E&M: FunFoodThursday: Tapas!!!

wouldn’t ya know it… little james went to spain and now she wants to talk about ¡¡~TAPAS~!! [note: i've included pictures of my random tapa experience throughout. don't mind me.]i knew tapas were big over there, especially in the town of sevilla, where i spent my first week. what i didn’t realize was just how awesome the culture of tapas was. one of the great things about doing a language school over there was the optional ‘culture classes’ we had every day. these were classes we had the hour before our actually language classes where we did something culturally related; for instance, worked on pronunciation or read poems or something like that. well, the last day of culture class we learned all about the glory of TAPAS. there’s actually quite a history to it. those of us who live in the states know what tapas are, know which restaurants have them, know how tiny they can be, and know that they go reallllly well with a mojito or caipiriñha. which, at this point, i must stop and say: dearest cachaça, i forgot how much i loved you. i have rekindled my love with caipiriñhas and will be seeing you again very, very soon.

.::parc güell..and goodbye::.

at last! today was Parc Güell Day. and i promise to write all about it as soon as i can. for right now, it’s almost 11:30 and i need to get up at 5:15 to check out and get myself to the airport, so i’m gonna go to bed. *sigh* so long, barcelona. and, spain. it’s been a lovely two weeks. and i’m sure i’ll be seeing you again in this lifetime.

.::today (in a nutshell)::.
i got up a little early so i could go ahead and pack and get my stuff ready to leave, since i figured i wouldn’t wanna do it tonight and tomorrow would be to early for all that madness. so i think i’m ready. once that was done, i took off (finally) for parc guell. sunny, clear skies, and kind of warm-ish… the perfect day for a hike. and a hike it kinda was!! i stopped to take pictures a few places, but all in all i think it was about an hour-fifteen from my hostel, so i’m guessing somewhere around 4 miles. dunno, gotta look it up. anyway, i spent a long while there, taking all kinds of pictures, listening to musicians, and doing a little rendition of the long mosaic park bench with my watercolor pencils and pastels. that was fun! some elementary school kids came up and were eating lunch next to me, and a couple of them came behind me to watch me color. awkward… but i got a ¡que bonita! for my picture and it made me smile. i’m so on their level. after my time at the park i walked home… a bit faster this time, because mostly downhill and i knew my destination. i spent the rest of the afternoon window shopping and picture-making. then, dinner at a restaurant near the boqueria market before coming home.

.::the rain in spain::.

well, there’s that. rain, that is. and a LOT of it.

rain, rain, go away...

i might be a little drunk…. i’m pretty sure i drank the entirety of a bottle of wine today. a half-bottle at lunch with sushi and then another at dinner just now. a day in the life, i suppose… hopefully not forever more though… i want *people* back!! we all know i’m not a big talker, but, GOD, i miss having company. i love it here, but i’m itching to be around people i know again. (that’s me saying, i miss you! all of you… wish you could see this place!)

.::this must be my blue period::.

'la seu'... the cathedral of barcelona, in the barri gotic

ahhh, wednesday. what a day you were. i woke and it was raining. blahhhh! what a way to ruin my day from the start. i got up, though, and even though i had my hoodie on, it was raining harder than that, so i gave in and bought an umbrella. it definitely came in handy… i went to the cathedral (which is practically right across the street from my hostel) and took a lot of pictures. you know me. i headed toward the picasso museum after that, and went to a church very close by there called santa maria del mar. that was another beautiful, simple church! it apparently has columns that are the farthest apart than any other gothic church in the world.

.::i’d like a baby rabbit for christmas. por favor.::.

 

ahh.... sidewalks are so pretty here.

do you ever hear a song that just totally takes you back to a time & place in your life? today, randomly, in a clothes store in barcelona, i heard that song “kissing you” from the romeo & juliet soundtrack. you know, the one that came out when we were 16? with leonardo di caprio? ahhhhh i loved that movie. and that soundtrack. gotta find that one when i get home. but yeah, heard that song & it totally rocked me. then again, i also heard mika singing “relax. take it easy.” and i wanted to go throw up in the corner.

.::jamila barcelona::.

i’ve arrived. this hostel is so much more awesome than the one in madrid. i can tell i’m gonna like it here. i spent the last three hours on the train from madrid planning out my next (and last) four days in barcelona… they’re gonna be jam-packed, i assure you! sooooo much to do here and i can’t wait to get started. on the walk from the metro, first thing i saw as i came up the escalator into the light was a *C&A,* i passed all my favorite euro-stores (H&M, berschka, sfera), and already saw 2 french bulldogs. i can tell this is gonna be a great city so, off i go! stay tuned later for the adventures i get in today.

peace,
james

.::i think picasso was a little, how you say…*speshul*::.

well, kittens, i’m packed and ready for barcelona after a long, productive, last day in madrid. i think i decided, along the way, that i could have spent less time here… i got everything checked off that i wanted to do, and then some. i had a much more restful night thanks to the glory of… earplugs!!! the first night i lost an earplug, and having just one does not decrease the noise. last night, complete with 2 bright orange foam thingies, i slept the whole night through. on the other hand, perhaps sunday nights are calmer than saturday nights. i got up around 9-ish, went to check out the included “breakfast” — typical — croissants, ham, cheese, cereals. not really my thing. it’s getting cold here… strange though. really chilly in the mornings, then totally hot if you’re in the sun. i hate having to carry my jacket around.

 

guernica

.::el rastro + el prado::.

oyyyy my legs… did some walkin’ today!! had another lovely day in madrid, but i think my muscles are trying to tell me i need a massage. is there a massage envy here in madrid? wouldn’t that be nice… i could really use one. i guess we know the first place i’ll be going when i hit american soil!! it doesn’t help that i’m closing out the trip in hostels, either… it isn’t a four-star hotel. the matresses aren’t that great. plus i’m sleeping with my computer under my pillow, just in case hmmm… also, i’ve decided, i’m just not a top-bunk kinda girl anymore. i used to crave a top bunk. and i loooooved my loft when i was in athens. but… maybe it’s just the noise involved with this bed. creaks a lot plus the ladder clanks when i climb up here. whatevs… doesn’t wake ME up!

el rastro

 

.::madrid es muy bonita::.

you guys sick of me yet? you shoulda known, i talk a lot. well, not out loud really and most of you know that. but i do have my moments! so yeah, i’m in madrid… how bout that. this counts as my first real time alone in a big euro-city. sevilla doesn’t count because i was staying at someone’s house and going to school. here, i’m really on my own! staying in a hostel, alone, for the first time ever! eating & drinking alone. yes, i said drinking alone

for the same reasons i like to go places alone (not that i prefer it, but sometimes i do like it), i don’t do well on my own. i like doing stuff alone because i can do it at my own pace (usually fast) and if i get lost or turned around, i only have to answer to myself. i can wander, for hours, with my map, and it’s nbd. and i can do whatever the eff i like! no set schedule, no nothin. buuuut… and there’s always a ‘but’….. i do it that way and i get done pretty fast & then run out of things to do…! ayyyy. ah well, such is life.

.::vebemos en los barres::.

friday night:
because it was my “lahhhst” night in sevilla, tessel and i’d planned to go out for a last drink. we just assumed that maurits would follow. at some point, as i told you, it’d become understood between me & tessel that maurits was odd (well, i knew it all along, as would anyone at first glance..! it was more of an acknowledgment that we both recognized the fact). yes, after class every day he came with us wherever we traipsed off to, so of course he came with us tonight. during “internet time,” after i posted last,  they were both still on the computer so i went to that souvenir shop on c/mateos gago to get a few things for others & myself… then i returned for them and we decided to go to the alameda. that’s a place to the northwest of el centro, just a bit past where i lived, that is a big open area with a lot of bars along it. really nice! lots of young people out & about and lots of… TAPAS.

today in culture class we learned all about tapas! the origin of the word is from the verb taper, which means ‘to cover;’ long story short, many ages ago, people would cover their drinks (vino or cerveza, whatever) with a piece of bread or something to keep the flies out. so small pieces of food came to be known as tapas. make sense? saying it back like that makes it seem slightly ridiculous… but i swear that’s what she said!! we learned about a few different types of tapas we might find in a typical place, and also she told us a few places that have good tapas here in sevilla on the cheap. hmmmm… woulda been better a few days ago i think! she also told us about typical tapas customs… you go for tapas usually after work or school with a group. however many in a group, that’s how many places you go.