Resting it out with Pinxos, Paella, and Peddling

For those of you who have never been, Barcelona has an excellent public transportation system. There are plentiful buses, trams, trains, and a metro. But that’s not all- the city has recently started something called Bicing, a pick-up/drop-off bike system for locals. We tried to get bikes, but as we later found out, one needs to register and live in Barcelona to rent one. We are not sure if they are free or just really cheap, but they are great. There are Bicing stations all over the city, so you can pick one up in Plaza Catalunya, for example, and drop it off by the Barcelonetta Beach (as another example). I think every urban city should invest in this system because it is sustainable and fun. Almost everyone loves bike-riding, and it’s much faster than walking.

So anyway, on Wednesday, after a failed attempt to go to Montserrat (I was feeling sick) and successful attempt to sleep until noon, we decided it was time to hit the town. For lunch we had Pinxos, which are little breads with either tortilla or crab or jamon Serrano, or other yummy foods attached with a toothpick.

Full and happy, we walked around the whole city and took the metro to the beach. We strolled leisurely and Bret taught me how to skip stones. Then, we looked up at the distance and realized that there was a series of cable cars overhead. After looking at the map, we realized that we could take a car over the city to Montjuic, yet another part of Barcelona. The ride was lovely because it took us above the sea, and it was lots of fun to get such a nice bird’s eye view of Barcelona. After doing a few sprints around the mountain, we met up with my family again for some dinner. We walked around the whole city looking for places to eat, and finally settled on another Pinxos place in Old City close to the Cathedral. To end the night, we went to the newly designed hotel Ooomm, where we listened to live music and had Amaretto with Cream.

On Thursday, Bret was not feeling well, but he was determined to experience the town, so we rented tourist bikes (not bicings) and rode around the whole city. We have decided that the best way to see a city is by biking or mopedding. We had such a fun time biking through the Born and the Parc de la Ciudadella (where there are lakes, pathways, and a zoo). The sun felt so nice and warm, we decided it would be a perfect day for a paella on the beach. For those of you who don’t know, paella is a delicious Spanish rice made with peppers, squid, lobster, and shrimp. It was perhaps the most delicious paella I’ve had (next to my mother’s of course!), and the hot sun and crashing waves made the experience a completely hedonistic event.

To finish off our bike ride, we headed up through Poblenou, which is a quiet and quaint part of the city, and then Bret went back to nap while I wreaked havoc in the stores. Let me tell you that Catalonians are not known for their kindness towards strangers, and I experienced firsthand the wrath of the shop clerk. Ok, wrath might be a bit strong, but I was needlessly scolded in two stores for touching the merchandise. First, I went into a hat store, and after I had touched a hat, the shop assistant said: “Psst! No!!” and shook his head and wagged his finger at me. I felt like a naughty puppy, so I quickly scampered out to the open market. While there, I noticed a lovely antique typewriter. As I was testing it out, the seller came up to me and said: “Hey, what are you doing? That’s not a toy, you know.” Again, I cowered away. This was too much disciplinary action for a pleasant shopping trip. They could have put signs that said: No tocar, or gently told me that touching the merchandise was not allowed. But no, this is Barcelona, and you have to be a feisty little one to survive the stores. Once you know that, shopping is much better. I think, in fact, that Barcelona shopping is even better than New York shopping because in Barcelona, they have stores you can’t find anywhere else, while in New York, most stores are international chains. Sure, there are chains in Barcelona; in fact, my parents bought me some lovely outfits from the chain MANGO, but they also have little boutiques that aren’t all terribly expensive. I got this really cool felt necklace from a store in Gracia, the young, vibrant part of Barcelona. And there were some really fun pins and patterns in stores around Old City.

Anyway, we have been left visually and gastronomically satisfied. And we are ready for more international adventures. We hope, not only to hit up places around Europe, but even take advantage of the fact we are so close to Africa, and go to Egypt and Morocco. But for now, we’ll keep it quiet here in Northeast England. As they say in these parts: Ta-ra!

Bon Nadal: A taste of the good life

Feliz Navidad to all, or should I say Bon Nadal! Catalan is everywhere in this fiercely independent Spanish province. In the morning, we did the traditional Christmas thing: Mass. We went to the Cathedral Santa Maria del Mar in the Gothic neighbourhood called the Born. This is by far the coolest neighbourhood in Barcelona because there are romantic little winding alleyways and funky boutiques full of Spanish goodies. The Cathedral was unsurprisingly very impressive, with its thick stone beams aspiring to the heavens and colourful stained glass windows forming kaleidoscopes on our faces. The Mass surprisingly (and luckily) was relatively short, despite having been in Spanish, Catalan, and French.

After our holy pilgrimage, we took a quick look at my grandfather’s lovely old flat, which was in the neighbourhood. But since we were starving, we did not linger long, and went to my cousins,’ Stella and Amadeo’s, place shortly after. They live on the other side of town, in a posh area known as the Eixample. There, we soon gathered into a nice sized group, including my six cousins, my parents, and the family priest. This old Jesuit man was good friends with Stella’s mother, who passed away a few years ago. The family has remained close to him, and kindly invited him to spend Christmas with us. Only problem is he spoke mainly Catalan, my cousins mainly Catalan and Spanish, and Bret only English. But I think we managed quite well.

After passing around some presents, downing some wine, olives, and fois, we proceeded to have lunch (at around 3:30!). We sat around at a very grand table with a large crystal chandelier and rococo paintings on the walls. After the little old priest had recited part of a prayer/poem that he wrote (in Catalan), which I gathered had something to do with sunrise, baby Jesus, and Santa, we proceeded to feast. And what a feast it was! Light macaroni soup to start, followed by Escudella- a fabulous Spanish dish of cabbage/potato/carrot/pork/blood sausage/chicken. Wine poured generously from every angle. And then it came: the climax of the lunch: lobsters. While at first we attempted politeness, given the formal surroundings, by the second lobster, we had dumped our manners out along with the lobster shells. And by our fourth lobster, we were competing over who could get the most meat out of the claws. Stuffed and happy, we finished our meal with traditional turrones and some Champagne. 3 hours later, after our hard work of eating fine food and imbibing our vino tinto and bubbly, we headed back to the Alexandra for a well-deserved Christmas nap.

Barthelona: Sun is shinin, weather is sweet...

Well folks, Bret and I are back from our Catalonian adventure, and what a great time we had!

It was Bret’s first time on the Iberian peninsula, and I hadn’t been in 8 years, so I had forgotten quite a bit about it, like how sunny it is in Barcelona! Every day we were blessed with bright blue skies. The temperature, too, was glorious, usually in the mid-fifties. Despite this, wherever we went, we saw everyone bundled up with scarves and coats. Even most dogs were clad in their little canine sweaters! Barcelona is a very dog-friendly city. Actually, it’s a very pedestrian-friendly city, not only because of the weather, but also because the sidewalks are wide and there are many shops and cafes everywhere. We stayed in a wonderful little hotel called the Alexandra, right off the Passeig de Gracia, Barcelona’s “5th Avenue”. Everyday, we walked along the storefronts of Tous, Burberry, Carolina Herrera, and MaxMara.

But the shiny storefronts were hardly the only objects to dazzle our eyes on this trip. Barcelona was Antonio Gaudi’s design playground, and his art nouveau influence, with eccentric undulations and quirky mosaics abound. In fact, after greeting my parents and grabbing some tapas, we decided to head out to his famous cathedral La Sagrada Familia. It’s a fantastic and still unfinished structure which lights up gloriously at night. Across from the Sagrada Familia, there is a lovely park where children were playing futbol and ping pong. Like any cutting edge urban mecca, Barcelona is home to many bustling green spaces. My mom tells me that as a child when she would visit Barcelona for long periods of time, she would feed the pigeons in Plaza Catalunya and play in the Parc de la Ciudadella. These parks act as a sanctuary to garrulous groups, joyous (and tantrum-throwing) children, fetching pups, and romantic (frequently underage) couples.

Surrounding these parks, there is often a mixture of buildings: Parisian-style apartments, grand government structures, and sleek hotels. The old and the new comfortably co-exist in this cosmopolitan city. Ornate gothic churches sit alongside jagged-edged post-modern structures. The centuries compress within buildings, too. It is not uncommon to see an old 18th century exterior, with thick stones and dramatic doors, lead to a cleanly refurbished ultra-modern interior.

After appreciating the preliminary sights of Barcelona, Bret and I decided to head back to our own minimalist quarters at the Hotel Alexandra. As we lay in bed, we couldn’t help but notice that there was something curiously different about our setting aside from the obvious change in location from our English bedroom. Then we realised: unlike our bedroom in Durham which faces a noisy, busy street, this room faced an interior courtyard. We closed our eyes, and for the first time in 3 months on Dec 24, we had a truly silent night.

Hiking Scafell Pike

Greetings from Barcelona!

Hello all. Claudia and I arrived safely in Barcelona earlier this afternoon and have spent the evening touring the area a bit with Claudia's parents (some tapas, Sagrada Familia, and gorgeous walks through the city). Tonight, we'll probably be heading out to the Ramblas and will soon have pictures and stories. For now, I'm taking some time, while Claudia gets gussied up for tonight, to write about my hiking adventure last weekend (December 15th). I was able to convince a couple of mates (Jim and Tim; hereafter, TNJ) at work to head out to the tallest mountain in all of England, Scafell Pike, for a bit of a ramble.

For those of you reading who may not be familiar (i.e., roughly everyone reading this), Scafell Pike is located in the Lake District and rises roughly 1000 meters above sea level. So Scafell Pike is by no means an enormous mountain in the global circuit of high peaks, but since the base of the mountain is near sea level (unlike many large mountains) and the terrain can be steep and rocky, this was a very good challenge for a one-day hike. TNJ and myself got a good start at the mountain shortly after 9:30am. Without including non-negligible detours that were taken, we hiked roughly five miles to the top of the mountain. The entire hike was done over very clear conditions in areas where there was no cover by trees. This made the hike quite windy and picturesque (see photos of our ascent). Near the summit the terrain became challenging to the point where we were climbing at what seemed to be a 45 degree grade in somewhat icy conditions. In fact the final quarter mile or so was covered with a thin glazing of very slippery and solid snow, which we climbed using small rocks that protruded from the snow-buried terrain. But in the end, we perservered and made it to the top with just enough time to get back before sun down (at 3:30pm here in northern England!!!).

Though this hike was not the most challenging physical trial, the experience was enough to get me thinking of undertaking more ambitious future climbs. Around here the big talk about hiking seems to be the "Three Peaks Challenge," which is a challenge to hikers to venture to the tops of the highest peaks in Wales, England, and Scotland all in one day. While I may not be up for such an ambitous adventure at this stage, my current goal is to complete each respective hike separately in the near future and to soon make it out to the Alps for some additional hiking adventures.

a crisp winter evening!

Good evening everyone,
Bret and I have just returned from a night out to the Gala- our mini movie theatre here in Durham. They play two movies a day, and they change the movies every week. Last week we saw Darjeeling Ltd. (not bad) and tonite we saw Fred Claus (v cute). We use our Penn State ids to get a student discount, so the movie comes out to a bargain 3.60 ($7.40) instead of 5.00 ($10.20).

Anyway, so it was a gorgeous evening because it's now freezing, so the dew has frozen onto the sidewalks (pavement) and the grass, and everything looks like its been sprinkled with magic fairy dust! I just love it when it's cold and still, and you can smell the clean air. There was no wind, just beautiful stars, haze above the river, and glittery sidewalks. I miss the snow, but these brisk, tranquil nights are wonderful, too.

Aside from the gradual weather change, life has really picked up for us here in the Northeast. Bret is working on his research as intended, and I am temping for the time being. I've been working as a bookseller at Waterstone's and a receptionist at one of the University dorms. Both jobs are easy and a good way to pass the time, get out of the house, and earn a little money. But come January, I hope to get a permanent office job in Newcastle. We hope to move there in April when our lease runs out. We have realised that we enjoy urban life too much. Durham is quaint, but lacks cultural resources. If we lived in Newcastle, we'd have plenty of restaurants, shops, and gyms to choose from. Not to mention that Newcastle has both a bus and a metro system. It's much more action-packed and diverse. So if I get a job in Newcastle, essentially, we'd have a reason to move there. If I get a job in Durham, we'd "be stuck" in Durham cuz it wouldn't make sense to move to Newcastle if we both had to commute (the train is pricey). I'm sure either way it'll be fine. But it would be great to get out of these country 'burbs and move to a metropolis.

We are very excited for our upcoming future. We'll be going to Barcelona for Christmas (don't worry, I'll tell you all about it!). It's great cuz my cousins live there, and my other cousins are going there, and best of all, my parents are meeting us there too! Bret and I are excited to eat snails, rabbit, and octopus (which we don't get here in mince and mash land). A few months after Barcelona, we plan on going up to Edinburgh, the gorgeous and super hip city of Scotland. I was hoping to go to Russia this summer, but it looks like that one might have to wait...