Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Baptized - Barcelona Style

Last weekend, eight women ventured to spend a three/four day weekend in Barcelona! That should be enough said about our trip but I will explain a little more! We skipped the Picasso and much of the Gaudi and instead focused on the nightlife, beach, and food! 

After a short flight, we landed and met up with Shelly at the Market.  It was a wonderful place that we visited the following day. Tapas, fresh fruit, and smoothie! So much meat and seafood (much of which was still moving). 



As you will notice, there is a large gap in my pictures! I didn't carry my camera with me most of the time so I have pictures when we first arrived and then sitting on the beach on Sunday! It was raining when we got to Barcelona so we spent some time in our apartment drinking some wine and getting ready to go out. 

We wandered the city and came across some great Tapas, Sangria, and weird old men.  Then met up with a friend of a friend and all of his friends for a drink and then finally grabbed dinner. We ended up at a club called CatWalk.  The music was awesome and we danced the night away! 

After a late night we slept in and made some eggs and bacon for breakfast while we waited for Nicole to arrive. Once she got there we wandered the city a bit more, returned the the market, and enjoyed the sunshine. Anna and I headed to the police station, as we were baptized in Barcelona by being robbed.  And once we arrived at the police station we discovered that it is a great place to meet other tourists! 

After getting ready, having a fabulous birthday dinner for Anna's BIG 2-0! We surprised her with a cake and some Cava! Then we were ready for our second night out.  This time we were going to see a DJ of some sort with that friend of a friend. Instead of the DJ, we ended up seeing an AWESOME Ramones coverband. As it turned out the original drummer from the Ramones was playing and the lead singer was from the Misfits. It was another amazing night of dancing!

Sunday we headed to the beach. There was napping, some Swedish cider (absolutely delicious!), and some time in the sea. It was wonderful to be on a beach. There were people constantly wondering around selling everything from body shawls (which sounded like body shots) and my favorite man who was saying co-co-co--coa-nut. In a way that you couldn't figure it out until you saw what he was actually selling. We also decided to get some matching henna tattoos so we could remember our wonderful weekend until it is washed away!


The Birthday Girl!


We ended the weekend with a delicious meal and some more sangria.  We walked back and chatted in the apartment for the rest of the night. It was really a great weekend with some great girls! I am so glad we got to get in a big trip together before we all start to head off in different directions! 

Monday, June 20, 2011

Sometimes life doesn't seem real

My Studio apartment for the week



I really am never leaving

View from my door

The garden

The house


More of the yard

I am in St. Tropez for the week working!  I am going to ride a bike to the beach and spend the day between the sand and sea! 

Thursday, June 9, 2011

EXTREME Weekend

This weekend will go down as one of my favorite of the year. My friend Maggie from university (I am soo European now) came down from Germany to explore Zurich a bit and most importantly head up to Interlaken for the weekend. After a wonderful Canadian dinner, filled with too much sugar and a game of charades about Canada, Maggie (friend from university..again sooo European), Kathryn, Anna, and I took a train to Interlaken, a popular destination for outdoor adventures in Switzerland.

Shortly after arriving and getting to our hostel, we were on our way to go paragliding! A little terrified and really excited we were giggling our way up the mountain in a car full of people. We pick our guides and headed to our take off spot, seen above. 

After finding a few ways to release our nervous feelings, we were strapped in. My guide asked me if I can run and I said yes, but I usually don't start flying after running for a little while so I am not sure how this will go. He laughed and we started running. And by running a mean we jogged a few steps and then couldn't touch the ground any more. It was simple and absolutely amazing!

View from the sky


The entire experience was absolutely amazing! I am so glad we did it! I really want to do it again all over the world! We were proud of ourselves and headed off to have a delicious wrap and a beer in celebration! 


After we finished the first attempt of being outdoorsy of the day, we headed off to some waterfalls. Along the hike we saw a few here and there.  It was another gorgeous view in the utopia which is known as Switzerland. 

Now, we arrived at the waterfalls and were a little annoyed we had to pay to get in. However, after go up the caves that have been cut next to these waterfalls. It was unbelievable. There was talk of negative ions creating positive vibes. It is totally true. The feel in the caves was amazing and beautiful.  I also felt like it was the environment that Disneyland tries to recreate, and let me say, their effort is appreciated but it just can't compete with the real thing. 

Maggie hanging out in the "weeds"

Kathryn wanted to befriend a cow on our hike.

In the caves!



Despite the positive energy we were all experiencing, Kathryn took a little fall. There was blood but she is slowly recovering. Luckily, that was the only real injury for the weekend!

After our big day, we headed back to our tent hostel and ran into some people from Zurich (really small world). We headed out to dinner with them for some delicious Mexican food! Soooo good! I wouldn't have guessed it! Margaritas and a burrito so it was the perfect meal to end the day. We headed to the hostel's party afterwards! 

After a late night, we got up for our last sport of the weekend.  Whitewater rafting. I was more nervous about this than I was for paragliding. This time, we were a key part of the process of surviving. They kept talking about people falling off and what to do and not to panic and watch out for rocks because they can really hurt you. All the things you know but still scary to hear about. 

As it turns out, this is also not as scary as you think it is going to be.  We swam in the 5 degree water and ended in a gorgeous lake.  I am so lucky to have such amazing friends and absolutely loved this weekend...

But wait, it isn't over! After getting back into Zurich, we met up with some of the other girls (and one guy) to experience blind dining. There are a few restaurants around the world, the first one was in Zurich. It is an experience worth having if you have one by you.  You lock up your belongings when you get to the restaurant, look at the menu, and then are guided into the restaurant by your waiter.  Our waitress, Rita, was blind and they employ a mostly blind wait staff.  

After being directed to your seat, you order your drinks and food.  There were 8 of us there so we established where everyone was sitting and how far away from one another you are.  Usually your eyes will find something to focus on, but there was no way to see anything at all. You have to feel for your cup, plate, knife, and fork.  We found ourselves continuing to talk with our hands. I started to close my eyes at times just because it was easier than trying to focus. The food was okay, but it is the experience that made the dinner! 

We ended the weekend at our favorite bar, Oliver Twists with some darts and a few games of giant Jenga. It was hands down one of my favorite weekends full of overcoming fears, too many laughs, and some of the most amazing people I know!