I was excited to learn that England and Catalonia share the same patron saint and therefore they would be having celebrations. They traditionally give roses to girls and books to boys. At school it was celebrated through a literature competition where books were given as prizes to children who had written the best texts in their year group. It was lovely, then they all sang some songs which included Puff the magic dragon in Catalan!It was amazing! I recieved two roses, one from the school and one from a local bar owner whose bar we go to every day. You can check out the photo on my instagram account.The children from 6th grade sold 2nd hand books (I bought one) for 1 euro and roses for 3 euros to the local community.
Later on in the day I wandered around Les Rambles and Rambla Cataluna where there were hundreds of stalls selling roses and books. I bought a second hand book for 3 euros and was given a free one off someone on the street. Result! It was so busy though, I don't know if I could go every year.
Then with some people from my Catalan class we went to watch a similar awards ceremony to the one at my school in the morning, just with adult Catalan students ad we listened to an author read an except from his book.
It was such an interesting day, even if completely different to how it's celebrated in England.
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
My weekend in Cordoba.
I spent this weekend in Cordoba with Bex (Becky as I seemed to call her a few times for no reason), Jack and George the chimp. I travelled by AVE, what a lovely train journey, I got to see the scenery of most of Spain at 300km/h, and watch a couple of films too.
The first day we wandered around the city for the afternoon before eating like kings in the evening at an amazing restaurant, I had chicken in a cheese and cava sauce, I can still taste it now... yummy. On the Saturday we visited the Mezquita which is a cathedral built within an older Mosque, the blend of the two cultures and styles of architecture is stunning and really encapsulates Spain's Moorish past linked to its more recent Christian history.
We also visited the Alazar, a former palace with some of the most beautiful gardens I have seen, pools of water and plants of such a range of colours, it was simply amazing. You can check out my photos on facebook, can't upload then to blogger right now as I'm not blogging from my computer.
We also had a rather strange encounter with the gypsies, who you should always be aware of as they are known for pickpocketing. We were sitting on a bench in the sun when one of the most elaborate begging scenes unfolded. This involved a little girl of about 7 talking to us for a while before returning a bit later with a baby, asking us to hold him! Shocked doesn't cover our reaction. She then asked us for money, we declined and made a hasty escape. We had ice cream at 8.30pm, it was that warm, and then we relaxed, our legs were killing due to all that walking!
On the Sunday we wandered again and sunbathed a little, it was 28degrees, had to be done. Then we parted ways and I got the AVE back to Barcelona, such a wonderful weekend.
The first day we wandered around the city for the afternoon before eating like kings in the evening at an amazing restaurant, I had chicken in a cheese and cava sauce, I can still taste it now... yummy. On the Saturday we visited the Mezquita which is a cathedral built within an older Mosque, the blend of the two cultures and styles of architecture is stunning and really encapsulates Spain's Moorish past linked to its more recent Christian history.
We also visited the Alazar, a former palace with some of the most beautiful gardens I have seen, pools of water and plants of such a range of colours, it was simply amazing. You can check out my photos on facebook, can't upload then to blogger right now as I'm not blogging from my computer.
We also had a rather strange encounter with the gypsies, who you should always be aware of as they are known for pickpocketing. We were sitting on a bench in the sun when one of the most elaborate begging scenes unfolded. This involved a little girl of about 7 talking to us for a while before returning a bit later with a baby, asking us to hold him! Shocked doesn't cover our reaction. She then asked us for money, we declined and made a hasty escape. We had ice cream at 8.30pm, it was that warm, and then we relaxed, our legs were killing due to all that walking!
On the Sunday we wandered again and sunbathed a little, it was 28degrees, had to be done. Then we parted ways and I got the AVE back to Barcelona, such a wonderful weekend.
Monday, 16 April 2012
Out of a Semana Santa enduced coma...
So most of you will know I had a pretty hectic ten days of Semana Santa, my god it hit me! Thursday afternoon, after somehow making it through 3 days of lessons I crashed, I had headaches and was literally exhausted I didn't even leave my bed until Saturday afternoon. except to go to the toilet/get tiny amount of food. I know gross right. By Sunday morning I was feeling better and got over 1000 words done on my French essay, it's more or less there now only conclusions and silly referencing to go. I finished my latest article for thirdyearabroad.com this afternoon after school and the gym and then chilled and did little errands. Off to Catalan class, luckily we didn't have homework as such, just to review last weeks work, so I should be a little bit more awake than I was on Wednesday last week. I've also booked another trip with Catania, this time we are off to Santiago de Compostella in May, very excited. This weekend I'm heading to Cordoba with Bex, Jack and my beloved nephew George the chimp, only 3 and a half days to go - can't wait!!
A pretty boring week, filled with sleep, but by god was it needed!!
A pretty boring week, filled with sleep, but by god was it needed!!
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Why my clothes smell of incense: Semana Santa, Photos etc..
I'm not going to bore you all talking about each individual procession. There was a lot of incense though, hence the title... So I'm going to stick in a few photos for you to look at so that you can see what the Semana Santa (Holy Week) processions looked like in Malaga. I went down to Malaga as Semana Santa is much bigger in the south of Spain than here in Catalonia. So here are a few of my favourites depicting the floats (which are each carried by about 200-250 men), the traditional costumes and a few others:
I also went to a bullfight. I would recommend that everybody does this before they make up their mind about the issue. The atmosphere is simply indescribable, the people are lovely and the music and costumes are amazing. My ticket cost me a mere 10euros so it is worth the experience, if nothing more. Here are a couple of photos (don't worry none is gruesome)
We also spent time at the beach and partying, a very tiring long weekend, but well worth it! Culture, partying, culture, beach, a perfect blend for a year abroad.
Then yesterday I headed up to Pals and met up with the King family, I had a lovely relaxing day and even rode a bike! Something which I haven't done in years!
Hasta luego!
Thursday, 5 April 2012
A first glimpse of Semana Santa.
Catania and I arrived yesterday, after a slightly delayed flight, hopped two buses a cross town to reach our hostel and checked in. What a lovely quaint hostel it is, it is more of a guest house, it feels like we are staying in our own little bedroom rather than a dorm, the owner is lovely, really helpful and has two little cute dogs running around everywhere.
After stocking up on supplies we headed into the centre to watch our first Andalusian Semana Santa parade, simply amazing. The traditional costumes were sombre and there were floats of Christ being crucified which were being carried on the shoulders of literally a hundred or so men each time. Part of me was surprised there was any population left available to watch the parade due to the amount of people taking part. We watched the parade from 9pm until just after 11pm before heading for some tapas for tea and then home to bed afterwards.
Great first day - can't wait for the rest of the weekend.
Adios!
After stocking up on supplies we headed into the centre to watch our first Andalusian Semana Santa parade, simply amazing. The traditional costumes were sombre and there were floats of Christ being crucified which were being carried on the shoulders of literally a hundred or so men each time. Part of me was surprised there was any population left available to watch the parade due to the amount of people taking part. We watched the parade from 9pm until just after 11pm before heading for some tapas for tea and then home to bed afterwards.
Great first day - can't wait for the rest of the weekend.
Adios!
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Tourguiding all done :(
As I write this my parents hopefully are on the plane on their way back to England. I'm exhausted! But it was worth it, I had an amazing time! Yesterday we did the Barcelona Bus Turistic, it was a great way to rest our feet after two days of walking and see the the city from a completely different perspective. We started off at Parc Guell, which my parents loved, my mum wants to come back and explore it again for a longer period of time. We did all of the bus routes, up round Tibidabo, a monastery, Montjuic, the new redevelopment down near the beach - everything! If anyone is going to Barcelona I completely recommend it; I was sceptical at first but my mum had heard good things about the tour and wanted to do it, so I went too (especially as they were paying) and then I had an amazing day. Sometimes it is good to be a shameless tourist in Barcelona and not care, I learnt loads of interesting facts about different buildings and parts of the city too, so it was definitely worth the money. We also went for a coffee in Palau de Musica, a simply amazing Modernisme building:
Later on we went to the Columbus monument, where there is a viewing platform built inside at 52m and headed up to check out the views. My dad (who is petrified of heights) suggested it, and came up! I was shocked but so proud at the same time and the views were most definitely worth it, it was simply amazing you could see out to see, to the mountains, down la Rambla, definitely one of Barcelona's hidden gems.
We ate at Les Quinze Nits again in the evening, and had yet another fantastic meal before coffees and bed.
Today, after dropping the suitcases off at my house in the morning, buy some cheap umbrellas as it was chucking it down with rain and stopping for a croissant and coffee at one of the lovely little coffee shops near my house we headed to the Museum of Catalan History. This is an absolutely fantastic museum and it only cost us 2euros each to go in with our book of discount vouchers. It is really informative and really interactive, you get to click lots of buttons and play a lot as well as finding out some really interesting facts.
Then we had lunch, picked up the suitcases and headed to the airport.
A piece of advice - easyjet check in (although it says terminal 2 on the ticket) is actually a separate building which is quite a walk away, it was a good job we had left plenty of time to make the flight! I'll definitely be remembering that in June when I fly back to the UK. My parents flight was delayed, but at least it wasn't cancelled. I'm now really excited to go to Malaga for the end of Semana Santa tomorrow with Catania. So I'll write a blog about all of those adventures on Sunday evening.
Hasa Domingo!
Later on we went to the Columbus monument, where there is a viewing platform built inside at 52m and headed up to check out the views. My dad (who is petrified of heights) suggested it, and came up! I was shocked but so proud at the same time and the views were most definitely worth it, it was simply amazing you could see out to see, to the mountains, down la Rambla, definitely one of Barcelona's hidden gems.
We ate at Les Quinze Nits again in the evening, and had yet another fantastic meal before coffees and bed.
Today, after dropping the suitcases off at my house in the morning, buy some cheap umbrellas as it was chucking it down with rain and stopping for a croissant and coffee at one of the lovely little coffee shops near my house we headed to the Museum of Catalan History. This is an absolutely fantastic museum and it only cost us 2euros each to go in with our book of discount vouchers. It is really informative and really interactive, you get to click lots of buttons and play a lot as well as finding out some really interesting facts.
Then we had lunch, picked up the suitcases and headed to the airport.
A piece of advice - easyjet check in (although it says terminal 2 on the ticket) is actually a separate building which is quite a walk away, it was a good job we had left plenty of time to make the flight! I'll definitely be remembering that in June when I fly back to the UK. My parents flight was delayed, but at least it wasn't cancelled. I'm now really excited to go to Malaga for the end of Semana Santa tomorrow with Catania. So I'll write a blog about all of those adventures on Sunday evening.
Hasa Domingo!
Sunday, 1 April 2012
Palm Sunday in Barcelona
Today was another amazing day showing my parents around Barcelona. We got an early start and headed to watch the Palm Sunday procession in the centre of the city which was lovely, a band, a float of Jesus on a donkey and people waving palms and burning incense. We popped into the church after the parade had left and I ended up talking to one of the women for quite some time, she was explaining the traditions and the saints and all sorts, it was really interesting.
We then wandered to the cathedral where we watched a crowd of people all getting their palms blessed whilst we sat with a drink. Then we got to watch some people dancing the Sardana (the Catalan national dance) outside the cathedral before we headed down through the Gothic quarter to Santa Maria del Mar, an absolutely gorgeous church. We looked at the nearby memorial which commemorates the siege of Barcelona in 1714. We then popped down a little back alley and found a tiny one room museum about the fore mentioned siege, but it was all in Catalan so we didn't stay long as my parents can't speak Catalan and I couldn't be bothered translating it all. Although the people at the door did seem a little shocked when I whipped out the Catalan on them. :p
We then headed down by the port and grabbed some tapas for lunch, I had to do all the translating and ordering as I took my parents to a local place where they don't speak any English. Then my mum popped back to the hotel for a bit of a rest whilst my dad and I wandered a little more around the centre and the Gothic quarter, bought the tourist bus tickets for tomorrow and sat and chilled with an ice cream and a coffee.
Then we all headed back out for dinner at Les Quinze Nits, amazing restaurant which I take everyone too, it's such good quality food in a lovely place at a good price. Then we headed back to near their hotel for a couple of drinks, and then parted ways to turn in for the night; up early tomorrow for the tourist bus route!
I love being a personal tour guide, its fun.
Hasta manana!
:)
We then wandered to the cathedral where we watched a crowd of people all getting their palms blessed whilst we sat with a drink. Then we got to watch some people dancing the Sardana (the Catalan national dance) outside the cathedral before we headed down through the Gothic quarter to Santa Maria del Mar, an absolutely gorgeous church. We looked at the nearby memorial which commemorates the siege of Barcelona in 1714. We then popped down a little back alley and found a tiny one room museum about the fore mentioned siege, but it was all in Catalan so we didn't stay long as my parents can't speak Catalan and I couldn't be bothered translating it all. Although the people at the door did seem a little shocked when I whipped out the Catalan on them. :p
We then headed down by the port and grabbed some tapas for lunch, I had to do all the translating and ordering as I took my parents to a local place where they don't speak any English. Then my mum popped back to the hotel for a bit of a rest whilst my dad and I wandered a little more around the centre and the Gothic quarter, bought the tourist bus tickets for tomorrow and sat and chilled with an ice cream and a coffee.
Then we all headed back out for dinner at Les Quinze Nits, amazing restaurant which I take everyone too, it's such good quality food in a lovely place at a good price. Then we headed back to near their hotel for a couple of drinks, and then parted ways to turn in for the night; up early tomorrow for the tourist bus route!
I love being a personal tour guide, its fun.
Hasta manana!
:)
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