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!

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!

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! 

The pastries we had at a bakery in France

A paella de carne y mariscos I had for lunch

And this guy trying to block out my yells and cheers from watching the Real Madrid game last night

xx - Amanda!

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. 

 

Here's the video of the inside of the cathedral in the Gothic Quarter

At the cathedral in the Barrio Gotica de Barcelona

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!