So Much Rain!

So I can't think of a week with worse weather to come and visit Barcelona! It's been chilly and rainy pretty well every day. Yesterday we even tried to buy rainboots, but not so suprprisingly all the good ones are sold out! My tours are somewhat less exciting when they don't include the beach and patio life. We're having fun despite it all though and plan on going to Tarragona (south from here about 1.5 hours on the train) to see ancient Roman ruins of an aqueduct also known as Devils Bridge and an Ampitheatre which holds 18,000 people right along the sea! Can't wait to post pictures I just hope that it's not toooooo rainy when we are there.

2 more days til I move! This has been a really long countdown but it's almost over. I'll be moving on Halloween morning and then in the afternoon doing some pumpkin carving, candy eating etc with my Ecuadorian friend and then later that night I'm not sure yet. They don't really celebrate it here like they do at home but because of globalization and all that of course they are starting to do some of our things as well like dressing up and going to the bars where they give prizes for costumes. We'll see!

Other than that, just trying to keep my cool with all the work I have to fit in. Next week is the end of the visiting season so it's going to be a lot less to juggle and maybe I can actually talk to some of you again! Haha

Alright, Happy Halloween everyone!!!

Ibiza

Here are a few shots from the weekend trip over to Ibiza! It's a party town in the summer but in October it's pretty dead since all the clubs shut down and the hotels close at the end of the month! This is the view from the old Fort walls.
This is the old city with the Cathedral at the top.
Here is the water at San Selinas beach, a famous beach where apparently many of the Spanish Futbol players go on vacation. Super clean and beautiful! My last swim of the year probably.
Little lookout tower at the end of the bay.
That little black speck is me!
We found some orange orchards and other things growing in the fields.
This is the hippy market near the top of the island which sold all kinds of knick knacks, jewellery, clothing and other good stuff. Beautiful location!
We rented a car! (only 37E/day, not bad!) And so I can say I have driven in Europe - it may be the last time though because I woudn't want to try the big city!
This is the beach/port area in old town Ibiza where we stayed. Cloudy and cool the first day we got there but 28 degrees the second! Can't complain! Now I'm back. Getting ready to move, having fun with Cameron and seeing some more sights but it's supposed to rain all week so we're just going to have to make the most of it :)

Love to all!

12 more days!

Until Moving Day! And I'm starting to get pretty excited. Today I looked around and thought about packing but then decided to upload some more pictures of stuff Dad did while he was here. Yesterday morning I put him on the Aerobus headed back home and it was sad. It's always sad when I have to say goodbye to people because who knows when I'll get to see them again. Hopefully in February everyone will miraculously be home so I can do my visiting :) It was a great 10 days of beaching, eating, sight seeing and shopping!

Now I have 2 days to get a few things in order, submit a couple of assignments and then I'm headed to Ibiza on Friday am for 3 days (you'll have to google it because I don't even know that much about it myself!) It was one of those super cheap flight deals with the low cost airlines so that's how it was chosen! So yes, laundry time.

Dad's Visit

Today is the last day, but here are a few pictures :)

Manuel Gonzalez, Flu, Melic del Gotic y mucho mas!

Hi everyone, I haven't written a whole lot! However here is a super duper short update on what has been going on!

Dad cooked an amazing Thanksgiving dinner (3 stuffed chickens!) with all the gravy, potatoes and other goodness. I baked the pumpkin pies using the slightly altered/spanish ingredients. There was a bit of a fiasco there! I made the entire filling (from scratch, like I was taught and TRUST me it was not easy to find a pumpkin and I got rather ripped off for it too) but nonetheless I was determined! So I made the filling and then realized after it was all done that the milk was already sweetened - and I added sugar. It was 2x sweeter. Soooo after thinking about ways to salvage this I decided it wasn't possible so I ran as fast as possible (it's now about 4pm, dinner at 9pm) and get MORE pumpkin and start again! Luckily the 2nd batch turned out great, the all butter pastry was super tasty and even my super picky italian roomate liked it! Success! It was quite a feast with I think 9 of us there in the end. A really really nice Thanksgiving.

I've been taking Dad around doing a few things, including a couple of days relaxing on the beach. Yesterday I started to feel quite sick and ended up with a full blown flu by the end of the night and after recovering all day today in bed I'm starting to feel better - now let's hope that he didn't catch it! Then I got it together, and we went to see this concert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1axpAPrM4vk

There is a small clip of this man. He was so fantastic - he could make that guitar sound like so many different instruments! Drums, harps, guitars, pianos. He is from Barcelona and has trained for many years with a lot of famous composers. The clip is not of his best song but it shows a bit of the theatre there where we saw him (Palau de la Musica Catalana) which is also a very beautiful and different style of building.

We have been having some nice dinners, especially my favorite restaurant (well, one of them anyway) which is SUPER well priced in the city and the food is simply amazing. The meat is fantastic and I don't even like meat. It's called Melic del Gotic and I think I will take everyone who comes to visit me there. It's just that good!

Tomorrow I'm going to try to get to Sagrada Familia! But now bed time so that tomorrow everyone can be feeling better and I can be a good tour guide!

<3 B

(Not So) Breaking News!

Alright so it's been a really interesting/stressful/exciting/fun week. In a nutshell. Here's why!

1. My friends from highschool (Tyler & Jannel) are in BCN for part of their Euro vacation and so I have been showing them a few things and having some good food together and they are coming for the Thanksgiving Dinner I'm having at my house on Monday :) I feel really lucky that for Canadian Thanksgiving, there will actually be 4 Canadians with me for dinner! We still won't be the majority, but we'll be close to half. I'm in search of a blender so I can make pumpkin pie, also a few other key ingredients but you know what the great thing about celebrating this holiday in another country is? All the stores are open Monday! And thank god, because there is just no room for a turkey in my fridge!

2. I have done A LOT of apartment hunting! Met a lot of really odd people, seen a lot of really dirty, dark, tiny places and for a while I was asking myself what was I thinking leaving this place? (Then I got home and was reminded pretty quick) but I found one which is in a nice area of the city, less than 10min bikeride to school, or of course I can also take the Metro. It's super close to Sagrada Familia and just as close to the beach! I have a little interior balcony off my room and only 2 roomates this time (brothers). I'm excited! It's also a bit cheaper than where I am now, so that's good as well. I'll send the address/photos once I get there Nov 1.

3. Dad gets here in T-1 hr! I'm going to pick him up from the bus stop and then it's the most beautiful day outside so we are going to go have a nice lunch somewhere outside in the sun. My roomate is having her BDay party here, so I'd prefer to go out where it's not so chaotic anyhow!

4. I booked a flight home! In February for pretty well the entire month. This is based on a few conditions 1) Jacqueline moves out of my room for that month 2) Air Canada doesn't go on strike AGAIN ;) But no, it was a decent enough deal and a lot cheaper to do it then rather than Christmas, so let's all agree to have Christmas in February?

Okay well that's about all I have time for now... more to come soon! I hope that everyone has a really wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner(s) because we have a lot to be thankful for!

<3B

Apartment hunting, Sant Antoni Library & Oh So Much More

Just incase anyone was concerned that maybe I had too much time on my hands, don't worry - you're not alone. Sometimes it's as though the more time you have, the more you waste and in the end the less productive and more lethargic you are. Yesterday I realized I had been doing more of this than I would like so today I woke up and got my *stuff* together! I found a library which I really really like and it's just around the corner basically in Sant Antoni. It's a new building, nicely designed and really really bright which is amazing because now that the sun's angle is changing my flat is really quite dark which doesn't help with my motivational issues. Anyhow - back to the point. I can't find who the architect is but here is what it looks like. The terrible news? In TRUE Spanish fashion, it's only open from 4pm-8pm most days of the week, except Weds, which means that tomorrow from 10-8 you'll know where to find me.
Dad comes on Saturday :) I'm still thinking about what we can do while he is here. The weather seems to be cooperating and staying quite nice so maybe a few day trips, maybe a few hikes that I haven't been on yet! Also there are lots more little cafes around that I need to try and am not really brave enough to go in by myself. So I'll drag him along for the not so wonderful Spanish coffee! I've also reorganized my bedroom in attempt to fit 2 single beds in.... it's kind of working. Also some friends from highschool will be in town for a week starting tomorrow so I'll see them at some point as well. It's going to be busy. Super busy!

I'm still looking for a new flat. I respond to A LOT of ads but seem to get about a 20% return email/call rate. It's discouraging sometimes. Rejection sucks hahah! I've seen quite a few though, and I've turned them all down because I really really have my heart set on a window which I can open and lets in some light. I know it can happen! It's also still only Oct 4, so I need to just calm down.

So yes, incase you didn't think I was crazy enough already - have no fear I continue to drive myself nuts, and because that just isn't enough, there's also my flatmates and work ;)

Sorry for the boring post, you could tell me what's going on in your exciting lives instead?

<3B