My Extra Little Treat For You...

My boss found an article about living abroad and this was just a nice little snippet of it:

Even just going to the grocery store — when in an exciting new place, when all by yourself, when in a new language — is a thrilling activity. And having to start from zero and rebuild everything, having to re-learn how to live and carry out every day activities like a child, fundamentally alters you. Yes, the country and its people will have their own effect on who you are and what you think, but few things are more profound than just starting over with the basics and relying on yourself to build a life again. I have yet to meet a person who I didn’t find calmed by the experience. There is a certain amount of comfort and confidence that you gain with yourself when you go to this new place and start all over again, and a knowledge that — come what may in the rest of your life — you were capable of taking that leap and landing softly at least once.

To live in a new place is a beautiful, thrilling thing, and it can show you that you can be whoever you want — on your own terms. It can give you the gift of freedom, of new beginnings, of curiosity and excitement. 

Just thought it could make nice reading for those of us abroad. 

And for those of you at home, you can have a chuckle at my silly, silly friends.

Click here for the article.

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My Three Amigos(as)...

Having friends is nice. Having friends who visit you at uni is really nice. Having friends who tear themselves away from the joys of revision and fly out to Barcelona to see you is BLOODY NICE.

Here they are REALLY TINY.

 I won't bore you with a "we went here and we did this" post as they can become tiresome; but I can say, we went places and we did fun things. And it was just glorious.

 

We ate some good food...

...including burgers that weighed the same as a baby elephant.

And the Spanish lifestyle was a bit tiring for some...

I really had to pinch myself multiple times whilst they were out here - my three crackers Eddy, Aimée and Millie - as it did just seem too good to be true. If only life could forever be four pals in a city as fab as Barcelona. 

Going on a year abroad has been a big old rollercoaster of emotions, events, places and people, and so essentially, the only thing that stays constant are your friends and family back home. As horrible as it is that I've now fallen into the cliché trap, I have to say, it really does make you appreciate just how lucky you are to have great people in your life.

And what's even better is being able to show off how wonderful your new adopted home is. It makes something twice as good when you share it, does it not?

Better still, being able to revert to my primal state of weirdness was just bliss. After all, we really bring it out of each other...

Sorry girls, had to be done.

So, short though this post may be, it is really just to say a big ol' gracias to the gals for coming out to visit and a reminder to all those currently year-abroading that we are pretty damn lucky.

Thanks Erasmus.

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My Pascua with the Padres...

I somehow doubt any of you are AVID readers of my blog and so have been checking every other day for ANY scrap of news of my life. However, if you have been - I am alive - and I apologise for the lack of posts. It just seems that life in Barcelona can be quite hectic! And what I mean by that is... the sun has come out, and I want to be tanned.

For those of you with a smaller Spanish vocabulary, Pascua is the word for Easter. You may have, instead, heard of Semana Santa, which refers to the whole week of Easter celebrations in Spain. Well, essentially the Spanish celebrate Easter wholeheartedly - even more than just stuffing their faces with chocolate (weird right?) - and I had my own, sort of, celebration. My dear Ma and Pa and big brother William came out to visit me.

Therefore this post is less informative about Easter in Spain, and more about my family...in Spain.

On the first night the fam arrived, we were lucky enough to stumble upon an Easter parade. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos as we were sheltering from the rain but it was quite something to behold! If you search images for Spanish Easter parades you could be forgiven for thinking that the nazarenos (people who are part of religious brotherhoods) bear a striking resemblance to a not so popular group of people, the KKK. They can be quite scary looking, especially if you don't know what they are. Huge floats with images of Jesus were carried by men completely out of sight, seemingly their only way of knowing where to go was a man shouting "DERECHA, DERECHA, NO ... IZQUIERDA". There were also men and women dressed in robes, barefoot and carrying large wooden crosses on their backs - no prizes for guessing their fancy dress - but it just stuck me how much the Spanish enjoy being flamboyant and dramatic. And hey, why not?!

As an already practised tourist guide, I had planned to take the fam all around the big sights of Barcelona and so it was a great opportunity to visit La Sagrada Familia - otherwise known/referred to as the unfinished cathedral, the melting cathedral, that cathedral that has something to do with Gaudi. If you only ever get to visit Barcelona once, you really must visit it - you'll never see anything like it again.

Just for you Beth. Love the squashed turtle.

Pasty Brits enjoy the lesser-known "sun".

 These next few were taken in a pretty park up on Montjuic near the Olympic Stadium. Whilst admiring the sights, we were all certain we could smell bacon sarnies and so were very intrigued to know if there is a flower that gives off this scent, and if so... WHERE can I buy one?!

 

But let's be honest, we all know that when parents visit you it means one thing: great food. We even refer to places as "parent restaurants" - you'll know the type, the prices tend to come in double figures, they have uniformed waiters and potentially even a pianist playing you Adele tunes (well one of ours did!) I therefore use this opportunity to give you a run down of places you really should try if you ever find yourself in this wonderful city.

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and when you're eating at Milk (or its sister restaurant Marmalade), it definitely is. I've visited three times now and have not been disappointed. Really good sized portions, really scrummy food. I also love the fact they put cocktails on their brunch menu - what a great country - although I'm yet to try one.

For a nice spot of afternoon tea we had to return to my flat to enjoy a good PG tips brew, but for added decadence I bought macarons from La Colmena - a bakery just next to Jaume I metro stop. This bakery is what dreams are made of; gorgeous displays in the window, rows and rows of chocolates and cakes inside and really friendly staff. I would kill for their macarons - they are delish.

As it was both Ma and Pa's birthdays whilst they were out here, I'd chosen a fancy looking restaurant for the Sunday evening: El Gran Cafe.  It was fully booked the night we were there and so is obviously a popular choice. Although the service wasn't amazing, the food did make up for it. I had the onion soup, followed by the duck and rounded off nicely with some crema catalana (essentially creme brulee) - not a scrap was left on my plate. Its 1920s decor and in-house pianist create a really nice atmosphere too (I feel like I'm writing an advert).

On one of the sunnier days we headed down to gaze across the sea and were quickly drawn in to Maka Maka by the smell of their burgers. Its such a fun place to sit and eat, I like to pretend I'm in The OC when I eat there and that Seth will walk in any moment. Its a fab location for people watching and their chips with wasabi mayonnaise are incredibly moreish.

Lastly is Alcoba Azul. I have to say I cannot claim any of these places as my own finds (apart from the beauteous macarons) and kudos for finding this cute little tapas place goes to my wonderful pal Filipa. It is exactly the kind of place you want to find when you go on a year abroad. Not too touristy, friendly staff who will actually speak to you in Spanish, a slightly secretive location with an unassuming look and of course, really good food.  

In other recent news:
I saw my resident tramp reading a book this week.  I was impressed, although not as impressed as when I saw him with an iPad - 21st century tramp indeed.

I went for ice cream and a walk along the marina this evening and it was BALMY.

I have just spoken to my brother on skype and been told to say how lovely he is... even if he does rub it in my face that he has a GORGEOUS puppy.

I am getting very excited about going to see The XX soon.

And lastly, I promise to write more regularly - time just flies here! Refer to Dolly Parton for further evidence (although she only had to do 9 til 5 for her way to make a living).

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