British Airways=evil

Well...my computer has died. So this means that there won't be many posts on here until I get it fixed, which will probably happen when i get back to the states (i need to get the recovery disk). In the meantime though I thought I would share to you some news, or rather a warning against British Airways. I am now beyond furious at a situation that BA has put me in and they won't try to help resolve any of it. The responses we keep getting are "I understand that you'd be upset but unfortunately we can't do anything about it," very helpful wouldn't you say? So here's the situation:

I booked a ticket back in July or August of last year, round trip Seattle to Spain and then back in June. Getting to Spain was just fine and I even stopped in the London airport (Heathrow i believe) with only a few hour layover. Since September, some things have changed and BA no longer flys from Malaga to Heathrow. Instead they fly to Gatwick (still in London). Now this doesn't sound like too big of deal because it isn't but what comes next IS....

BA changed my original flight because of their change of route, so instead of me having a few hour layover at the same airport I will instead have to get from Gatwick to Heathrow...again, not too bad EXCEPT they are making me take all my luggage with me. So even though I'm flying on the same airlines, I have to drag all my bags from one airport to the other (remember i'm MOVING from Spain to Seattle so I'll have about 120lbs with me in luggage). Ok well, I've come to terms with that but they've also changed my flight so I will have a 26hr layover, in London, probably the most expensive cities in Europe (or maybe in the world).

Now the question is how do I get from Gatwick to Heathrow and on top of that, what do I do with all my luggage once I get there??? There is a shuttle (for 21pounds) between the airports. Ok, fine. Then if I want I can leave my luggage at the Heathrow airport for a mere 8 or 9 pounds (money) per bag (for 24hrs)...I will have 2 bags besides my hand luggage. Now after I get there what will I do? Being a relatively normal person, I am going to stay at a hostal (note- not a hotel) and I have to get there...well in London there's great transportation with the subway but it costs...so we're looking at 20-30 (or more) just to get to and from my hostal from the airport PLUS the cost of the hostal (not very much because its a hostal- 15pounds). So far we're looking at about 80pounds (about $130).

Of course that's not all, we have to factor in food, right? Well I have no idea what that'll cost but let's assuming around 30-50 pounds for the whole 26hr layover. Ok, now one more thing that I just found out today, obviously I will have to pay for extra baggage since I will have 2 check-in bags. Usually an extra bag costs around $50/60, ok, I'm fine with that BUT as of today I found out that I will have to pay twice. Why? Well because even though I'm taking the same airlines, I'm switching airports and they're making me check-in my baggage again which apparently means I have to pay twice...so thats another $50.

Are you freaking kidding me!?!?!?

I wouldn't be so mad if they made some effort to help me on this since THEY'RE the ones who changed my flight, but NO. They're leaving it all to me to pay about 150 pounds ($250) for something that I didn't even elect...

You're probably also thinking...why not just ask for the money back and schedule another flight? Great idea right? Well it would be if they would refund half the ticket but all they're offering is $350 or so (keep in mind the ticket was over $1100). So I hope you can understand why I have written this very long, angry post about British Airways. I officially have no idea left of what to do to resolve this at least a little bit...any ideas from you guys???

...These are a few of my favorite things...

With less than 2 weeks left in Spain I thought I should share with you some on my favorite signs in Spain. Oh how I'll miss them....

It says "Please don't throw things on the neighbor's roofs. Thanks"

It must of been a windy day...

I just don't know what to say for this one

I'm told the use of "erection" is correct in this context but still...

these signs are EVERYWHERE!!! (it says "there are snails" or rather "we serve snails")

i've just never seen thumbs of quite that form before...

The first rule is always the most important

! = be ready for anything...duh

Make sure you wear clothes when visiting the Sagrada Familia

Parking for 1 minute please!

I'm guessing you can translate this one on your own

let's take a close look (look at the photo below)

Well which one is it? You can swim or you can't???

I think i'll pass on thinking about the other passengers while...

if you don't know what it says, well, you'll just have to look that up

"When you go there, you'll feel like you're not even in Spain"

This last weekend I finally made my way up to the North of Spain! I went with a friend from Kansas, Elizabeth, who’s doing the same program as me in a town nearby…Baena! Anyways we found a cool promo deal online and decided to go for it, hence our trip up to ASTURIAS. The whole weekend was full of giggles and craziness so I’m sure the Spanish people had an interesting opinion of Americans after our visit :) Asturias, for those who don’t know, is in the very North of Spain and the specific place we went to, Llanes, is located right along the coast. We actually stayed in a small town outside of Llanes called Barro but all the towns are along the coast and have just stunning views!

FRIDAY (starting at midnight):

Well our first mission was to make our way up there to Llanes and the following is how we did it:

First I caught the midnight bus up to Madrid which got me there at 5am, then caught the subway at 6am (when it opened) to arrive at the airport at 7am, where I met up with Elizabeth. I then found out she had to take the train up to Madrid from Cordoba because the bus was full so she had been at the airport since 1am…and our flight left at 9am- fun. Basically by the time I arrived and met with her we were about half conscious and half extremely dysfunctional…let me demonstrate…we headed over to security and went though (I had completely forgotten that I needed to check my bag because of size restrictions and liquids I had inside). We made it through security with only one problem…Elizabeth had one container with face wash in it and she was told they would have to “destroy it.” Apparently that means throwing it in the trash but don’t you just love it. I on the other hand managed to get through (not on purpose though) with a LITRE size bag full of “large” liquid containers…not sure how that happened but its Spain, what can you say.  Well, after all of that we caught our plane to Oviedo (took about an hour) and both of us were KNOCKED OUT. Neither of us woke up until the plane literally hit the ground for landing. We were just a *bit* tired…The next leg of the journey was a 45min bus ride from the airport into the city and from there 1.5 hour bus ride from Oviedo to Llanes. We were almost to our hotel at that point. Then we just had to catch a taxi to our hotel in Barro (10min drive away). FINALLY we had made it…12 hrs later.

Now to get into the fun parts (and pics!)

the hill we climbed

We were finally situated in our hotel but needed to grab some lunch. We headed to a restaurant right next to the hotel AND on the beach! After filling our faces with food we wandered along the beach and found a big hill to climb up, I mean what else do you do with a big hill on the ocean! We made our way up to the top until we decided there were “too many ferns and spiders,” took lots of pics and then headed back down the hill. On the way down we were looking for where we had come up…where there was land but on the climb down, well, it just wasn’t there anymore. We had apparently climbed up an island haha. Of course we’re smart college grads so we figured how to get off this island. We had to walk through the water, so we just took off our shoes and moved fast because the tide was coming in. We found out, or rather I found out, that what seemed to be 1 ft deep water at first became 3+ foot water. Basically I left with pants wet up to the crotch. 
 








After this ‘incident’ we giggled our way back to our hotel to change. That’s where we found out what real skinny jeans are:

The island adventure didn’t curb our interest to explore though; we got back out to discover new sites and trails. With the idea in mind that we would walk into Llanes (we were told it could be done in 40min) we meandered along the Camino de Santiago making lots of stops along the way. The Camino de Santiago is a trail that TONS of people do every year. It ends/starts somewhere in the North of Spain and makes its way into France and from there I have no clue. Along the whole trail there are camping areas and hostels for these travellers to stay. 
Ok, back to the story…we made our way to almost every beach along the way just admiring the beauty of the Asturias coastline (it’s truly remarkable). We also managed to find a small marsh like area where we stopped just to watch the birds bathe and listen to the peaceful landscape. Along our journey we also ran into a few cows, the majority with real cow bells around their necks. I’d never seen that before so I thought I was quite funny that they actually use those bells.

Along with the many beaches we stopped on we also made it through a few small towns, our favourite was called “Poo”. We loved it both for the name and also because it was super cute and small, it looked like less than 50 people lived there.

We finally made it into Llanes, a couple hours later and decided we should probably grab some dinner. We used the common strategy of “look for a bar where there are lots of people” and we found one, so we stopped there to eat. That’s where we had our first bottle of ‘sidra’ which in English is cider. Cider is typical of the north of Spain but it is VERY different from any cider I’ve ever tried…and I’m from the state of apples! Their cider is what I would call very “natural” or my nickname for it ‘sock juice’. It wasn’t too bad but it didn’t have a sweet flavor that both Elizabeth and I are used to…it was actually pretty comical to watch her drink it because she found it less than pleasing BUT we had a whole bottle to finish so…

That night she learned how to drink something and not taste it (by avoiding breathing through your nose…it’s a good trick in those situations). Besides the cider we needed to eat some real food. Our options in that bar: whole fried fish (big ones), cheese or sausage. We opted for some cheese, asking for a SMALL plate of cheese…and what came out…what was a plate of cheese that I would not call very small. So that was our nutritious dinner, 4 different types of cheese, they were pretty good though.  Together we finished the plate of smelly cheese and cider while the others in the bar kept looking at us and thought we were crazy for eating a plate of cheese at 11pm…

SATURDAY:

The package deal we had purchased included 2 nights at a hotel, 2 excursions plus a few extras (like meals and cider tasting)…So on Saturday morning we met with the group at 9:45am to go on the 1^st excursion. That day we were headed to the Picos de Europa, so basically the mountains. We had an hour plus ride out to the Natural Park, where the Picos de Europa are located, and parked on one of the mountain roads. From there we walked about 2 hours along trails and through a cow ‘field’ in order to make it to our destination point. The walk there was absolutely beautiful but our end site was spectacular. We were surrounded by grass fields in this mountainous area and we could see clouds below...and even right next to us. It was also a wonderfully sunny day yet there was still a touch of snow in the cracks of the rocks (a bit higher than where we were though). While the others in our group sat down and took a break from walking, Elizabeth and I climbed up the rock that we were right next took and took some goofy pics. After a bit of playing around in the mountain we headed back to the vehicle. The only thing I hadn’t realized is that with all that sun and no sun screen...well that combination with my skin is not always good- I ended up getting a really bad sunburn on my neck without even noticing (well, until later that day).

the cow was following us up the trail

they're just TOO cute

the rocks we climbed up

After we got back to the car we headed over to a restaurant to have a really nice, and big, lunch. First we tried some of the typical cheese (which me and Elizabeth had already tried the night before, it’s similar to blue cheese), stewed beans (fabadas), meat/fish dish and then typical arroz con leche from there (which to me tastes the same as the Mexican version just not as sweet). Afterwards we had to wobble our way out of there and headed towards town...but first we stopped at a “cider factory.” It was just a room where they make the famous cider, which we got to try as well (Elizabeth just loved it haha). Then we crossed the street to stop in a typical old bar with old men playing cards. We were told they stay there for hours and hours playing, they’re basically ALWAYS there. Also at this bar are items that people in the town make and hang there to sell (there were things like wooden shoes, cow bells, homemade socks and more). They literally hang everything on the ceiling for people to check out and buy.

We picked up a few items and then headed back to the hotel. It was already 7 or so at night and we were all exhausted from such a long day and lots of walking. The rest of the night Elizabeth and I just spent sitting in the room, relaxing a watching TV. We didn’t even leave for dinner because of how full we were from lunch!

SUNDAY

We both had a very restful night and were ready for our last day in Asturias! We met up with the group at 10am and headed out on a different excursion. We also mentioned to the group that the night before we ended up staying in the room and not even leaving. They’re response “you’re super heroes”...not sure I’ve heard that one before but I’ll take it. So us superheroes and the others headed on a hike along the coast of Llanes and the surrounding pueblos. It was a much more relaxing day because we simply had less time (the outing ended at around 2pm). We all walked along a few different beaches, all amazingly beautiful, and kept making our way to more. The views were all incredible and I could have spent hours just sitting there looking at the scenery and listening to the waves rolling up onto the beach and crashing into the rocks nearby. The whole landscape was just filled with cliffs that went straight into the ocean. Here are some pictures to see exactly what it looked like:

the whole group

such beautiful beaches!

After a few hours we had to head back. When we arrived to the car everyone piled in and we headed back to the hotel. We had mentioned to the tour guide (I completely forget his name!) that we were going to head back to Llanes to catch our bus later that day so he just offered us a ride into town...so we grabbed our bags inside the hotel and went along with him. 
He was also kind enough to let us store our stuff in the hostel (where he took many people on excursions like ours) AND show us some a great place to eat in town AND took us over to the famous beach and park. He was absolutely great and I would recommend going on a trip with him if you’re in the area. The website to do any of the many different activities (such as canoeing, hiking, snowshoeing, etc) is: Rumbo a Picos and there they also have promo deals for hotels, food and activities (just like what we did). ALSO in case you want info about the hotel as well...we stayed in Hotel Miracielos and the staff was incredibly nice! The whole deal was just amazing!

Ok, getting back to the rest of the trip...

After getting dropped off in Llanes and getting a small tour of the city we checked out the Paseo de San Pedro. It looks like a really long park but is right along the coast so the backdrop is the ocean. Right next to the Paseo were los Cubos de la Memoria, they’re a bunch of cement block along the port in Llanes that are considered a work of art and a tourist attraction. Why? Because they have been painted, in bright colors, with items “from” Asturias; just things that people think of when they think of the province such as apples, cheese and trees. The artist was Agustin Ibarrola and these blocks/cubes are considered a cultural and historical part of Llanes.

At that point we realized that we needed to grab some lunch so we headed to the restaurant we were recommended. I’m sure glad we went because the food was GOOD and the staff was also very nice. I’m pretty sure everyone we dealt with in Llanes were all really nice, even the woman selling tickets in the bus station was super friendly (and that’s a rarity). 
We filled up on our delicious meal and then headed to the bus station (of course dropping by the hostel first to grab our things). We got on the bus and we were on our way home. Nothing really exciting happened from there, just the same 1.5hr bus to Oviedo, 45min bus to the airport, then a 1hr flight and a 1hr ride on the metro followed by the overnight bus to our towns. We were so relaxed from the wonderful weekend that the travelling went by extremely fast. I’m pretty sure neither of us were ready to leave either, just a few more days in Llanes would have been great but I guess that leaves something to look forward to next time I come back to Spain!

Finally- some beach time!

With only 3 weeks left here in Spain I have maintained staying busy travelling! Last weekend I mentioned that I had gone somewhere…and that place was Nerja.
I had made some plans to hang out with some people I know from my town but that was changed at last minute (for some reasons that make me more than mad BUT I can’t talk about it on here without getting myself into trouble...). In the end the weekend worked out just fine so I came back all tanned and happy. If you haven’t heard of Nerja, it’s a town about an hour and a half (by bus), E of Malaga. It’s SUPER touristy so we heard tons of Americans of Brits all weekend long…Anyhow, the whole weekend was basically spent on the beach. My first day there was a bit stressful so I spent a few hours at the hotel pool, wandered around downtown Nerja and indulged in a 5-course meal-that came with my promo deal :) 

part of the inside of the cave

The following day I visited the caves of Nerja (they are natural caves that you can check out), which was right up the street from my hotel.
The place was just amazing and looked almost fake inside. With all the roped off areas and tour groups I felt like I was going into a ride at Disneyworld…It really is stunning inside though. I’m also told that in Mallorca they have some even more amazing caves to see so I guess I’ll have to visit those on my next trip to Spain. So, afterwards I met up with a friend and some of her friends with the intention of meeting for a few hours and then heading back to Malaga for an event that evening. I ended up having a ton of fun with the girls though and ended up just staying with them on the beach ALL day long. We only got a touch sunburned so by the time Monday rolled around all my co-workers noticed I had gotten a little bit of a tan YAY! We really did spent all day at the beach though at it was fab.

One of the beautiful beaches we relaxed on

That night was a big festival of some Saint so the whole town was up at the park right next to the caves (therefore right next to my hotel) just partying it up with typically Spanish techno dance music and plenty of drinking. We stayed in town for a bit, hung out on the terrace of my friends hostel and made bets on who’s cheap wine was the best (not mine sadly). After also quickly checking out the bar scene in town we headed up to the town’s party by the caves. The place, even though it was outdoors, was pretty packed but that’s not unusual. We stayed in danced for a while. That night I even picked up a toad! He was crawling on the ground near lots of people and I wanted to save him! So I moved him over to a “safer” area haha. In the end I ended up staying at the place with one of the friends from the group until the fiesta stopped…at 6:30am.

The 3 of us with very festive mojitos and Kate with a plane old beer

the toad!

The next day I was pretty exhausted because I only got about 4 hours of sleep but we headed down to the beach for a couple hours before we had to go.
There was also a big festival going on that day so tons of people were dressed up in typical Spanish dresses and there were horses and carriages everywhere! There was even a “party truck” that we saw while waiting for our bus. We didn’t get to stay and see all the excitement of the day but I’m glad we did get to see some of the outfits and people. We headed home mid-day…because it took a while to get home with all the different busses we had to take. In the end the weekend was great and we all got some much needed relaxing, beach time in. Can’t wait to get back to the beach in a few weeks! (more to come on where exactly that’ll be…)

And the result is in...

I have finally made a decision about next year. As some of you already know, I have had the option to come back for another year in Spain with the same program and just last week I made a final decision about that, which is...:

I won't be coming back next year.

I have REALLY enjoyed this year in Spain and it has been amazing just to live here for these past 8 months. And even though I've had such a good time I've decided I'm going to be going back to the US and staying there, kinda...

I've actually made a decision that instead of coming back to Spain next year for the 9month teaching program I'm instead going to go live in South or Central America for a few months and work more on my Spanish. I haven't decided on the exact location yet because first I need to find some work and figure out all the visa stuff. I'm planning on going down there for about 3-4 months and would really like to find a job in business (since I do have a marketing degree and all) but i'm pretty flexible as to what. Once I get back from Spain I will be looking for different opportunities but please let me know if you know or can think of anything in Latin America. My main focus is go find a job where I can speak Spanish (or at least the majority of the time). I'm very excited to let you all know what I decide!

Now that I'm almost done with my program (only 3 weeks left) I will be soaking up the time I have left. I will soon update you on this past weekend and where I went...so keep your eyes open for the next post!

The end of Mike's visit

I guess we should get back to where we left off...but first I want to let you all know I just made 2 videos/sideshows of our time at the aquarium in Valencia (1 with the dolphin show and 1 with all the rest). The dolphin show one I already posted on the link talking about our trip to the Oceanografic (2 posts ago) but here's the other one. Hope you like it! (I JUST learned how to put together the videos- i'm so excited!):

 Now to get back to Granada...
We ended up getting to the city in the late afternoon, then spent about an hour just trying to get to my friends house from there (I really have bad luck with one way streets in Spain). Eventually we made it but my friends were all busy so me and Mike just headed out on our own to explore the town. Since I'm pretty familiar with Granada already I was able to be Mike's personal tour guide :) yay. We walked around a big shopping area (on Recogidas), through Plaza Espana, then on the Paseo de los Tristes and up through the Albaicin (the old neighborhood). We also made it up to the Mirador de San Nicolas (a lookout area) and I finally got to see the view during the day time!!! I always go up at night so it was a nice first for both me and Mike.

After all that walking we headed back towards the house to rest...it was literally a few hours of walking around so we were both ready to sit down and relax. After a little bit of relaxing time at the house we met up with Carlos (my Spanish brother) and had some tapas at one of my favorite spots in Granada. And that, of course, was followed by a very long night...like always. First we hung out at my friends place for a bit (well, until 3am haha) and then made our way over to a big party that was going on that night. OF COURSE before we even got there my friend had been told that the police shut the party down (oh, i feel like i'm back in college...) SO we headed over to a small bar, hung out for a while and then went home at the early hour of 5am. It was actually my most calm evening in Granada, ever.
The next day was pretty mellow also. We met up with Carlos again for lunch at some famous Italian restaurant that had some great food and that was all followed by a nice long nap :) Later on Mike, myself and 2 of my friends headed to a Moroccan tea shop for some tea and crepes (always a must do when in Granada). When we walked into the place it even felt like we had just taken a trip across the ocean and over to Morocco. They did a great job of decorating the walls with the "traditional" carpets, having lots of pillows, low lighting and many hookahs around the place. Both Mike and I were wiped so it was a nice relaxing place to hang out for a bit.

After that we had to head back to Lucena...we were supposed to be meeting up with some friends that night. We said our goodbyes (it was probably my last trip to Granada this year!) and headed on the road. When we got to Lucena though we were so out of it we just stayed in and rested...


The next day was meant to be peaceful and calm since it was Mike's last day of his visit but of course things are never as planned. We ended up waking up super late, had to run to the gas station to grab some gas (to have hot water!) and got hit by a car on the way back...not badly but I mean come on! Then went to meet up with Carlos' fam for a last lunch with Mike where we all stuffed our faces of morcilla, chorizo and paella. After which we headed to go get Mike's bus ticket to Madrid (there's a bus from Lucena-Madrid) and what happened? Well they had sold out. So we went home and tried to search for another option online and what next happened? My internet went on strike...the only time i've had a problem with this one and it just chose to be THAT DAY! The we had to scramble over to Carlos' fam's house to use the internet and finally there we were able to find a ticket from Cordoba-Madrid and 1am that night. Now, we just needed to figure a way to get him up to Cordoba. Doesn't seem like a big deal being that its only a 40min car ride...BUT that day it was almost impossible to find anyone to get him up there. After numerous phone calls to friends we finally decided to put him on the 10pm bus. So then we had to go back to my place, get him all packed and then over to the bus station.


Basically our "relaxing" day turning into anything but that...I felt bad on top of it, not only because of the chaos but because he was going to have over 30 hours of traveling ahead of him (with all the buses, flights, and driving when he got back). But now Mike is all safe and sound in WA...and I'm here in Spain. BUT I will be back in a month, so in the meantime I'm back to more traveling and sightseeing!

Calling All Meerkats, Lemurs and Turtles

I’m so behind on my postings! I’m going to make an attempt to catch up since Mike just left…Monday :( There’s not too much more too fill you in on but let’s get back to Bioparc…

So on our last day in Valencia Mike and I headed to Bioparc. It’s like a zoo/safari type place, so basically the animals aren’t really in cages but rather in open areas that are fenced off and you can walk around (outside the fences/wall things) and get really close.  They call it “nature in the open.” Some of the areas you could even touch the animals like with the birds and lemurs. Well I suppose you could touch them but we didn’t try, I was scared they’d bite me or something lol.

So there are 4 “themes” in the park: Madagascar, Savannah, Wetlands and Equatorial Forest. They are full of SOOO many different animals like zebras, ostriches, lions, leopards, flamencos, rhinos, hippos, hyenas, tons of different monkeys, lemurs, meerkats, camels, mongooses, big turtles and tons more. I tried to get pics of pretty much everything so just check out the photos in the album (Mike's visit)

I loved all the animals but I DID NOT want to leave the meerkats!  They’re the cutest…and I really wanted to take one home (still do…).

I think Mike was about ready to snatch up one of the lemurs though…he got to stand right next to them…too fun!

After a few hours at the Bioparc we had seen everything so we decided to head out.

It was getting close to lunch time so we went to this small town called Port Saplaya (I think) just North of Valencia (I literally mean just a few min on the highway…super close) and grabbed some food. And that stop was WELL worth it. The restaurant, El Faro, was right near the ocean and so, of course, we had to get the seafood. We tried an assortment of different things like calamari, mussels (that tasted like they had JUST been caught out the ocean), sepia (i.e. cuttlefish?), some small fried fish (WHOLE) and washed it down with some Sangria. We were just in love with this place and the food, not to mention that we were then able to follow the amazing lunch with a walk on the beach :) It was all smiles from there.

 
We then decided to keep heading north because we needed to get to Peñíscola that night. We had about a 2 hour drive ahead of us but we extended it a little when we decided to stop in another small town. This one had been recommended to me by a friend so I figured; it’s on the way, why not?
Sagunto is the name of the town and we thought it would be a quick stop, we just wanted to see the castle BUT trying to get up to it was another story. We wanted to drive up there (or rather I did because I was not wearing hiking shoes) but just try to figure you’re way through traditional European streets, it’s IMPOSSIBLE. Lots of one ways, dead ends (that randomly end), and other streets that you just pray you can make it through because they’re so skinny. We ended up spending a decent chuck of time trying to find our way up but eventually we did get pretty close. We didn’t stop for long but we got some great pics and the town was just precious. Remember- SAGUNTO- it’s worth a visit.

After our quick stop we got back on the road and continued our drive up to Peñíscola. I had chosen to stay in the town because I had been told it was really pretty and it was also half way between Barcelona and Valencia, therefore a perfect resting point. Plus, it was on the beach. We got to the town and explored the place a bit, checked out the castle, walked near the beaches and saw a decent amount of the town (it's pretty small). I’m glad we did that the night we arrived because the next morning it POURED! I mean it REALLY poured! We were having some breakfast so we were relatively safe from all the rain (minus some of it dripping on us from the broken awning above us…). When it slowed down we headed straight for the car. Of course after the downpour the weather cleared up but unfortunately we had to head out to get to Barcelona…the car rental was due that evening! 

Once again we got back on the road and made our way up to Barcelona. Mike told me the drive was really pretty but I was knocked out so I didn’t see much haha. When we got to Barça we dropped the car off but not before driving the wrong way on a few one way streets…we wanted to fit it with all the terrible Spanish drivers (and yes, they’re bad…another story about that later). Then we were vehicles so we had to catch the train/shuttle into town and went to go find our hostel.
We were staying outside the main area of Barcelona but it ended up working out quite well. We had an early morning flight to catch (we had to be at the airport at 6am) and we were close to the train/shuttle to the airport. Needless to say, we didn’t so much in Barça with having to leave so early and all BUT we did get to check out a few cool things. We were staying near the Arenas de Barcelona, an old bull fighting ring that has been converted into a NICE shopping center. Now that bullfighting has been outlawed in Barcelona, I’m sure they’re having to be creative about what to do with the rings…

This place was cool though and they had tons of very nice stores. On the top of the building they also have a “lookout” area that overlooks Plaza de España and some big church looking building (we never figured out its actual name). The view was spectacular and we grabbed a quick pic there. After spending a couple hours wandering the “mall” we went to go get some grub. 

What I am about to tell you next is very important…

When you visit Barcelona you HAVE TO try out this restaurant: La Petite Fondue

We just stumbled across it when we were looking for a pizza joint and it was seriously some of the BEST pizza I’ve had in my life. It’s a super small restaurant and they recommend having reservations but we were lucky and got in just fine. I swear the place wouldn’t seat more than 20 people…Either way though, I LOVED IT. I’m even considering going back to Barça before I leave just to eat there. Yes it was amazing AND they have fondue!!! I really wanted to try the fondue but couldn’t manage to curb my pizza craving so we got pizza and a salad. BEST Bolognese pizza EVER!!! We contemplated buying another just to eat for breakfast in the morning. And 2 other pluses about the place- 1. Super nice staff (our waitress was Italian and almost started to speak in Italian with me instead of Spanish haha) 2. Really, really reasonable prices (our pizza, salad, jar of champagne sangria and dessert came to just under 30euro…yes I’m serious). So once again, JUST GO THERE!!!

(The address is C/ Sepulveda, 17   Barcelona 08015; phone is 935 19 67 50; the metro stop is Plaça d’Espanya (L3))

Well, the next morning we had to get up EARLY and get ourselves over to the airport. We got back to Malaga in less than 2 hours after leaving Barcelona…then had to wait there for the bus to Lucena. We got home to a very messy and foodless house BUT we were in luck because we were heading to Teresa’s for lunch! And man oh man; she made sure that Mike tried everything from Spain haha. We had a great time with them eating some delicious Spanish food and followed it with some homemade liquors. ALL good. After a few hours there I had to get back because I had a class that night. So we waddled our way home and that night we didn’t even need to eat dinner because of all the food we had eaten earlier. It was a very restful and relaxing evening…much needed because the rest of the week soon became busy.

The next day was Wednesday (it was a holiday weekend) so my work week was again really short- 2 days! That Thursday we ended up going out with the crew in Lucena and had some great tapas and fun company to share them with. The next day we were *supposed* to get up early to catch a 8am bus to Granada BUT one of my friends here offered to loan us his car! Yay! Spanish people seem to be so relaxed with their cars…It was super nice of him though and saved us and really early morning!

Obviously you know where we went to next- GRANADA! It’s lunch time here though and I have a class in 2 hours SO…I will have to tell you the rest later.