The semester is finally coming to an end. Im excited to be done the never ending work of school and but depressed about leaving Barcelona. However, I am not leaving Europe though, Im going to be going on a two week backpacking tour with Metzler and Chris. We leave Barcelona the 2nd and fly to Milan, then were off to Venice and Switzerland. After we planning on heading up north towards Paris, Brussels, Germany, France and Finally back to Barcelona. It an ambious journey but it will be well worth the trouble.
Throughout the semester I've really enjoyed my stay in the city. It has been more then I could every imagine, I've meet alot of unique people and had some great experiences which I will never forget. The unique bar, clubs, adventures around the city, especially Go-Cars with Dev Dawg. We only managed to almost get hit a couple times as well as making a few illegal turns. I could nt of lucked out with a better group, thats probably the reason why I've enjoyed my stay.
Navigating around the cities I've visited has been a challenge in itself, Morrocco was by far the most difficult while Bilbao and Barcelona were the easiest. There are two ways to navigate around the city, well actually three. One, to have the natural talent to just go around the city;two, to be able to look at a map and navigate; and lastly, to navigate by landmarks. Of course, I'm in the last category, I never really attempted to look at a map. I hate to look like a tourist.
Anyways this four month vacation will be missed greatly as well as everyone that is spent time with. I have no regrets on from this semester. I hope that writting this blog a week early will not jinx myself, but well see.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Impossible Morocco...
Alright for our third field trip we went to Morocco, Africa. I first imagined Morocco to be like every other city in Africa that I have seen in a movie, run down, without order and scary, but Morocco was very different. It wasnt a third world country, like I thought. They had electricity, plumbing, etc. it may of not been the best but they still had it. What fascinated me most about Morocco was the craft of the goods. Everything was still made by hand, all fabrics, luggage, jewelry, clothing, I mean everything. It was really unique to still see a community that still used the two best tools on earth, hands.
The Moroccan cuisine was very interesting, I'd say. At first it was amazing but by the end you got sick of the same food for breakfast lunch and dinner. Now dont get me wrong it was very good but I just got tired of the food.
The city itself was by far the most interesting city I'd probably ever experience. No because of the architecture, sure it was beautiful, but it was an addition to the fascinating urban spraw of the city as a whole. There really isnt any order to the city but this is what makes the city so beautiful. The only dissapointment are the amount of satallite dishes on the roof tops, that the only criticism as a whole. It just distracted from the picturesque view, but you have to have your tv somehow.
The city is beautiful but impossible to navigate, and when I say impossible I mean IMPOSSIBLE. Do not try to navigate your way around the city, you should always have a guide that is a native of the area take you around the city. When our tour guide's newphew took a few of us for last minute shopping, he went off the run an errand while we were negociating for some blankets, when we came out he wasnt there. I have never felt so lost in my life but he eventually came back to resucue us.
It wouldnt be hard to negociate around the city but there isnt really any maps to give. There are too many turns, tunnels, and endless roads to navigate without being a native. But if your feeling adventourious, I believe there is a way to do but I never tried. Chris, Clemson's crit, says their is a way to navigate the city but youll have to ask him how to do it cause I have no idea. If you let me go wonder off in the city for 2 minutes, you would never find me and I would probably be living in a corner or something.
All in all Morocco is a truely eye opening city and if you can ever visit the city I would but just make sure you have a trustworthy and reliable guide, not saying we had a bad one. Mo Mo was the best, he always looked out for us and helped us whenever we needed it. He showed us some great places, where alot of us got some really cheap gifts, and he really helped to open our eyes to see how beautiful the city is for what is can offer.
Our hotel, well more of a palace to us, was tremendous. We had heigh ceilings, mosaic tiles, fountains, interior courtyards, lavish beds and baths to name a few. We had this massive complex for only 20 of us. I wish I could remember the name by I cant, it was a joy to stay at this hotel, all the staff and food was great.
The Moroccan cuisine was very interesting, I'd say. At first it was amazing but by the end you got sick of the same food for breakfast lunch and dinner. Now dont get me wrong it was very good but I just got tired of the food.
The city itself was by far the most interesting city I'd probably ever experience. No because of the architecture, sure it was beautiful, but it was an addition to the fascinating urban spraw of the city as a whole. There really isnt any order to the city but this is what makes the city so beautiful. The only dissapointment are the amount of satallite dishes on the roof tops, that the only criticism as a whole. It just distracted from the picturesque view, but you have to have your tv somehow.
The city is beautiful but impossible to navigate, and when I say impossible I mean IMPOSSIBLE. Do not try to navigate your way around the city, you should always have a guide that is a native of the area take you around the city. When our tour guide's newphew took a few of us for last minute shopping, he went off the run an errand while we were negociating for some blankets, when we came out he wasnt there. I have never felt so lost in my life but he eventually came back to resucue us.
It wouldnt be hard to negociate around the city but there isnt really any maps to give. There are too many turns, tunnels, and endless roads to navigate without being a native. But if your feeling adventourious, I believe there is a way to do but I never tried. Chris, Clemson's crit, says their is a way to navigate the city but youll have to ask him how to do it cause I have no idea. If you let me go wonder off in the city for 2 minutes, you would never find me and I would probably be living in a corner or something.
All in all Morocco is a truely eye opening city and if you can ever visit the city I would but just make sure you have a trustworthy and reliable guide, not saying we had a bad one. Mo Mo was the best, he always looked out for us and helped us whenever we needed it. He showed us some great places, where alot of us got some really cheap gifts, and he really helped to open our eyes to see how beautiful the city is for what is can offer.
Our hotel, well more of a palace to us, was tremendous. We had heigh ceilings, mosaic tiles, fountains, interior courtyards, lavish beds and baths to name a few. We had this massive complex for only 20 of us. I wish I could remember the name by I cant, it was a joy to stay at this hotel, all the staff and food was great.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Gerona field trip
For our history field trip we went to Gerona for the day, we really didnt have any specific goal for Gerona but its a city similar to Bilbao except it kind of faced away from the river and was focused more on the city then the actual river. Visiting the city was fun because we got to walk around the city and actually experience it and attempt to navigate through the city which was easy because the river was basically the center point of the city so you always knew where you were. The river was much more used verus Bilbao, there were more footbridges across the river so you experienced it alot more. As part of our trip we got to visit RCR's firm. Its an award winning firm located somewhere near Gerona, but the work they produce is amazing, they are currently renovating their office into a cultural center for the city. It was really interesting to visit a firm while they were working, everything is this building related to the past and was designed beautifully. It was consisted of mostly steel and they choose steel due to the past life of the site. It used to be an steel mill. Even the table were design beautifully, the cantalevered about 12 feet from the wall. I cant even explain the building, I dont want to butcher the master piece. But its an amazing building, it shows you that amazing architecture does nt have to be flashy, only thought out and well articulated.
Bilbino, and Rioja
For our mini field trip we went to Bilbao and Rioja. Both places were really unique and different from themselves. Of the two places Rioja was my favorite, not because we got to visit some incredible vineyards and drink wine at 10am but because we travel in a bus through the country. The views were tremendously beautiful, but I only remember parts of the views cuase I kept on passing out.
Bilbao was an amazing city, there was tremendous architecture like the Guggenheim, which Bilbao is known for and at the same time it had some amazing night life. The river that ran through the city was by far the most interesting thing about the city and the way people used it. Unlike Girona where the city kind of turn the back to the river, Bilbao enmphaises the river and really respects it.
Bilbao was also a relatively easy city to navigate around, there was alot of rememorable art and architecture in the city. Im a visual guy so when theres a lot of art and architecture around I can creat reference points around the city. Unlike Barcelona there really are these wavy crazy streets that can lead you to no where, it was pretty straight forward and organized on an almost grid pattern. For once in a city I knew where we were and other people didnt.
Guggenheim is an amazing building, I have never really been a fan of his work but I was really impressed with his design, but as for the art work being displayed I was not but thats another topic. This building basically put Bilbao on the map and thats partially why I respect the building so much in addition to the way the building functions and is organized with the art partions. One of my biggest issues with museum is that they always try to stick more art work per square feet then you can actually see and the way you look at the work creates this zig zag unorthodox pattern. However the Guggenheim really worked for me, I felt like there was enough art work that was properly positioned throughout the museum.
Rioja was a real treat for myself, I got to see the scenic views and some amazing vineyards. We visited Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry and Santiago Calatrava's vineyard. Each one was amazing in themselves but I think when compairing wine and the architecture Zaha Hadid's vineyard took first prize. Now dont get me wrong Gehry and Calatrava's vineyards were amazing but I felt that they were celebrating the architecture and not the wine.
Zaha Hadid's vineyard was this quant building hidden in the corner and the vineyard itself was this rustic old establishment that still does everything by hand which fascinated me the most. Gehry's vineyard was completely modernized and had no connection with the past except for the old buildings and one tiny historic part; which I didnt like too much because the door heights were only like 6 feet tall and me being over 6 feet tall drilled my head on the door which did not feel good. Calatrava's vineyard was a cross breed between the other two. The Zaha vineyard still used the same underground tunnels where the penicillin still grew on the walls, still made the barrels by hand, still used the old barrels as kiln for the fire and still had the traditional technique of making wine which you could taste in the wine. Both the red and white wines were amazing. Even the building Zaha Hadid design adhirred to the theme, it was a modern building that wrapped around the previous wine stand that they used in the old days. It was a truly unique vineyard.
Bilbao was an amazing city, there was tremendous architecture like the Guggenheim, which Bilbao is known for and at the same time it had some amazing night life. The river that ran through the city was by far the most interesting thing about the city and the way people used it. Unlike Girona where the city kind of turn the back to the river, Bilbao enmphaises the river and really respects it.
Bilbao was also a relatively easy city to navigate around, there was alot of rememorable art and architecture in the city. Im a visual guy so when theres a lot of art and architecture around I can creat reference points around the city. Unlike Barcelona there really are these wavy crazy streets that can lead you to no where, it was pretty straight forward and organized on an almost grid pattern. For once in a city I knew where we were and other people didnt.
Guggenheim is an amazing building, I have never really been a fan of his work but I was really impressed with his design, but as for the art work being displayed I was not but thats another topic. This building basically put Bilbao on the map and thats partially why I respect the building so much in addition to the way the building functions and is organized with the art partions. One of my biggest issues with museum is that they always try to stick more art work per square feet then you can actually see and the way you look at the work creates this zig zag unorthodox pattern. However the Guggenheim really worked for me, I felt like there was enough art work that was properly positioned throughout the museum.
Rioja was a real treat for myself, I got to see the scenic views and some amazing vineyards. We visited Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry and Santiago Calatrava's vineyard. Each one was amazing in themselves but I think when compairing wine and the architecture Zaha Hadid's vineyard took first prize. Now dont get me wrong Gehry and Calatrava's vineyards were amazing but I felt that they were celebrating the architecture and not the wine.
Zaha Hadid's vineyard was this quant building hidden in the corner and the vineyard itself was this rustic old establishment that still does everything by hand which fascinated me the most. Gehry's vineyard was completely modernized and had no connection with the past except for the old buildings and one tiny historic part; which I didnt like too much because the door heights were only like 6 feet tall and me being over 6 feet tall drilled my head on the door which did not feel good. Calatrava's vineyard was a cross breed between the other two. The Zaha vineyard still used the same underground tunnels where the penicillin still grew on the walls, still made the barrels by hand, still used the old barrels as kiln for the fire and still had the traditional technique of making wine which you could taste in the wine. Both the red and white wines were amazing. Even the building Zaha Hadid design adhirred to the theme, it was a modern building that wrapped around the previous wine stand that they used in the old days. It was a truly unique vineyard.
My wrong turn........
Alright, getting lost is alot harder now, so unfortunately unless I start to get lost more my blog's theme is going to change to navigation around cities and my adventures in general. But I forgot that I did manage to get lost in Prague but it was only for a split second. Mad Cow, henna, tuna, rican and myself were walking along the river back to our hostel and we all bet metzler that we could get home in 15 minutes, so metzler was walking at a quick pase and the rest of just were walking at a leisurely pase, and for some reason I was leading the group. Metzler decided to walk on this narrow sidewalk that was probable 2 feet wide with people walking both ways on it. I thought Id take the safe root and walk through this coutyard or well I thought it was a courtyard but it wasnt it was just a dead end and since I was leading the other 3 followed. We looked like a real bunch of tourist we walked into this area and two second later we walked right out. It just shows you that a street that looks like it could go through, may indeed not be a road that goes through.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Spring Break, Prague
Prague.......what can I say about it. Nothing but a truly amazing city, I dont think theres one person who cannot have fun in this city even if your not in the city center. I knew this trip was going to be amazing when out of the blue Ryan, Matt and Dean appeared out of no where [these are my friends from Rome], in addition Mary, Anna and Shelia were also staying in the same hostel. In this hostel there were 11 Catholic students. With all our friends in Prague, this trip would be amazing.
One of the best moves we made as a group [Henna, Tuna, Rican, Mad Cow and myself] was to stay in an 8 person room, now this may sounds stupid but if you end up having cool roomates then you wont forget the experience. When we arrived our roommate, who we had no idea was, wasnt in the room so we could meet him. We ended up going to bed before he got home and got up before him but when we got up we all didnt know what to think of him, we thought he was in the military or something because he had neatly folded clothes on the bed in an uniform fashion, he also had tattoos and was a bigger guy, so we didnt know what to think. But he turned out to be a great friend and will be visiting this easter break.
Prague has two amazing features: The architecture and Pubs. During our stay we managed to see the Royal Palace Complex, which houses some amazing churches and complexes, in addition to the ceremonial guard changing, its very similar to the British soliders. We also saw the Fred and Ginger by Frank Gehry, Charles Bridge and alot of other unique architecture which are unknown but are truly unique.
One of the most interesting events that we took place in was the Straupromen brewery tour. Not to mention that this beer is amazing but exploring the brewery was really a pleasure and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Straupromen has a truly unique collection of beer and they ship it nationwide.
Just being around my friends from Rome really made Prague more enjoyable, drinking with the boys and going to a few other places I should not mention, like hot pe pes made this journey amazing. Spring break couldnt of been any better.
One of the best moves we made as a group [Henna, Tuna, Rican, Mad Cow and myself] was to stay in an 8 person room, now this may sounds stupid but if you end up having cool roomates then you wont forget the experience. When we arrived our roommate, who we had no idea was, wasnt in the room so we could meet him. We ended up going to bed before he got home and got up before him but when we got up we all didnt know what to think of him, we thought he was in the military or something because he had neatly folded clothes on the bed in an uniform fashion, he also had tattoos and was a bigger guy, so we didnt know what to think. But he turned out to be a great friend and will be visiting this easter break.
Prague has two amazing features: The architecture and Pubs. During our stay we managed to see the Royal Palace Complex, which houses some amazing churches and complexes, in addition to the ceremonial guard changing, its very similar to the British soliders. We also saw the Fred and Ginger by Frank Gehry, Charles Bridge and alot of other unique architecture which are unknown but are truly unique.
One of the most interesting events that we took place in was the Straupromen brewery tour. Not to mention that this beer is amazing but exploring the brewery was really a pleasure and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Straupromen has a truly unique collection of beer and they ship it nationwide.
Just being around my friends from Rome really made Prague more enjoyable, drinking with the boys and going to a few other places I should not mention, like hot pe pes made this journey amazing. Spring break couldnt of been any better.
Spring Break, Istanbul
Let me just start out by saying spring break was amazing, Istanbul and Prague are two incredible places you should try to visit if your in Europe. For our first journey Henna, Tuna, Rican, Mad Cow and myself ventured off to Istanbul at 4:30 in the morning. Getting to the Istanbul airport wasnt a problem but actually stepping onto Turkish soil was little difficult. Upon handing my passport to customs, and the custom agent telling me I need a visa, scared the living daylights out of me. Now after going through a gruesome, lengthy process of getting a spanish visa I thought I was going to have to buy another ticket back to Barcelona and spend spring break there but lucky their visa is a little different then Barcelona, you can buy one for 15 euros. Unfortunately, our bad luck strike didnt end, Henna or as some people call her Jenna lost her bag, but she was actually really calm and ok with this.
Once we finally got to our hostel things started to turn around. The hostel personel was very nice and spoke fluent english which helped alot and it wasnt that bad of a hostel. Istanbul had some magnificant architecture, the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, etc. but the most interesting and unique place to experience while in Istanbul are the Bizzare Markets.
These markets are incredible, you can buy anything you could ever want from spices, jewerly, handbags, clothing etc. and the best part about these markets is there are no fixed prices so you have to hangle the prices down and if you are really got at hangling you can get some amazing stuff for a great price.
In addition to the markets the culture in general is really unique, I felt alot safer and welcomed in Istanbul then in Barcelona. I didnt feel like I was going to robbed just for walking down the street alone. However because Turkey is a Islamic country its really not social accepted to get piss drunk and stumple home, so unfortuantely we werent able to do this is Istanbul but we did drink. However, Prague is a different story...
Once we finally got to our hostel things started to turn around. The hostel personel was very nice and spoke fluent english which helped alot and it wasnt that bad of a hostel. Istanbul had some magnificant architecture, the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, etc. but the most interesting and unique place to experience while in Istanbul are the Bizzare Markets.
These markets are incredible, you can buy anything you could ever want from spices, jewerly, handbags, clothing etc. and the best part about these markets is there are no fixed prices so you have to hangle the prices down and if you are really got at hangling you can get some amazing stuff for a great price.
In addition to the markets the culture in general is really unique, I felt alot safer and welcomed in Istanbul then in Barcelona. I didnt feel like I was going to robbed just for walking down the street alone. However because Turkey is a Islamic country its really not social accepted to get piss drunk and stumple home, so unfortuantely we werent able to do this is Istanbul but we did drink. However, Prague is a different story...
Cortes Ingles is everywhere........
Alright so the one thing Ive observed while traveling around Spain are Cortes Ingles. No matter how small or large a city is there are always these department stores in the town. Now if they are small there is usually only one, thankfully, but if it is large like Barcelona there are thousands, one on every corner. Even in Cordoba has a Cortes Ingles. Not to mention the over population of the stores, but the immense prices of the store make me hate this store, even though they have everything in the store I try to stay as far away as possible from this store. You walk in just for groceries, and you walk out with a bag of food and a 100 euro bill.
Southern Spain 2
Alright now here come the interesting stuff, Sevilla, Cordoba, and Granda were my favorite cities that we visited. Cordoba was specially enjoyable because we came there after Madrid and in Cordoba there is an Arabic Bath, which is amazing and you should try to do one if you never have done one. In these baths there are three pools of water: one hot, one warm and one ice cold, literally. Your suppose to go through these pools with some order but I always thought that experiencing things is the best way to understand them, so I just went through them without any order. This bath was truely amazing, im not a guy who likes baths but this was amazing it truely calms, and relaxes oneself.
Sevilla was my home away from home, it had the home town feeling of the states, it was perfect. I dont know if it was the extremely warm weather, beautiful spanish and american girls there, the architecture or our crazy bartender amigo but I like the think it was a combination of all four.
So let me tell you about this Bartender, I really cant remember his name but he was the man, the bar was directly across the street from our hotel so naturally we were drawn to this bar, and one thing that was really cool about southern Spain in General was that you always got free tapas with your drinks so you could kill two birds with one stone. Anyways even though we really could comunicate with this guy well, he always had us laughing and he loved Christie just ask her about it. If you ever go there you have to get the lion steak its probably the best thing on earth.
Granda was also beautiful it had a much more rustic and old town feeling, and the view were incredible. After climbing the enourmous thousand mile hill you had some amazing scenic view of the moutains and sunset. Joe and myself enjoyed this city the most probably, we adapted this notion to go to a bar everyday after sketching, in attempt to finish parts of our sketchbook. This was a great idea untill you got like 5 beers deep and the drawings got a little more difficult to finish but they turned out fine.
All in all southern Spain was an amazing and truely reward trip, Ive experienced some truely amazing things, things that I wouldnt be able to experience else where. Things you need to experience for yourself. Some of the best things about southern Spain was the free tapas, the women and of course the amazing weather in the Feburary when its snowing back in DC and freezing in Barcelona.
Sevilla was my home away from home, it had the home town feeling of the states, it was perfect. I dont know if it was the extremely warm weather, beautiful spanish and american girls there, the architecture or our crazy bartender amigo but I like the think it was a combination of all four.
So let me tell you about this Bartender, I really cant remember his name but he was the man, the bar was directly across the street from our hotel so naturally we were drawn to this bar, and one thing that was really cool about southern Spain in General was that you always got free tapas with your drinks so you could kill two birds with one stone. Anyways even though we really could comunicate with this guy well, he always had us laughing and he loved Christie just ask her about it. If you ever go there you have to get the lion steak its probably the best thing on earth.
Granda was also beautiful it had a much more rustic and old town feeling, and the view were incredible. After climbing the enourmous thousand mile hill you had some amazing scenic view of the moutains and sunset. Joe and myself enjoyed this city the most probably, we adapted this notion to go to a bar everyday after sketching, in attempt to finish parts of our sketchbook. This was a great idea untill you got like 5 beers deep and the drawings got a little more difficult to finish but they turned out fine.
All in all southern Spain was an amazing and truely reward trip, Ive experienced some truely amazing things, things that I wouldnt be able to experience else where. Things you need to experience for yourself. Some of the best things about southern Spain was the free tapas, the women and of course the amazing weather in the Feburary when its snowing back in DC and freezing in Barcelona.
Southern Spain
Yeah I know its been a while since my last blog but what can you do its getting alot harder to get lost in Barcelona and the citys we visit. Anyways you would think that with going to southern Spain, I would get lost in a heart beat but I didnt. I shocked myself, I thought for sure I was going to get lost within the first hour but I didnt.
Our southern Spain trip included Madrid, Sevilla, Cordoba, Granda, Merida. All the cities were beatiful in themselves but I liked some more then others. I really like Sevilla, Cordoba and Granda and I was nt so interested in Madrid and Merida.
Madrid was too large for my liking, it was similar to Barcelona except that Madrid had the caios of New York which is very overwhelming at times. Every place I went to in Madrid was filled with people. Another reason why I think I didnt enjoy Madrid as much was the fact that my ATM card got blocked by my stupid bank for no reason. However I did have some fun in Madrid the night life there is pretty incredible. Theres a club that 7 stories tall, which is awesome and every floor has a different theme and during the summer they open the retractable roof to the stars. The only downside about this club is theres a high cover and to get a drink you have to play at one booth and then take it to bar and if you try to pay in cash they wont take it, only reason I know this is because I tried it myself and its sucks to get rejected.
Merida was cool in itself, there was alot to see in the city but thats exactly what we did, we tried to crame alot of sight seeing into one day and Im all about seeing all the sights but coming to an end of our trip I just didnt have any energy to see all the sights.
But Im going to write on another page cause I think this one is getting too long....
Our southern Spain trip included Madrid, Sevilla, Cordoba, Granda, Merida. All the cities were beatiful in themselves but I liked some more then others. I really like Sevilla, Cordoba and Granda and I was nt so interested in Madrid and Merida.
Madrid was too large for my liking, it was similar to Barcelona except that Madrid had the caios of New York which is very overwhelming at times. Every place I went to in Madrid was filled with people. Another reason why I think I didnt enjoy Madrid as much was the fact that my ATM card got blocked by my stupid bank for no reason. However I did have some fun in Madrid the night life there is pretty incredible. Theres a club that 7 stories tall, which is awesome and every floor has a different theme and during the summer they open the retractable roof to the stars. The only downside about this club is theres a high cover and to get a drink you have to play at one booth and then take it to bar and if you try to pay in cash they wont take it, only reason I know this is because I tried it myself and its sucks to get rejected.
Merida was cool in itself, there was alot to see in the city but thats exactly what we did, we tried to crame alot of sight seeing into one day and Im all about seeing all the sights but coming to an end of our trip I just didnt have any energy to see all the sights.
But Im going to write on another page cause I think this one is getting too long....
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Derive........
So for class we had to do a Derive, its when you basically wonder around a city based off your perceptual senses; it can be geared towards sights, noises, smells, feeling, anything that has an interest to you. Well Ive realized that what I do basically, I just walk around without aimlessly without any agenda, and thats probably how I end up getting lost. I can be distracted so easily by something that fascinating to look at. Just the other day Joe and myself were trying to get to studio from Plaza Catalunya, there are two way both relatively easy to navigate. We decided to take the way via the Rambla, now the Rambla is a main corridor for Barcelona and there are about a thousand side streets, and studio was off one of these sides streets. We thought we knew where we were but we didnt. We ended up walking like a mile further then we needed to walk, it turns out the street we needed to take was the first on the right but when your walking down the Rambla with entertainers and kioskis on both sides it can get a little distracting plus we didnt really know which one it was, we thought we would recognize it but apparently we had no clue where it was. We finally knew we were in the right area so we took a turn and we ended up in this plaza that we had no idea where it was, but there was a map near it, we thought we were saved but Plaza Universitat, where studio is, wasnt even on the map that how far we wondered. The worst part about it was that studio started in 10 minutes and we had a paper or something due at the beginning, we got a little worried when we couldnt studio from the map. But in the end we got to studio, and it turns out that we went back to that plaza the next day to eat and was happy that I was able to say I know where we are, which is a first cause I never do. I guess getting lost is the only way to know the city.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Our Roadtrip
Well, I've decided to dedicate my blog to my lost adventures; no matter what the situation is I always find myself getting lost. I'm not so good with direction in an unknown city, but I'm hoping by the end of these four months this blog will change from the lost adventures to just my adventures.
Anyways, Adam, Chris and myself decided to take a road trip, yea I know how can we get lost with three capable people in the car, well when I'm giving directions to Adam from a map when I basically have no idea where I am except somewhere near Barcelona's Airport, its quite easy. European maps are alot more different then American maps, they are alot less precise and more vague; theres like fifty thousand major roads that lead you all over the place [well thats the way it looked like to me] so we just decided to take the road the looked the best. Oh yea, theres not just one name for the roads there's like three, so it can kind of get confusing.
Our goal was to drive along the coast while we still had light but like I said the roads were a little confusing, so we ended up going in reverse - taking the moutains there and the coast line during the night. Driving there we only made a couple wrong turns, but ended up taking some unique backroads, which was fun. We wanted to drive as far south as we could in a couple hours, our orginial destination was Valencia or something but we settle for Zaragottha; it ended up taking us about an hour and half to get to the airport when it should of taken us twenty or thirty minutes [ we went the wrong way and missed a few trains a couple of times, but whose counting].
We ended up arriving at Zaragottha around three. It was one unique city, it was much more remote and quite then Barcelona. Since we didnt have alot of time to explore the city we just settled on eating at a restaurant on the water. After we ate we took the way we wanted to see during the day. To our luck it started to rain a little, and these roads were not the roads you wanted to be going downhill and forty kilometers an hour; these roads were on the edge of a cliff with a very long drop to the bottom and it turned every three seconds. Driving these roads was an adventure, thank god that I wasnt driving, we would of probably of died. This turned out to be the highlight of the trip, it was really beautiful.
Anyways we got back to Barcelona safely, but the fun didnt end there. Driving in the city is a little harder then thought to be; there are alot of one way streets and drivers who cant stand American drivers. We manged to make some illegal turns and got quite a few horns blown at us while driving, but ended up making it out alive and it was a great experience with the boys.
Anyways, Adam, Chris and myself decided to take a road trip, yea I know how can we get lost with three capable people in the car, well when I'm giving directions to Adam from a map when I basically have no idea where I am except somewhere near Barcelona's Airport, its quite easy. European maps are alot more different then American maps, they are alot less precise and more vague; theres like fifty thousand major roads that lead you all over the place [well thats the way it looked like to me] so we just decided to take the road the looked the best. Oh yea, theres not just one name for the roads there's like three, so it can kind of get confusing.
Our goal was to drive along the coast while we still had light but like I said the roads were a little confusing, so we ended up going in reverse - taking the moutains there and the coast line during the night. Driving there we only made a couple wrong turns, but ended up taking some unique backroads, which was fun. We wanted to drive as far south as we could in a couple hours, our orginial destination was Valencia or something but we settle for Zaragottha; it ended up taking us about an hour and half to get to the airport when it should of taken us twenty or thirty minutes [ we went the wrong way and missed a few trains a couple of times, but whose counting].
We ended up arriving at Zaragottha around three. It was one unique city, it was much more remote and quite then Barcelona. Since we didnt have alot of time to explore the city we just settled on eating at a restaurant on the water. After we ate we took the way we wanted to see during the day. To our luck it started to rain a little, and these roads were not the roads you wanted to be going downhill and forty kilometers an hour; these roads were on the edge of a cliff with a very long drop to the bottom and it turned every three seconds. Driving these roads was an adventure, thank god that I wasnt driving, we would of probably of died. This turned out to be the highlight of the trip, it was really beautiful.
Anyways we got back to Barcelona safely, but the fun didnt end there. Driving in the city is a little harder then thought to be; there are alot of one way streets and drivers who cant stand American drivers. We manged to make some illegal turns and got quite a few horns blown at us while driving, but ended up making it out alive and it was a great experience with the boys.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Well I managed to get to Barcelona safely. Getting to Barcelona was the easy part, getting to my apartment which I thought would be the easy part was not, apparently my apartment, Born Portal No. 7, is not that well known by many. So for my first adventure by myself turned into be a little scary one; the taxi I got in took my about a mile from my actual apartment but claimed it was my apartment, so I had to venture into the city by myself with a little map and all of my luggage. And with my excellent sense of direction I got my apartment.....yea it only took me about 45 minutes.
Ever since then Ive been fine, Barcelona is an awesome city, the only thing Im having an issue with is the amount of walking Ive done so far , its been alot and im not usually a guy who likes to walk for extended period but ill suck it up for Barcelona. I think Barcelona is a great fit for myself, I have the mountain to three sides and the water to the fourth. In addition I have amazing clubs and bars to enjoy at my leizure. So I think once I finally get settled in here, its going to be an awsome experience.
Ever since then Ive been fine, Barcelona is an awesome city, the only thing Im having an issue with is the amount of walking Ive done so far , its been alot and im not usually a guy who likes to walk for extended period but ill suck it up for Barcelona. I think Barcelona is a great fit for myself, I have the mountain to three sides and the water to the fourth. In addition I have amazing clubs and bars to enjoy at my leizure. So I think once I finally get settled in here, its going to be an awsome experience.
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