End of January

Well, January is almost over.... it's been slow... I haven't had much to do.. but I've had some great visitors :D

Toni and I signed up for CouchSurfing (check out our profile HERE) and we got people wanting to come stay with us right away! (because we're awesome...)

Christiaan and Etana were here in the beginning of the month. She's from New Hampshire and he's from Cali and they both study at HOFSTRA, and since my sister goes there... I figured they were safe to have for our first 'surfers'. They're doing a year abroad in Amsterdam (lucky) and spent the holidays travelling. They fit right in with everyone and I had a good time showing them around.

I took them around La Boqueria and all throughout the gothic area, and a freshly-shaved, Aladdin look-alike by the name of Andres joined us :)

We found this really cute cider bar where you pour your own cider a special way.... it didn't taste very good (to me)... but it was still fun.

They were here for 3 Kings Day and we all went down the street to watch the parade where the kings arrive into the city and all the kids get to see that they're here and it makes them go to bed extra early (how come we dont have a parade for Santa?)

The parade was really crowded and I was really annoyed at first because people had brought ladders and were sitting on top of trucks and garbage bins.... and my camera didnt work for the first 15 minutes, so you can imagine what kind of mood I was in.. but in the end it was nice :)

3 Kings Day is on the 6th of January and Toni and I had to be at his house extra early... everyone leaves a shoe out overnight and you get a present in your shoe :) We all unwrapped presents (even me) and I got a wonderful trip to Paris or the Canary Islands from Toni, and a fondue set that I wanted :D After... I wasn't prepared for the food. We ate soooo much.... and then we had to go to his Uncle's house... and have more food. We almost died.

This is the special cake for 3 Kings Day... inside there's a bean and a king... whoever finds the king, wears the crown... and whoever finds the bean has to pay for the cake. Guess who found the bean...........

And the day after is the best.... SALES! Matthew and I had a crazy shopping day and Toni had to save us via motorbike because our bags were too heavy and our feet (ok my feet) were too tired. Matthew reluctantly and nervously took his FIRST motorbike ride...

On the 9th Toni got HIS 3 Kings present... tickets to see the futbol team Espanyol play :D

It was a lot a lot of fun and we won 4-0

If you've never heard of Espanyol it's because they're the 'other' team in Barcelona.... they're like the Mets to the Yankees... they suck and theyre living in the shadow of the worlds greatest... but theyre slowly improving :)

After that Toni went back to England for exams and Matthew went back to LA... both on the 11th... what a TERRIBLE day!!!!!!! Life was pretty boring after that except for 2 more couchsurfers....

Naomi came from Amsterdam for a few days and she was great... she radiated kindness and joy and Edwin and I adored her. And we're both dating a Spanish man, who I got to meet breifly during Bo D B sandwiches... She helped celebrate Edwin's 21st (coughcough) birthday and we got drunk off chupitos the last night :)

Tisho came from Bulgaria and he is a master world traveller. He lived in Iceland for 6 years and now is living back home.... he is incredibly smart and we had some very interesting conversations while visiting Parc Guell and eating Italian buffet... and Bo D B's.

Actually... Tisho and I did a lot of eating now that I think about it :)

Now it's the end of the month and Toni comes home tomorrow... so a lot more adventures are waiting in my future