We'll always have Barcelona...

There's nothing like traveling to a beautiful local with...your MAMA. And, being that mine is the best, it was of course the best trip ever! Part of what made the trip so great was the fact that we saved mucho dinero by renting an apartment for the week. To all of you travelers on a budget out there, this is definitely the way to go. It was a little over 80 euro a night and slept three. Which means, for instance, if you have three of your friends, you're paying less than 30 euro a night. AND the best thing of all...you have your very own kitchen so you save mucho dinero again by not eating out as frequently. That's not to say there weren't a few snags (the toaster broke, the curtains kept falling...sometimes on us...and one day the power went out AH!--thankfully the technician came pronto, so it actually wasn't a huge deal). Brilliant idea. Wish it were mine. Alas, my mama is also the smartest.

La playa en Barcelona

The beach: although the sand isn't quite as soft as in Jersey, is beauuttiiifful! Warning: this beach is X-rated haha. But seriously. Women have no problemo going topless (I fear I would seriously burn, and perhaps get kicked off the beach) and men, well they go in their birthday suit. Quite the experience. My mom has it on video. I'm not sure why we'd want to relive a 65+ full frontal naked man...but just in case we do...it's forever recorded on camera along with our other adventures.

Spanish men playing...dominos and cards (I think?)

Row, Row, Row your boat

The teleférico was an interesting experience because mom was pretty convinced we were going to plummet to our deaths.  This was not the case, clearly. We made it safely to the other side and were able to see amazing views of the city and beach.

Waiting to go on the teleférico aka gondola 

I think what I loved about this trip was that it was so relaxed. We ate when we wanted, we went to the beach when we wanted, we did absolutely nothing if we wanted. Don't worry! That doesn't mean we didn't see some great sights. The Sagrada Familia was incredible, as was the gothic cathedral. The Gaudí buildings and monuments were eclectic and "fantastical" just like everyone says. Oh, and as for Parc Güel, also super cool. Weird? Can I say that? Ohh....another park that was great was Parc Ciutadella! It was a short walk from our apartment and so lovely! We rowed boats (did not fall in! 100 cool points!) and watched some true hippies do circus acrobatic stuff (the only way it can be described...) in the park, too. By that I mean trapeze artists "trapezing" is that a word? between two trees on some sort of apparatus that was likely not safe.

¡Teleférico!

MA was a bit scared...

Just walking around on the narrow streets was fun, too. We came across a great bread shop and a great shoe shop. What more does one need in life? Hm...I can answer that...a bike tour!!!!

That darn curtain rod kept falling...I was determined to conquer it!

Oh yes my friends, a bike tour. Helmet-free I might add...and through the streets of Barcelona. Not sure how Kosher that really was. But we did it! It was probably my favorite thing about the trip. We were the only Americans and our guide was Canadian. There were two women from Holland and a mother with her three daughters (I think?) from Belgium (that could be the other way around) and one 20-something from Australia who's parents had immigrated from Vietnam to escape the war. Talk about cross-cultural. So fun!

Having fun inside the history museum 

Plus, we really did learn quite a bit on the trip and saw mucho too! I don't think we would have seen that much without Nicole the Canadian guide to show us around. Seeing as I LOVE bike riding, nothing could be more perfect :)

Mom was better at getting on the horse than I was--somehow I forgot about a little thing called a stirrup

Apartments by Gaudí and...Andrew...an Australian chico on our bike tour

I almost forgot to mention on of the funniest experiences. Okay, so mom and I were determined not to spend too much, so we decided we'd eat out one nice dinner one night and cook the rest of the time. Which we stuck to. Go us! My mom had researched this veggie restaurant (gotta love her!) called Sésamo. It was in a super cool neighborhood full of Middle Eastern restaurants (many of which, therefore were halal and/or veggie for those interested). There were only three employees hahahaha The chef, the sous chef, and the bartender. The sous chef and the bartender  were both from Argentina. The chef actually came over to our table to explain the menu! Too funny. And the kitchen was totally open so we could see him cooking. At one point a blow torch was used. Quite the experience.

La Sagrada Familia 

Anyhoo, I guess what I learned from this trip is sometimes less is more. My mom and I didn't try to see a million monuments and hit up all of the famous museums. In fact, because it was so nice out most of the time we didn't want to be cooped up inside the whole time. No worries, though, we did go to, well...one museum haha. Actually, it was quite interesting--the history museum. It was HUGE and very interactive (as the pictures will tell...). I'll admit, we did not go to the Picasso Museum or the Miró Museum. But, you can't do it all. And I don't think running around trying to makes much sense because in the end, you're just exhausted! It's better to see the few things you really want to see than try to see those few things + a whole bunch of other sites because people say you should, ya know?

We all survived the bike tour yay! (Mom and I were the only Americans! There were....4 Belgians, 2 Dutch, a Canadian (the tour guide, below on the left), an Australian, and of course... 2 lovely Americans. Very multicultural if I do say so myself.

So, to conclude. Great trip. Great people. Great fun. I'm a very blessed girl. Oh wait!! I forgot to mention the nicest metro worker EVER helped my and and me so very much by giving us directions etc. He was so great! He even knew where an internet café was! Okay, now that's all :)

Mom, Crazy chef, Me 

Crazy chef's restaurant (he was from Argentine, but spoke with a cockney accent when he spoke English, too funny...He also came out to explain the menu to us...super personal, great veggie restaurant!) 

I love the movie As Good as it Gets!!

So, this week's blog will consist of a random set of stories, kind of like the title of this blog, which has nothing at all to do with the content of the blog (sorry for all of those people out there who love the movie--for those of you who haven't seen it...what are you waiting for?!). The first: My friend Tommy from high school was in Spain a few weeks ago. This wouldn't be so strange if it weren't for the fact that Tommy and I haven't seen each other since we graduated high school...three years ago! We both go to school in NYC and he had to come all the way to Madrid for us to finall catch up. 

I can't describe how amazing/weird it was to walk towards Santiago Bernabeu and see Tommy Kang standing on the street corner. Absolutely the last person I thought I'd see in Madrid. Thomas Vincent Kang. Needless to say, we had quite a bit of catching up to do. Turns out, he works at a Mexican restaurant steps away from the dorm I lived in last year. Too weird. Anyway, moral of the story, don't wait three years to talk to someone who was such a good friend back in the day. 

Helen, Tommy, and me

Randomness number two. Just putting this out there, but old men can be so adorable, or is that just me? Well I know it isn't just me because my English teacher sophomore year once said that Robert Frost was a cute old man, so I'm not the only one. Nevertheless, I mention this because most days when I walk to school, I walk through a park called Parque de Berlín because it has part of the Berlin Wall in the park! This lovely park has basketball courts, lots of space to picnic, park benches, etc. Okay, so the relation with cute old men. There's one area that's sort of sandy and has table for eating and there is always this group of men playing what I think is bocce ball (according to google, that's how you spell it).

I always try not to walk through their game, because, despite the fact that most of these old-timers are over the age, probably, of about 70, they take their game seriously. I love the hats they wear, too. Their European-ness cranks up the adorableness. I tried to take a picture of the game this morning, but I walked to school too early today and they weren't there yet. Promise I'll try when I'm home (I'm off to Barcelona on Saturday yay!) Question: should I ask before I take the picture...?

And, last random event for this blog, promise. As some of you may know, I'm currently taking a course on Don Quijote (which, by the by, is AMAZING). The other day Alegra (my señora's five-year old daughter) asked me to read her a children's version of the novel. Too cute! I put this in the blog mainly because when I look back on this, I know it will make me smile thinking of how Alegra said, "¿Quién piensas es más guapo en esta foto, Don Qujote o Sancho?"translation: Who do you think is cuter in this photo, Don Quijote or Sancho? Kids are too cute. 

Dos chicas en Ávila

I know--it's been two weeks since I wrote my last blog. The only excuse I can give is that I've recently become obsessed with watching ER reruns. I'm sorry, I can't help myself. George Clooney and Noah Wyle in scrubs is too much to handle, and with about 16 seasons (I'm only on the third one ah!), it's going to be quite the journey. No need to freak out completely, though, I've limited myself to two episodes a day max. I do have some self control.

GIANT WALL (this is NOT a Hollywood set)

Anyway, as you can see...Helen and I went to Ávila two Saturdays ago. If you're in the Madrid area (and I realize now that the majority of my readers unfortunately are not...) I highly recommend making the approximately hour and 45 minute trip to this city north of Madrid. It's small and quaint, like many Spanish cities, but if you haven't noticed already, there's something a bit unusual about this one...that's right a GIANT WALL!!!! And guess what?! You can walk around part of the wall so awesome!

Adorable Spanish child in motorized toy car. Boy do I miss my Barbie car...those were the days no stoplights no paying for gas. I should have never grown up...

The great thing, well besides the wall, was the weather. It's so true that sometimes the weather can make all the difference. We were going to go the week before, but Helen had a midterm (yea, on a Saturday. No joke. The professor e-mailed them the midterm at 10 AM and they had to e-mail it back to her back to her by 1pm. Still haven't decided what I think of that idea, yet). Nevertheless, having to go the following Saturday was the best thing that could have happened because the weather was great!

Helen + lion outside of the cathedral + "gafas de mosca" = fly sunglasses 

I should also mention there's a beautiful cathedral. Maybe I shouldn't mention, however, that Helen and I were too cheap to actually go all of the way inside it. Jaded from seeing so many churches while being in Europe. No...

Spain I never want to let you go :(

I suppose what I learned about this fun little trip to Ávila is that having a good time traveling goes not mean you have to go far from home, and does not mean you have to pay loads of money. The roundtrip bus ticket was only about 11 euro.

Beauuutttiffuulll!

Oh, and something that I've also learned in general from traveling these past two semesters. Less is more. I mean when it comes to people. I'm not trying to be anti-social here, really. But it is much easier to travel in smaller groups than with a whole bunch of people. Just think. Hey guys, where should we go for lunch. If there's ten of you you might hear: I hate fish. I'm a vegetarian. I don't mind spending a bit more. I can't spend more than X amount of euros....AH! But, if you go with tops four MAYBE 5 people you are less likely to run into that problem and less likely to have problems when it comes to what everyone wants to do. Words of wisdom from your friendly traveler, Meggy-Lou/Megs (depending on whether you're talking to my mom or goofy brother.)

Me + giant wall + Alice from the Brady Bunch hairstyle AH