My mini OE - Barcelona

Here's a little something for my brother Duncan:

  

Now to the serious business of blogging. Duncan, Josh, Alex and I all flew in the evening to Barcelona, John and Mum had flown in the morning and were at the hostel when we arrived at about 11pm. Our hostel room was quite a bit smaller than the previous rooms I had stayed in throughout my journey so I knew it would be an interesting experience not to mention the fact that I was with my family throughout that time. I can say with certainty that I was very glad to leave Barcelona only because of the sleeping arrangement and not because of the city. 

Barcelona is amazing. We had beautiful weather, experienced the architecture, artwork and culture while having a lot of fun. The next day started with breakfast provided by the hostel, I learnt something I didn't expect too at that time which was why my friend Mariana and her mother like their juice sweet. Woh, it was sugary! (they're Costa Rican so I am assuming it must be a thing over there too) Once the whanau was organised we walked to the market which was stunning especially with all the fruit, vegetables and juices. 

 

We had planned on completing a walking tour of all of Antoni Gaudi's architecture ending in the Sagrada Familia Church. I wasn't really sure what to expect but I decided to go with the flow and not worry too much if I didn't enjoy myself. 

Enjoying lunch in the park next to La Sagrada Familia

Wow.

I loved it all, I would become religious just to go to pray in a church like that. Everywhere I looked I saw something interesting, the ceiling, the pillars, the windows, the carvings and the best part is everything has a meaning, the whole church was built to serve one purpose. 

 

We continued walking through the city looking at all the beautiful architecture and sat down in another park nearby where we ate some more bread and cheese. Alex and Josh decided to head back to the hostel but by doing so ended up missing out on seeing this beautiful fountain which was just around the corner of where we were sitting.

Duncan tried to photo bomb, but I got him

After looking around some more we all headed back to the hostel for a siesta and dinner. 

The next day we were going to all go to the Salvador Dali Museum/Gallery but in the end Josh, Alex and John all went to the Barcelona Stadium so it was a Gibb day out.

In order to get to the gallery you catch a train to Figueres and walk about 15 minutes to the building, so after stopping for lunch we made our way over to the Gallery.

We loved the things we saw in Figueres and all agreed it would be a good place to stay the night so you could see more of the place. It was a gorgeous day and the sky was a Salvador Dali blue so that against the building it looked like one of his paintings. Mum said she could imagine Dali thought this also and thats why the artwork is here.

We took the train back to the hostel and meet up with Alex, Josh and John who all had a great day at the Barcelona Stadium (I kind of wish I was in two places that day because I would have loved to go to the stadium also) Then in the evening we all went out for dinner at a kebab place and Duncan, Alex, Josh and I went for a walk around the city in the dark and came across some hilarious people. Especially one guy who was at a stall that Duncan and Josh bought a football from that was either drunk or crazy and we`re not sure if he knew the owner of the stall or was just hanging about. The owner seemed to enjoy his company and found him funny though.

The next day I slept in and then decided to spend the day by myself so what did I do? Shopped of course! I went to H&M and this spanish department store kind of like Kirkcaldie and Stains which was a chain so they also had one in Oviedo where Alex is Studying. I bought some cute things that will be perfect for spring in Wellington. Mum met up with me later on and we checked out some shoe stores as Mum wanted to get a pair of leather shoes while in Spain. Unfortunately we didnt see anything that would be suitable for Wellington, Just a lot of really nice sandals.

Later that Evening we had a yummy dinner of Salad and Potato Tortillas, We were planning on going out that evening on a pub crawl arranged by the hostel except you can´t call them pub crawls in Spain as they are illegal so it was a party tour which is pretty much the same thing as a pub crawl. That was an evening I can´t blog fully about as I made the mistake of mixing alcohol types so I had white and red wine, beer, spirits and the lethal shot of absinthe which wiped my memory so when I woke up the next morning I was not sure how I got into my pyjamas and into my bed. Luckily I have an awesome family and my step-sister Alex is a legend! She looked after me so I owe her big time! mwahh to Alex!

I experienced a terrible hangover that day which I hope to never experience again, Luckily I improved towards the end of the day so that I was able to join the others for a trip to the Parc Güell which was amazing and breathtaking

Escalator you take up part of the way

That night we went out for a yummy meal at a restaurant to celebrate our last night in Barcelona. I loved the city at night with the exception of all the drug dealers asking if you wanted charlie (cocaine) or weed.

The next day was our last day so after checking out of the hostel we all walked down to the beach to see more of the city.

After walking along the waterfront we came across this fiesta that was happening and when Alex asked someone what it was for they said "Its a fiesta" like there didn´t need to be a reason. It looked like all the streets had their own dancers and musicians and each group played a different song and had different costumes. The sun was shining and it was nice and warm so overall it was a great finish to my time in Barcelona! 

My Mini OE - Oviedo

So I was a little bit frivolous and ordered a car to come pick me up form the hostel for my early morning flight to Madrid. I wont disclose how much it cost but I felt very cool being picked up by a man in a suit driving a black BMW. It was a funny thing to do because I was flying with Ryanair. 

Oh well

Once I arrived at the airport in Madrid I caught the transfer bus to another terminal so I could catch a bus to Oveido. It wasnt too much of a problem and I helped a french girl on the bus by speaking pathetic french, yay!

Once I got my first class ticket (it was the only one available to leave that day) I grabbed something to eat and waited for the bus to be ready for me to hop on. 

The countryside on the way to Oveido was very green and reminded me of the New Zealand Countryside. I saw a lot of beautiful things like a green field scattered with red flowers and a lot of scenery that reminded me og home.

Once I arrived in Oviedo I was greeted at the bus stop by Mum and we caught a bus to the place where we were staying in Oviedo. It was in a part of town where a lot of working class people were so I saw families with their children out playing football while the parents had drinks in the pubs, especially that night because the football final between Munich and Chelsea was on. We were staying with Howard who was a contact in Oviedo, the relationship between the two of us is he was the brother in law of Keith who Mum plays recorder with and Alex my Step sister is studying in Oviedo so she stayed with Howard for a time when she first came to the country. He is a lovely man who allowed Alex to stay with him for 3 months and also accommodated Mum, John, Duncan and I while we visited Alex. He has a naughty sense of humour, is Welsh and has a Welsh accent when he speaks spanish!

The next day Howard, John, Mum, Alex, Laura her friend and I all had a traditional Spanish/Oviedo Lunch. We started with an appetizer of Prawns, a Starter of Seafood Soup, a main of Fish with potato chips and a dessert which was a lovely chocolate cake! It was all topped off with Cider which is popular in Northern Spain.

They were raw and I tried one but Im not a fan

 

We had a lovely day and in the evening went out together so I could see the town where Alex had been living for the past 5 months or so, It was such a beautiful town with a rich history and traditions that were still alive today.

We came across the market and there were people all dressed in traditional costume dancing and singing in a circle, There was also farm animals and people selling leather goods and jewellery.

The next day we were flying to Barcelona so I only got to see a little bit of Oviedo but Im glad I did as It was nice to see the difference in the different parts of spain, especially as Oviedo was quite similar to wellington with rain and cloud. Barcelona was a different story altogether!!!

My Mini OE - Rome

So I have to confess I wish I stayed in Perugia. I probably shouldn't say that because I was in a beautiful city but there are too many tourists, I kept getting a headache around 2:30pm and the place just doesn't have the right vibe for me. Its like London, I can't really say I'm not enjoying it because it isn't all bad but I find that I'm not loving it as much as I've been loving others.

On the 16th of may I left a rainy Perugia and took the train back to Rome, I found the instructions given to me on how to get to the hostel were incorrect and I ended up getting lost. Once I got to the hostel I was very happy though because it was very welcoming. The place had free internet and computers to use so I wouldn't have to find an internet cafe or use my phone to write these blog posts, Definitly a perk!

I then decided to go for a walk and check out the area and find a good restaurant to eat dinner in. I came across a square that was filled with restaurants so I had lots of options, I decided on a restaurant that had gnocchi and tiramisu on its menu as I wanted to try both. I felt like the evening was well spent and I made my way back to the hostel for a good nights sleep by walking along the tiber and loving the beautiful view of the river at night.

A delicious Pimms drink

Delicious Gnocchi with Buffalo mozzarella

A tiramisu that I could unfortunately not finish

The view from my seat was excellent, I could watch all the street performers and people walking about

The river at night, so gorgeous!

The next day I decided to go to Vatican City. I didn't really know what to expect apart from what I had seen in films and I hoped for a good day. I joined what looked like a long queue and I was very lucky to stand behind a man with a cane who was more than happy to use the cane to tell others not to push in. Anytime someone stood near the line and looked like they were trying to join in he would tap them on the shoulder with his cane! 

The queue was for the basilica not the Vatican Museum so I wondered what it would be like, It was part museum part church. What I mean by that is as you enetered the buidling you saw religious statues and decorations which was what people were taking photos of and tourists were checking out then they were having a service further down the building and they had closed it off so people that were like me would be detered from going down unless we wanted to take part in the service.  

I loved all the beautiful decorations and thought the music they were playing for the service added a tranquility to the place. I felt very peaceful and satisfied which I think is how the church orchestrates it, I'm not religious and I thought that it would be easy to be religious if this was how they presented their religion. I don't think I would like being Protestant if they are so different from Catholics who seem to love pretty things to look at while they serve god.

I went outside and noticed that people were annoying me, mainly because they were being too touristy and It was starting to get on my nerves. I wanted to take photos and be a tourist also but not be a sheep and follow the crowd so Instead of taking photos of a beefeater I took a photo of people taking photos of a beefeater.

The next stop was the vatican museum and I made my way there past people selling cheap leather bags and random toys for children.

It was nice for the first half an hour but I realize now that I can only take in so much artwork, After the Louvre I think I was done with Museums/Galleries. Its like eating too much cake, eventually you feel sick and want to have a lie down. 

For me anyway.

By the time I was halfway through I wanted to go toilet and leave but It felt like there was no ending, like they were forcing me to enjoy art which just pissed me off so when I found a toilet and the end I made my way to a restaurant over the road and enjoyed a pizza.

The stairs at the end.

So once I finished the pizza I went shopping and thought I'd catch the metro, I got off at a stop near the Trevi fountain which I wanted to see so I had a look around the shops and then at about 5pm I wandered over to the fountain and it was so packed!

I threw a coin in the fountain and made a wish, then I headed back to the hostel. It was tricky figuring out how to get there but I got to see lots of the city and I ended walking past the Pantheon which was closed but in a lovely location.

I then went out for dinner and ate a crappy Tiramisu. It tasted like the fridge and was cold, blurghh!

The next day I thought about going to the Colosseum and when I got there It was so full of people that I gave up, I also couldn't find a toilet and had to go to a restaurant which was so far away that I decided to shop for gifts for my friends and for myself. I had an awesome day!

On my way to the Colosseum I saw this picturesque ruin.

One of the funny shops I saw

I came across this excellent shop and you have to check it out if you ever go to Rome, especially if you  like the kinds of things I wear like vintage style clothing.

www.facebook.com/HYDRA2

They were so helpful and the two guys who own it are really lovely and speak great english so they can help you if you don't know much Italian like me!


Later on in the evening I went out and got takeaway Pizza and Tiramisu to eat in the kitchen at the hostel, I ended up chatting with two American woman, a woman from Sydney and a woman from Brazil. The Tiramisu was awesome by the way!

I forgot to take a photo before I started eating it and It was so good I had nearly finished by the time I remembered to take a photo!

So Rome wasn't what I expected and I won't be going back anytime soon but I enjoyed the food and the shopping so It was still a great experience.

I'm in Oviedo at the moment with Mum, John, Alex, Josh and Duncan so I won't be blogging anytime soon. Expect a massive blog next time!