Barcelona Adventures Part Tres: Cava & International Dinners

Alright, last Barcelona post, I promise.  Don't pretend like you don't want to read this.  We all want to live in a glorious European country that prides itself on cheap booze and ham sandwiches.  So off we go -- 


After my day of beach strolling and creepily watching old men exercise (I promise I'm mentally stable.  For the most part.  Ok, you're right, even I couldn't type that with a straight face), AW finally arrived from London!  We met virtually years ago through a mutually friend of ours who had studied in England, but I knew from my university in Boston, so it was so great to finally meet in real life! 


After a bumpy start (he missed his flight from London > Barcelona, and then I proceeded to have a panic attack until I was assured that he got another one), we spent Wednesday strolling around the Barri Gòtic, went to Catedral Santa María del Mar and Parc de la Ciutadella.  It was nice, and continued in the theme of relaxing, European wandering. 

I'm not sure what exactly AW is trying to accomplish here,
but I am confident that it was hilarious at the time.

We found some street art on the way to the park.
..and I have the mind of a 13-year-old boy.

Thursday was even better because, yes, there was wine.  Oh, joyous day!  Faithful readers, if you ever get the chance to visit Barcelona, please PLEASE take a day trip to Freixenet.  It takes all of 45 minutes on the train and you get a killer wine tour of the caves for only 6,30€.

That car is in the shape of a wine bottle.
These people know how to start a visit off right.

For those of you who don't know, cava is sparkling wine made in the Penedes region of Cataluña in caves.  HOW COULD I PASS UP THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET DRUNK IN A CAVE?  You're right, I couldn't.  At the end of our tour, they popped open a bottle of bubbly and gave us what appeared to be Ritz crackers, though I felt quite hoity toity eating them whilst sipping on my cava, so I'm convinced they're rich people crackers.  

I basically had to restrain my pinky from
shooting up when I held that glass.

But, wait! There's more after the jump.  (Is the suspense killing you?  I know it is.)

Barcelona Adventures Part Dos: Montañas y Playa

What's the best way to get over a painful hangover?  Walk up a giant ass mountain of course. The day after our vodka-gin-rum night of death, JMS, L & I decided to go to Montjuïc, a mountain in Barcelona with a castle (I know, we're up to here with fucking castles) and a gorgeous view of the city.  S decided to stay home because he couldn't bare any contact with sunlight after the previous night, and no one really wanted to be photographed considering we all looked (or at least felt) like we just got hit by a very large churro truck.  


So instead I give you lots of scenery photos!  They're nice.  Like them.  

There's that castle.
I know, you're just longing for a bungalow.

Good call on that tanning spot.

View #1 of Barcelona from  Montjuïc 

Pretty impressive, no?

Honestly, it was really nice to go up there, sit, and not think about anything.  I know that NYC has places like the top of the Empire State Building and views from the Brooklyn Bridge, but sometimes, amidst all the hustle, I think it can be pretty difficult to find a place where you can just sit down and be at peace.  Montjuïc was that place for me.  


There was another place too.  Read about it after the jump!

Barcelona Adventures Part Uno: ¡Hola tío!

As promised, I am kicking off Tuesday with a quick whirl around Barcelona!  A ramble down the Ramblas, if you will.  (Yes, I am aware of how terrible that pun is.  I already regret it, but I know you will all still love me, even in this state.)  

First thing to know about Barcelona:
They are so obsessed with their football (soccer) team that
they even have their own brand of chips.   

I should've known that my Barcelona trip would be good (and by good I mean completely absurd) from the very beginning because my flight was quite.. interesting to say the least.  I met a fellow traveler from Mexico who was going to Barcelona for a few hours to pick up his belongings before he went back to school in Switzerland. -- Reasons I love Europe:  You can say things like, "I'm just going to Dublin for the weekend!" -- Everything was great until he started talking about how he was smuggling drugs and then proceeded to tell the person in the seat next to me that I was his girlfriend and asked to sit next to me.  So I ended up spending my entire 7.5 hour flight with him.  


And it was actually pretty great!  We watched movies, he tried to flirt with the very gay flight attendant to get free booze (and sadly failed), and exchanged stories about our respective homelands.  Once we got to Barcelona, he helped me with all my stuff all the way until city center.  (Yay for batting my eyelashes and not having to carry heavy things.  Except RAWR! girl power all the way I totally could have done it myself.  But in the great words of Phoebe Buffay, "Oh, I wish I could, but I don't want to.")   


Once I got to S & L's place, I got to eat the yummiest Spanish lunch ever -- homemade paella.  Yes, I asked for the most typical Spanish dish ever.  Sue me.  That shit is good and you know it.  Shortly after, JMS, who I hadn't seen in 2 years finally came!  I kind of jumped on him like a spider monkey and didn't let go for a while. 

I didn't take a picture of L's paella but this one is equally as good!
(courtesy of Flickr user jlastras)

It was really after lunch that the craziness started.  Read more after the jump!

Friday Frenzy: Globetrotting Alpacas

This week's Friday Frenzy is brought to you by the letter H for hyper because I'M GOING TO BARCELONA, FRIENDS.    


That's right, at 7:05pm today, I will be overcoming the forces of gravity and watching what will probably be a god awful chick flick on my way to the land of tapas and cigarette smoke.  It's going to be legen -- wait for it, and I hope you're not lactose intolerant because the second half of that word is -- DARY.  


After visiting Spain twice, then living there for 6 months and traveling all over that ridiculous country, I'm so excited to be going back and not doing anything touristy.  I'm going to be visiting two of my amazing friends -- S & L -- who pretty much embody my ideal couple.  S is from Azerbaijan and L is from Spain.  They come from entirely different backgrounds, but they merge their cultures and constantly learn from each other.  They work like crazy and spend every penny they save on travel.  They've been to more places than I can even wrap my mind around and I'm so wildly jealous.  I live vicariously through them by stalking their Flat Stanley-esque photos on Facebook.  Judge me. 


They came to the BK for the first time back in October.  Here we are with my sister, RB, during a lunch break from the hell cave:

Clockwise from the left:  Me, RB, L, & S sitting down.

We here at Alpaca Clouds are broke off our asses, but certainly try not to be uncultured swine by zooming to unknown lands when we can.  Click the Read More button below to see where we've ventured!