To Girona...and beyond!

This weekend, Andrea and I decided we needed to do something productive. So, instead of walking through all the shops in central Barcelona, we hopped on a train bound for Girona, a city about 100 km northeast of Barça.  It was our first time on the real train, RENFE (the metro doesn't count), and we were both a little nervous.  But we figured we were going the right direction when we started to see grass and gas stations, that's how you know you're leaving the city.  After about an hour and a half, we got off at the Girona station with zero sense of what to do next.  I had researched some attractions in the city and some neighboring areas, but conveniently left the list right on my desk next to my laptop on my way out the door.  So, we decided the best thing to do was get a map, yes, we are college students.  After ten minutes of contemplating between the tourist guide book (in french because there was no english) and the standard, un-foldable paper map, we decided the latter was the more economical and useful selection.  We purchased our map and were on our way into the city.

We walked for about ten minutes before deciding we actually might want to consult the map we had just purchased.  But of course it wouldn't really be a trip with Andrea and Keri without getting a little lost. Personally I think it makes things interesting, Andrea doesn't necessarily agree...side note...if someone asks us for directions to a certain place, we usually start with..."oh yeah. we passed it that one time we got lost. no, not that time, the time after that."...anyways, we sat down with our map for a few minutes, figured out where we were, planned a route and headed towards the Barrio Vell ('Old Neighborhood' in Catalan) in search of las murallas.  On the way, we encountered a river, lined with bright colored buildings, and of course had to stop on the bridge to snap a couple photos.  After a bit more walking, we found our way to la muralla de Girona.  The muralla is a stone wall, constructed between the 9th and 15th centuries, that surrounds the old part of the city.  We climbed the stairs and walked on the wall for about 40 minutes.  From the top you could see all of Girona.  It was such a nice day and it was really cool to get an aerial view of where we had just walked.  When we came down from the wall, we walked around aimlessly for a minute or two (because we had no idea where we were) before happening upon the Catedral de Girona, quite an impressive building.  We had been able to see it from the wall, along with the Torre de Girona, but up-close and personal was a much cooler view.

From the catedral we walked back down into the city area, grabbing lunch and some dessert on the way.  By the time we got back to the train station, we were exhausted and Andrea slept most of the train ride home.  All in all, it was a really great day trip!  Next weekend is Sevilla and Cadiz with CIEE so that should be fun! love and miss everyone at home! Love, Keri

PS. I put up about 100 new pictures from Girona.  If you want explanation of anything, just lemme know! :)

Dear Barcelona...love your beaches. Your fitness centers, not so much.

This, I admit, is not entirely true.  But let me explain. During CIEE orientation we were each given a card for a fitness center, The Holmes Place, that included a free trial AND a special CIEE student rate, 162 E for Jan-Apr., which seemed kind of steep for a special student discount.  However, Andrea and I decided to visit considering we had a free trial, and we might as well use it.  So we went to the gym to work out one night, and fell in love with it. It was such a nice facility, very classy, and had everything you could want in a gym.  But we decided that, since we would be missing out on our membership for all of January and half of April (when we have vacation), it really was too expensive for 2 and a half months.  So instead we thought we would look for other gyms to try...well, we had good intentions to anyways.  But on Sunday, after church and una 'cena fraternal', we decided to visit the beach.  It was a beautiful day, and the beach was more than impressive. we took tons of pictures and walked around for over an hour, taking our shoes off and walking in the sand.  I was in love...momentarily scarred by the very tanned naked man casually strolling along the shore, yes, but even that unfortunate event wouldn't deter me from returning to this beautiful place when the weather got warmer.  And then we realized, the weather is already starting to get warmer.  Spring would be upon us in no time, and we both decided it might be a good idea to hit the gym once or twice before pulling out the old bathing suits.  So, after classes today, (well. class. I was supposed to have 2 but the first one got canceled, 2nd canceled class in two days, and it's only the second day of classes. I think i like how they do school here in Spain... :D ) Andrea and I started looking for another gym to try.  I found one online that looked really nice and was advertising a whole month for free without promise of membership! just to be sure I called to get the details and see if we could try it out...yes mom, I called. and even spoke to the women in Spanish.  Sadly, their advertising wasn't quite accurate and the free month was only for people who were going to register.  So back to the drawing boards.  After a few quick searches, I found another gym that is apparently very impressive.  I plugged in a bit of info and got a quote for prices.  When i saw 13.62 E for the ONE package, i was excited.  However, after further investigation, we figured out that it meant you could go once a month, for 13.62 each month.  But after plugging in names and email addresses, we were awarded with a free pass for the gym.  Considering we had nothing else to do, and once again had a free pass, we figured why not try this gym too.  So we hopped on the metro and in no time were at DiR Barcelona.  It looked nice, not as chique as Holmes Place, but good enough for free.  Right after walking through the doors, we were greeted by an enthusiastic, fancy Spanish man, David (dah-VEED).  He pulled us over to the counter, explaining the memberships and everything about the gym, pulling out brochures with all kinds of information.  Then he wanted to know which one we wanted.  We were a little confused.  We told him we wanted to see the gym before we actually made our decision, thinking we could use our free passes and that would be that.  However, we were sadly mistaken.  Yes, David showed us the gym, we got a grand old tour all the way through. and then out. back to the counter again. without even breaking a sweat.  You see, the "free pass" we had received for the gym meant that the registration fee was waived for this month, making the registration for February only 47E.  Neither of us were prepared to, nor really wanted to, become members of the gym, but David insisted, telling us it was such a great offer.  Andrea wanted to know why, because we couldnt really see the wonderful offer, and he explained that usually the registration fee is 130E, so THAT'S what was free this month. but not next month...or the one after.  After trying to let him down gently, not refusing to become members, but insisting we would first have to talk to our parents about it, we booked it out of there, not turning back for fear that David might be crying.  So that ended up being a fail.  But, I had seen online that if you wanted to go to Holmes Place for one day, instead of getting a monthly membership, it was 15E.  It ends up being much more expensive paying that way, of course, if you go a lot, but we figured we just wanted to go to the gym and 15E was better than David and his 130+47E, any day. Plus, Holmes Place is on the next street over from DiR Barcelona.  So we hurried over there to get in even an hour of working out before it would be time for dinner.  We walked in and asked the receptionist how much it would cost for one day, just to make sure, and she confirmed the 15E...PERO, (there's always a pero) you have to get it for 5 days, not just one. There's a big difference between 15 and 75. at that point, we were just so fed up, we decided our exercise for the night was skipping the metro and walking home.  So, I was sitting here in my room, contemplating doing jumping jacks on my balcony and sit ups on my tile floor, when i remembered the Parc de la Ciutadella that we visited a couple weeks ago.  So now, we will finally get our exercise.  Tomorrow we're going for a run through the park at 8:30 am, that is, unless the metro randomly stops working or the park ends up being closed for the day.  But with our luck, who knows.  More exciting stories later. 

Sincerely,
Fitness Failure

Wind in the sails

So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ Mark Twain

at the moment, I am feeling like quite the world traveler, although I still have yet to go anywhere of great merit.  Don't get me wrong, coming to Barcelona to study so far has been more than what I imagined, but everything was planned for me, all the details taken care of, which was a great thing for me, being not so detailed-oriented.  But when I bought the plane tickets for my first real viaje while being abroad, I felt like I could conquer the world.  Yes, i know this seems a bit dramatic, i mean all i did was pick a day, time and airport from which to leave and to return, but once I clicked the button to purchase the tickets, there was no turning back.  Now I have to figure out my own details.  I have to do the planning, and i'm not going to lie, that kind of scares me.  Now most of you know that I tend to be a little bit disorganized, and at times more than a little bit, and to be able to figure out all the details for these trips that we're planning, i'm going to need to be on my A-game.  

So, for this first excursion, the wind is blowing me in the direction of France...Paris, to be exact.  I will be spending three nights and four days in Paris with Jes and her friend Francesca for Jes' birthday.  They will take the train down from Maastricht and I will fly in from BCN, all three of us foreigners making our entrance into Paris at 10 am on Friday the 25th of February.  The plan is to meet at the Eiffel Tower (cliché I know, but hey, when in Paris...) and from there go exploring through the city.  I'm hoping since my French is a liiiiittle bit rusty (I know the alphabet, how to count to three and say fish...thanks to the little mermaid) that I can count on my trusty pal to translate for me.  We will be staying at Plug-inn Hostel, upon the recommendation of Francesca, since she has stayed there before.  

Although its still three weeks away, even the idea of going on this trip is making me nervous, I feel like a little kid on their first day of kindergarten: pretty excited, and glad to be going, but ready to pee my pants or burst into tears at the hint of any obstacle I might encounter (hopefully none of which will happen...however if it did, i'd have another story to add to the collection...and let's be real, its hard to not be entertained by the unfortunate, humiliating mishaps of a novice traveler such as myself).  

But alas, it is time for me to say buenas noches and get some sleep before my final tomorrow.  Hope all is going well for everyone, and that i haven't been boring you too much.  Feel free to leave suggestions at the bottom of the page. Besos. ~Keri

Caminata y Calçotadas

Took my first exam on Friday, and I think it went pretty well  :) I have a paper, presentation and final exam this week so lots of work to do before I finish this intensive class and finally start semester classes.

Saturday was a break from schoolwork and studying for another group outing, this time up a mountain, Tibidabo.  The day started out beautiful and only got better as we hiked, uphill, for about an hour and a half, to a little restaurant on the mountain.  There we ate a typical Catalan meal, starting with calçots, charred leeks that you peel and dip in some mystery sauce before eating them above your head. needless to say it was quite the scene. The meal consisted of calçots, pa amb tomacat (bread with tomato), salads, potato tortilla, grilled potatoes, grilled veggies, some sort of meat, and a lemon custard cake for dessert.  I then realized the point of the hour and a half walk prior to the meal was to make us hungry enough to be able to eat it all!  luckily, we took the ferrocarriles back to the city center. 

Sunday was another opportunity for cultural experience.  Andrea and I got up early to go with her host mother to the CaixaForum, a social cultural center in Barcelona that, at the moment, has exhibitions of artwork by Picasso and Dali.  I really liked the exhibit called Rutas de Arabia, which included at least 300 pieces of ancient art from Saudi Arabia.  They also played some documentaries about Bolivia and Colombia, all very interesting stuff. 

Today, we took a field trip with the program to Poble Sec, a barrio just south of my apartment.  We had been talking about the Spanish civil war in class and got to watch a great movie called El Lengua de las Mariposas.  But the point of the field trip was to see what the bomb shelters, bomberos, were like in Barcelona during the 30's.  It was a really cool tour of one of the shelters that was constructed into the side of the other Barcelona mountain, Monjuic.  

However, you will be surprised to know that I think I have been cured of the 'rebajas' disease.  After shopping with Andrea and my host mother in the rain last night, and again today for a couple hours, although today in the sun, I have been frustrated with the shopping scene one too many times to actually enjoy it now.  I'm guessing this is just a phase, and might not last long, but for now, i can't even look at another price tag or sale sign. 

well that's the update for now, and since all that unsuccessful shopping made me exhausted, I think it's time for a siesta! :) love you and miss you all!

a deiu!
~Keri

Vroom, vroooooom!

I have recently decided that I must become a biker chick...no, not the kind of leather-clad, covered head to toe in tattoos kind of biker chick...a classy European biker chick.  Whilst once again perusing the racks in H&M, i noticed a girl near me, about the same age, carrying her purchases in a shiny white motorcycle helmet. she just had this look going for her, skinny jeans, leather jacket, nose pierced.  I don't know why this struck me as especially cool, nor why i decided that it must be the motorcycle that gave her such a fashionable appearance, but it did.   Thus, my new-found desire for a street bike upon return stateside (because if i tried to drive around here i'd either die or kill someone, so better to wait and do it in my own backyard...)  And now, since my car has been getting into a little bit of trouble since my departure, i'm thinking motorcycle could definitely be a possibility.... :) hopefully at least a matter up for discussion...

 I have almost finished week one of intensive classes with CIEE, and Friday will be our midterm exam.  I'm really enjoying the class, although it is 4 hours long....the break in the middle for coffee and chocolate croissants helps to make the last two hours go by pretty fast (you know what they say about a spoonful of sugar!)  Saturday is our first cultural experience outing as a group.  We will be going for a hike on a nearby mountain, and dining at some restaurant along the way.  The food is the cultural part...we will be eating "calçots", or cooked leeks drenched in some sort of special sauce.  Maria tells me to wear clothes i dont particularly like because the stains are bad and the smell is worse...sounds like a great time to me!  hope you all are enjoying the snow back home, and the sun in other parts of the country/world! hopefully the weather perks up soon here. i'm anxious to visit the beach!  hopefully talk to you soon! love and miss you all, ~Keri


PS. my address, for anyone who wants it, is:

Maria Hidalgo
Compte Borell 56
Barcelona, Spain 08015

just write my name on the envelope somewhere and it will be delivered to me! :)

Rebajas!

Here in Barcelona, January is el mes de rebajas, a whole month dedicated to discounts!  And believe me, everything can, and is, on sale.  What qualifies as "on sale" for some people however, chopping the price of a shirt from Custo Barcelona from 180€ to a much lower 135€, doesn't necessarily work for poor college students like me.  But have no fear, in the city, there are stores for everyone, and the rebajas are especially hard to avoid.  Boots for 15€, accessories for 2, dresses for 6€ (I now have two), everything is on sale and easily catches the eye.  So this is the daily schedule that I have been following for the past week or so: get up and go to class until 2, eat lunch with a few program kids til about 3, then, with intentions of running a few quick errands, spend 4 hours walking around the streets of Barcelona, unable to pass by a Mango, or Zara or H&M without taking a "quick" look around.  But I have to say, I have done pretty good for myself, keeping my purchases mostly below 10€, and only for the most essential items, of course. And with the amount of walking that shopping in this city takes, who needs the gym? after a waffle covered in melted Nutella, or a little cup of coffee gelatto, a walk around the stores is all it takes, and you're good as new...maybe even ending up with a cute scarf or something. sounds like quite the deal to me! Alas, I realize my back account isn't exactly bottomless [unless Mom and Dad are feeling generous] so I must cut down to the bare essentials, lunch and metro passes, because the 2 minute ride to school on the metro beats the 10 minute walk on the cold streets, any day (plus it gives me a little more sleeping time). 

Don't yet know what the plans for this week might be, besides doing some cultural thing with onions on Saturday...but I suppose we shall find out soon enough!

Much love to all!