So I've been going to the gym. That's exciting right? No. Not really. Not at all honestly. It gets quite boring when its literally the only thing you do every day besides blogging. In my post's title I stated that I'd give you the truth, and so I shall. I hate going to the gym, like hate it with everything I have. I hate walking the 3/4 mile it takes to get there and I hate walking the 3/4 mile it takes to get back. Some (like my parents) would say that I'm just being lazy, well I'm not. Walking to the gym and back actually gives me anxiety. Why, you ask? Well see I have to cross 6 intersections there and the same 6 while walking back. I know you're probably saying, "What? You didn't learn how to walk along a crosswalk when you were little? You're pretty pathetic." Well I actually did learn how to do that thankyouverymuch, but that's not the issue here. The issue here is that all of those intersections except one does not have an actual crosswalk to use, and it doesn't have a "walk/do not walk" sign to accompany it (#firstworldproblems). And since all of the intersections I have to cross are literally always busy I kind of have to just take my chances and hope the people driving are paying attention and I won't end up getting hit. There's been three instances where the drivers approaching either weren't paying attention or they just felt like they didn't have to yield for a silly little pedestrian, and continued to drive at a normal speed right towards me. Each of those times the drivers finally decided to stop maybe less than a foot away from me, so they wouldn't end up hitting me. So that was mighty nice of them. It's appreciated, it really is. So that's reason one why I don't like going to the gym. Reason two? Being in the gym in general gives me anxiety, okay not necessarily anxiety, but I feel uncomfortable. When I get passed the entry gates (of hell)(just kidding)(not really), head to the locker room, put my stuff away, and head to the cardio/weight room...I shit you not everyone looks at me. When I enter the room and walk past the stretching area everyone wants to take a moment to pause what they're doing and for that brief moment they stare at me. When I get off the elliptical and walk towards the weights every person doing weights wants to watch me. So me being the naturally self-conscious person that I am, I feel like either I've done something wrong or something is wrong with my appearance. You might think I'm just being overdramatic and that's not really what happens. No. I know when I'm being overdramatic and I will admit when I've over exaggerated things, in which this case I have not. Anyways, I don't know what the problem could be. Maybe they look because I'm tall? But I've been to the gym countless amounts of times, so surely everyone there has seen me at least once so it's not something they have to keep looking at me for. Its really annoying though. Reason three? Well I just hate the gym point blank period. In this case I am being lazy. I haaaaaate doing cardio, if I could skip it I really would. However it's a vital part of weight loss and I use it to warm up my ligaments, so I really can't skip it. It's so boring to me though! It's like, "Oh let me just spend 20-40 minutes of my life on this machine that simulates running or riding a bike while I listen to my music and stare into blank space." How is that appealing to anyone?! Then again, I guess going to the gym isn't supposed to be fun, otherwise everybody and they mama would be at the gym all the time. The only time I've ever actually liked going to the gym was when I had a personal trainer. You would think that having somebody tell you what to do and pushing you to get it done for an hour straight everyday wouldn't be fun. I actually quite enjoyed it. When I don't have a trainer or a gym buddy I can easily say to myself, "I'm really sore today, I'm not going.", or "I'm feeling really tired today, not going.", or "I've got a major headache, not feeling like going to the gym today", or my personal favorite just a simple, "Fuck that." Pardon my language. I tend to use these excuses all too often. Honestly I don't know what my problem is, I'll do really good for like two to three weeks and then I'll start to slack off. For example, when we arrived in Spain I started going to the gym everyday except for the weekends, I did that for 3 and a half weeks and started to see some results, after that I completely fell off. Which is really weird because more motivation is supposed to stem from seeing results, but it did the complete opposite for me. It started raining, no...it was pouring for 5 days straight so I used that as an excuse not to go. So now we're at present day, I haven't gone to the gym in close to a week and I feel really shitty about it. I won't go tomorrow and Friday because Mike and I will be in Girona for his test game. Which means I won't be able to go to the gym until Saturday. So Saturday is when I'll start again and since I don't have a trainer and no one to be my gym buddy, I'm using my blog in lieu of that. I'll use you guys to hold me accountable. Surprisingly after almost a week of not going to the gym my body hasn't seemed to change much. I still look like how I did when those results started to take place. So that's always nice. I went on reddit.com earlier and looked at what helped other people when they hit a slump and some of them said even when they felt like quitting or their weight plateaued their determination never strayed when they had set a deadline for themselves. Whenever they felt like quitting they just thought of that deadline and it kept them going. I think that would help me, now I just have to think of a serious deadline. My birthday is in a month and 10 days, so I don't know if I'll be able to get very far in that time. I'd like to lose between 5-10 pounds by then. So that's a short term goal. But an actual deadline I don't have. Hmmmmm I'm thinking, I'm thinking... AH! Well in Barcelona it start's to get warm in May and warm weather calls for stowing away the jackets, jeans, and long sleeves, and breaking out the shorts, tank tops, and bathing suits. So there we go, I'll set my deadline of losing 30 pounds by May 1st. May 1st it is. It kind of feels like I just signed my soul to the devil. Just kidding! Seriously though, if anyone who reads my blogs has any tips for staying motivated or would like to share your stories with weight loss with me I'd love to hear from you! :)
xx - Amanda!
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Monday, December 8, 2014
Curls on a Monday
I sit here this morning ultimately debating on whether or not I should commit to these changes to my blog. I act like its life or death, it's not, I'm just overdramatic. But I feel like if I change my blog now it has to be the last time I change it (or at least the last change for a good while), because I've made soooooo many changes over the course of the few months that I've had it. In the beginning I had planned to blog every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Soon that changed to just Monday and Friday, then there was at least a month's time where I didn't blog at all because I didn't have anything I felt was worth reading. When we landed in Belgium I began to blog again every Sunday because I actually had good material, but alas, now that we've been in Spain for about 5 weeks I'm running out of things to blog about. So in order to keep myself blogging and to give me something to do besides just going to the gym I feel these changes are necessary. Most of my readers (if not all of them) are my family and my boyfriend's family, which they're like my family too. So like I was saying it's basically all family. They navigate to my blog to read about what Mike and I have been up to each week and weekend, which is greatly appreciated because frankly I didn't think anyone would really read it at all. And starting today when these changes are implemented I hope to still have my family readers because you guys (are) the real MVP, and I'm still going to do my daily Sunday blogs to let you know what we've been up to. Mike and I have made a promise to try and do more exciting things every weekend, even when it rains because apparently there's no escaping the rain here. I mean for God-sake we live in Barcelona, we live in Spain...we live in Europe period, That's not something American people our age get to do too often (unless you're obscenely rich). So on that note, onto what my post for today is really going to be about!
As promised I'm delivering a brand new type of blog post today. New type of blog post to the world? No. New to me? Yes, because I've never done one before. Normally these types of posts would be done through a vlog on Youtube or something, however I don't have enough gall to sit in front of my laptop's video camera for a good 15 minutes discussing the hairstyle I chose to do and showing you how I styled it. I can't even handle speaking in front of a crowd of people I've known for 3+ years (e.g. our going away party) without my heart feeling like it's going to burst out of my chest, so there's no way I'm going to record myself and post it on the internet knowing there's a potential possibility of millions of people seeing it. Yeah, no thanks I'm cool.
So anyways I spend what's probably an unhealthy amount of time studying every nook and cranny of all things Pinterest. My boards on Pinterest are pretty much what any 20-something girl's boards would be (Desserts, Memes, Wedding day, Hairstyles, Cute outfits, etc), however my favorite things to look at on Pinterest would be different hairstyles, makeup ideas, and cute outfits. That's probably a typical girl thing too. Some of the hairstyles I see on Pinterst seem rather intricate and others seem pretty easy, so what I've planned to do on Mondays is post a step by step picture tutorial for said hairstyle in order to show everyone that even a girl like me (someone not exactly skilled in the art of styling hair) can indeed re-create the hairstyles that are seen on Pinterest. I do realize that there are some hairstyles that already have step by step tutorials, but the thing is the girls that do those could already have experience (maybe they do, maybe they don't. I don't know their life) with styling hair and whatnot. I offer you a chance to see someone who is a beginner try and do different hairstyles. And when I say beginner, believe me I mean it. I wore my hair in a ponytail or pigtails all throughout elementary school and halfway through middle school until I discovered what a straightener was. Then I only ever straightened my hair until my junior year in high school because that's all I knew how to do. I didn't learn how to curl my hair until junior year was almost over. That was close to 4 years ago and I haven't learned to do much else since then. So bear with me for the first few types of these posts, they may not be all too glamorous but I will work on it.
Okay so here we go, I decided to go with something pretty easy for my first post.
Loose/Messy-ish curls with a flat iron!
It didn't take me long at all, maybe 10 minutes.
I messed up with one of the pictures, so I had to use a photo twice. And the font color goes back and forth between pink and black, but like I said...bear with me folks!
xx - Amanda!
As promised I'm delivering a brand new type of blog post today. New type of blog post to the world? No. New to me? Yes, because I've never done one before. Normally these types of posts would be done through a vlog on Youtube or something, however I don't have enough gall to sit in front of my laptop's video camera for a good 15 minutes discussing the hairstyle I chose to do and showing you how I styled it. I can't even handle speaking in front of a crowd of people I've known for 3+ years (e.g. our going away party) without my heart feeling like it's going to burst out of my chest, so there's no way I'm going to record myself and post it on the internet knowing there's a potential possibility of millions of people seeing it. Yeah, no thanks I'm cool.
So anyways I spend what's probably an unhealthy amount of time studying every nook and cranny of all things Pinterest. My boards on Pinterest are pretty much what any 20-something girl's boards would be (Desserts, Memes, Wedding day, Hairstyles, Cute outfits, etc), however my favorite things to look at on Pinterest would be different hairstyles, makeup ideas, and cute outfits. That's probably a typical girl thing too. Some of the hairstyles I see on Pinterst seem rather intricate and others seem pretty easy, so what I've planned to do on Mondays is post a step by step picture tutorial for said hairstyle in order to show everyone that even a girl like me (someone not exactly skilled in the art of styling hair) can indeed re-create the hairstyles that are seen on Pinterest. I do realize that there are some hairstyles that already have step by step tutorials, but the thing is the girls that do those could already have experience (maybe they do, maybe they don't. I don't know their life) with styling hair and whatnot. I offer you a chance to see someone who is a beginner try and do different hairstyles. And when I say beginner, believe me I mean it. I wore my hair in a ponytail or pigtails all throughout elementary school and halfway through middle school until I discovered what a straightener was. Then I only ever straightened my hair until my junior year in high school because that's all I knew how to do. I didn't learn how to curl my hair until junior year was almost over. That was close to 4 years ago and I haven't learned to do much else since then. So bear with me for the first few types of these posts, they may not be all too glamorous but I will work on it.
Okay so here we go, I decided to go with something pretty easy for my first post.
Loose/Messy-ish curls with a flat iron!
It didn't take me long at all, maybe 10 minutes.
I messed up with one of the pictures, so I had to use a photo twice. And the font color goes back and forth between pink and black, but like I said...bear with me folks!
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Sundays are for Blogging
Monday through Friday has been only mildly interesting for me. And that's probably how it's going to be most of the time too, unless I make some friends. Which is a harder task than it seems to be, might I add. Mildly interesting is perfectly fine with me though. I can spend the week focusing on working out, eating healthy, and taking care of whatever needs to be taken care of before my school semester starts. Monday was like any other Monday, poopy. I woke up feeling groggy because I went to sleep too late the night before, I had said to myself that I would wake up early enough Monday morning to go downstairs and catch breakfast before all the good stuff was gone. Yeah, that didn't happen. I went back to sleep after Mike woke me up to tell me he was leaving for training and re-awoke an hour later. Mike came back for break around 10 am, we watched the news (and tried to understand it) for a bit, then we talked about our weekend plans, and I told him that I had spent some time searching for universities that I could earn my degree from completely online since I wouldn't be able to be there physically. I actually found an "Editor's Choice" article with their ranking of the top 25 best online degree programs. Number 1 was Walden University, I was interested but they had some weird age requirement. I had to be at least 24, which I found strange. Number 2 was Post University. I may have jumped the gun a little, I pretty much applied to Post right away after reading the article's description of the university. I was pleased with what I read though, they're ranked 19th in the nation for best online bachelor's program, their courses are offered in 8 week modules which means I can earn my degree in close to a year give or take 3 months, the student to teacher ratio is 23:1 so it's a smaller class size which is nice, and their online bachelor's program has won at least 3 awards this past year. After I applied I read into them a little bit more, I found they have a physical campus as well located in Waterbury, Connecticut, they've been around since 1890, and even if you're a completely online degree student you can come to the school and walk across the stage when you graduate. So I thought those were all pretty neat. Anyways, after all the school talk with Mike I hopped in the shower and got ready to go to the gym. When I was walking to the gym a man slowed to ask for directions, while I was crossing the street (that doesn't have an actual crosswalk). First of all...I don't understand you, secondly I'm not THAT familiar with the area yet, thirdly you really had to stop me while I was crossing? Couldn't wait until I was on the sidewalk? Like bruh, there were cars speeding past me in the other direction. I said to him, "Lo siento, no hablo mucho espanol, I'm not from here." He smiled, nodded, and drove away. I felt bad though, I wish I could have helped. Although even if I could understand him fully I probably wouldn't have been able to help him much anyways, like I said I'm not that familiar with the area yet. I got to the gym and after last week's "bracelet/gate not working" frenzy I was relieved to find the gates cooperated with me. I think I found the trick to it, nobody else seems to do it, but I take off the bracelet and just tap it around the sensor screen a few times and it seems to work. It's weird that doing the whole bracelet/gate thing actually stresses me out a little, I'm always afraid it's not going to work and I'll have to go and try to ask someone to help me (notice I said try). I think I might be an introvert. I just looked up the definition of introvert and it says, "a shy, reticent, and typically self-centered person". The first two yes, self-centered? No. I care about others and the things they do and want in life. I'm so off track here, okay so when I got passed the gates of the gym (or hell, same thing)...(just kidding), I just went through my usual routine, put stuff in my locker, hit the elliptical, workout chest/back/arms/abs, and then walked back home. The events that follow are also things that have become typical, I came in and met Mike for lunch, we talked for a bit, went upstairs, he took a nap, I was using my laptop and had found the BBC news channel on TV (which is in English and they don't try to do Spanish voice overs, probably because it's live), and before I knew it the clock read 7 pm. The normal dinner time here is like 10 pm, I like to eat around 7:30 pm. I find 10 pm to be too late, at least during the weekdays anyways. We went down to eat dinner, Mike wanted ice cream so we walked across the street to the gas station and bought ice cream, went upstairs, I showered, washed some clothes, watched a movie, and fell asleep. Tuesday and Wednesday were roughly the same except Wednesday Mike was going to be home later than usual because he had a spin and yoga class to attend after his second training, so I decided to go to the mall after the gym. We needed more laundry detergent and a few other items anyways. The walk back from the mall is partially uphill so it was sooooo much fun walking uphill with 10-15 extra pounds of grocery things in my gym backpack, a good workout though (extra calories burned, wooooh)! Also on Wednesday I finally decided to go through and blog about my fitness goals. I also joined reddit. My older brother told me about the site a while ago and the fitness/weight loss subreddits have proven to be very inspiring. I follow the "loseit" subreddit and it's just an internet community filled with people telling their stories, why they decided to start working out, how much they've lost, and giving each other suggestions/motivation/support. It may sound lame, but it's really great honestly. It's nice to be able to express all these things without judgment, especially when it comes to weight related things. Off track again, anyways after all that stuff Wednesday night ended the same way. Thursday was the same except I actually went down for breakfast, turns out that breakfast has more variety now. Before they only had sliced deli meats, cheeses, bread, fruit, juice, milk, and coffee. Now they have all that plus hard boiled eggs, sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, and various yogurts. Being that I wish to lose weight I stuck with cucumbers, the egg-white part of a hard boiled egg, a yogurt, 2 kiwis, and coffee. Mike actually walked in with a new player from Russia right when I sat down to eat breakfast. They sat down with me and Mike told me that his teammate was going to join us on Saturday to go to Barcelona city. The rest of Thursday and Friday were the same as the last few days. I had breakfast again on Friday and Saturday (trying to make that a habit), after breakfast on Saturday I went upstairs to get ready for our outing, Mike and I met his teammate downstairs and we all walked to the train station, which is ridiculously close and I didn't even know it, it only took 1 train to get to Plaza Catalunya so it's extremely convenient actually. Plaza Catalunya is basically the beginning of La Rambla, so from there we walked along the middle of the street and found the Decathlon (huge sporting goods store), we walked into a couple of other stores, and then decided to walk towards the beach. It's a pretty long walk so when the family that's reading this comes to visit make sure to bring your walking shoes! We stopped to have lunch at a place called Tapas Club, the food was really good. I had the shrimp and avocado salad with a Sangria Rosado, Mike had a burger with an Estrella Damm beer, his teammate had a pizza along with 2 Estrella Damm beers and 9 shots of tequila. Yes you read that right, 9 shots. This guy had 9 shots in one sitting, like WTF. I would have been on my ass after 5! We all had a good time though, we were joking around and laughing. I could tell Mike's teammate (his name is like Wolvo or something, I don't know how to spell it) was feeling pretty...happy...after the first 6 shots, he drank the last 3 down, we paid and left. Wolvo was on the hunt for this one specific bar on the beach called Maka Maka, it was down a ways more from where we were but we found it. We went inside, Wolvo went to the bathroom, Mike and I sat down and Mike turned to me and said, "I'm ordering something with bread or a lot of grease to sober this guy up!" That just might have worked too if Wolvo hadn't ordered another beer and 3 MORE SHOTS. But still Mike and I ordered a bucket of garlic and parmesan fries (they came in a literal bucket too), I ordered the Big Maka burger to share with Mike. Besides Belgian fries, those were the best fries I've ever had and the burger was good as well. After paying we left and walked onto the beach, I kid you not Wolvo stripped down to his boxers and ran into the ocean. Mike and I just stood on the sand cracking up, it was starting to get dark so when he came out of the water and put his clothes back on we started to make our way back to Plaza Catalunya. Wolvo was so drunk he was stumbling every so often and asked basically anyone he could where he could get some weed. It was all fun up until that point, Mike and I just didn't want him to get in trouble so we all got in one of those bike taxis to get back to Plaza Catalunya faster. This guy was literally yelling to random people as we passed them saying, "I NEED WEEEEEDDDD!" Then he'd go off and start rambling on in Russian. It was quite an adventure to say the least. We finally made it to Plaza Catalunya, walked down to the metro, got on the train, got off at our stop, walked to the hotel, and called it a night. Mike and I were pooped out, we fell asleep so quick. Next weekend we're going back to Barcelona city, but just us next time though! Here are some pictures from yesterday:
XX - Amanda!
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Getting Settled
We arrived in Spain on October 29th, it is now November 16th, and I'm just now beginning to feel more settled in my environment. Notice I didn't say I'm completely settled. It might take me a good while to feel completely settled. Mike on the other hand seems fine, except he doesn't want to take the train anywhere because he's not familiar with how the system works. I keep telling him the only way we're going to get familiar with it is by actually going on it. The train (like a subway) and the metro (buses) is our only way of transportation to places we can't walk to besides taking a taxi, and taxis are very expensive. So, we kind of have to get accustomed to taking the train and metro. Anyways, so yeah it will take me a while to feel completely settled in and comfortable in my surroundings. I probably won't feel comfortable until I can hold a basic conversation with someone here. It's been kind of difficult for me. In Las Vegas or San Diego, I was so used to being able to get whatever it is I needed on my own. I could drive wherever I needed to go and I knew exactly where I was at all times. In Sant Cugat, where we are (the outskirts of Barcelona), I don't have that sense of knowing where I am. I know where the hotel is, I know where the gym is, and I know where the mall is, and that's it. If I needed to go to my bank here, I've got no clue where it is and how to get there via train/metro. If I wanted to go to a laundromat, I've been there once before and I have no idea how to get there again. If I wanted to get my nails done or get my hair cut, you guessed it, I've got no idea. Plus, I'd then have to proceed to tell the people what I want done, and I have a feeling that won't turn out too well. The post office? Nope, got no clue. The hotel, gym, and mall is all I know. Which is all I really need for now, but still it'd be nice to know those things. Anyways, it's story time guys! Alright so, I was at the gym on Friday and to enter to the gym you have to hold a bracelet they give you up to a sensor and then press your finger on to the scanner and it'll let you passed the gate. For some reason mine wasn't working. I tried all 3 gates several different times, and it just wasn't working. I stood there confused, looking at everybody else get passed the gates. I looked to the front desk to see if Naomi (the only lady who speaks just enough English to understand her) was there, she wasn't. In desperation I tried my bracelet one more time on each gate to see if it would work so I wouldn't have to go to the front desk, it didn't. So I reluctantly went to the front desk, said "Hola......it's...not...working", and handed the woman my bracelet. She spoke to me in Spanish, luckily I understood enough to realize she was asking for my phone number. I said "Seven, zero, two...", and (pardon my language) she looked at me like I was a fucking moron. I proceeded to tell her my phone number in Spanish, she typed it into the computer (still looking disgruntled) and then said "Okay Amanda, you go now". I said "Gracias", and walked back towards the gates. I tried the first gate, didn't work. Second gate, didn't work. Third gate, didn't work. Tried them all over again, nothing. I'm not going to lie, I felt like crying. I was just so frustrated. The gates weren't working for me and I couldn't communicate properly with the front desk. I felt helpless all because of some stupid gates and a bracelet. I stood there for maybe 20 seconds or so and then decided to try again. The first gate didn't work. The second didn't work. I tried the third gate, it didn't work. I tried the third again, nothing. I tried it one last time and it FINALLY worked! Ohmygawd, I don't think I've ever been so happy to get into a gym before in my life. After all that mess everything was fine, I worked out, left the gym, and then carried on with the rest of my day. That was one of my more embarrassing moments here, hopefully sooner or later speaking and understanding Spanish becomes easier. Mike's team has set up Spanish lessons online for us, that hasn't started yet, but that should start up in a week or so. Everything is pretty great. I find Mike to be hilarious, sometimes when we have lunch or dinner and one of the waitresses says something to him in Spanish he just answers with "Si". I'll ask him if he knew what they were saying and he'll tell me he didn't have any clue. I'm not saying I'm fluent or anything, but I did take Spanish in high school for 3 years, it was absolutely useless, but because of those 3 long years I can hold basic conversations and understand bits and pieces of what people are saying. Once a waitress had asked us what our room number was and he just said "Si." In my head I said to myself "Omg babe, no." So I answered saying "304", she smiled and walked away. I said to Mike that he can't just say "Si" to anything he hears, he brushed my remarks, but he'll learn one of these days though lol. In other news I learned that Mike was talking with one of the waitresses one night. Mike had asked her why all the staff seems kind of mean towards us (which they aren't). She told him that some of the staff found us to be an evil couple (HAHA, she meant bad or weird she just couldn't find the right words) the rest of them are just shy because they don't know any English at all, so they're embarrassed to speak with us. Mike was laughing and asked her why some thought we were a bad couple, she told him that it's because we're not all over each other in public, like kissing and all that, so everyone thought we were always mad at each other . She said here it's normal for couples to be like that in public, he was surprised by that and explained to her that he didn't know it was like that here. He said to her, "We didn't know that's just a normal thing here, we just didn't want to disrespect anyone here." She understood and smiled and I guess she told the rest of the staff everything Mike said to her and everybody seemed more comfortable with us at that point. I thought it was hilarious because she used the word evil, as if we partake in witchcraft and are plotting everyone's imminent death at the hotel. Its been an interesting past few days. I just remembered I have to take pictures of all the weird machines they have at the gym. That will be for the next blog then. Until then muchachos!
xx - Amanda!
xx - Amanda!
Sunday, November 9, 2014
A Continuation From My Last
As I said in my last blog post I would post again either Friday or Saturday to further tell you what we did for the remainder of last weekend and also this week. Well seeing as it's now Sunday here, I'm a day late!
Where did I leave off? Ah yes, after the Barcelona game we went back to the hotel, had dinner, and called it a night. Alrightyyy then, so Sunday morning rolls around and we're all clueless as to what to do. It was different for us all here vs. when we were in Belgium. You know my dad grew up in Belgium, so he's familiar with the more touristy things to do there which made it a lot easier to decide on what we wanted to do, and it was easier for us to get around because for the most part my dad knew the way. Also, if ever needed, my dad could just stop and ask someone because he speaks the language. Things definitely changed when we got to Spain. Neither of us were familiar with, well, anything at all. So anyways, we were sitting at a table downstairs having breakfast and my dad says he thinks it'd be nice to hop over the border and drive to Montpellier and Perpignan in France. I had no opposition and neither did Mike so that became the plan. After breakfast we headed back upstairs to finish getting ready and then we hopped in the car to head out to France. After we put Montpellier in the GPS we decided not to go there because it was around a 3-4 hour drive, so instead our plans changed to just going to Perpignan which was only 2 hours away. On our way to Perpignan we stopped in Girona, where we were originally supposed to live, and I have to say it is a beautiful place. Now remember it's Sunday, so nothing is open. All stores are closed and the majority of restaurants are closed too. When we got to Perpignan I honestly thought it wasn't much to look at. The little canal that runs through the city was pretty, and of course The Palais des Rois de Majorque is amazing to look at. Of course the construction of it all baffles me, still, walking through the castle was only barely satisfying. There were hardly any rooms open to walk through and the rooms that were open were very plain. The view from one of the watch towers was gorgeous though. Maybe after seeing the insides of all those cathedrals I've been ruined and everything else will be disappointing. All in all though, I think I would have much rather went to Montpellier. Anyways, we walked around for a bit after seeing the castle and then made our way back to the car. By that time it was maybe 3 pm so we decided to start heading back to Barcelona, or so I thought that was the plan. My dad started just driving around, I guess he wanted to see the sea-side and we did get to see a little bit of it so that was nice. We were all getting hungry and we just so happened to find a little bakery that was open so we stopped there and picked up some goodies. I picked out an apple tart and a mini lemon meringue pie, both of which were delicious. My dad and mike got eclairs and a giant strawberry pie (that they finished, btw). After our short, glutenous binge we got back in the car and started to drive back to Barcelona. When we were about halfway back to Barcelona we noticed a giant outlet mall, I suggested that we go in and check it out (ya know, strictly for research purposes of course). We turned in to the mall lot, parked the car, and walked inside. The Nike outlet is where we headed first, I needed some workout clothes and Mike needed some basketball stuff. After the Nike outlet I dragged the boys to Lefties (a clothing store out here) and bought some basic T-shirts and 2 scarves (I have an obsession with scarves, I can admit that). We left the mall after that, drove the hour left back to Barcelona, made our way to a table to have dinner, and as usual called it quits and went to sleep. Sooner than later it's Monday morning and Mike left for training around 7:30 am. I woke up around 9 am and I wasn't feeling too well. I had a stuffy nose, my head felt like it was going to explode, my ears were plugged, I had body aches, and it was also laundry day. I got ready and met my dad downstairs for breakfast and I only had juice, everything else was of no interest to me (and if you know me, that like never happens). My dad said that once we found the laundromat in the downtown area of Sant Cugat we could walk along the streets and surely we'd be able to find a pharmacy. That was all fine and dandy with me, except trying to find the laundromat took an hour and a half. Not even joking. The laundromat was a mile and a half from the hotel and it took us almost an hour and 45 minutes to find it. When we finally found the laundromat, it took us another 10 minutes to find a place to park, the place we found wasn't too far of a walk though so that was okay. We showed up at the laundromat with about 3 loads worth of clothes to wash and dry. To wash it cost 4.50 Euros (thats like 5 dollars and some change in USD), so that would have been 4.50 x 3, plus 4.50 x 3 to dry. So it would have been 27 Euros to wash and dry all of our clothes and basically all the machines were taken, so it would have taken us forever to do it all. Luckily, the woman that works there offered to do it all for us for 25 Euros and she'd have it done in an hour and half. My dad and I jumped on that offer. After my dad paid her we walked through the streets and found a pharmacy. This pharmacy worked differently, when you walk in, you push a button, and the machine gives you a ticket. You wait for your number to get called and then you go up to the pharmacist and tell him/her what you need. I told him "Tengo un dolor de cabeza, se rellena la nariz y tengo dolores en el cuerpo", whether or not that was the correct terminology for everything he understood it anyway. He gave me a box of little powder packets that was to be taken 3 times day, dissolved in water. We bought it, walked to a little cafe right across the street, ordered water and some pastries, and I took the medicine. It was gross, but honestly within like 10 minutes it helped so much! My dad said medicine in Europe is much stronger than it is in America, and that's fine with me. After I felt better we walked back to the laundromat, gathered all the clothes, walked back to the car, and drove back to the hotel. I don't think we did anything after that. My dad had some work to do, I wasn't really feeling up to doing anything, and Mike was tired from training, so we all just took the rest of the day to relax. Later on we had dinner, walked to the gas station across the street, bought some ice cream, spent some time with my dad in his room, left back to our room, and fell asleep. Tuesday morning Mike left for training at the same time and my dad and I ate breakfast, went back upstairs to get ready, and then we waited for Mike to get back so we could all head to a bank and set up accounts for Mike and I. We got that taken care of much easier than I thought, because the person we spoke with at the bank spoke pretty good English. We dropped Mike at his training facility (or as close as we could get to it, damn all the one way streets) and then my dad and I headed to the closest gym to the hotel and set up a membership for me, and then we headed to the mall/grocery store that's close to the hotel just to kill some time. When Mike got back to the hotel after his second training, my dad and I too headed back to the hotel and we all met for lunch. After lunch Mike took a nap and I was just lollygagging around on the interwebz until it was time to watch Real Madrid vs. Liverpool. Mike was still asleep when I left to meet my dad, we walked to Cafe del Belgrado which is right next door, and the TV they had was way up high and not very clear. My dad and I decided to just watch it in his room. I had my jersey and Real Madrid scarf on (gotta show support in these Barcelona streets) and my dad and I watched as the game started. Mike coincidentally just woke up when the game was over and came to my dad's room to spend some time with my dad before he left the next day (I think he was awake, he just didn't want to watch the Real Madrid game because he's a stinkin' Barcelona fan -___- haha). We spent a good hour and a half with my dad before I got tired and wanted to go to sleep. We gave my dad one of our room keys and told him to come say goodbye to us before he left. He came in to our room around 5:00 am and we said our goodbyes. The days that have followed haven't been nearly as exciting. Thursday we took a taxi to what was supposed to be an "Americanized mall/world market", it wasn't. There wasn't a market there, and I guess what they meant by Americanized was that there was a Taco Bell and Burger King there. So that's how they see America, just a bunch of fast food places. Friday I started going to the gym, Saturday I went again and realized that I'm taller than basically everyone there, Saturday night I watched the Real Madrid vs. Rayo Vallecano game. And now we're finally up to today, it's Sunday so there's not much to do. Everything is closed. Mike and I are about to head down for lunch and then I'm going to head to the gym. I'll have to take some pictures of some of the things the gym has, there's a few things that I've never seen before! I'll post those in my next blog I suppose!
xx - Amanda!
Where did I leave off? Ah yes, after the Barcelona game we went back to the hotel, had dinner, and called it a night. Alrightyyy then, so Sunday morning rolls around and we're all clueless as to what to do. It was different for us all here vs. when we were in Belgium. You know my dad grew up in Belgium, so he's familiar with the more touristy things to do there which made it a lot easier to decide on what we wanted to do, and it was easier for us to get around because for the most part my dad knew the way. Also, if ever needed, my dad could just stop and ask someone because he speaks the language. Things definitely changed when we got to Spain. Neither of us were familiar with, well, anything at all. So anyways, we were sitting at a table downstairs having breakfast and my dad says he thinks it'd be nice to hop over the border and drive to Montpellier and Perpignan in France. I had no opposition and neither did Mike so that became the plan. After breakfast we headed back upstairs to finish getting ready and then we hopped in the car to head out to France. After we put Montpellier in the GPS we decided not to go there because it was around a 3-4 hour drive, so instead our plans changed to just going to Perpignan which was only 2 hours away. On our way to Perpignan we stopped in Girona, where we were originally supposed to live, and I have to say it is a beautiful place. Now remember it's Sunday, so nothing is open. All stores are closed and the majority of restaurants are closed too. When we got to Perpignan I honestly thought it wasn't much to look at. The little canal that runs through the city was pretty, and of course The Palais des Rois de Majorque is amazing to look at. Of course the construction of it all baffles me, still, walking through the castle was only barely satisfying. There were hardly any rooms open to walk through and the rooms that were open were very plain. The view from one of the watch towers was gorgeous though. Maybe after seeing the insides of all those cathedrals I've been ruined and everything else will be disappointing. All in all though, I think I would have much rather went to Montpellier. Anyways, we walked around for a bit after seeing the castle and then made our way back to the car. By that time it was maybe 3 pm so we decided to start heading back to Barcelona, or so I thought that was the plan. My dad started just driving around, I guess he wanted to see the sea-side and we did get to see a little bit of it so that was nice. We were all getting hungry and we just so happened to find a little bakery that was open so we stopped there and picked up some goodies. I picked out an apple tart and a mini lemon meringue pie, both of which were delicious. My dad and mike got eclairs and a giant strawberry pie (that they finished, btw). After our short, glutenous binge we got back in the car and started to drive back to Barcelona. When we were about halfway back to Barcelona we noticed a giant outlet mall, I suggested that we go in and check it out (ya know, strictly for research purposes of course). We turned in to the mall lot, parked the car, and walked inside. The Nike outlet is where we headed first, I needed some workout clothes and Mike needed some basketball stuff. After the Nike outlet I dragged the boys to Lefties (a clothing store out here) and bought some basic T-shirts and 2 scarves (I have an obsession with scarves, I can admit that). We left the mall after that, drove the hour left back to Barcelona, made our way to a table to have dinner, and as usual called it quits and went to sleep. Sooner than later it's Monday morning and Mike left for training around 7:30 am. I woke up around 9 am and I wasn't feeling too well. I had a stuffy nose, my head felt like it was going to explode, my ears were plugged, I had body aches, and it was also laundry day. I got ready and met my dad downstairs for breakfast and I only had juice, everything else was of no interest to me (and if you know me, that like never happens). My dad said that once we found the laundromat in the downtown area of Sant Cugat we could walk along the streets and surely we'd be able to find a pharmacy. That was all fine and dandy with me, except trying to find the laundromat took an hour and a half. Not even joking. The laundromat was a mile and a half from the hotel and it took us almost an hour and 45 minutes to find it. When we finally found the laundromat, it took us another 10 minutes to find a place to park, the place we found wasn't too far of a walk though so that was okay. We showed up at the laundromat with about 3 loads worth of clothes to wash and dry. To wash it cost 4.50 Euros (thats like 5 dollars and some change in USD), so that would have been 4.50 x 3, plus 4.50 x 3 to dry. So it would have been 27 Euros to wash and dry all of our clothes and basically all the machines were taken, so it would have taken us forever to do it all. Luckily, the woman that works there offered to do it all for us for 25 Euros and she'd have it done in an hour and half. My dad and I jumped on that offer. After my dad paid her we walked through the streets and found a pharmacy. This pharmacy worked differently, when you walk in, you push a button, and the machine gives you a ticket. You wait for your number to get called and then you go up to the pharmacist and tell him/her what you need. I told him "Tengo un dolor de cabeza, se rellena la nariz y tengo dolores en el cuerpo", whether or not that was the correct terminology for everything he understood it anyway. He gave me a box of little powder packets that was to be taken 3 times day, dissolved in water. We bought it, walked to a little cafe right across the street, ordered water and some pastries, and I took the medicine. It was gross, but honestly within like 10 minutes it helped so much! My dad said medicine in Europe is much stronger than it is in America, and that's fine with me. After I felt better we walked back to the laundromat, gathered all the clothes, walked back to the car, and drove back to the hotel. I don't think we did anything after that. My dad had some work to do, I wasn't really feeling up to doing anything, and Mike was tired from training, so we all just took the rest of the day to relax. Later on we had dinner, walked to the gas station across the street, bought some ice cream, spent some time with my dad in his room, left back to our room, and fell asleep. Tuesday morning Mike left for training at the same time and my dad and I ate breakfast, went back upstairs to get ready, and then we waited for Mike to get back so we could all head to a bank and set up accounts for Mike and I. We got that taken care of much easier than I thought, because the person we spoke with at the bank spoke pretty good English. We dropped Mike at his training facility (or as close as we could get to it, damn all the one way streets) and then my dad and I headed to the closest gym to the hotel and set up a membership for me, and then we headed to the mall/grocery store that's close to the hotel just to kill some time. When Mike got back to the hotel after his second training, my dad and I too headed back to the hotel and we all met for lunch. After lunch Mike took a nap and I was just lollygagging around on the interwebz until it was time to watch Real Madrid vs. Liverpool. Mike was still asleep when I left to meet my dad, we walked to Cafe del Belgrado which is right next door, and the TV they had was way up high and not very clear. My dad and I decided to just watch it in his room. I had my jersey and Real Madrid scarf on (gotta show support in these Barcelona streets) and my dad and I watched as the game started. Mike coincidentally just woke up when the game was over and came to my dad's room to spend some time with my dad before he left the next day (I think he was awake, he just didn't want to watch the Real Madrid game because he's a stinkin' Barcelona fan -___- haha). We spent a good hour and a half with my dad before I got tired and wanted to go to sleep. We gave my dad one of our room keys and told him to come say goodbye to us before he left. He came in to our room around 5:00 am and we said our goodbyes. The days that have followed haven't been nearly as exciting. Thursday we took a taxi to what was supposed to be an "Americanized mall/world market", it wasn't. There wasn't a market there, and I guess what they meant by Americanized was that there was a Taco Bell and Burger King there. So that's how they see America, just a bunch of fast food places. Friday I started going to the gym, Saturday I went again and realized that I'm taller than basically everyone there, Saturday night I watched the Real Madrid vs. Rayo Vallecano game. And now we're finally up to today, it's Sunday so there's not much to do. Everything is closed. Mike and I are about to head down for lunch and then I'm going to head to the gym. I'll have to take some pictures of some of the things the gym has, there's a few things that I've never seen before! I'll post those in my next blog I suppose!
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| The pastries we had at a bakery in France |
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| A paella de carne y mariscos I had for lunch |
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| And this guy trying to block out my yells and cheers from watching the Real Madrid game last night |
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Still Some Adjusting To Be Done
Pardon my absence, I've been suffering from a bit of writer's block, but! I know I said I'd post a blog when I finally got adjusted to how things are here, and that was like 5 or 6 days ago, so I must fulfill my promise. Indeed, getting accustomed to how things are here has proven to be much more difficult than I initially thought. I'm still not completely comfortable. Some might say "Don't be such a baby, this is an opportunity of a lifetime! It's not everyday you get to live in Barcelona." Yes. I happen to agree wholeheartedly with that, it's not everyday that someone gets a chance like this. However, when you've been raised in America your whole life you obviously get comfortable with how certain things are (also everybody speaks English, might I add). For instance, in my mom's house (that I miss very much at the moment) I could emerge from my dungeon (my room), go into the kitchen, make something to eat, fetch whichever piece of cutlery I'd need for said meal, and scuttle my way back to my room to continue binge-watching Pretty Little Liars on Netflix without bothering a soul. No problem, right? Right. Here it's not like that at all (which I don't know, I guess it's a good thing). First and foremost, Netflix does not work here. I REPEAT, Netflix does not work. That's a problem in my book, una problema muy grande! I was only halfway through the 3rd season of PLL, now I'll never be able to finish! First world problems, amirite? Anyways we're currently staying in Hotel H2 Sant Cugat, so obviously I'm not in a house and I can't just walk out in my pajamas, lookin a hot mess, and rummage through the fridge at any time I please (I think that might raise a few eyebrows amongst the staff). Mike and I get breakfast, lunch, and dinner and all 3 of those begin and end at specific times. Not too shabby, not too shabby at all, I know. I swear they don't ever use spoons here though. I never knew how really truly easy it was to just reach into my kitchen drawer and get my own spoon until I had to ask someone for a spoon here. All of a sudden it was like a game of charades. I immediately regret all the times I was too lazy to get up and get a spoon back home. Being that we're staying in a hotel for the time being I understand now that it's much different than living in a house or even an apartment. I originally thought that it might be at least somewhat close to living in an apartment just with room service and our room gets cleaned everyday, but I was wrong. An apartment, even a studio apartment, has a kitchen and space for a living area and a bedroom. In H2, you take a step in the room and the bathroom is on the right (at least the shower is big), closet on the left, take a few steps straight ahead and the bed is on the right, desk, TV and tiny tiny fridge on the left. Very small, but honestly that's okay with me, it's all we need, it's just different from what I expected. Perhaps I'll post pictures of what our room looks like. Once we find our own place, wherever that may be, things will go back to a normal house-living lifestyle.
Enough of that boring junk though! Let's get into what we've been up to since we've arrived in Barcelona. The day we arrived, Wednesday the 29th, we did nothing. LOL. I probably found that funnier than any of you guys will, but that's okay. The next day proved to be a little more eventful, Mike started his training on this day and my dad and I caught a cab to a rental car location and rented a Nissan Juke (don't ever rent it or buy it, unless you're an elf and all your friends are elves too. It's ridiculously small inside). The rental car place was conveniently located on La Rambla, which is one of -if not THE best- Barcelona's shopping areas. It's an entire street, and a few side streets, lined with clothing stores (I was in heaven), cafes, tourist-based stores, a Carrefour grocery store, and a very interesting market called the Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria (try saying that 5 times fast, go ahead I'll wait). Naturally, I told my dad we had to park and walk amongst the huge aisle of shopping heaven. And so we did. I've noticed that there's a lot more clothing stores here than there are in the US. Of course there's a lot in America, but the big main ones are Forever21, Charlotte Russe, Wet Seal, H&M and TopShop..or at least for me those are the main shops I venture to. In Europe there's Forever21, H&M, Zara, Bershka, Lefties, C&A, Blanco, Double Agent, Massimo Dutti, Pull & Bear, Stradivarius, and The United Colors of Benetton. Like holy crap. Mike is going to have to put a lock on my wallet or something. Okay so, like I was saying my dad parked the car and we walked along La Rambla and checked out all the stores. We entered the market of Sant Josep and it was pretty incredible as far as food markets go, I had never seen anything like it. The market was so colorful and had 3 different sections. There's the the fish and seafood section, the meat section, and the section that has juices, fruits, candies, and nuts. My dad and I stopped to look at a kiosk that was selling all different types of juices, all 2 for 2 Euros, and chocolate covered strawberries on a stick for 2 Euros. Needless to say I did not hesitate to buy that and gobble it down. After that we walked around the market for tad bit more and then we headed back to the main street of La Rambla. While we walked along La Rambla my dad noticed a booth that was selling FC Barcelona tickets for a game that was to take place on Saturday the 1st. My dad decided to buy us all tickets because going to any major league Spanish soccer game, Real Madrid or FC Barcelona, is quite an experience to be had. Now, if I've said it once I've said it a million times. I will never NEVER be an FC Barcelona fan, EVER. (#HalaMadridYNadaMas #RealMadridForLife) HOWEVER, besides being a Real Madrid and Belgian Red Devils fan I am a fan of soccer in general, I enjoy watching good soccer. The athleticism it takes to play, the amount of practice it takes to have that type of precision to kick or pass the ball exactly where you want it to go, the camaraderie amongst teammates, the tension that builds between the opposing teams, the celebration and excitement (or dread and anxiety, depending on the situation) that takes place when a goal is scored...I love it all. So as much as the Real Madrid fan side hated the idea of going to the game the soccer loving part of me was really excited, because the Spanish are extremely passionate about their soccer. The atmosphere they create in the stadium is absolutely amazing. Anyways, so we headed back to the car and then drove back to the hotel to surprise Mike with the tickets because he just so happens to be an FC Barcelona fan (boooooooo haha). All 3 of us met for dinner downstairs and I showed him the tickets and he couldn't believe it, he was so excited too. After dinner Mike and I headed to my dad's room to spend some time with him and after an hour or so we decided to head to our room to unpack some more clothes and before I knew it we were both knocked out cold. The next morning was Friday and I honestly don't think we did too much that day either. Mike had training so I didn't really want to do any sight-seeing without him. AHH! I know what we did. My dad and I spent some time driving around, just checking out the area of Sant Cugat de Las Valles and Mirasol, and then we headed to a mall that is close to the hotel and picked up some things that Mike and I needed from the grocery store there. After that we drove to the hotel and met Mike for lunch. We all decided to call it a day after that. Mike was tired from training and for some reason my dad and I felt extremely drained, again Mike and I were knocked out not too long after we came into the room. By the time we woke up it was 7 am on Saturday morning, Mike had weight training at 10:45 am and my dad and I had to meet my grandpa at La Rambla at 10 am. So I took my groggy, bed-headed self into the shower and got ready for the day. My dad and I ate breakfast and left to meet my grandpa and Mike left for weight training. Trying to find my grandpa was interesting to say the least. We drove up and down La Rambla at least twice, circled the Christopher Columbus roundabout at least 4 times, drove along the curbside where cruise passengers walk when their cruise ship docks twice, and after that we circled the Christopher Columbus roundabout one more time and there he was! We pulled up to where he was standing (in moving traffic) and my grandpa hopped inside the car. If my dad were to have gotten pulled over his excuse was, "I'm American, I didn't know. No hablo espanol." Anyways, we drove to Montjuic Park, walked around for a while, and took some pictures of the view and scenery. We then drove back to the hotel to pick up Mike and then we drove to the Barrio Gotico de Barcelona (The Gothic Quarter). We ended up parking right close by the Catedral de la Santa Creu y Santa Eulalia. It's a beautiful cathedral, inside and out. Construction started in 1298 and finished in 1420, it honestly baffles me. That cathedral, all the cathedrals we've been to so far have all been constructed kind of-ish around the same time and they are all astonishing. It's just so crazy that the people back then could construct such amazing buildings, and with so much detail. I'd have to say that the cathedral in Gent and this cathedral are my favorites, I'll see if I can post the video I took from this cathedral on here, the video won't do it justice though. After the cathedral we were going to explore the Gothic quarter some more, but Mike was hungry and I was too so we all went to eat and then after that it was time to drop my grandpa back so he could get back on his cruise ship. I enjoyed seeing my grandpa, we all did. I hadn't seen him in 4 months so I really loved spending time with him, even though it was only a few hours, it was a great few hours! I believe after we dropped my grandpa we parked the car and walked around La Rambla again so Mike could find a Barcelona jersey ( -___- ) to buy for the game that night, and before we knew it it was time to head to the stadium. It wasn't too far from where we were, maybe 4 miles, so we got there quickly and found a spot to park quickly too. The parking attendant just let us go because we didn't understand anything he said, so he just waved us through after trying to talk to us. And there we were, walking towards the stadium surrounded by masses of people wearing Barca jerseys and waving Barca flags, you can imagine my disdain. Mike and my dad stopped to buy a flag as well, I grimaced in silence. Hanging on display to buy was a scarf that said, "Anti-Madridista" on it. LET ME TELL YOU, I almost lost my mind. I scowled while my dad and Mike just laughed. I assure you, it was no laughing matter. So, they bought the flag, we walked through the gates and to our portal, and found our seats. I have to admit, as much as it kills me, FC Barcelona's stadium is impressive. It holds close to 99,000 seats and you better believe all of those seats are filled when it comes to a serious game. This game wasn't even really serious and the stadium was still packed! The game began soon after we were seated and when the game started so did the yelling, cheering, clapping, drumming, stomping, and horn blowing. Barcelona lost (hehehehe) mainly because of Saurez, I don't understand why Barca wanted him on their team, but if he plays like a moron all the time, like he did that game, then it does nothing but benefit me. It wasn't a bad soccer match though and I had a lot of fun watching my dad and Mike gasp and curse every time Barca missed a goal. We stuck around a little after the game to take pictures and then walked back to the car and drove back to the hotel. Saturday ended on a good note, despite it being at a Barca game. We had dinner when we got to the hotel and called it a night.
I'll post another blog tomorrow or Saturday about what we did the rest of last weekend and during the past few days. I'm off to sleep because it's around 1:35am here. Goodnight!
xx - Amanda!
Enough of that boring junk though! Let's get into what we've been up to since we've arrived in Barcelona. The day we arrived, Wednesday the 29th, we did nothing. LOL. I probably found that funnier than any of you guys will, but that's okay. The next day proved to be a little more eventful, Mike started his training on this day and my dad and I caught a cab to a rental car location and rented a Nissan Juke (don't ever rent it or buy it, unless you're an elf and all your friends are elves too. It's ridiculously small inside). The rental car place was conveniently located on La Rambla, which is one of -if not THE best- Barcelona's shopping areas. It's an entire street, and a few side streets, lined with clothing stores (I was in heaven), cafes, tourist-based stores, a Carrefour grocery store, and a very interesting market called the Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria (try saying that 5 times fast, go ahead I'll wait). Naturally, I told my dad we had to park and walk amongst the huge aisle of shopping heaven. And so we did. I've noticed that there's a lot more clothing stores here than there are in the US. Of course there's a lot in America, but the big main ones are Forever21, Charlotte Russe, Wet Seal, H&M and TopShop..or at least for me those are the main shops I venture to. In Europe there's Forever21, H&M, Zara, Bershka, Lefties, C&A, Blanco, Double Agent, Massimo Dutti, Pull & Bear, Stradivarius, and The United Colors of Benetton. Like holy crap. Mike is going to have to put a lock on my wallet or something. Okay so, like I was saying my dad parked the car and we walked along La Rambla and checked out all the stores. We entered the market of Sant Josep and it was pretty incredible as far as food markets go, I had never seen anything like it. The market was so colorful and had 3 different sections. There's the the fish and seafood section, the meat section, and the section that has juices, fruits, candies, and nuts. My dad and I stopped to look at a kiosk that was selling all different types of juices, all 2 for 2 Euros, and chocolate covered strawberries on a stick for 2 Euros. Needless to say I did not hesitate to buy that and gobble it down. After that we walked around the market for tad bit more and then we headed back to the main street of La Rambla. While we walked along La Rambla my dad noticed a booth that was selling FC Barcelona tickets for a game that was to take place on Saturday the 1st. My dad decided to buy us all tickets because going to any major league Spanish soccer game, Real Madrid or FC Barcelona, is quite an experience to be had. Now, if I've said it once I've said it a million times. I will never NEVER be an FC Barcelona fan, EVER. (#HalaMadridYNadaMas #RealMadridForLife) HOWEVER, besides being a Real Madrid and Belgian Red Devils fan I am a fan of soccer in general, I enjoy watching good soccer. The athleticism it takes to play, the amount of practice it takes to have that type of precision to kick or pass the ball exactly where you want it to go, the camaraderie amongst teammates, the tension that builds between the opposing teams, the celebration and excitement (or dread and anxiety, depending on the situation) that takes place when a goal is scored...I love it all. So as much as the Real Madrid fan side hated the idea of going to the game the soccer loving part of me was really excited, because the Spanish are extremely passionate about their soccer. The atmosphere they create in the stadium is absolutely amazing. Anyways, so we headed back to the car and then drove back to the hotel to surprise Mike with the tickets because he just so happens to be an FC Barcelona fan (boooooooo haha). All 3 of us met for dinner downstairs and I showed him the tickets and he couldn't believe it, he was so excited too. After dinner Mike and I headed to my dad's room to spend some time with him and after an hour or so we decided to head to our room to unpack some more clothes and before I knew it we were both knocked out cold. The next morning was Friday and I honestly don't think we did too much that day either. Mike had training so I didn't really want to do any sight-seeing without him. AHH! I know what we did. My dad and I spent some time driving around, just checking out the area of Sant Cugat de Las Valles and Mirasol, and then we headed to a mall that is close to the hotel and picked up some things that Mike and I needed from the grocery store there. After that we drove to the hotel and met Mike for lunch. We all decided to call it a day after that. Mike was tired from training and for some reason my dad and I felt extremely drained, again Mike and I were knocked out not too long after we came into the room. By the time we woke up it was 7 am on Saturday morning, Mike had weight training at 10:45 am and my dad and I had to meet my grandpa at La Rambla at 10 am. So I took my groggy, bed-headed self into the shower and got ready for the day. My dad and I ate breakfast and left to meet my grandpa and Mike left for weight training. Trying to find my grandpa was interesting to say the least. We drove up and down La Rambla at least twice, circled the Christopher Columbus roundabout at least 4 times, drove along the curbside where cruise passengers walk when their cruise ship docks twice, and after that we circled the Christopher Columbus roundabout one more time and there he was! We pulled up to where he was standing (in moving traffic) and my grandpa hopped inside the car. If my dad were to have gotten pulled over his excuse was, "I'm American, I didn't know. No hablo espanol." Anyways, we drove to Montjuic Park, walked around for a while, and took some pictures of the view and scenery. We then drove back to the hotel to pick up Mike and then we drove to the Barrio Gotico de Barcelona (The Gothic Quarter). We ended up parking right close by the Catedral de la Santa Creu y Santa Eulalia. It's a beautiful cathedral, inside and out. Construction started in 1298 and finished in 1420, it honestly baffles me. That cathedral, all the cathedrals we've been to so far have all been constructed kind of-ish around the same time and they are all astonishing. It's just so crazy that the people back then could construct such amazing buildings, and with so much detail. I'd have to say that the cathedral in Gent and this cathedral are my favorites, I'll see if I can post the video I took from this cathedral on here, the video won't do it justice though. After the cathedral we were going to explore the Gothic quarter some more, but Mike was hungry and I was too so we all went to eat and then after that it was time to drop my grandpa back so he could get back on his cruise ship. I enjoyed seeing my grandpa, we all did. I hadn't seen him in 4 months so I really loved spending time with him, even though it was only a few hours, it was a great few hours! I believe after we dropped my grandpa we parked the car and walked around La Rambla again so Mike could find a Barcelona jersey ( -___- ) to buy for the game that night, and before we knew it it was time to head to the stadium. It wasn't too far from where we were, maybe 4 miles, so we got there quickly and found a spot to park quickly too. The parking attendant just let us go because we didn't understand anything he said, so he just waved us through after trying to talk to us. And there we were, walking towards the stadium surrounded by masses of people wearing Barca jerseys and waving Barca flags, you can imagine my disdain. Mike and my dad stopped to buy a flag as well, I grimaced in silence. Hanging on display to buy was a scarf that said, "Anti-Madridista" on it. LET ME TELL YOU, I almost lost my mind. I scowled while my dad and Mike just laughed. I assure you, it was no laughing matter. So, they bought the flag, we walked through the gates and to our portal, and found our seats. I have to admit, as much as it kills me, FC Barcelona's stadium is impressive. It holds close to 99,000 seats and you better believe all of those seats are filled when it comes to a serious game. This game wasn't even really serious and the stadium was still packed! The game began soon after we were seated and when the game started so did the yelling, cheering, clapping, drumming, stomping, and horn blowing. Barcelona lost (hehehehe) mainly because of Saurez, I don't understand why Barca wanted him on their team, but if he plays like a moron all the time, like he did that game, then it does nothing but benefit me. It wasn't a bad soccer match though and I had a lot of fun watching my dad and Mike gasp and curse every time Barca missed a goal. We stuck around a little after the game to take pictures and then walked back to the car and drove back to the hotel. Saturday ended on a good note, despite it being at a Barca game. We had dinner when we got to the hotel and called it a night.
Here's the video of the inside of the cathedral in the Gothic Quarter
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| At the cathedral in the Barrio Gotica de Barcelona |
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| Barcelona game |
I'll post another blog tomorrow or Saturday about what we did the rest of last weekend and during the past few days. I'm off to sleep because it's around 1:35am here. Goodnight!
xx - Amanda!
Monday, October 27, 2014
So Much Food in so Little Time
So you want to know what kind of yummy deliciousness we've been eating since we've been here? Why haven't I posted much earlier than now, you ask? Well my dears I shall enlighten you of this, all in good time. The idea to post a blog about all the foods we've been indulging in didn't cross my mind until 2 or 3 days ago, and over the course of those few days I've muddled the idea over and over again in my head. I think I've gathered enough data (as if food is some sort of technological thing) to properly inform all of you of the cuisine we've been enjoying. And when I say "enjoying" I do, indeed, mean enjoying probably entirely too much. I could eat my heart out. Its bad.....but oh sooo good. Let me stop before I drive myself into a food-induced coma.
Okay so anywaaaayyyys, let me start with breakfast. Breakfast is different here. In America they make breakfast such a big deal, they bring out the whole nine (which I've never once complained about)- eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, cereal, orange juice, milk, chocolate milk, muffins, bagels, etc. - here it's nothing like that. Yes, all that stuff is here in grocery stores, but the typical breakfast (or at least the breakfasts I've had every time I've come to Belgium) is something along the lines of a non-toasted slice of bread/sandwich roll with butter, a slice of cheese, salami (or prosciutto, ham, or paardevlees amongst others), and a salad type of thing. I don't know how to explain it. It's not salad with the lettuce and croutons and dressing and all that, but it's like the chicken salad you can get from Costco. That's the only thing I could come up with to compare it to (and who knows if anybody even knows which chicken salad I'm talking about, oh well). The salads come in varieties though, there's chicken with curry, crab, egg, ham, and many more. We grabbed the chicken with curry, crab, and egg salads, along with salami, Gouda cheese slices, and mini sandwich rolls from the Carrefour. And as abysmal as that may sound it's actually very satisfying, both taste and filling up your tum-wise. So as far as breakfast that's basically what we've been having except for the few times we didn't have time to make the sandwiches and stopped by either a pastry store or a McDonalds (MickeyD's was Mike's doing, he couldn't resist). By the way yes, McDonald's is different here. There's no dollar menu, the burgers and chicken sandwiches taste completely different, no playplace for kids, and the menu consists of about less than half the things on an American McDonald's amongst other various differences.
On to lunch and dinner. It's kind of hard for me to categorize what we've eaten into lunch and dinner (It's not like I watch the clock when we order food, I know, surprising right?), but anyways I'll just touch on all the things we've had from around those lunch to dinner time periods. In Gent we stopped at a bakery and we all ordered a worstenbroodje with curry ketchup (kind of like a pretzeldog, but with a bratwurst and different breading). We also each ordered our own choice of pastry, I ordered an appelflap (like an apple turnover, but circular), Mike order some type of thin glazed waffle lookin thing with apricot spread on it, and my dad ordered an eclair. I don't mean to boast, but I do think mine was by far the best choice. In Brugge we stopped at a cafe by one of the canals with the original plan to get some type of lunch. The plan changed, we ended up ordering beers all around, with salmon and chorizo tapas, and one waffle each for my dad and Mike. If you're thinking "That's a bit of an odd combo", don't worry I thought the same. When we went to Antwerp and Brussels on Sunday we didn't really have the chance to eat much because we spent a good while trying to find a pharmacy that was open to get Mike some advil or something for his headache, my poor baby. NOTE! If you plan on having a headache (Who ever plans on it though? Those dreadful things) in Belgium or maybe all of Europe, don't have it on a Sunday and expect there to be a pharmacy open, because there won't be. You might say, "Well what about one of the many small little express snack/necessities stores, they should have headache medicine right?" Wrong. It's highly unlikely, in fact we were lucky to have found one of those stores where they sold headache pills. It's terribly inconvenient, but that's just the way it is. Luckily we found one though, that's all that mattered otherwise it wouldn't have been a very cheerful day for Mike. I don't want that to happen when he and I are supposed to be out exploring. I'm rambling again, I tend to do that.
Okay back on track, so when we got to Brussels after walking around the Sunday market in Antwerp we went to go see the Grote Markt and Manneken-Pis. After that we stopped by a waffle spot right next to Manneken-Pis. Honestly? Best damn waffles I've ever had, besides my grandma's. When we got back to Turnhout we went to go eat at my cousin Tom's restaurant D'Vine again (He's really my dad's cousin, but it's doing too much to say that every time). I had the Garnaalsoepje (soup with shrimp and some other seafood) and Stoofvlees (beef stew cooked with Leffe beer). I can't remember what appetizer Mike had, it was good though (I scooped a piece...or two, orrrr three), but as an entree he had the "Irish prepared Rib-Eye" is what it's called in English, and he said it was very good (I wouldn't know, I couldn't steal a slice before it was inhaled down his esophagus, but I trust his opinion). And today when we went to Amsterdam we stopped in a Cafe in the Red Light District and I had a Dutch beef meatball sandwich, Mike had an English style breakfast, and my dad had a traditional pea soup with sausage slices. Later after we walked around Amsterdam and were on our way back to the car we stopped at, you guessed it, a cafe and shared some mussels with fries, and my dad had a strawberry cake. We also stopped to get some house-made Dutch macaroons and ice cream. It's all so very incredibly fattening and I could care less (hashtag YOLO, hashtag amirite?) because it is all so very incredibly delectable.
I will now post pictures because I know that's what you've all been waiting for.
Until next blog!
xx - Amanda!
Okay so anywaaaayyyys, let me start with breakfast. Breakfast is different here. In America they make breakfast such a big deal, they bring out the whole nine (which I've never once complained about)- eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, cereal, orange juice, milk, chocolate milk, muffins, bagels, etc. - here it's nothing like that. Yes, all that stuff is here in grocery stores, but the typical breakfast (or at least the breakfasts I've had every time I've come to Belgium) is something along the lines of a non-toasted slice of bread/sandwich roll with butter, a slice of cheese, salami (or prosciutto, ham, or paardevlees amongst others), and a salad type of thing. I don't know how to explain it. It's not salad with the lettuce and croutons and dressing and all that, but it's like the chicken salad you can get from Costco. That's the only thing I could come up with to compare it to (and who knows if anybody even knows which chicken salad I'm talking about, oh well). The salads come in varieties though, there's chicken with curry, crab, egg, ham, and many more. We grabbed the chicken with curry, crab, and egg salads, along with salami, Gouda cheese slices, and mini sandwich rolls from the Carrefour. And as abysmal as that may sound it's actually very satisfying, both taste and filling up your tum-wise. So as far as breakfast that's basically what we've been having except for the few times we didn't have time to make the sandwiches and stopped by either a pastry store or a McDonalds (MickeyD's was Mike's doing, he couldn't resist). By the way yes, McDonald's is different here. There's no dollar menu, the burgers and chicken sandwiches taste completely different, no playplace for kids, and the menu consists of about less than half the things on an American McDonald's amongst other various differences.
On to lunch and dinner. It's kind of hard for me to categorize what we've eaten into lunch and dinner (It's not like I watch the clock when we order food, I know, surprising right?), but anyways I'll just touch on all the things we've had from around those lunch to dinner time periods. In Gent we stopped at a bakery and we all ordered a worstenbroodje with curry ketchup (kind of like a pretzeldog, but with a bratwurst and different breading). We also each ordered our own choice of pastry, I ordered an appelflap (like an apple turnover, but circular), Mike order some type of thin glazed waffle lookin thing with apricot spread on it, and my dad ordered an eclair. I don't mean to boast, but I do think mine was by far the best choice. In Brugge we stopped at a cafe by one of the canals with the original plan to get some type of lunch. The plan changed, we ended up ordering beers all around, with salmon and chorizo tapas, and one waffle each for my dad and Mike. If you're thinking "That's a bit of an odd combo", don't worry I thought the same. When we went to Antwerp and Brussels on Sunday we didn't really have the chance to eat much because we spent a good while trying to find a pharmacy that was open to get Mike some advil or something for his headache, my poor baby. NOTE! If you plan on having a headache (Who ever plans on it though? Those dreadful things) in Belgium or maybe all of Europe, don't have it on a Sunday and expect there to be a pharmacy open, because there won't be. You might say, "Well what about one of the many small little express snack/necessities stores, they should have headache medicine right?" Wrong. It's highly unlikely, in fact we were lucky to have found one of those stores where they sold headache pills. It's terribly inconvenient, but that's just the way it is. Luckily we found one though, that's all that mattered otherwise it wouldn't have been a very cheerful day for Mike. I don't want that to happen when he and I are supposed to be out exploring. I'm rambling again, I tend to do that.
Okay back on track, so when we got to Brussels after walking around the Sunday market in Antwerp we went to go see the Grote Markt and Manneken-Pis. After that we stopped by a waffle spot right next to Manneken-Pis. Honestly? Best damn waffles I've ever had, besides my grandma's. When we got back to Turnhout we went to go eat at my cousin Tom's restaurant D'Vine again (He's really my dad's cousin, but it's doing too much to say that every time). I had the Garnaalsoepje (soup with shrimp and some other seafood) and Stoofvlees (beef stew cooked with Leffe beer). I can't remember what appetizer Mike had, it was good though (I scooped a piece...or two, orrrr three), but as an entree he had the "Irish prepared Rib-Eye" is what it's called in English, and he said it was very good (I wouldn't know, I couldn't steal a slice before it was inhaled down his esophagus, but I trust his opinion). And today when we went to Amsterdam we stopped in a Cafe in the Red Light District and I had a Dutch beef meatball sandwich, Mike had an English style breakfast, and my dad had a traditional pea soup with sausage slices. Later after we walked around Amsterdam and were on our way back to the car we stopped at, you guessed it, a cafe and shared some mussels with fries, and my dad had a strawberry cake. We also stopped to get some house-made Dutch macaroons and ice cream. It's all so very incredibly fattening and I could care less (hashtag YOLO, hashtag amirite?) because it is all so very incredibly delectable.
I will now post pictures because I know that's what you've all been waiting for.
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| Waffle in Brugge by the canal |
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| Waffle in Brussels by Manneken-Pis |
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| Stoofvlees at D'Vine |
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| Huge jars of Nutella in Amsterdam, Nutella is everywhere. And I'm not complaining. |
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| Dutch beef meatball in Amsterdam |
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| All the macaroons at a store in Amsterdam |
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| Dutch Cookies & Cream |
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| Like I said, an abundance of Nutella. |
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| Mike at the cafe that we had mussels in. He finally found a beer that he likes. |
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| My dad and I in the same cafe. Different beer. |
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| Strawberry cake in Amsterdam cafe |
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| Mussels cooked with chorizo in the same cafe in Amsterdam |
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| The macaroons we bought. Vanilla, Pistachio, Dutch Cookies & Cream, Lemon, Red Velvet, Coconut, Hazelnut, Apple Pie, and Strawberry |
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| Some chocolates that we've purchased. I'm surprised that they're not gone yet. |
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| One of my favorites chocolate candies ever. It tastes like Nutella! |
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| Mike's appetizer at D'Vine. |
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| Garnaalsoepje at D'Vine |
xx - Amanda!
Friday, October 24, 2014
Our First Day in Europe!
It occurred to me earlier that I have not blogged for a good while and I said to myself "I really need to blog again, I've probably lost my following" (Ya know, because I'm suuuuch a famous blogger). Anyways, now that we've settled in to my dad's apartment in Turnhout and have spent 2 days here I suddenly feel inspired and my writer's block has diminished. It's actually kind of odd because you'd think it'd be the other way around - that I'd be so tired and jetlagged - But! 'Tis not the case and for that I'm glad.
So here we go, let's start with our plane rides to Brussels first. A few days before our departure I thought we had to be at the airport by 5:30 am (which is dreadfully early) because our flight to ATL left at 7:05 am, so I thought to myself "Oh that'll be plenty of time". When I checked in to our flights and printed out our boarding passes I noticed they said boarding began at 6:15 am, and to my dismay that meant we had to leave for the airport by 4:30 am. If I'm not mistaken I have stated previously how much I loathe waking up early...or was that packing? Either way I hate them both equally (BTW thank you Erika for helping me pack). Okay so it's the night before we're supposed to leave and by the time I've gone to my dad's house to pick up the rest of my beloved clothes to pack, grab my last American meal in Las Vegas at McDonald's with Ashley (it's only natural that we went to McDonald's), and got back to my mom's house it was already like 2:45-ish am. Despite my mother's constant "Sweet, you need to get some sleep" I decided to stay up because we were leaving in an hour and a half anyways. It gave me enough time to try and look as put together and decent as one could possibly look after pulling an all-nighter basically 2 nights in a row (which I failed at regardless, but hey that's okay). Clearly I was so tired that I was delusional in thinking I looked acceptable, that or my mirror lied to me. I looked like a hot mess. I looked like a whale. It's all good though, I can laugh at myself.
Alrightyyy so we get inside, check our bags, and make it through TSA, take the tram to our concourse and walk to our gate just in the nick of time. When we got to our gate they had started boarding all the fancies with their first class tickets and whatnot, so we fell in line for our zone to be called and boarded, and before we knew it we were on the plane and in our seats. The plane ride to our 4 hour layover in ATL was just around 4 hours, give or take 10 minutes, and it was the most uncomfortable 4 hours of my life. I don't know why but the seats felt smaller than usual, literally no leg room, it was freezing cold even with jeans, a jacket, and scarf on, and I couldn't sleep worth a damn. I was entirely too happy when we got off the plane, I think we both were. We went to a currency exchange booth and then met my older brother, Freddy, out front and he drove us to his house and we had Fox Brothers BBQ, which Freddy said it was the best in ATL, and I have to say it was probably the best BBQ I've ever had. Along with the food there were some interesting conversations taking place, conversations that I prefer not describe in great detail, it was fun though and it was great to spend some time with Freddy and his girlfriend Rossana before we left. Freddy then drove us back to the airport and we said our goodbyes to him too. We went through TSA, walked to our gate, and boarded the plane with ease. To my surprise the plane was no where near full, and I think that made it easier to fall asleep. I think I may have fallen asleep before we even took off, because when I awoke I thought we were still on the ground waiting to lift-off, but I opened the window and we were in the clouds. I thought to myself "When the hell did that happen?" Nevertheless, the 8 hour plane ride was actually much easier to bear and a tad bit more comfortable than the last. According to Mike I knocked out a couple of times for a good while, long enough to drool on his shoulder (sorry babe). When I wasn't asleep I watched 22 Jumpstreet, Bend it like Beckham, Cool Runnings, and Neighbors. I nearly woke up the whole plane from laughing so hard when Seth Rogen's character shot through his office ceiling because the fraternity put an airbag in his office chair. It was too funny to hold my laughter in. Mike and I watched so many movies that the time passed by fairly rapidly. Sooner or later the pilot spoke on the intercom and said we were beginning our decent in to Brussels, and Mike's face lit up. He turned to me and said "I can't believe I'm actually here." He's so cute.
When we landed it was Thursday the 23rd around 7:50 am, so we left the plane and headed for passport control. Mike was nervous about that, he kept asking "What do I say?!" and I told him just to say that he's here with his girlfriend visiting her family. I went to my officer and he went to his. I always find it funny when I go through passport control because the person always asks "What is your purpose here in Belgium?" and I say "I'm visiting family." And they seem so surprised, probably because I don't look like I'd have family in Belgium, so they ask "You have family in Belgium?" And as sarcastic as I want to be I smile and bite my tongue and say "Yes, yes I do. In Turnhout." When Mike passed the control area he was laughing because the man had given him a hard time. Mike said what I had told him to say and the person had asked him which girl was his girlfriend, if I was a Belgian citizen, how long he'd be in Belgium and a few other questions. I just told him that the officers there probably get really bored with their jobs, so they were most likely just giving you a hard time to mess with you. After passport control we walked to get our luggage and sat down in a cafe to wait for my dad to pick us up. My dad was stuck in traffic and so he advised us to have a beer, keep in mind it was 8 am when we arrived. I followed suit anyway, I was still jetlagged so it was really 11 pm for me, perfect time to have a beer!
I ordered a beer called Duvel, my cousin Tom says it's probably the beer that's drank the most in Belgium. I didn't like it that much, it was very bitter.
My dad finally shows up and walks us to his car, its a Ford made in Belgium with a German license plate, I thought it was funny. We drove from Brussels to Turnhout, brought our luggage into the apartment, changed and headed out to see some of my dad's hometown. We stopped in one of my dad's old neighborhoods, which is apparently "the slums" so to speak. He said the best part about living there was the park right next to it. We walked around my dad's old stomping grounds (because my dad is such a badass) and took some pictures. After we walked in the park, we went to go see my grandpa's sister, Marlene (idk how to spell it, I would ask my dad but he's asleep at the moment, it's 2:30 am here) who lives in that complex, she's lived there ever since my dad was a kid. When we went to go see her my grandpa's other sister was actually there too and I had never met her before, so it was pretty awesome to finally meet her. When we left Tante Marlene's (Tante is Aunt) we drove past one of my great-grandmother's old houses, went to the grocery store, the laundromat, and then we had drinks and dinner at my cousin Tom's restaurant D'Vine.
We had a pretty eventful day today as well, but I'll post about that in the next blog because this one is getting ridiculously long!
xx - Amanda!
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So here we go, let's start with our plane rides to Brussels first. A few days before our departure I thought we had to be at the airport by 5:30 am (which is dreadfully early) because our flight to ATL left at 7:05 am, so I thought to myself "Oh that'll be plenty of time". When I checked in to our flights and printed out our boarding passes I noticed they said boarding began at 6:15 am, and to my dismay that meant we had to leave for the airport by 4:30 am. If I'm not mistaken I have stated previously how much I loathe waking up early...or was that packing? Either way I hate them both equally (BTW thank you Erika for helping me pack). Okay so it's the night before we're supposed to leave and by the time I've gone to my dad's house to pick up the rest of my beloved clothes to pack, grab my last American meal in Las Vegas at McDonald's with Ashley (it's only natural that we went to McDonald's), and got back to my mom's house it was already like 2:45-ish am. Despite my mother's constant "Sweet, you need to get some sleep" I decided to stay up because we were leaving in an hour and a half anyways. It gave me enough time to try and look as put together and decent as one could possibly look after pulling an all-nighter basically 2 nights in a row (which I failed at regardless, but hey that's okay). Clearly I was so tired that I was delusional in thinking I looked acceptable, that or my mirror lied to me. I looked like a hot mess. I looked like a whale. It's all good though, I can laugh at myself.
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| At McCarran Airport, saying our goodbyes. |
When we landed it was Thursday the 23rd around 7:50 am, so we left the plane and headed for passport control. Mike was nervous about that, he kept asking "What do I say?!" and I told him just to say that he's here with his girlfriend visiting her family. I went to my officer and he went to his. I always find it funny when I go through passport control because the person always asks "What is your purpose here in Belgium?" and I say "I'm visiting family." And they seem so surprised, probably because I don't look like I'd have family in Belgium, so they ask "You have family in Belgium?" And as sarcastic as I want to be I smile and bite my tongue and say "Yes, yes I do. In Turnhout." When Mike passed the control area he was laughing because the man had given him a hard time. Mike said what I had told him to say and the person had asked him which girl was his girlfriend, if I was a Belgian citizen, how long he'd be in Belgium and a few other questions. I just told him that the officers there probably get really bored with their jobs, so they were most likely just giving you a hard time to mess with you. After passport control we walked to get our luggage and sat down in a cafe to wait for my dad to pick us up. My dad was stuck in traffic and so he advised us to have a beer, keep in mind it was 8 am when we arrived. I followed suit anyway, I was still jetlagged so it was really 11 pm for me, perfect time to have a beer!
I ordered a beer called Duvel, my cousin Tom says it's probably the beer that's drank the most in Belgium. I didn't like it that much, it was very bitter. My dad finally shows up and walks us to his car, its a Ford made in Belgium with a German license plate, I thought it was funny. We drove from Brussels to Turnhout, brought our luggage into the apartment, changed and headed out to see some of my dad's hometown. We stopped in one of my dad's old neighborhoods, which is apparently "the slums" so to speak. He said the best part about living there was the park right next to it. We walked around my dad's old stomping grounds (because my dad is such a badass) and took some pictures. After we walked in the park, we went to go see my grandpa's sister, Marlene (idk how to spell it, I would ask my dad but he's asleep at the moment, it's 2:30 am here) who lives in that complex, she's lived there ever since my dad was a kid. When we went to go see her my grandpa's other sister was actually there too and I had never met her before, so it was pretty awesome to finally meet her. When we left Tante Marlene's (Tante is Aunt) we drove past one of my great-grandmother's old houses, went to the grocery store, the laundromat, and then we had drinks and dinner at my cousin Tom's restaurant D'Vine.
We had a pretty eventful day today as well, but I'll post about that in the next blog because this one is getting ridiculously long!
xx - Amanda!
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| Park by my dad's old neighborhood |
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