Barcelona Day 5 aka My Birthday

So, I turned 21 today. Must say, most useless turning of 21 ever since I have been able to legally drink and purchase alcohol since I arrived in Europe on August. 31…nearly four months ago…

Whoa.

The people that work at the hostel have been amazing! I watched The Pianist with them last night and mentioned that it was my birthday – and all day they’ve been calling me “birthday girl” and wishing me Happy Birthday. Seriously, every time they see me. It’s great.

I returned to Parc Guell today. Brandon (the same who led the trip to Montserrat) led a Gaudi tour today. I 

had someone to take pictures of me!

Me, at the highest point in Parc Guell, Barcelona behind me.

We then saw two other Gaudi creations:

Casa Mila

Casa Batllo

Then I went to Montjuic!

It had awesome views of Barcelona and the sea.

I also got to see the sunset from here!

Then I returned to the hostel, made some pasta, and packed for the farm…pretty good birthday.

Baci,

Mari

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Bacelona Day 4

Today I climbed a mountain. Ok, not really. But I did go up to Tibidabo!

And here be the pics!

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My birthday is tomorrow!

Baci,

Mari

Barcelona Day 3

This was a chill day. I went to Sagrada Familia (but not inside L) and Parc Guell, both by Antoni Gaudi.

Here’s a video I did at the park in front of Sagrada Familia!

And here are pictures!

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Baci,

Mari

Farm in Spain!

Okay guys, here´s the lowdown:

There´s two days of awesome stuff missing from the Barcelona trip - including my birthday! But, due to time and energy contraints they didn´t make it up before I left for Mas de Madalena, the farm where I am wwoofing until January 11. Well, they don´t have wireless here - but since the place is awesome I´ll forgive them.

(OMG, five dogs, two big goats, two little goats, two sheep, lots of chickens, a donkey, a horse, two ADORABLE kids, three rabbits, a very nice and down to Earth couple (Pablo and Bea...Pablo likes to cook), Bea´s parents, some cats....this place is in the mountains....bella. Molta bella.)

In otras palabras, there probably won´t be any posts until I get settled in Ireland around January 13 (Happy birthday Mom!). But I´ll try to maybe give you a couple updates, let you know how feeding the animals and playing with Simone is going (yep, like the busdriver #JFRC) She´s the dog named after one of my favorite Jazz artists Nina Simone.

But here´s the website of where I´m staying: http://www.masdemadalena.com/index.php

And here´s the real Nina Simone:



Baci,

Mari

Barcelona Day 2

Note, this is a bit behind. I've been very tired in the evenings, especially after Day two which should more appropriately be called Montserrat day...

Really Montserrat is a destination all in itself. It even has a hotel. It's a very sacred place with a long history. I'm not going to go into much here. The link above gives a great brief history. What you need to know is that the mountain goes about 1000 metres above sea level, has a lot of walking trails to various places on the mountain, has a really old monastery and a beautiful basilica, and you can walk, drive, or take the cable car up. We took the cable car up.

Major conquering of fear of heights was involved. 

Not the greatest picture, but this is the interior of the Basilica. The white is a boys choir (rather famous apparently). They were amazing, but I found it funniest when they fumbled with the music.

This gives you an idea of the view. This cross is above the monastery (see lower left corner above rail) at about 800 metres above sea level. The wind was really blowing. This point is called Sant Miguel's.

Following this I went to dinner with a girl I met on the day trip (Nikky) and we had paella! Yum. We then got a pastry for dessert at a little shop, wandered around a bit, and went back to the hostel. So sleepy after all this!

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Baci,

Mari

Barcelona Day 1

Hard to believe I'm finally here! I've dreamt of coming here since I first read The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon sometime in middle school. It's crazy! On the first day I did a walking tour of Barri Gotic, aka the old part of Barcelona east of La Rambla, followed by some serious wandering.

The Barri Gotic is full of small twisty streets and alleyways - blink and you'll miss something.

My hand fits! The idea is that if your hand fits the artist's handprint (that would be Gaudi's), you have an artistic spirit. Or something like that. Looks like I do! P.S. this was taken at the Palau Reial. 

"At a quarter to five I made my way towards the recently opened Estacion de Francia railway station. That year's International Exhibition had left the city strewn with wonders, but my favourite was that temple-like vault of glass and steel..." The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon 

On the day I visited there was a huge vintage festival going on.

This is the fantastical Gaudi Fountain in the Parc de la Ciutadella. You can climb up and around it. While I was there a jogger kept going up and down the stairs. I love the griffins on the ledge separating the two water levels. 

Finally, La Rambla at night. It's a lot less busy than it would be in the summer (the case for Barcelona in general). There are a lot less street preformers. But you still have to watch out for pick pocketers. I've been lucky so far...(knock on wood).

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Baci,

Mari