LONDON Weekend

........Saturday morning we had to wake up around 9:30 to finish packing and catch the 11am bus to Girona to fly off to London. I got home from the club around 5am... and Lindsay arrived at some unknown time. When the alarm went off at 9:30 I asked if she finished packing... and since she said yes we went back to sleep for 15 more mintues. Then... when the alarm went off... she asked for more sleep. I said NO WAY WE HAVE TO LEAVE IN 10 MINUTES! And thats when I discovered that she in fact had NOT finished packing....Still drunk from the night before (I should have filmed this) Lindsay quickly shoved everything into her new suitcase and layered on 3 jackets (I had on 2) and we made our way to the metro station.

We just made our bus with about 5 minutes to spare and she knocked out for the hour after reliving the night through the rediculous pictures I took.

Our flight to London was terrible. Then we had to take a van to the center of London... then the metros were SO messed up and packed that there was no way we were fitting on with Lindsay's 3 bags and my 1. We eventually called a cab but they didn't accept credit cards and we had to scramble around to find an ATM... 17 pounds, and 8 hours later (from when we left my apartment) we were in the hotel room with the squeakiest floors in the world.

THEN I had to find Toni...

The station his bus took him to as huge... trains, buses, metros, shopping, food... he said meet him at the subway... which I thought meant metro but really meant the food place.... I said I was at Burger King... and then the police informed me that there were 2 BKs.... It took about 20 mintues to find eachother but we finally did.

Worst Day EVER! But we were in London.....

We went and saw Harry Potter 7!!! So excitinggg.... and of course when we got out of the movie the metro was done running for the night (at midnight on a Saturday!?!?!) and we had to figure out the bus and it took about 45 minutes to get home... exhausting.

Toni & I read a magazine and planned the next day in what appeared to be the living room of the hotel (actually, it was a Swiss Cottage) while drinking beer and eating Spanish nuts.

Sunday was the big touring day! We saw (almost) everything important in London..

Big Ben

Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace

Brittish Breakfast

London Eye

Tower Bridge

and more... very touristy...very coooold... but very fun.

We were exhausted and spent some time at home... and of course when we went out for dinner (at 10pm) everything was closed except for an American place that was full of Italians and Spanish tourists who eat late.

On Monday Lindsay's only option to get to the airport was a 6:40am shuttle... so saad to see her go! But it gave Toni & I the chance to go to a museum.

We spent hours at the National Gallery... we saw paintings by da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Monet, Renoir, Turner... and so many more. I loved seeing paintings that I studied in class.. very exciting.

Exhausted and hungry we headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral and had pizza before exploring the inside... of course you have to pay to see the most beautiful parts of the cathedral... but it was nice to see everything else.

And of course we had to have tea in London before catching the bus back to Southampton.

Lindsay's Last Week

.I'm sitting in Toni's chilly living room in Southampton trying to pass the time while he's in class... and I have to update! SO MUCH HAPPENED!!!

Let me think. Wait.. let me check fbook pictures. Easier. OMG it's been over a week... geeezzzz

Well it was Lindsay's last week in Barcelona so we did all the things on her list.... here's the highlights:

On Tuesday (the 16th) we went and had the BEST patatas bravas with Matt at Bar Tomas.

It's a place he had heard about and Toni verified it's greatness... he used to go for lunch when he was in high school... and in deed there were about 20 kids from his school there eating. And the bravas WERE amazing.

That night we went and had 3.5L of Sangria at L'ovella Negra (The Black Sheep) with Joan...

and after 1 liter we were all drunk and calling this "the big mistake".. so we filled 3 water bottles full and kept it for the next night.

Thursday night we went out to the Dow Jones bar... but Joan mistook it for the Spanish version called La Bolsa... and funny enough, all the Americans ended up there as well.

The prices of the drinks are displayed on a screen and they go up and down throughout the night depending on what's popular.

And right next door is Sutton (Joan's favorite spot) and spent the night with him and all the Americans... and the winner of the Spanish version of American Idol was performing and it was really weird....

On Friday we had the best pizza everrr at La Bella Napoli.

We finished in about 10 minutes flat...

That night (Friday) was Lindsay's last night and we pregamed at Pippermint...

95 Euros for 13 liters of goodnes... it was pretty crazy... but a lot of fun to share with everyone.

We went out to a place called MIOH... a bar with a dance floor near the American guy's place (and conveniently a few blocks from our place too)... there were 11 of us at least so we had a lot of fun... and Lindsay had NO SLEEP that night................ (to be continued)

11-15

Holaaa... I'm feeling a little feverish :/ But let's talk about the weekend!

On Friday Linz & I went to bed at 9:30... woke up at midnight to get ready to go out... and ended up going back to sleep.

We spent Saturday with Heidi & went for a nice walk around the Gothic parts of town.

And we had a busy night bar hopping... we started off at 11 in El Bosc De Les Fades which is a museum/bar that is really cool to be in... if you click the link you can go through a "book" that has pictures of the bar.

Then we quickly got dressed at home and walked up Aribau to Cyrano... the bar where you pour your own drinks :)

Next we went to a bar up the road where we met up with some Spanish friends... hung out until 3 and then went to Costa Breve for the night....

Lindsay had 4 different rum&cokes... 6E, 4E, 3,50E, and 10E... so different!

We had to leave at 5am, though, to catch the bus to Heidi's because her mom had to leave for work at 6. We passed out nicely on the couch.

On Sunday Heidi went to her mom's video shoot around 2 so we went to Montjuic with Matt (from LA). We sat on a blanket in Palau Sant Jordi and had a nice Catalan baguette with PB&J :D

It was a gorgeous day for a picnic and Matt & Lindsay talked all about LA.

We decided to get some coffee and got a quick snack at the little shacks that I always see... they cook up sweet potatoes and they smell sooo good... and WOW... they tasted even better... even though they look like crap.

We had to be back at Heidi's around 8... and after we got home at 1am Lindsay kept me up until 4...

Todayyyyy we got up and did some laundry (such clean girls) before going to my FAVORITE tapas restaurant that Toni brought me to... Maitea. So good... and not so expensive.

Then we traveled down to the gothic area again and went to my favorite church Santa Maria Del Mar...

And THEN we conveniently found Bo D B... a sandwich place that was on Lindsay's list of things to do. And it was amaaazing. Her friend, Brian, studied abroad here and gave her a long list... of course he sent us to all the places Americans go to. Out of the 10 people eating, 6 were Americans.

We walked out so full (after only eating half of our sandwiches) that we had to try extremely hard to not puke on our walk home.

And theeeeen we conveniently found PAPABUBBLE! The candy shop where they make the candy by hand in front of you... another place on her list (from me this time). We had some samples... and some fresh warm candy that was still soft. So good.

Now we're home... I'm exhausted after 6 hours of sleep at 4 hours of walking around...

AND! They changed the locks downstairs to the front door because it was half broken so tomorrow I have to go buy a new key :/

I better not be sick all week!!! LONDON ON SATURDAY!

11-12

Fridayyy! The end of the week.. except we still have to babysit Saturday & Sunday :( No days off for us this week.

Sooo... On Wednesday we went to the FC Barcelona gameee!!!!

We went with a bunch of Americans & Joan, it was about 15 of us.

They played AD Cuenta... which is a crap team... so we didn't get to see all the best players :(

BUT! They DID put Messi in in the 2nd half!!!!!! & he scored :D

The stadium wasn't packed... but it was still a fun game. We won 5-1!

And we celebrated with Barca shots at Espit Chupito!

Thursday & Friday (today) Linz & I went on the bus tour... East Rout, then West Rout. We basically saw EVERYTHING there is to see in Barcelona.

On Thursday we saw La Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell...

We babysat after our big adventures we babysat and then we went down to the Port Olympic and went into the.... ICE BAR!!!!!!!

It was freezing... so we only stayed for a little bit before heading home.

Friday was a gorgeous sunny day and we hopped on the tour bus again after getting Lin a Spanish cell phone.

Went all around Montjuic and around Placa Espana and spent some time at the mall before heading to Heidi's for the evening. Hannah Montana & cookies... exhaustedddd... siesta then going out!

Time for a loooong weekend!

11-9

Monday! Linz & I had a nice day of shopping planned....

She starts off every morning with a croissant and cafe con leche.

We went to soo many stores but only bought things at Bershka and Stradivarius. Long sleeve shirts, scarves... Linz got a nice jacket. Essentials.

We had a nice walk down La Rambla and through some back streets (that look more like alleys) and made our way to Can Paixano. Brian recommended it to us... everyone orders the rose cava (pink champagne) and a sandwich... you stand up and eat and throw your napkins on the floor.

We were so overwhelmed at first that we almost left.. but the bartender/waiter/server spoke un poco english and helped us get a jamon y queso sandwich... cured ham and cheese, warmed to perfection. And we had a bottle of the rose cava that we could NOT finish. It was all really good.

After lunch we walked over to Parc de la Ciutadella... the largest park in Barcelona and definitely the most beautiful.

We walked around there for a little while before heading off for a siesta before watching Heidi.

After babysitting we invited Joan Ignasi over for mojitos downstairs.... 3x10Euros... very nice.

After we sucked down the strawberry mojito deliciousness we decided to venture off to Bar Marsella, a place I found in my tour guide book this summer and forced Toni to go to.

It's been around since 1820 and all the famous artists that have come through Barcelona have spent their time there... Gaudi, Hemingway, Picasso.... So of course we had to go experience the rich cultural history. And they have Absinthe.

It's so disgusting... you mix it with sugar and water to make it less potent and easier to drink... but I don't know how people just sip on it. We took it down in shots and chased it with OJ.

It's still... so... disgusting. But the 3 of us had a good time admiring the old, dusty bottles and the tiled floors and the chandeliers that appear to have never been cleaned. It was a journey just to get there... in the RAVAL... but it was fun!

11-7 (Lindsay)

And theeeeeeeeeeen... LINDSAY ARRIVED ON WEDNESDAY! At an early 6:45am... NOT fun meeting her at the airport (haha jkjk)

We had a great Spanish breakfast and spent the morning catching up and taking a nap!

I showed her around La Rambla before babysitting for the night.

Thursday we went to la playa! THE NUDEY BEACH! So funnnyyyyyyyyy... it was warm and sunny and just a little bit windy

And we took the red thing in the air to Montjuic and found our way to the castle... after taking some other tramvia thing in the air.. but we had beautiful views and it was so worth it.

And THEN... later that night... we found the best bar ever.

Espit Chupito. There's close to 400 shots to choose from... And we had 7 of them.

^Harry Potter^

Boy Scout

Pop Rocks

Big Papa

Lorenzo

Asaco

Cuenta Verde

Pretty much amazing... most of them have like... a little show that goes along with them. and they taste amaing.

Friday I made dinner for us and Juan and Roberto... pasta carbonara. It was my first time and they all liked it! YAY ME! After we went out to Espit Chupito again and had 8 more...

Willy Wonka

Buscando a Nimo

Bob Marley

Cucaracha

Altocha

Merengue

Pastel

Luna

So this will be come a normal routine... On Friday night we went out with Joan and his friends to Port Olympic and bar hopped all night... fun times.

Saturday we spent in Sitges with Joan... had lunch, which included the sangria that changed our lives...

and walked in and out of the small streets before admiring the sunset by the church. I love Sitges.

Then we went out with the Americans to a "cave bar"...

they had live jazz and salsa and it really looked like a cave so it was a good time... but we headed home early because we had a big Sunday.

Because today we had to watch Paul from 9am-9pm... so 4 hours of sleep later, Lindsay got her 1st impressions of Paul.... when we walked inside he was laying in the middle of a pile of pictures. Typical. & she watched me struggle to get his socks and shoes on.... he hates winter clothes

.

We had to watch Heidi too so we picked her up and headed down to La Rambla and got a peek at the POPE who was in town... just a small little glimpse of him in his Pope-mobile...

but we got a BIG glimpse of the protesters...

We had a GREAT lunch and spent the rest of the day at Tibidabo... it was short, but a lot of fun for everyone.

11-7 (Martin)

Ok... it's been sooo busy!!!! I NEED TO UPDATE!!!!

Where do I begin... last weekend (October 30th) I had a WONDERFUL AMAZING visitor by the name of MARTINOO!!!

Margot & Henry decided to come to Barcelona while Martin was on break and we had a great weekend.

Saturday I met them at La Rambla and we walked all around and had tapas for dinner.

I showed them my apartment and they left for the night and I had a nice American Halloween party!

Americans, Spaniards, and some other internationals, all dressed up... lots of fun.

Sunday I met Martin & Co at La Sagrada Familia and we spent the day hopping on and off the Tour Bus.

We had a great walk around Parc Guell and I had a dinner date with Martin and spent the night with him in their amazing hotel.

Monday I took Martin to TIBIDABO and he had the beest time! Well, the haunted hotel scared the crao out of him and we had to exit prematurly so he wouldn't have a heart attack...

But the rest of the day was amazing... cotton candy, rollar coasters, and lots of smiles!

Tuesday was so sad... they left for Paris and we spent the morning at Park Ciutadella and at the beach and Martin was so depressed about leaving the sunny Barcelona weather.

I think they all were... so I'm sure they'll be back soon! But 1st I have to go to Paris :D