Spain and All Its Weirdness

So I have less than 2 weeks left here in Barcelona which means that I am done traveling. Therefore I am taking this opportunity to share with you some of the weird things about Barcelona that never made it into any of my other blog posts. So here we go!

1. Cagatio

I didn't have the pleasure of learning about this tradition until just recently when Barcelona began gearing up for Christmas. Apparently there is a tradition where children will feed a log in the weeks leading up to Christmas, then they hit said log with a stick and it poops out gifts. Note it doesn't actually poop gifts. The parents just make the kids leave the room while they put out little gifts. I don't get it either. To go along with this are little figurines of men pooping. These figurines represent the fertility of Barcelona. A bit of a stretch but who am I to question the traditions of other cultures.

The adorable yet bizarre gift-pooping log

2. Meals

I've been in Spain for 3 1/2 months and I have not adjusted to their eating schedule. Breakfast occurs at the normal time usually somewhere between 8 and 10. Lunch is when things get wild. Lunch will not happen until around 2 and this is the big meal of the day. People eat 2 or 3 plates and then finish with some coffee. What with all this eating you wonder how can they possibly eat dinner at around 6:30 or 7. The answer; they don't. Dinner won't happen until between 9:00 and 10:00 at night. So here's my dilemma. I'm in class when I'm supposed to be eating my massive meal and I can't afford to eat a huge meal every day. So I'm stuck grabbing a sandwich around 12:00 and hoping that will hold me over until dinner; it usually doesn't.

3. Catalan

In Barcelona most people will speak at least two languages; Spanish and Catalan. I can probably say three things in Catalan; hello, goodbye, and merry Christmas. That's the best I can do because Catalan is weird. You know it's weird when I can't figure out how to properly pronounce cheese. From what I can tell it looks like someone combined French and Spanish and then randomly decided to shorten some Spanish words. If someone is talking to me I have no idea if they are speaking Catalan or Spanish. I can only differentiate the two when reading. I also discovered that my host mom has been mixing her Catalan and Spanish so at least now I know why I can't always understand her. 

4. Shoes

For some reason the Spanish will put a platform on just about any shoe. From flip flops to tennis shoes. I don't know why they just do and I think it looks ridiculous. It's not as if the people in Spain are abnormally short. They appear to be of average height, but I guess platform shoes are just a thing here in Europe. 

Why? Why is this a fashion trend

5. McDonald's

I wouldn't be an American if I didn't go into a McDonald's at least once while abroad and I can assure you it has happened more than once. First McDonald's in Spain, and Europe in general, are so fancy! Quite possibly fancier than Iggy Azalea. I've seen McDonald's with chandeliers and cute cafes in the front. Some have hardwood floors and two levels! But what really got me was the the chicken mcnugget meal only comes with 9 nuggets. There's no 10 piece McNugget in Europe. Apparently using 10 was good enough to use as a base for the metric system, but not good enough for European McDonald's.

Yes, this is a McDonalds

Adventure the Eighth: Oh Porto My Porto

Let me begin by saying that Porto, and Portugal in general, is underrated. Should you ever have the opportunity to visit Porto I highly recommend it. Everything is Porto is cheap; I believe I spent a grand total of 70 euros for three days in Porto. This included a winery tour and wine tasting, pub crawl with my hostel, two meals a day, and gifts. Besides Porto being ridiculously cheap it is an incredibly beautiful and relaxing city. For some reason I have a natural affinity for cities with rivers that run through them and Porto did not disappoint in that regard. The Rio Douro runs through the center of Porto out to the Atlantic ocean and is crossed by some huge bridges as well as playing host to cute ships that carry wine barrels. Porto is known for their delicious, and pretty strong, Port wines.

Part of the beauty of the trip was that there isn't anything to see in Porto, it's really a city that you take in and experience. That being said Porto is by no means boring. There was still plenty to do. Really, it means that we did a create-your-own tour rather than having to stick to a list of places to see. There were only three places that we knew of ahead of time. The first was the Majestic Cafe and the decor and hot chocolate lived up to the name. Our draw to the cafe was knowing that J.K. Rowling would sit there and write out the early outlines for Harry Potter. This knowledge led to a great deal of Harry Potter discussion throughout the trip. The second place was the Livaria Lello & Irmao; a really beautiful bookstore in the center of Porto. The final must-see place was the beach and Atlantic Ocean. There, despite 50 degree weather, we saw many surfers and stuck our feet in the ocean to discover that it was considerably warmer than we had anticipated.

By far this trip was my favorite. Not only do I love the city of Porto but it was smooth trip, for the most part, and I had some great company. There were only three of us, which seemed to be the perfect traveling number. So far if I had to choose a European city to live in I would, hands down, choose Porto. Barcelona is great, but it is too much of a city. Porto had that perfect combination of city mixed with rural/countryside feel. The people in Porto are also very friendly and speak excellent English. Apparently the Portuguese aren't really happy when people try to talk to them in Spanish so we were more than happy to stick with English.

The only problem came at the end of the trip. We learned that Porto's metro schedule is more similar to a train schedule than Barcelona's metro. In other words we arrived at the metro station to discover we would have to wait about 25 minutes for the next metro to the airport. We arrived at the airport 40 minutes before the flight left and had to sprint through the airport only to discover that the boarding line was still ridiculously long. You may be thinking, "40 minutes isn't ideal, but it takes you almost 40 minutes to check-in and get through security? What did you pack?" So let me explain. We flew Ryanair to Portugal which is very cheap, but also requires that you check-in online, print your ticket, and, if not from the EU, get the ticket stamped. So roughly 15 minutes were spent trying to find where we could get our tickets stamped since check-in for our flight had closed. The next 10 minutes were spent in security and running to our gate. But all in all a good trip and a great experience.

Adventure the Seventh: Americans Invade Granada

This past weekend my program took everyone on a trip to Granada. We spent three days touring the beautiful city and still hadn't even seen half of the city. Granada is smaller than Barcelona and looks like a small, stereotypical Spanish city. Narrow, cobblestone streets, white houses, random markets, all that good stuff. Side note; cobblestone streets may look very pretty but they are absolutely terrible to walk on. I may have spent more time tripping than actually walking.

Our time in Granada began shortly after we arrived at the hotel. We left for a walking tour of Granada where we learned about the history of Granada and saw various chapels and cathedrals. Here's a little tidbit. When the Jews either had to convert to Christianity or leave, those that chose to leave would take their house keys with them so no one could access their homes. Their is a museum now that displays all these keys. A relaxing afternoon of lunch, napping, and tea followed and then a few of us made our up the hills of Granada to catch the sunset over the royal city of Alhambra. From there we made our way back down to the city center for some delicious tapas. One of my favorite things about Granada is that if you order a drink you get a free tapa. So for dinner we did a "tapa crawl" and I was able to have my dinner for only 7 euro!

Our second day in Granada began with a tour of the Generalife gardens in Alhambra. Alhambra was essentially a royal city. The kings and queens lived there and would use the Generalife gardens as an escape from the city life. Besides flowers and fountains there are also hunting grounds in Generalife and a few smaller palaces. Really the only downside to Alhambra is that it sits above the city. Great views, but lots of walking straight up hill to reach Alhambra.

We rounded out our second day in Granada with another delicious tapas dinner, provided by our program, and a flamenco performance. Granada is located in Andalusia which is where flamenco originated so the performance was amazing. Once again we had to hike to get there but it was well worth it. The performance was done in a small studio built into the side of the mountain and lasted about an hour. If you have never seen flamenco before I would describe it as tap dancing with attitude.

The final day in Granada was very relaxing. We didn't have to be anywhere until noon which meant that everyone slept in, but somehow we were still very tired. We did a quick walk through of Albaicin, the Arab Quarter of Granada, before we had some free time before meeting back at the hotel to check-out and head to the airport. A few friends and I chose to simply wander around Granada and do a little shopping before grabbing a quick lunch and wandering back to the hotel. Every time I travel in Spain I find a new reason to leave the country. No matter how much I am missing fall in Wisconsin and football and will miss snow and winter it will be very difficult for me to leave such a beautiful and vibrant place.

Adventure the Sixth: Oui Oui I Survived Paris

Ahh Paris, the city of lights, love, and roundabouts. There are probably more roundabouts in one mile of road in Paris, than there are total in the United States. I was incredibly excited to be in Paris, until we had to take the metro. I'm not against public transportation, but some of the Paris metro stations look like something straight out of a horror movie. Also the stops and starts of the train are terrible. Even if you hold on to something you risk falling and creating a domino effect throughout the train. My excitement dropped a little bit more when I realized that French is really not that similar to Spanish. Whoever told me that was a liar. Knowing Spanish was not very helpful when trying to order food or talk to anyone at all. None of us could read/pronounce the food we wanted so we played the pointing game, where everything is made up and the points DO matter. Haha get it? I really shouldn't blog when I'm tired and sick.

Day 1 (Friday)

We left the apartment at 8:30 a.m. to give us time to get a quick breakfast and then get in line to see the catacombs. Even though the catacombs don't open until 10 we wanted to get a good spot in line which was a good idea. We got in fairly quickly and it was the only site that we paid to see, but we got an under 26 discount so all was well. A few facts on the catacombs; there are 6 million people buried in the catacombs from the days when France began closing cemeteries due to health concerns. Those who had died in convents and hospitals are buried there as well. The best way to describe the catacombs is with a picture so here you go.The walk through the catacombs takes about 45 minutes and after that time we were incredibly excited to get above ground. 

From the catacombs we headed to the Eiffel Tower. I had always known that the Eiffel Tower was big, but never realized just how big until I was standing in front of it. It's a little overwhelming to see the Eiffel Tower for the first time and we got blessed with a beautiful day so any picture was perfect.

We chose not to go up the Eiffel Tower because the line looked fairly long and the cheap option was to take the stairs all the way up which is roughly 1,000 steps. The view would have been spectacular, but I would not have been able to walk the rest of the day so I sacrificed the view for being able to walk around Paris. 

After lunch we headed to Champs-Elysées which is the French equivalent of 5th avenue. Basically this means we walked up fairly quickly because we already knew we couldn't afford to even look at the stores we were passing. Luckily the Arc de Triomphe is on Champs-Elysees so we gazed on this great monument for a while before wandering the opposite direction in search of the Louvre. For those who are art aficionados I apologize. I know very little of art and therefore found the Mona Lisa and then quickly departed to return to the apartment so I could rest and shower. 

My first dinner in France was about as French as I was willing to get. We ordered escargot for appetizers, which were surprisingly good. They were pretty garlicky which makes you forget that you are eating a snail. I ordered quiche, mostly because I knew what it was and I could pronounce it, but I tried a bit of the duck confit that others ordered. The restaurant we chose also happened to be close to Moulin Rouge so I snapped a few pictures before we headed out to get some rest. 

Day 2 (Saturday)

While a few others chose to rise early and do a little more shopping on Champs-Elysées I chose to let my wallet and body rest and sleep in. I woke up around 9:30ish and leisurely got ready before my friend Abby and I went to explore the area around the apartment. We found a big park that was very popular with runners. We were a little out of place just walking so we grabbed a croissant and headed back to the apartment to meet up with everyone else so we could pack up and head to Notre Dame. Sadly, the novelty of going into the cathedrals is wearing off, so really all I could think about was The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Once we finished we wandered down the street to enjoy some crepes and then headed over to the Jewish Quarter, which if you're looking for anything vaguely Jewish is not the place to be. We saw quite a few yamakas, but otherwise we would never have guessed that we were in the Jewish Quarter. After a little more wandering we headed back to the shuttle that would take us to the airport. We arrived much earlier than we had planned, which worked out well as three of our carry-on bags were thoroughly searched when going through security. The three of us had unwisely chosen the line with a woman who would pull a bag that had any liquids regardless of the bottle size. 

All in all France was fun. I enjoyed seeing the sites of France, but most of the time I felt like I was in the rich area of New York City, except instead of rude people speaking English there were rude people speaking French. Personally, I prefer Barcelona over France for three reaons; 1) I can speak the language, 2) The metros in Barcelona are much nicer, and 3) Everything is cheaper. We struggled to find food for under 20 euro. I doubt that I will ever return to Paris unless I learn to speak French or suddenly win the lottery and have cash to burn.  

Adventure the Fifth: Fireworks, Castles, and Girona

Today marks the end of my fourth week in Spain and so far it has been packed with activity, until now. Even though, thanks to La Merce, I only had classes on Monday and Tuesday I still had an incredibly calm and relaxing weekend. I began the long weekend by going to one of the free concerts that are part of La Merce and exploring the barrio known as Raval. The best way to describe Raval; hipster. Seriously there were beanies everywhere. Sometime I would like to go back to that barrio when it is less crowded. Being in the area after a concert, when no one has to work the next day is not always the best idea. Wednesday only brought on bigger crowds as I and a few friends ventured to Placa de Jaume to see some amazing human castells. Yes, the castells are always interesting, but what I really learned that day was that the Spanish really have no respect for personal space. Riding the metro that day gave me a taste of what it was like to be packed in like sardines. It was really terrible! Despite the fact that the metro doors couldn't close people still thought it was a good idea to shove their way onto the metro. In the evening it was time to head to Placa Espanya for the closing fireworks show where I was, once again, met by crowds and people who were perfectly comfortable with practically standing on top of me. But the fireworks show was spectacular; considerably better than any 4th of July show I've seen in the states, and I've been to Boston for 4th of July! The fireworks were choreographed to the music and a film on the history of Catalonia would play in between the explosions. I wish I could describe the experience, but it really was a "You had to be there moment". Also there was a pole in the middle of my view so videos didn't really turn out that great. Thus ended my experience with La Merce. A wonderful week full of fire, explosions, free concerts, and no classes.

Thursday and Friday were spent relaxing and, quite frankly, doing nothing. I successfully found the library in my barrio and the store that sells all the American goodies such as peanut butter and Mac & Cheese. Friday was spent laying on the beach and doing nothing else. Now that is what I call living the good life. Saturday brought a little more adventure as I headed to a city about 45 minutes outside of Barcelona called Girona. All we knew was that we were leaving Barcelona at 12:45 and returning from Girona at 9:00, otherwise we had no plans. No idea of what to do in Girona, no guidebook, no nothing. So keeping that in mind here are a few stories/thoughts on the things we saw while in Girona.

University of Girona: I would transfer there if I could. I'm pretty sure one of the buildings used to be a castle. Essentially it's the Spanish version of Hogwarts

Jewish Quarter: Kind of a let down. Honestly I didn't know I was in the Jewish quarter until we walked past the Jewish history museum. I was hoping for restaurants with latkes and stores that had recipes for matzo ball soup. Instead I got a store that sold t-shirts that said Girona with a picture of a menorah on it.

Cathedral: Big. That's it just big. It cost 7 euro to go in so we were content with just observing the exterior.

Fashion Show: I don't think we were supposed to be there. It just looked like a plaza with a bunch of vendors until a friend pointed out that the red carpet I was standing on was actually the runway. So we quickly had some free snacks and then left.

Hiking Trails; Just like any other trails except these were in Spain. Although at some point we did end up in someone's backyard. To be fair that is where the trail led us.

Great Wall of Spain: I'm sure there is a real name for the castle/wall but I don't know what it is. We dubbed it The Great Wall of Spain because at some point we looked to the left and saw the wall and castle towers continuing on. We got a little adventurous and chose to climb the castle wall and shimmy around a gate and then jump a small gap just to reach some small temple like thing. Not really sure how legal these activities were, but there were no posted signs telling us what not to do so I assume we didn't break any serious laws.

Adventure the Fourth: La Merce

Beginning on Friday the 19th and officially ending on Wednesday is the festival of Barcelona's patron saint known as La Merce. The festival has concerts, parades, fireworks, and other fire related festivities. There were multiple events that I knew would not be legal in America. My experience with La Merce began very calmly; watching fireworks from the beach. Nothing spectacular, just a simple fireworks show. From the festival would get a little more intense. On Saturday night I, along with a few friends, headed to Placa Jaume to watch the fire parade. However, the placa was packed and we arrived late so we didn't get to see much. But no worries, as we left in search of food we ran into the parade! Coming straight at us were various goblin and dragon looking floats that had at one point been "breathing" fire! We would run into the parade a few more times as we attempted to follow back streets to find our way out. Once I got over the initial shock of being face to face with a smoking dragon-like creature being in the parade was very fun. There were drummers with each float and confetti being thrown right and left. Finally, our quest to find food ended at NAP pizzeria. Yes, I am very aware that pizza is not Spanish, but it was clearly the place to be. This little place is just a hole in the wall that anyone could easily walk past. We had to wait 40 minutes for a table but it was well worth the wait. The pizza's are about 11 inches and baked in a brick oven. Quite possibly one of the best things I have eaten in Spain and for only 6 euro! Thus concludes my second night of La Merce.

The third day of La Merce only increased in crazy fire related activities. For Sunday meant el Correfoc, the fire run. Of the whole festival I was most looking forward to this day; until I actually saw what happened. Essentially, people dressed as devils or dragons (I couldn't tell) hold giant sparklers as they go walking down the street. That doesn't sound too bad. Just watch the people wander down the street with sparklers. Coming from a state where buying and shooting off fireworks is perfectly legal I wasn't concerned. Then I watched what was supposed to happen. People who participate in the run crowd around those carrying the sparklers and jump and dance under the sparklers. For those who participated it was recommended that clothing be thicker, hair was covered, and either glasses or goggles should be worn to protect the eyes. So I came prepared with my NCC hoodie and bought a pair of fake glasses to protect my eyes. An hour and half later I was jumping and dancing underneath the sparks and hoping that none of my clothing would get singed. All went well and there are only the smallest of burn marks on the hood of my sweatshirt. All in all I'd say it was a pretty good start to La Merce.  

Adventure the Third: From Protests to Beaches

On Thursday while everyone in America remembered 9/11, Catalonia also looked into the past, but the commemoration of this day is not somber like the U.S.  El Día Nacional de Cataluña is meant to celebrate the past and is also used as an opportunity for the people of Catalan to express their desire to be independent from Spain. All day people were in the streets with flags for Catalan independence. Along some streets people wore red and yellow and lined up to form the stripes of their flag. Later that evening the people formed a giant "V" to represent the victory that they will have when Catalonia is finally independent. Rather than stick out like a sore thumb I figured I had better get myself a flag and so I did. For 5 euro I bought a flag that I wore as a cape for the rest of the day. Probably not the best idea because of the heat and humidity but after a while you get used to being sweaty.

Besides the chanting and flags it is also a Spanish tradition to build castell's or human towers at festivals. It is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. There is a large cluster of people below serving as support. From there each level is formed by people simply climbing up. Generally, those at the top are children so that the tower doesn't get too heavy. The ones I saw were about 4 stories high! Towards the end of my stay here my program is putting on a castell workshop. Should I choose to participate and be a member of the human tower I am fairly certain that I will be doing most of the climbing up since I am so tiny.

The next two days (Friday and Saturday) was spent relaxing at the beach. A few hours in I realized that I was swimming in the Mediterranean Sea! How amazing is that! It was a perfect day. We got to the beach around 12:30 and left a little before 6. The waves at the beach were perfect and constantly rolling. The only downside; salt water. When the bigger waves came they would pick me up, set me back down, and then I would hover for a few seconds as the water went back to a normal level. I never quite got the hang of this so every time the wave would set me down I would try to touch the bottom and realize I couldn't. This sent me underwater and spluttering and trying to spit out as much salt water as I could. Both were still wonderful days, although Saturday was considerably colder and cloudy.

In the evenings we headed to Placa Espanya to see the Font Mágica, a beautiful fountain show that uses colors and music. Directly behind the fountain is the National Museum of Art which is a beautiful building especially at night when everything is lit up. Also near the placa is a shopping mall that used to be a bull fighting arena, bull fighting is illegal in Barcelona. You can go up to the top of the arena and have a beautiful view of the placa, fountain, and museum! My host mom kept telling me the view was spectacular and she was right! Barcelona just keeps getting more and more beautiful every day!