So I can officially say that I'm Ireland-bound in just one month. While this time I do not get the free pass to wear shamrock-shaped face tattoos, drink terrible amounts of beer, and pretend to be Irish, I am still over the moon for this opportunity to visit after missing out on Paddy's weekend. In the span of four days, I will be traveling to Kinsale on the southern coast followed by some days in Dublin to see old friends. Ok, that's all. #BeBrave
Monday, March 23, 2015
Week 11.0: Where Did Time Go
Where did time go? Really, I mean it. Last week I realized I'm about 2/3 of the way through my semester abroad and since then I haven't been able to stop thinking 5 weeks left, 4 weeks left... and so on. Cue the anxiety... there's still so much that I want to do!
Health update! I'm back in the game. Although it took a couple days for the antibiotics to kick in last week, I am finally feeling revived. While I know I have a poor immune system and I can be somewhat of a baby about getting sick, when I tell you tonsillitis was one of the worst experiences I've had, I truly mean it. Thank goodness it's in my past (or at least I hope). Knocking on wood.
Anyhow, feeling healthier this week, I decided to make up for missing Dublin by going out Tuesday night for a Guinness. My roommate Elizabeth and I met up with another friend and found an Irish bar in the maze-like Gothic Quarter. There we sat for a few hours enjoying drinks, making friends, and accepting freebies from the bartender (hats, shamrock-shaped cookies, really an assortment of things). Before we left, a British guy approached us asking if we were American and turns out he's our age, on scholarship at Fairfield U in Connecticut, and we have friends in mutual! He was part of a group visiting for the Manchester City game and what a small world that we met.
After my classes finished on Thursday, I had a Skype call with a marketing group based in New York. Amidst my classes here, weekend trips, and attempting to complete that checklist of mine, I'll be interviewing for summer internships. While it's not ideal to apply and interview for these positions while being all the way over here in Spain, I'm excited to see what opportunities materialize for this summer. Updates to come...
Later on Thursday, I met up with one of my best friends from home, Morgan, who is visiting from study abroad in Rome. Morgan, her friends from school, and our mutual friend Chessie met for sushi and then migrated over to my favorite hole-in-the-wall bar, Sugar. With great mojitos and cozy vibes, Sugar was the perfect way to finish the day.
Friday, I met up with Allie, one of my best friends from TCU who is also visiting from another study abroad program. Over lunch by the beach, I got to hear a little more about Florence and Allie's weekend trips! After that, we walked off our meals by wandering around and doing some of the touristy stuff like Las Ramblas, the Boquería, and Sagrada Familia. Switching off spending time with Morgan and her friends and then Allie and her friends made for a fun weekend. So great to see them both!
Yesterday, Tori got back from a weekend trip to Brussels bearing gifts of chocolate (what a doll). We both spent the afternoon preparing for a busy week of school and then went out to watch El Clasico, the annual Barca vs. Real Madrid game where Barca won! While I didn't expect to be highly productive after last night, I've been cranking out school assignments this afternoon and even fit in a trip to MACBA, the contemporary art museum I've been dying to see.
Well... I'm off to have dinner with Morgan on her last night. Next week I'll be blogging from Berlin if wifi on the road holds up. ¡Hasta luego!
Health update! I'm back in the game. Although it took a couple days for the antibiotics to kick in last week, I am finally feeling revived. While I know I have a poor immune system and I can be somewhat of a baby about getting sick, when I tell you tonsillitis was one of the worst experiences I've had, I truly mean it. Thank goodness it's in my past (or at least I hope). Knocking on wood.
Anyhow, feeling healthier this week, I decided to make up for missing Dublin by going out Tuesday night for a Guinness. My roommate Elizabeth and I met up with another friend and found an Irish bar in the maze-like Gothic Quarter. There we sat for a few hours enjoying drinks, making friends, and accepting freebies from the bartender (hats, shamrock-shaped cookies, really an assortment of things). Before we left, a British guy approached us asking if we were American and turns out he's our age, on scholarship at Fairfield U in Connecticut, and we have friends in mutual! He was part of a group visiting for the Manchester City game and what a small world that we met.
After my classes finished on Thursday, I had a Skype call with a marketing group based in New York. Amidst my classes here, weekend trips, and attempting to complete that checklist of mine, I'll be interviewing for summer internships. While it's not ideal to apply and interview for these positions while being all the way over here in Spain, I'm excited to see what opportunities materialize for this summer. Updates to come...
Later on Thursday, I met up with one of my best friends from home, Morgan, who is visiting from study abroad in Rome. Morgan, her friends from school, and our mutual friend Chessie met for sushi and then migrated over to my favorite hole-in-the-wall bar, Sugar. With great mojitos and cozy vibes, Sugar was the perfect way to finish the day.
Friday, I met up with Allie, one of my best friends from TCU who is also visiting from another study abroad program. Over lunch by the beach, I got to hear a little more about Florence and Allie's weekend trips! After that, we walked off our meals by wandering around and doing some of the touristy stuff like Las Ramblas, the Boquería, and Sagrada Familia. Switching off spending time with Morgan and her friends and then Allie and her friends made for a fun weekend. So great to see them both!
Yesterday, Tori got back from a weekend trip to Brussels bearing gifts of chocolate (what a doll). We both spent the afternoon preparing for a busy week of school and then went out to watch El Clasico, the annual Barca vs. Real Madrid game where Barca won! While I didn't expect to be highly productive after last night, I've been cranking out school assignments this afternoon and even fit in a trip to MACBA, the contemporary art museum I've been dying to see.
Well... I'm off to have dinner with Morgan on her last night. Next week I'll be blogging from Berlin if wifi on the road holds up. ¡Hasta luego!
Guinness in one hand, cookie in the other (ft. my roommate Elizabeth)
Paddy's Day!
Morga in Barca.
MACBA on a Monday.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Week 10.0: Third Doctor's A Charm
I now know there's some truth in the saying "third time's a charm" because this week it took three doctors in Barcelona to correctly treat me for tonsillitis.
It all started last week as I wrote my blog post over hot beverages and bowls of soup. Coming off of midterms and the excitement of having my best friends visit me in Barcelona, my immune system was about ready to give up while I was still going full force ahead. With St. Patty's Weekend in Dublin just four days out, there was no time for rest... or at least so I thought. Take my word for it... tonsillitis will clear your calendar if it is rest that you need.
So as you may guess, I didn't make it to Ireland this weekend. I had the bags packed, the boarding passes printed, and everything ready to go. Thursday morning, however, I woke up and thought I just can't do this. Doctor #2 had kindly sent me away from the clinic earlier this week with instructions to take Ibuprofen. Are you kidding me? Anyway, there I was on Thursday morning with 20 minutes to decide whether or not I would be walking out the door for the airport and I freaked out. I hadn't been able to sleep in days, I couldn't eat, and my voice was completely distorted. I knew I wouldn't be any fun nor would I have any fun SOO I stayed in Barcelona to recover.
I must admit that I didn't unpack my bag for Ireland until today (it is now Sunday). I thought maybe I could trick myself into thinking that I would wake up magically cured and just get a one way flight to Dublin to meet up with everyone? But that didn't happen. I also started telling my other roommates that I was only allowing myself "two to three hours of fun each day," which in all honesty is the amount of time it takes to have me completely worn out. So this weekend, in the few hours I spent out of bed, I got to hang out with my roommate Elizabeth. We saw the "Magic Fountain" show at Plaza de España, treated ourselves to a nice dinner, enjoyed multiple cups of coffee, and explored el Parc de Laberint D'Horta, a labyrinth park that overlooks the city from the mountainside. I also wiped out the entire Season 3 of House of Cards so there's that too.
Anyhow, today I believe I have turned a corner. Last night I slept through the whole night without interruption and my real voice is attempting to make a comeback. With a doctor's note to skip my entire upcoming week of classes, I'm tempted to see what else I can find on Netflix but I think it's also about time I leave my little apartment in Entenca.
Send good health prayers my way! 'Til next week :)
It all started last week as I wrote my blog post over hot beverages and bowls of soup. Coming off of midterms and the excitement of having my best friends visit me in Barcelona, my immune system was about ready to give up while I was still going full force ahead. With St. Patty's Weekend in Dublin just four days out, there was no time for rest... or at least so I thought. Take my word for it... tonsillitis will clear your calendar if it is rest that you need.
So as you may guess, I didn't make it to Ireland this weekend. I had the bags packed, the boarding passes printed, and everything ready to go. Thursday morning, however, I woke up and thought I just can't do this. Doctor #2 had kindly sent me away from the clinic earlier this week with instructions to take Ibuprofen. Are you kidding me? Anyway, there I was on Thursday morning with 20 minutes to decide whether or not I would be walking out the door for the airport and I freaked out. I hadn't been able to sleep in days, I couldn't eat, and my voice was completely distorted. I knew I wouldn't be any fun nor would I have any fun SOO I stayed in Barcelona to recover.
Guess I won't be needing these:
Anyhow, today I believe I have turned a corner. Last night I slept through the whole night without interruption and my real voice is attempting to make a comeback. With a doctor's note to skip my entire upcoming week of classes, I'm tempted to see what else I can find on Netflix but I think it's also about time I leave my little apartment in Entenca.
Send good health prayers my way! 'Til next week :)
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Week 9.0: Reunited
So this past week, two of my best friends from TCU, Annie and Sarah, came to visit and I think they loved Barcelona just as much as Tori and I do. While it feels like it has been a long time since I've left town, I would say this was one of my better spent weeks in Barcelona.
First off, I got to start the week by handing in a considerable amount of midterm papers for my classes at IES. With this load off of my shoulders and feeling more energetic than ever (no longer being sick), I decided to treat myself by doing a little shopping, trying some new restaurants, having a girls night out for drinks, and so on. Well, I guess I started to celebrate my good health a little too soon because here I am sipping on an english breakfast tea doctored up with milk and honey, still a little bit heated that the farmacía won't fill my second prescription for a Z-pack from Dr. Saval. I'm going to have to give "grandfather" Saval a call because being sick while abroad is a new level of misery. Anyway... I swear this was still one of my favorite weeks to date.
On Thursday afternoon, Tori and I anxiously awaited our friends arrival in Plaza de Catalunya where a 5 euro shuttle to and from the airport drops off every couple of minutes. I guess we were a little too excited to see Annie and Sarah because we probably sat and watched 20 buses come and go before our friends actually arrived. Seeing as it was already 3 pm when we finally met up, we picked a place in the area to have lunch and then headed uptown to settle into our airbnb. If you are thinking it seems odd that we'd have to settle into an airbnb this weekend, why yes... we agree that this was both odd and annoying. Since our program in Barcelona does not allow for overnight guests in our apartment, Tori, Sarah, Annie and myself became temporary residents of the neighborhood Gracia, situated above the city's center. That afternoon as the sun set over the city, us girls enjoyed red wine from the patio of our rented apartment before heading off to a traditional Spanish tapas meal. After that, we wrapped up the day at AbroadFest music festival down by the beach. I'd say we covered a lot of land that day... but not as much as Friday!
Quickly, I'd like to ask who doesn't love a good brunch? Finding great places for breakfast and brunch is definitely a favorite pastime for Tori and I. On Friday of this past weekend, we got to try a place we've had our eyes on for a while, Federal Café. The four of us got lucky and arrived just 5 or 10 minutes before the brunch menu was ending and even snagged a great table on the roof! I died over banana french toast and the other girls loved their various egg-based dishes too. Sometimes I read these blogs back to make sure I'm not speaking Spanglish and end up laughing at how much I go into detail about the food we eat over here. For your information, Tori is one of the biggest foodies there ever was so I blame her! Side note- check out Tori's blog Talk Tapas To Me because it's pretty great. And isn't that blog title clever? Thanks people... all me!
Back to Friday. From brunch, we migrated down to the water to show our land-locked London friends the beach. There we sat for a while, enjoying the great weather, rejecting foot massages and mojitos from strange men (you laugh but this happens a lot). Before returning to Gracia, Tori and I walked our friends up Las Ramblas, an infamously touristy street where people complain about pick pockets. Our tour of Las Ramblas led us into one of the local markets and then the Gothic Quarter for a quick peak at the cathedral. Day #2 ended with an amazing sushi dinner and drinks at our favorite Irish bar. Another successful day covering lots of land.
Sadly, yesterday was the girls' last day in sunny and warm Barcelona. Feeling like there was still so much to show them, we got up, found another place for brunch, walked around Plaza de España and hiked a little ways up Montjuic for the view. Since Tori and my apartment isn't too far from the mountain, we gave our friends a little tour of our neighborhood and briefly stopped at home to kick off our shoes after all the walking. If you've been keeping up with Brave Goes Abroad, you may remember that a couple weeks back I visited Cádiz, Spain, for carnaval. In Cádiz, Tori and I met some students from Madrid who planned on visiting Barcelona this same weekend (for AbroadFest) and we ended up hearing from them later that day when they invited us to hang out on their yacht. Casual... we know. So of course we took them up on this offer and UGH why can't I have a boat?
Anyway... last night upon leaving the marina, we experienced the coolest sunset EVER. After spending the past three-ish years in Texas, I didn't think there was anything better than a lonestar state sunset. Well, the Mediterranean wins. Wouldn't you say?
First off, I got to start the week by handing in a considerable amount of midterm papers for my classes at IES. With this load off of my shoulders and feeling more energetic than ever (no longer being sick), I decided to treat myself by doing a little shopping, trying some new restaurants, having a girls night out for drinks, and so on. Well, I guess I started to celebrate my good health a little too soon because here I am sipping on an english breakfast tea doctored up with milk and honey, still a little bit heated that the farmacía won't fill my second prescription for a Z-pack from Dr. Saval. I'm going to have to give "grandfather" Saval a call because being sick while abroad is a new level of misery. Anyway... I swear this was still one of my favorite weeks to date.
On Thursday afternoon, Tori and I anxiously awaited our friends arrival in Plaza de Catalunya where a 5 euro shuttle to and from the airport drops off every couple of minutes. I guess we were a little too excited to see Annie and Sarah because we probably sat and watched 20 buses come and go before our friends actually arrived. Seeing as it was already 3 pm when we finally met up, we picked a place in the area to have lunch and then headed uptown to settle into our airbnb. If you are thinking it seems odd that we'd have to settle into an airbnb this weekend, why yes... we agree that this was both odd and annoying. Since our program in Barcelona does not allow for overnight guests in our apartment, Tori, Sarah, Annie and myself became temporary residents of the neighborhood Gracia, situated above the city's center. That afternoon as the sun set over the city, us girls enjoyed red wine from the patio of our rented apartment before heading off to a traditional Spanish tapas meal. After that, we wrapped up the day at AbroadFest music festival down by the beach. I'd say we covered a lot of land that day... but not as much as Friday!
Quickly, I'd like to ask who doesn't love a good brunch? Finding great places for breakfast and brunch is definitely a favorite pastime for Tori and I. On Friday of this past weekend, we got to try a place we've had our eyes on for a while, Federal Café. The four of us got lucky and arrived just 5 or 10 minutes before the brunch menu was ending and even snagged a great table on the roof! I died over banana french toast and the other girls loved their various egg-based dishes too. Sometimes I read these blogs back to make sure I'm not speaking Spanglish and end up laughing at how much I go into detail about the food we eat over here. For your information, Tori is one of the biggest foodies there ever was so I blame her! Side note- check out Tori's blog Talk Tapas To Me because it's pretty great. And isn't that blog title clever? Thanks people... all me!
Back to Friday. From brunch, we migrated down to the water to show our land-locked London friends the beach. There we sat for a while, enjoying the great weather, rejecting foot massages and mojitos from strange men (you laugh but this happens a lot). Before returning to Gracia, Tori and I walked our friends up Las Ramblas, an infamously touristy street where people complain about pick pockets. Our tour of Las Ramblas led us into one of the local markets and then the Gothic Quarter for a quick peak at the cathedral. Day #2 ended with an amazing sushi dinner and drinks at our favorite Irish bar. Another successful day covering lots of land.
Sadly, yesterday was the girls' last day in sunny and warm Barcelona. Feeling like there was still so much to show them, we got up, found another place for brunch, walked around Plaza de España and hiked a little ways up Montjuic for the view. Since Tori and my apartment isn't too far from the mountain, we gave our friends a little tour of our neighborhood and briefly stopped at home to kick off our shoes after all the walking. If you've been keeping up with Brave Goes Abroad, you may remember that a couple weeks back I visited Cádiz, Spain, for carnaval. In Cádiz, Tori and I met some students from Madrid who planned on visiting Barcelona this same weekend (for AbroadFest) and we ended up hearing from them later that day when they invited us to hang out on their yacht. Casual... we know. So of course we took them up on this offer and UGH why can't I have a boat?
Anyway... last night upon leaving the marina, we experienced the coolest sunset EVER. After spending the past three-ish years in Texas, I didn't think there was anything better than a lonestar state sunset. Well, the Mediterranean wins. Wouldn't you say?
From the "boardwalk" (if that is even what it's called here), we grabbed dinner at our favorite pizza place followed by ice cream at Eyescream and Friends. I know it's a cliché college girl thing to say but... I'm seriously detoxing after this past weekend, especially with Dublin coming up. Well, that's all for me this week. If anyone knows why the states "sprung forward" this weekend but Spain didn't... give me a shout because I'm still trying to figure this one out.
The pics part:
They've arrived!!
Rioja red.
AbroadFest.
Group FaceTime FTW (miss y'all)
Holy, french toast.
Taken while thinking *No I don't want your suspicious mojitos, strange men of the beach*
But Snewt wanted a legitimate mojito so we stopped.
Brunch, day 2.
Montjuic.
Plaza de España.
Yacht with Jack.
My "eyescream" friend.
¡Hasta luego!
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Week 8.0: From Girona to Paris
Something I've been meaning to write about for a while... classes over here are not easy (or at least not a walk in the park)! I'm not sure if IES Barcelona is the exception to the rule, but in my opinion it is a misconception that study abroad classes are a joke because I have found exactly the opposite to be true. This past week I had midterms and yes, I survived, but boy was I tired when the weekend circled back around. Lucky me, I had no travel plans set in stone so for a second weekend in a row I was able to explore my own city!
On Friday morning, I met friends from IU in Barceloneta along the beach for brunch. To our dismay, the brunch place we had picked did not open for another hour and so we wandered down the street to find somewhere else. At that point, it became the morning of wandering and eating (basically nothing new for the study abroad experience). Before deciding upon FOC, a Latin place known for their drinks, we stopped at a french fry stand and another café for coffees. After maybe 3-4 hours of eating and chatting, we hopped on the subway to explore the Gracia neighborhood where I was told I could find stores other than Zara. In Gracia, we stumbled upon a strip of boutiques advertising for rebajas (month-long Spanish sales) and wandered up and down the street window shopping for the remainder of the afternoon. I was good and only bought one thing... you're welcome mom and dad :) That night I met up with a local friend I've made and finally got to see some bars that were not infested with study abroad students like me. One of my favorite parts of the night was visiting a bar that I'm now told is called a "speak easy"? Basically, the place was up two flights of stairs in a building I could have sworn housed apartments, totally hidden from the street. There we found live music, pool tables, and great drinks! Overall, a fun Friday.
The next day, I ventured outside of Barcelona by train with my same friends from the day before. We now joke that I'm an honorary hoosier because I could tell you all the ins and outs of Greek life and the business school at Indiana, but that's beside the point. Allow me, for just a moment, to rant about the train lines in Spain. Nothing is easy!! After my terrible misfortune with planes and trains on my way to Seville a couple weekends back, I had zero patience at Sants Estacio in Barcelona when some of our tickets got messed up and we were turned away from our train. We had to lighten the mood and kill time somehow so us girls found some cava and orange juice, the fixings for mimosas, and enjoyed our drinks over a shared platter of cheese (so Spanish, we know). Luckily, the next train to Girona ended up being a quick and pleasant experience so, while I was annoyed, Saturday was nowhere near as unlucky as Friday the 13th.
What to tell about Girona? Well, a ten minute walk in the direction of the cathedral led us straight into the old part of the city. There we crossed over the Girona canal what felt like a million times (literally weaving back and forth) in search of lunch. It's laughable that we ended up at the lone sushi bar in the city because we were well aware the move was tapas, but it was hard to trust the tapas menus we found with extremely average looking pictures of paella. Do you blame us? After lunch, we crossed the canal once again to find the Jewish quarter talked about on trip advisor and one or two hours later, I felt like I had seen it all in Girona. We topped off the day with nutella crepes and found a cool look out point from the city wall as the church bells rang all over town. We made it back to Barcelona in time for dinner, I worked on some internship apps from home, and the group headed back out to see what new bars we could find. Jamboree was the final destination, a bar known for its concerts and jazz nights and although my corona was 6 euro, I'd definitely go back! It was fun to try a new place.
Today has been a lazy day and I'm thankful for that! Since Barcelona shuts down on Sundays, I'm camped out at a Starbucks (the only place open for coffee) writing a paper for school. Laundry and getting myself organized for this week are high up on the list of to-do but karaoke night may be calling my name. I'm sooo excited for this coming week because Thursday I get to see Sarah and Annie again when they come to visit Barcelona. Stay tuned for tales of the TCU crew being reunited once again!
OH AND... this week ribbons traveled not only to Girona, but to Paris too! A huge thank you to Tori for snapping a pic in front of the Eiffel tower. Extra best friend points for her this week. #BeBrave
My weekend through my camera roll:
On Friday morning, I met friends from IU in Barceloneta along the beach for brunch. To our dismay, the brunch place we had picked did not open for another hour and so we wandered down the street to find somewhere else. At that point, it became the morning of wandering and eating (basically nothing new for the study abroad experience). Before deciding upon FOC, a Latin place known for their drinks, we stopped at a french fry stand and another café for coffees. After maybe 3-4 hours of eating and chatting, we hopped on the subway to explore the Gracia neighborhood where I was told I could find stores other than Zara. In Gracia, we stumbled upon a strip of boutiques advertising for rebajas (month-long Spanish sales) and wandered up and down the street window shopping for the remainder of the afternoon. I was good and only bought one thing... you're welcome mom and dad :) That night I met up with a local friend I've made and finally got to see some bars that were not infested with study abroad students like me. One of my favorite parts of the night was visiting a bar that I'm now told is called a "speak easy"? Basically, the place was up two flights of stairs in a building I could have sworn housed apartments, totally hidden from the street. There we found live music, pool tables, and great drinks! Overall, a fun Friday.
The next day, I ventured outside of Barcelona by train with my same friends from the day before. We now joke that I'm an honorary hoosier because I could tell you all the ins and outs of Greek life and the business school at Indiana, but that's beside the point. Allow me, for just a moment, to rant about the train lines in Spain. Nothing is easy!! After my terrible misfortune with planes and trains on my way to Seville a couple weekends back, I had zero patience at Sants Estacio in Barcelona when some of our tickets got messed up and we were turned away from our train. We had to lighten the mood and kill time somehow so us girls found some cava and orange juice, the fixings for mimosas, and enjoyed our drinks over a shared platter of cheese (so Spanish, we know). Luckily, the next train to Girona ended up being a quick and pleasant experience so, while I was annoyed, Saturday was nowhere near as unlucky as Friday the 13th.
What to tell about Girona? Well, a ten minute walk in the direction of the cathedral led us straight into the old part of the city. There we crossed over the Girona canal what felt like a million times (literally weaving back and forth) in search of lunch. It's laughable that we ended up at the lone sushi bar in the city because we were well aware the move was tapas, but it was hard to trust the tapas menus we found with extremely average looking pictures of paella. Do you blame us? After lunch, we crossed the canal once again to find the Jewish quarter talked about on trip advisor and one or two hours later, I felt like I had seen it all in Girona. We topped off the day with nutella crepes and found a cool look out point from the city wall as the church bells rang all over town. We made it back to Barcelona in time for dinner, I worked on some internship apps from home, and the group headed back out to see what new bars we could find. Jamboree was the final destination, a bar known for its concerts and jazz nights and although my corona was 6 euro, I'd definitely go back! It was fun to try a new place.
Today has been a lazy day and I'm thankful for that! Since Barcelona shuts down on Sundays, I'm camped out at a Starbucks (the only place open for coffee) writing a paper for school. Laundry and getting myself organized for this week are high up on the list of to-do but karaoke night may be calling my name. I'm sooo excited for this coming week because Thursday I get to see Sarah and Annie again when they come to visit Barcelona. Stay tuned for tales of the TCU crew being reunited once again!
OH AND... this week ribbons traveled not only to Girona, but to Paris too! A huge thank you to Tori for snapping a pic in front of the Eiffel tower. Extra best friend points for her this week. #BeBrave
My weekend through my camera roll:
FOC tacos and drinks.
Fighting Renfe Railway for a refund.
The canal in Girona.
"Las Ramblas" in Girona.
The cathedral.
Panoramic view from the city wall.
¡Adios, Girona!
