So as many of you know, I just got back from my Fall break from school here. Me and my friend Sai went to both Barcelona and Paris for the trip and for 7 1/2 of the 9 days it was awesome! The other day and a half was a bit of a disaster but we got back safe and sound so it's all good!
Day 1:
So all our traveling was by plane and we were flying out of Pisa through Ryan Air. This means that you only are allowed one carry on, so we headed out with a huge bag full of homemade tortillas and our backpacks stuffed with hopefully enough to last us the week we were going to be gone. We caught a train to Pisa and got to and through the airport no problem. We flew into Reus, Spain, which is an hour and a half outside of Barcelona. From the plain it looked like a very small coastal town that possible exported shrubs haha. Probably not true but that was our assumption. We rode a bus into Barcelona to Barcelona Sants, which is the main bus and train station in the city. We bought a map there and proceeded to head to my friend's, Mark, apartment. Mark goes to DU with me and he is studying in Barca for the semester. When I told him we were coming, he invited us to hang out with him and his friends for the night. So we made our way through this new city to his apartment without much trouble at all. We got there and Mark proceeded to cook us chicken pasta (best host ever) and then we were planning on watching the Barcelona soccer game. We couldn't get the channel in his apartment, so we headed out to try to find a sports bar where we could actually sit down and watch the game. Most of the bars were full but we ended up finding this tiny, little hole-in-the-wall place that was basically old tables and chairs with a TV. Sai, Mark and I were sitting at a table with a couple of Spaniards and drinking their cheap beer (Estrella Dam, which was actually the best beer I have ever had) and watching the soccer game. It was great! Every time some thing something exciting happened, or almost happened, there would be a collective yell of celebration or gasp of surprise! Barcelona is a soccer crazed city and I'm so glad I got to see that while I was there. After the game was over (and of course Barca won!) we headed back to the apartment where a group of of eight of us started to get ready for a night of clubbing, which is one thing Barcelona is known for. We hung out and drank boxed Sangria (yum!) until about 12:30 then headed to the club Opera, where we got in free since it was early in the night! Once we got in the bartender poured us all free tabasco shots of some sort (bahaha funny stuff) and started playing older hip-hop that came out in high school, so of course we are all jamming! It was a blast! We were all just dancing and having a great time from when the club had barely any people to the time when it was packed. We ended up leaving at around 4 or 5 am. Once we got back to the apartment we all sat around and ate our tortillas and talked until we got too tired and figured out our sleeping arrangement and went to bed!
Day 2:
First off, I have to explain a few things. Barcelona's schedule is completely different from ours. It is typical for the young people of Barcelona to wake up at 11, eat lunch at 3-4, dinner 10-11, go out around 1-2 and stay out until 5-6. It is crazy! So I wake up in the morning and check my watch and it is eleven and my reaction is what the hell, why didn't anyone wake me up?! But then I realized that I am the only one awake! So eventually people start to get up and Mark and Danny, his roommate and also gracious host, make us eggs for breakfast and then me and Sai set out to find our hostel. We found our hostel easy enough and chose our bunks and everything then went out to explore! We ended up walking straight down Las Ramblas all the way to Port Vell, of course stopping and taking pictures all over the place! We ended up wandering into an antique market and stopping to see some pretty interesting buildings and also ridiculous amounts of pigeons.
When we made it to Port Vell, we ended up walking by at just the right moment and a man came and sat down on the steps by the water and had a bag full of meat that he proceeded to throw out to the biggest sea gulls I had ever seen! There was a frenzy. The seagulls were swooping in right over everyone's heads and snatching the meat out of air or even out of his hand. At one point a seagull even landed on his head and waited to be handed a piece!
We went and walked around the dock for a bit, where there was a huge shopping mall and a ton of restaurants and then walked back up Las Ramblas, looking for a place to get tapas. We found a small stretch of very cheap restaurants and found a place where we could sit at the bar and order. First we got the Tapas deal to share, which was three kinds of tapas and a glass of sangria. Our tapas were sliced bread with various things on them: one had salmon with cream cheese, another had a spicy looking fish, and the last had a spicy pepper and some type of croquette. Then we ordered the Pulpo Gallego, or the Galician style octopus dish. That was sliced octopus over boiled potatoes with olive oil and paprika sprinkled on top. All of it was fantastic. I could have sat there and ate tapas all night with how good everything was. After we finished eating we wanted to go see the Giant Dildo, or in reality Torre Agbar. This building is basically a long, thin, oval office building that happens to light up at night! Pretty ridiculous but we wanted to go see it. So we walked over looking for it and accidentally ended up walking by Segrata Familia! Segrata Famiglia is huge and a very interesting piece of work! There are so many different things going on in the one building that it is almost confusing to look at. Then we walked to the Torre Agbar which was interesting ut doesn't seem to fit in the landscape at all. After going back to the hostel, we went to the International Beer Bar that we had spotted on the way down Las Ramblas. The bar was decorated with random items that had been sent by the various beer companies and the menu was set up where the beer was organized by type and then it told you which country the beer was from. I ordered Murphy's Irish Red and Sai ordered Stella Artois which is Belgian. We sat in the bar and talked for quite a while drinking our beers and at some point we decided we wanted some bread to munch on. So we asked the baristo for some and he seemed surprised that we wanted just plain bread. Then he says ok and we watch him run out of the bar and come back three minutes later with a basket of bread for us! Best bar tender ever, leaving the bar completely in order to find us some bread to eat haha.Once we got tired we headed back to the hostel and tried to get a pretty early night since we hadn't slept much the night before.
Day 3: Halloween!
Our main plan for this day was figuring out something to do for Halloween night, since there were so many Halloween club parties going on. So we contacted Mark to see when him and Danny were doing and went out to go shopping and figure out some sort of costume. We went in and out of shops all day and it was fun to see and the different stores and things that Barcelona has. We stopped midday when we found this adorable little Pita shop, where we both got falafel pitas and ate them in this little plaza called Placa Reial. We also ended up finding Barcelona's version of il Mercato Centrale which was so fun! There was so much beautiful fruit and fresh smoothies and butchers shops. The place was packed! I ended up getting myself a fun pair of pants and a LBD, which I figured I could wear for Halloween and just say the I was dressing up as one of those girls who actually gets all gussied up to go out to the clubs (haha legit considering I am usually wearing jeans!) Then I was going to wear ridiculous eye make up and also try to mohawk my hair. After we finished shopping we ended up going to for dinner, this time looking for seafood paella. We ended up finding it and oh my goodness it was SOOOOO good. Absolute favorite meal of the trip by far. Paella is a rice dish and ours had clams, mussels, shrimp, fish and octopus. It was amazing.
We completely destroyed that huge dish, empty plates all the way :). After dinner we went back to the hostel and one of the girls who was staying in our room didn't have anything to do for Halloween so we invited her, Sarah, to come along with us for the night. We ended up going over the Mark's apartment for a bit and then the plan was to leave and go to Boulevard, which is one of the clubs on Las Ramblas. So Sai, Sarah and I headed over to Mark's apartment where we got to meet more of his friends. There was Mark and Danny of course (who were dressed up as Mario and Luigi), then Mierkoli from Germany, Ben from Australia and another guy who none of us could understand because his accent was so thick so we didn't ever even figure out his name haha. We all hung out for a while and then headed out for the club, which we were apparently on the list for so it was gonna be easy to get in. Well we got there and it was packed, there was a huge line, which we got in to wait. After about twenty minutes we got to the front and were basically put in pairs and the bouncers would push you in some direction. I was put with Danny and he was trying to tell them that we were on the list, they told us that we were in the wrong line and told us where to go. We went there and they just pointed back at the line! They had no interest in helping us figure out what was going on. We got back in line a couple of times and they were either going to make us pay or not let us in. At this point all of us who weren't in the club gathered in the street next to it and to my dismay neither Sarah or Sai was there! I assumed they had gotten in the club and just hoped that they would stay together in there. At this point I was willing to pay but none of the guys would and I wasn't about to end up alone in a foreign city! So everyone was getting frustrated at this point so me and Mark went to a nearby bar, thinking that everyone just needed to chill out for a bit and then we would figure something out. We had a drink and then went back to the street, where Danny was still talking to people. When we talked to him again he said that Sarah and Sai had just come out of the club to see where we were and then gone back in! So there I am walking around in Barcelona with Mario and Luigi, which ended up being fun but at the same time the night ended up being a complete failure at least on my end. After a while we just went back to their apartment and fell asleep.
Day 4:
Again I wake up and realize that it is late morning and I rush back to the hostel, hoping that Sai and Sarah are both there sleeping. They were there thankfully and it was relief on both ends considering neither of us really knew what ended up happening to each other. We relaxed and got ready for the day and went out to find something to eat for lunch. We ended up in this cute restaurant where we got seafood pasta salad (shrimp and crab) and then I got a pina colada with orange sorbet for dessert yummm! After lunch we wandered through the city and headed to the Parc de la Ciutadella, which is where the Zoo and also the natural history museums are. This park was completely hippie infested which was really funny considering it reminds me of Colorado.
There was guitar playing, ball dancing, soccer, slack lining, big bubble making and juggling all going on in just the small section we walked through! It was entertaining but completely random and fun! We then walked up to the Arc de Triomf which was really beautiful and the red brick made it surprisingly warm looking in comparison with many of the other monuments in the city. Then we wandered back up to the Segrata Famiglia, hoping that it would be lighter so we would hopefully be able to take pictures. We ended up getting there at sunset so the light was not much better but I tried to get pictures. I guess if you wanted to see a high quality photo you could always Google it haha. We ended up getting pita again for dinner and then hitting the hay because we were so exhausted from Halloween!
Day 5:
This day our main goal was to go see the Miro Museum so we went and got pita for lunch (yes it was our main food group while we were in Barca but it was so much better then getting fast food and I am a college student!) and then headed to Poble Sec and the Parc de Montjuic. The park was basically set on a hill so we ended up zigzagging back and forth on it, even off-roading it on a random trail for a while. The farther you got up, the more of the city you could see which was very cool! The overview was so interesting since you could pick out all the major landmarks as being so much bigger than the rest of the buildings. The Miro Museum was pretty far up the hill and it was very interesting and I think I got a lot from it even though he isn't my favorite artist. I am starting to learn how to draw inspiration from a small detail or a stylistic choice, rather than simply relying on just liking something. I have so many things that I now want to try in my work that I may have never thought of if not for that museum. His work was interesting to see though since he simplistic in some ways and very intricate in others. After the museum we back back down toward Port Vell again, because we wanted to see how expensive the aquarium was and if we thought it was worth seeing. It was very pricey so we decided to go walk over to see the actual beach instead.
The beach was beautiful and it was fun to see since it was so simple and the completely opposite from the rest of the city. There were people surfing and even someone boogie boarding! It was a chilly day so I was so surprised that people were actually in the water! But we didn't actually get in the water so it may have not even been cold. We also wandered into a grocery store and decided to make ourselves some spaghetti for dinner. So we ended up chilling the hostel and eating pasta and playing card for the evening and then going to bed early again. This night however it was a little more tough to sleep because at about 11 a hoard of boys overtook our room so all of a sudden it was me and Sai and a bunch of boys. Needless to say, they were noisy and partying until five and they smelled like boy. not the most pleasent thing in the world haha!
Day 6:
This day we didn't have a whole lot of time to do anything since we were flying to Paris that night but we really wanted to make it to Parc Guell since it is the park that Gaudi, an architect, designed and it is a huge landmark of Barca. The walk there was kind of long and uphill haha but it was a very interesting place. I really like Gaudi because his buildings are all very fluid and abstract looking. Most cities would just look at it as weird but Barcelona is his city and instead most of his more ornate building are simply attractions. We actually went into his house and also got to see some of the furniture he designed. After seeing all the main buildings in the front of the park, we wandered back looking for a fountain that was apparently hidden in the back. We ended up finding it but it wasn't running. Because we looked for it we did get to see the other side of Barcelona, which was all residential. You could hear kids laughing and playing even from where we were! Then we also found a lookout point that was a 360 view of Barcelona and that was beautiful! We then made our way to the airport and all of that went easily enough. We made it to Paris and then the train that was going to take us to the hostel wasn't running! But they ended up running replacement buses so we got there and passed out immediately!
Day 7:
First day in Paris! I personally slept a lot better this day because of the more comfortable beds in the hostel an the fact that the room was completely silent! It was such a nice change from Barcelona but I started to feel like I had a cold coming on so I wasn't feeling too good. I got hot chocolate and a chocolate pastry for breakfast, but the chocolate in the pastry was pretty nasty so that was kinda upsetting. We got ready and then headed off to the Louvre since that was our main goal for the day. We wandered down through Paris to find it and walked through a park before getting to it. The Louvre was a beautiful building and the park was also beautiful. Seeing the pyramids was also so interesting and reminded me of the Da Vinci Code. We got in and then proceeded to eat lunch before me and Sai headed our seperate ways and planned to meet up at seven in order to go get dinner. The museum was amazing. I wished I had my real sketchbook because so much of the art was amazing and it all just made me want to sit on the floor in front of it and try to recreate what I loved about it as best as I could. My favorite sections of the museums were all the painting sections, the Greek classical sculpture and the French sculpture. Those sections were fantastic and were the main ones that made me really want to work on my own stuff and inspired me to try out different ideas. Another section I spent a large amount of time in was the Egyptian section. It was basically a maze so I was wandering through it looking at it and really find some inspiration from the patterns that they used in their decorations and then when I decided I need to go get water because I was thirsty I coudn't figure out how to leave. I ended up having to go through the exhibition a couple of times because I couldn't figure out how to get back to the main entrance! It was an amazing day though and I really enjoyed the museum.
After the museum we headed toward the Eiffel Tower looking for a cheap restaurant to eat in. We ended up finding this Thai place that looked like it would have good food so we go in and try to order food and the waitress starts jabbering at us in French and we couldn't really understand. Eventually we figure out that we have to sped 20 euro each in order to eat there... fail. So we leave and end up eating at this super cheap Chinese place down the street which was alright but not great. So we headed to the Eiffel Tower which was all lit up and beautiful. Everything by the river was beautiful while it was lit up and we ended up taking a train and the metro back to our hostel since it was cold and I was feeling pretty awful.
Day 8:
We didn't really have a plan for this day so we had to check out of the hostel by nine and then we went out to get pastries on the way to seeing the Moulin Rouge. I ended up getting a croissant aux abricot, which was delicious and actually had fruit and cream inside of it instead of just jam. Then we headed to the Moulin Rouge which was slightly decrepit but it was interesting. The streets surrounding it were filled with strip joints and sex shops it was pretty funny! Then we wandered down through Paris again, wanting to head to see Notre Dame. We stumbled upon some random monuments and a garden market which was fun. Before we got to Notre Dam we decided to get lunch so we went and had crepes at a small place next to the river. I had a egg, tuna and tomato crepe which was fantastic.Then we wandered through a street which happened to be filled with pet shops so we got to see tons of cute animals but it was kinda sad since they were in such small pens. We then made it to Notre Dame which was amazing and we ended up sitting in there for an hour because it was so beautiful and relaxing... Then we wandered some more and ended up chatting in a Starbucks for a while. We got dinner (goat cheese crepe) and then went to made our way to the airport. And then from there on everything goes down hill. See, I planned the whole trip, looked up how to get to and from airports, booked everything, etc. On the way to Paris CDG I realize the our tickets say Paris (Beauvais). So all of a sudden I realize that I had no idea how to get me and Sai to the airport. So we jump off the train we are on and run to a ticket counter to ask them how to get to where we need to go. Turns out we were one stop in the wrong direction and then we had to take a train to Beauvais, which is a suburb of Paris. So we scramble: get a new ticket, get on the wrong platform, have to get another ticket, get on the train to Gare Du Nord. We get there and find a train that is leaving for Beauvais in ten minutes. So we ask a French man where to buy tickets and he shows us, but we were running out of time. So we run back without tickets and realize the train is ten minutes late. We buy tickets and the train keeps getting later and later - 20 - 40 - 50 minutes. We run out of the station twice to see how much a taxi would cost (130) and also to see if we can call RyanAir (which was closed). We run back and the train had been canceled completely... So at this point we have missed our flight, there is no way we are going to get there on time. So we take the train anyways, thinking that we could sleep in the airport. We get there and are dropped off in the middle of this random town. A taxi driver comes up and offers to take us to the airport and we get in the taxi with this other guy who is headed to a hotel near the airport. Turns out the airport is completely shut down, so we end up going to the same hotel as the guy who was in the taxi with us.
Day 9:
So at this point I'm considering the story a part of this day. So the hotel is deserted, no one at the front desk until 7 and no idea where else we could go. So we situate ourselves on the floor of the breakfast area, hoping that no one is going to come and tell us to leave. We get free Wifi so we contact people and let them know we are ok. Sai goes to sleep and I am way to worked up so I stayed up until about 4 chatting with people online then took an hour long power nap. Then I woke up and chatted some more until 7:30 when the lady who worked at the front desk came in. I woke Sai up and we left to go head to the airport to figure out how to get home. When we get there, the lady tells us that unless we buy the tickets online it is going to cost over 500 euro per ticket! So we walk back to the hotel and ask the lady if there is any way we can use her computer and printer and she was so nice she let us! We ended up having trouble buying tickets and Sai's dad ended up getting our tickets for us thank goodness. We got lunch in a McDonalds which ended up making me feel really sick. We spent the rest of the day in the airport and getting back so basically it was an awful two days, but we did get home so its fine.
Overall an amazing experience :) something I will never forget!!!
I have gotten a ton done in batik since my last blog and am actually just working on extra projects now! I finally finished my key project, which turned out being really awesome. It has yellow, green, blue and purple keys on a navy background. The process I had to go through was I first waxed over all the keys that I wanted to be blue and purple and then dipped in yellow. Then you remove the wax so that the dye can flow properly. Then I waxed over the keys that I wanted to keep yellow. Then I dipped blue so I had yellow, green and blue keys. Then I waxed over the green and blue keys I wanted to keep and dipped in red, to create purple keys. Then I dipped with all the keys covered in wax to turn the background into a navy color. It did take a while but it ended up being very beautiful! I also finished quilting my lion knocker scarf, so it is in the process of being turned into a pillow! The quilting turned out really fun and added a lot of character to the scarf. I am so excited to be able to use it! 
For my third shabori project we have to do a sewing or thread based design. For this project we used pure silk, which is much rougher and tougher to withstand the abuse of the designs. For mine I found a technique to try called the spiderweb technique which is used in Japan.
So first I had to pinch sections of the fabric and tie a knot at the bottom, wrap the thread tightly around you bunch and then tie another top at the bottom. I then dyed the sea urchin blue and waited for it to dry. The mountainous looking picture is what the fabric looked like immediately after removing all the thread and after I ironed it, I had the pattern on the right. It turned out being super fun looking and I think I am going to leave it these colors and then sew it into a tote bag when I get home!
These are the frescoes that I haven't posted yet. The grapes were my third fresco, the cow is my fifth and the face is my sixth. I really am starting to figure out the way frescoes should work so they are getting better and better as I go along and I am really happy with how they are turning out! I also have been working on touching up the paintings. That is so hard I can not imagine having to do that to a work that has been around for centuries and holds a great amount of importance. It would be so intimidating!
