Visitors and Excursions

I never thought visiting Hannah would open so many more doors. In the past week I have had two visitors, both of whom I met in San Sebastian!

First, Jeff came on Wednesday night. He has been traveling in Switzerland and Italy for the past couple of weeks. He had a flight out of Barcelona on Saturday so it worked out for him that he could come hang with me for a couple of days. The first night he was here he and all of my roommates went to a bar called "Dow Jones". It is not wrong to assume that the bar is set up like the New York Stock Exchange. It kind of makes spending money on drinks fun...if that is possible. This is how it works: there are TVs that act as menus. However, the prices of the drinks/cocktails/shots are not set...the names of the drinks are highlighted in either red, green, or blue based on what the price of the drink is doing. So, if the drinks were highlighted in green, then it meant the price was going up; red meant the prices were dropping and blue met they were staying even. I'm not sure how/why the prices changed but it has something to do with what other customers are buying and not buying. Not being all that into the NYSE or not so educated on it all, I just looked at what drinks had prices that were lowest and were dropping so that I could buy before the price raised again. It was a neat concept for a bar but I'm not sure it was carried out efficiently because you had to wait so long to get a drink that by the time that you told the bartender it was rising again. One other negative about the bar was that the majority of the customers were young Americans. I'm in Spain so I like the idea of meeting people from all over...I guess it is good if I'm ever homesick.

Thursday I had class but I met up with Jeff in between. We went to my new favorite find in Barcelona (food wise that is). It is a little sandwich/salad restaurant called Bo De B. It is good quality food that is fresh and just so tasty!! I experimented with the atún salad which was the first salad that I have ever eaten that filled me up so much I couldn't even finish it. It was not just salad and lettuce but also half of an avocado, tuna, beans, rice and probably some other things I can't even remember. Jeff got a chicken sandwich that even made chicken look appealing to me...not really but he looked pleased! Lastly, we shared my favorite Patatas Bravas. They were the best by far that I have since being in Spain. Patatas Bravas are roasted or fried potatoes with a spicy sauce. Sometimes the sauce is creamy and others more like tobasco sauce. These potatoes were covered with a spicy sauce, balsamic vinaigrette reduction and some kind of green pesto (I think). Either way it was the best and I was thoroughly satisfied! After my class that gets out at five, Carly, Max and I met Jeff at the beach and we just relaxed down there. It was my kind of hangout. That night we to a bar called L'Ovella Negra which means 'the black sheep'. It is a huge bar that looks basically like a restaurant but without food. You have the option of getting the really large table pitchers of beer or sangria so that they entire table is set. It was a fun night of just talking over beer with all my new friends! Two of Carly's friends from Arkansas met up with us there so we got to meet them as well. I love low key nights like that.

Friday morning came really early...7AM so that we could meet our ISA directors to get on a bus to go to The Costa Brava! We said goodbye to Jeff who had to get a hostel for the rest of his stay and hiked to the metro. The bus to The Costa Brava was only a couple of hours and I was asleep the entire time. It was kind of a rough start because it was raining when we got there. Costa Brava is an area north of Barcelona...we went to Roses (a small fishing town) and then took a bus to Cadaqués. Cadaqués was amazing...like one of those places you see in movies but actually don't think is real since you haven't been. As the boat got near, all we could see were little white house on the hill side with clear, blue and turquoise waters. Sailboats were all around us and the rocks that bordered the water had the most intricate details made with different colored rock. Obviously, I like it a little. Once there we had lunch at a little cafe that was right on the water. We enjoyed mojitos and our food and then ventured off to find dessert. We got wine and chocolate covered churros that we took to a little beach made of little pebbles. It was the ideal spot. It was my first time swimming in the Mediterranean and it was the first of many to come! On the way back to the boat I couldn't say no to the gelato and got a cone for the boat ride back to the Port of Roses. The boat made a stop along the way where we went swimming again but only for a quick 3 minutes...the water was unbearably cold. Once on the boat after admiring some dolphins, we all passed out! The day had won.

The next day we got up early again to take a bus to Empúries. The Ruins of Empúries are in this small beach town. We toured them for a little but once the sun starting to peek out around the clouds we only had the beach on our mind. We headed to the beach where we hung out all day. It was the ideal day...sun for the first time in a while (it has been somewhat cloudy and overcast if not rainy in Barcelona), a beautiful beach and lots of new friends!

Once back in Barcelona later that night, I went to train station to meet my second visitor of the week: Cristy! Cristy took the train from San Sebastian earlier that day. Even though she had been traveling all day she was ready to take on the nightlife of Barcelona with my roommates and me! We got ready and headed to Catwalk which is down by the beach. We danced all night long and met people from Sweden, Italy, and France. It was a super fun night for Cristy!

This morning we woke up and headed to the beach. We had a few detours along the way that included meeting up with Carly, Hunter and Max and introducing Cristy to Bo De B. It was a great detour! We were stuffed and Carly said it best with "we are going to be a bunch of beached whales on the beach". Cristy and I shared a smoked salmon sandwich and a smoked salmon salad...and of course Patatas Bravas. We were set. It was tasty and the perfect way to start off our beach day. We then just headed to the beach where we all just laid in the sand full and satisfied!

It has been a very eventful weekend and the week is bound to be just as exciting. Cristy and I plan to go to Park Güell tomorrow morning and then down to the beach. Tomorrow is considered a holiday in Barcelona but I'm not exactly sure what it is...Dad would tell me to use the lovely thing right in front of me (the computer) but I have tried. I am determined to find out what I will be celebrating in my new city!