Laberinth

Toni is back!!!! YAY! & we didn't waste anytime to go on adventuressss

On Sunday (30th) we went to el Parc del Laberint, which I have wanted to explore for a while.

It wasn't too cold... and it wasn't too crowded, so it was just about perfect.

The parc was so nice... there were statues and gardens and dirty ponds with fish... It must be so nice when it has flowers and it's not just green. But it was a nice escape from the city.

Even though it's still inside Barcelona, it's on the edge of the city and it's also on the edge of the mountain, so compared to Parc Ciutadella, it's very foresty, and it's not on flat ground... there's stairs and hills and a little waterfall.

The actual laberinth was in the center of the park, and it wasn't that big... but it did keep us lost for a while. And since it had been raining the day before there were big mud puddles that we had to maneuver around and jump across. But we made it to the center in 8 minutes.

Getting out was harder... we thought there were other exits.. but we had to go back out the way we entered and it took 13 minutes to get out haha... we were basically alone, except for about 6 screaming, running teenage boys.... seems like a good place to get your energy and play

It was a really nice day in the parc and I recommend it to everyone! I even ran into some Americans that I knew!

Later that night we met up with another couple and went for a walk to Buenas Migas in the raval and had some tea and cookies...

It was strawberry mango tea and it was soooo so good.

We spent the rest of the night eating pizza, patatas bravas, and watching the Espanyol game outside of Barcelona at Rodrigo's house. Espanyol lost.... and in our depression we played the games on xbox that you move your body... I beat Toni in boxing and he was mad at me the rest of the night :)

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

December RECAP

Ok this is rediculous!!! When i got back from London, of course my laptop didn't work and I haven't blogged at ALL....

QUICK RECAP!!

Had a great time in London with the Onbargis, Alexia came and I met their cousins that I've never met before but heard so much about. Toni joined us Friday night when I took the kids around while the parents went to their grownup wedding... and we crashed the wedding with Chloe and her cousin :)

Heidi left on the 17th for England-France so I've been off. I had a huge party in my flat on the 18th because all the Americans left on the 22nd and Erik moved out on the 20th... Toni was supposed to fly in but of course his flight out of London got cancelled because of the snow... but the party had to go on.

I made gingerbread men and cupcakes and eggnog with some American girls and Toni's sister... they turned out so cute. & the party was amazing.. so many people... but I was too depressed to enjoy it and I cleaned all night haha.

Angela's friend Andres arrived the night of the party and she was a good tour guide until she had to work... so since I didn't have anything else to do I took Andres around. He says I should do it for a living... I should think about it.

Matthew and Jacqueline moved in with us on the 20th and were supposed to leave the 22nd for Dublin but they didn't get on their flight because Ryanair was going to charge them 180€ for their luggage being overweight... and since they missed that flight they missed their flight to London. So we kept them here and we spent the day in Sitges.

I had some nice dinner parties with some old friends and some new; great food and great conversation...

Toni finally came the 23rd right at midnight and in time to tell me Happy Birthday.

AND MY BIRTHDAY!

Toni and I had a really nice lunch with Paul and Alexia at their house and Paul cracked us up the whole time trying to steal chocolate and eat all the cheese.

Toni bought me the dress I wanted and we had a nice party at my house and exchanged Secret Santa gifts!

And of course went out for chupitos, because it's my favorite :)

For Christmas we had a huge dinner with Toni's family and we were sooo full.. it was like a marathon. And they stuck candles on their cake to celebrate my birthday :)

The Barcelona World Race started on the 31st so on the 30th we went and checked out all the boats (15) and got all the free thingst they pass out, and on the 31st we went to see the start of the race.

We had another nice, small party on New Years, but before that we had ANOTHER huge dinner at Toni's and at midnight we had to eat 12 grapes at every dong of the clock.... it gives you good luck for the year :)

Ohh... and Matthew and Jacqueline still hadn't left yet... Jacqueline had 2 cancelled flights on the 26th and 28th... and then she missed her flight on the 2nd... she FINALLY left on the 3rd haha... you tell people they can stay for 2 days and they end up staying for 2 weeks!!! haha but we had a lot of fun with her and Matthew...

Aaaaaaand Matthew's still here and he's being a diva and making me go shopping with him... so I'll have to finish later :)

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)