out with them a lot, only during the game. The way they do things is so different than American sports, I was not used to it, but there weren't as many distractions. For instance, there are only two boards in the whole stadium and they only tell the score. There is no play backs or announcers telling the fans what it is going on. Also, if you get out of your seat during the game people stare at you and on top of that alcohol is not served. They come solely because they love the team, nothing else. It was a fun experience though, better than football for me because at least I like soccer.

          That night I went to Carnival in Sitges, which is a little shore town about 45 minutes south of Barcelona. It was insane and so much fun. I went with Bus2Alps and actually met someone from Marist who worked for the company. The bus was fun, but once we got to Sitges we got to do whatever we wanted. The whole town had a constant parade going through it and you could literally go dance in the parade, which my friends did. I ended up making friends with some British girls from New Castle and hung with them for a lot of the night. I also went and hung out on the beach and literally just wandered because the whole thing is outside. The majority of the people were wearing costumes of all different kinds and it was just a fun atmosphere. I have heard Venice is the place for Carnival, but Sitges sure was fun. I guess I'll have to compare eventually.