Art & Light

[Saturday, June 2]

His name is Antoni Gaudi and he is a pretty big deal.

While I would consider myself somewhat knowledgeable in the arts and in fact took an art history class back in the day, I had never heard of this famous artist until arriving in Barcelona. His style is unusual and linked closely with nature, but his pieces are stunning. Mostly he designs architecture, and we were able to see many of his pieces that were built right here in Barcelona.

Gaudi 1: Sagrada Familia
The tallest, most unusual, slightly-unsettling-but-also-awesome church that was ever designed resides in Barcelona, but is still in the process of being built. Apparently, Gaudi had this thing for doing everything by hand, so when he passed away in 1926, architects wanted to honor his wishes and make each statue, ornate ball and stone design the old-fashioned way. The church will be quite a sight once it is all finished, but to be completely honest, some of the designs kind of creeped me out. His ideas are reminiscent of caves or the sea, but they come alive in these buildings. See what I mean?


Gaudi 2: Parc Guell

A park designed entirely from scratch, Gaudi modeled this area again after the Mediterranean below. While the area itself was quite beautiful, we walked at a near 45 degree angle, up probably close to 200 stairs, to get to the top, where the entire city of Barcelona was visible. Mosaic tiles are Gaudi's thing, made in such a way because square tiles cannot fit well across his circular, undulating forms that surround his work. Some of it seems a bit kid-ish to me, but it is definitely unique.

Lunch: Tapa Tapa
The BEST tapas I have ever had in my life. Spain is known for all their tapas, and much of it is truly delicioso. I've tried real seafood: mussels, prawns, squid and more; mini-salads with salmon and tomatoes; egg and potato pancake omelets and the best kinds of things fried and dipped in butter. Something Barcelona most certainly has over London is the delicious and authentic cuisine.

Gaudi 3: Casa Batllo

This house was designed for an actual family to live in...all five floors are ornately designed with bright, beautiful color, weird flowy designs, unusual patterns, high ceilings and colorful mosaic tiles. The tour of the house was pretty cool--definitely a place I could move in to.

After three tours, I was effectively exhausted and ended the evening with crepes and a sandwich from our hotel lobby.

It has been a joyous ride, albeit a tiring one. I will continue to catch up tomorrow--adios!

Barthelona: La ville des touristes

[Friday, June 1]

Needless to say, my French would be better spent in a country that speaks French, but living in Barcelona has definitely increased my (otherwise nonexistent) Spanish skills.

Barcelona is quite the city, but not at all what I imagined. In placed of red, clay roofs and brightly colored homes, we are smack dab in the center of the city, which is overflowing with H&Ms, graffiti and peddlers. I am still getting used to the landscape and the culture, which is quite different from London. We are living the state of Catalunya, a group of people who wish they were a separate country and speak a language called Catalon (who knew?). The people here are friendly and do not look at all like "typical Spaniards," at least in my mind (Penelope Cruz look-a-likes, that is). In a city where tourists outnumber the locals 8:2, I still feel like I am getting a good idea of what life is like on this side of the Mediterranean.

On Friday, we were introduced to the city by two students from the local university, both of whom spoke very good English and made it clear that our limited Spanish was pretty pathetic. We saw a lot of things, but as our guides were students, we weren't given a whole lot of history lessons. From La Rambla to Passeig de Gracia to the Cathedral of Barcelona and down to the sea, we a) walked our butts off & b) got to see what a beautiful city Barcelona is. Plus, there is tons of great shopping :)

Then that evening, we headed off to a fancy club right on the beach to observe the lives of the Spanish youth...and also to enjoy some time to ourselves after the previous four days of extensive travel. I am keeping an open mind and think that we are off to a good start!

Germany!

[Thursday, May 31]

Those of you who are following me know that I never planned on visiting Germany. In fact, I didn't really visit it at all. After some witty jokes with the German passport guard and a bar of German chocolate, we left the Duesseldorf airport as quietly as we had arrived. Needless to say, our first evening in Barcelona, Spain was uneventful and pretty much included getting rooms assigned and digging out my laundry. Alas, country numero tres!

The Holiday Meets Rural Wisconsin

[Wednesday, May 30]

Picture sheep grazing upon the hill, right across from your lovely castle of a hotel in a sprawling meadow with a name like Bollington, and then imagine you are there. Then imagine that it is one of the prettiest places that exist on earth and that your friend Sarah was there and be a little jealous, although mostly excited because she is about to tell you all about it.

Complete with cobblestone streets, handmade walls of field stones and brick, and the hilly terrain to rival the Tour de France, Bollington, U.K. is my newest favorite place in Europe (trust me, this won't happen every time). We were only in Bollington for one day as well to visit a small marketing agency, but the winding, one-lane roads and breathtaking view were far beyond worth it.

We arrived to our hotel by walking up the gravel pathway, since the bus couldn't fit through the clusters of trees gathered on either side. As we walk, with lots and lots of sheep to our left, a legit castle rises to meet us, where we are staying (read: night one of the terrible Wi-Fi known to the most recent parts of my travels). But boy was it pretty. We had a great time planning a campaign for the agency, and then headed off to dinner.

If you have never been to Europe, then you will not know that the rumors are true: people eat meals here like it's their job, and I mean that in the nicest way. After arriving late to our reservation at La Plaice (directions have not necessarily been our strongest faction of this expedition), we settled down for a three-hour meal of delicious meats, potatoes and vegetables, coupled with white wine and desserts all around. Simple stated: a delightful experience and the funnest dinner I'd had thus far. We ate with our "teams," of which mine is the beer team or self-proclaimed Mighty Ducks, and discussed what trends we'd noticed in Britain regarding beer and its consumption. We established a culture code (our assignment in each country) and had a great time doing it.

All said and done, the day was a huge success. This place was seriously amazing and I would go back in a minute. Unfortunately, Thursday promised to be quite busy, so we had to be on our way.

To the Port of Titanic!

Obviously, my goal to post daily has far left me, but only because things have gone haywire in the last week (it's already been a week with no post!?). From using Wi-Fi in the boonies to clubbing it up, I have had the most difficult time getting back on this thing and talking about it, which makes me sad. So I have now vowed to try harder, and keep things interesting! So...back to last Tuesday...

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While London was quite the sight to behold, there is definitely more to the United Kingdom than I really ever thought. We got out just in time; the Queen's Jubilee Celebration (60 years on the throne!) was the following weekend--this last Saturday/Sunday--so we just missed the packed streets, crazy security and shoulder-to-should tourists, a group with which I have no association. So, we packed our bags and headed to Liverpool.

Titanic happens to be my favorite movie ever made ever (wouldn't you know it that they played the soundtrack in the Spanish metro...more later), so I happen to know that Liverpool was the port from which it sailed. Mostly I know that because it was written on the side of the ship, but our lovely tour guide Jonathan also informed us of this. Let me just say: Liverpool is stunning. The city itself is tiny, but is home to something like 500,000 people because it is right on the sea. The air smells like water and salt and there are these beautiful, tiny boats all along the harbor (think mini-mini steamboats, half-way submerged). There are pretty buildings, large ropes and those things that you tie the ropes to for the ships all over the place, but there is also a whole lot of poverty and this--let's be honest--ungodly awful cathedral that claims title of largest Anglican cathedral in the world. It wasn't finished until the '70s or something, and it is so obvious. Looking forward to seeing lots of genuine cathedrals down the road...

Anyway, Liverpool is also widely known for the Beatles, so posters, CDs and stores all about them are in every shop and area. We only stayed in Liverpool for just a day, so we didn't have a lot of free time following the walking tour of the city, but did have a chance to stop into The Cavern, a small bar (like, four stories underground; that + the tube and I was all sorts of freaked out) where up-and-coming artists make their debut to eager Liverpooleans as they discover raw talent. I think Adele was the last major artist to sing their. But regardless, we had a drink there and called it a night. I would have loved to stay an extra day (or week), but alas, on to the rest of the deep countryside...

At this point (this hypothetical point, as in, last Tuesday), I definitely loved a lot of things about Liverpool that London did not have to offer. But shall we see what the rest of the trip brings? :)

Adieu London!

If you've been doing the math along the way, I have been often posting around the midnight/1am time frame, which certainly messes with some of the writing essentials (i.e. grammar). So please excuse any spelling errors, even though I shouldn't be making any all.

Can't really believe it; today was my final full day in London. Packed things in like crazy. Headed first to a couple grocery stores for our class ethnography, where I interviewed some workers about their experiences with beer (Google: Unlocking the Beer Code for that blog), which was funny. As I was leaving the "interview," the man started making fun of my American accent, which can only mean I am cool enough to get to know, right?

We had a bunch of free time in the afternoon, so I took a quick break at this wonderful little cafe and had a handmade sandwich--it is so nice here, everything is made fresh in the morning with real ingredients, and nothing is fried or toasted or crispy, so I kind of feel like I am eating healthy (especially when I get dessert afterwards). Then I took a walk around the British Museum just for fun, which is just huge and holds a lot of random artifacts, most notably is probably the Rosetta Stone. Which got me to thinking about how many people my age don't really know what it is, and instead think of a CD-Rom program for learning languages... Many of the museum's sculptures were beautiful, especially the Greek and Egyptian ones.

After a really quick stop at the site of the August Olympic games (it looked really cool, but they don't let you very close at all. From my experience on the Tube and the normal busy here, London is going to be a crazy place in the next few months, so I'm glad I got here when I did...), we spent the evening in our professor's flat, talking about our progress with our class projects. And sweating our butts off. In coming to London, I pictured overcast skies, rainy nights and misty mornings. Not at all the case this last week...instead, highs in the 80s and bright sunshine all the time! Unfortunately, I've been trying to dress somewhat modestly in a new country, but my arms at least are pretty tan.

Then we headed back to our flat. The rest of the night has been filled with updates, packing and laundry...and hopefully soon that will include sleep. More exciting adventures tomorrow! :)

Also, I promise there will be more entertaining posts to come, but lately I have been multitasking while typing, so my humor has been compromised. Will attempt to keep things fresh and interesting, but frankly, I am exhausted and need to refresh my sarcasm-palette with at least one full (7+ hours) night of sleep. Probably won't be tonight...

Cheers!

Markets & Comedy & Taxis, oh my!

Sunday =  Fun Day, at least in London...

And even though I had all of today completely OFF from school-related, agency-tour, regimented day schedules, of course I wanted to get as much in as possible to explore one of our last real days in London. Whilst the city is absolutely stunning and filled with history, it might be a little too fashion-y, concrete-y and big for me, but I still wanted to have a good time.

We began the day back at Portobello Market, where we were yesterday, because I really enjoyed the first time around. Picture a farmers market on steroids with "hand made and authentic" jewels for Americans (and other tourists) to feast upon like vultures. Naturally, this pulled me right in. One path filled with strawberry/nutella/whipped cream crepes, dresses, souvenirs galore and other nick-knacks later, and we were headed toward Covent Garden (another market, matter-of-fact).

Covent Garden is beautiful and very cool. I stopped for lunch at Paul's Cafe, the first fully French cafe I had attended in London, and ordered a Sandwich Mistral (Sahnd-weetch Mee-strahl)--I am working on my French skills whenever possible, okay? Let me tell you: most delicious food I have eaten thus far. The baguette sandwich included spinach, tomatoes, mozzarella, and this truly delightful buttery, tangy spread and filled me right up. Afterwards, I had to get a pastry, and after debating for an hour, decided on a strawberry tart with custard. YUMMY. The cafe was relaxing, breezy and just what I needed after such a long morning of walking. And although I haven't yet noted it, the temperatures here have been in the high 80s all week, which is apparently extremely unusual for London, but I am not complaining-expect for that small bit right there... The market also housed a lot of private marketers, who sold anything from candle wax to homemade soap to footballs (soccer balls). What a blast I had walking from shop to shop, bartering and discovering great finds.

For the record, the natives' accents are getting to me and I occasionally bust out in spontaneous British accents, blustering the "aaaa"s and "ahhh"s sometimes, but it sounds okay. We had a delightful mass at Westminster Abbey--a wonderful way to get inside without doing a tour. Aside from the fiscal benefits, it is such a beautiful place. When I was in Washington, D.C. with the MU Choir my sophomore year, we had the privilege to sing at the National Cathedral, which was also a beautiful specimen. Westminster Abbey is more so; soaring ceilings, balustrades like crazy, beautiful carvings of important saints, cupids and tombstones, gilded with gold and brass and glass. I truly love cathedrals, and hope I get to see a large many more. The mass, also, was fantastic, and the priest asked us afterwards if 1) We were from the states (I found this funny, because more and more people make fun of us and pretend we're from France or somewhere obscure just to be sarcastic and "funny") and 2) We new of the National Cathedral conference, which he had just spent three weeks at for the abbey. Either way, he was very nice and the mass was great.

Following that, we attended a very interesting comedy tour, which included a lot of off-color sex jokes (that just weren't really doing it for me, no pun intended) and two random men who did, like, four-minute sketches each, and then left. The main guy "joked" for about an hour and then it was time to leave. Naturally, the Tube shuts down early on Sundays (which, blond moment, didn't even occur to me) so we were forced to take a bus or a cab. Normally, my cheap ass would vote for a bus, which we have a car for, but the cab seemed the more direct, simplistic way (plus, I am SURE that I paid for that stupid bus card at least three times over in my MU tuition dollars.....).

What a wonderful day--I think it has been my best one yet; relaxing, formulative, enjoyable and new. Which, if you really think about it, describes all of London in a nutshell. Also, as a last-minute note, I found this car in the Portobello Market today and just fell in love. Things are not just bigger in Texas, but in this case, probably in all of the world...