No Hablo Espanol!

Last week Dan came to visit and we went on a 5 day trip to Spain. I'd never been to Spain, so after a lot of spreadsheets comparing the pros and cons of different locations... heehee.. we agreed on Spain. We went to Sevilla for 4 days and Barcelona for one. FYI - even thought it's spelled Seville, it's pronounced Sevilla, so that's how I'll be referencing it. (Everyone gets really confused about this if I don't explain!)

I actually remember in college when I took Italian for my language requirement that the first semester I would get super confused at times and accidentally say some things in Spanish because the two languages were so similar (I took Spanish in high school). Let's just say this entire trip was me accidentally speaking Italian instead of Spanish. Add on top of that the fact that some Spanish dialects (especially those who live in Barcelona) sound like they are speaking with a lisp (lithp), haha, and my ability to speak Spanish was ALL thrown off. I barely managed a "Grathias" here and there before cracking up. Dan was not so amused. ;)

So for Sevilla.... I'd be lying if I said we didn't have to adjust our plans for a romantic getaway some. Poor Dan got the worst stomach flu the second we got to Spain. Picture being in a foreign country whose food range includes: tapas with spicy and cream-based sauces, seafood and chorizo. Let's just say Dan did a lot of watching me eat. This is especially sad (for Dan) because I realized that I am obsessed with everything about tapas (which means I raved about it constantly). On top of the fact that they are delicious, they are small portions of a lot of food. Perfect for me who likes to try a little of everything (and usually force my friends to share their food with me so I can try everything)! I wish Americans would adopt this style of eating more!

What? You're not used to seeing this much jamon!?

Anyway, even though Sevilla was a bit chillier than either of us planned for, I must say there were a few things that made it absolutely awesome!

1. It was sunny every single day. All day. Every day. Nothing like London! We even watched the sunrise from our private rooftop terrace one morning! 

   

   View of the Cathedral from our terrace!

   

   This is the view of the other direction from our terrace! Pretty amazing! 

2. Tapas and wine are dirt cheap! Seriously. Like £2 glasses of wine and £2.50 tapas!
3. So much green space! Parks everywhere and an awesome running path along the water! 

   

   I went on a run along this path the first day and loved it!

   

   As the sun set over the path this is the view....

   

   This is how my run ended with sun setting over the river!

   

   Also this was the huge park on the edge of the old town that was so pretty!

4. Bikes and mopeds ride on the sidewalk!? I'm not sure why this was so exciting to me, but it was.
5. The orange trees! I want to go back when they are in bloom. They are so cool! 
   
   
   

   

   The city itself was so pretty and charming. It reminded me of Italy in so many ways, which is probably part of why I liked it so much. Here are a few of my favourite pictures from this part of the trip….

Plaza (which I kept wanting to call "piazza") Espana

Yes, I took a selfie. I was exploring alone!

Some pretty cool views of the cathedral!

In front of the "Tower of Gold"

I told you it was always sunny!

This was on our walk to the other side of the river - the Triana side. We had some awesome mussels and relaxed with this view!

They do the lockets here too! Unfortunately, we didn't have any with us. Here's hoping that doesn't mean we'll never return.

We also went and saw a Flamenco show that I thought was so cool! I wish we would've had more time to go see another!

 The last night in Sevilla was probably my favourite. We had (ahem, I had) some of the best and most unusual tapas of the entire trip capped off with us stumbling upon a local bar with a Spanish jazz band playing. Perfect evening!

Thanksgiving day we headed to Barcelona for a quick last day there!!!

Finally! A Spanish stamp on my passport!

Dan has already been, so we decided on Sevilla for most of the trip, but a final stop in Barcelona. Obviously our time there was limited so we only got to do a little bit, but the two best things were the neighbourhood - El Born - that we stayed in...

and hands down La Sagrada Familia. Honestly I could rave about this basilica for ages! For someone who lived in Italy for 4 months and basically visited every Catholic church ever built (ok, I exaggerate), I didn't think it would be easy to surprise me. However this church designed by Gaudi is literally the coolest thing I've ever seen! If you are EVER in Barcelona, GO! You must! It's incredible!!!

The exterior of the basilica. If you ever go, definitely opt for pre-purchased tickets! You skip a huuuuge line!

One of the three facades of the church.

This is the inside ceiling. The pillars are designed to look like trees in nature supporting the church.

The attention to color in this church was simply amazing! It all represented something, and the entire inside was illuminated beautifully!

This is Dan and I on our audio guide of the church!

This panorama is my best attempt at showing how incredible this church is!

Thanksgiving Day was started out at a local craft beer bar which brought out pinxtos while we were there. While they were delicious, they were actually vegan also. Sooo….no turkey for us. Then we did a bit of a tapas bar crawl and hit a couple more places out eating our way through the neighbourhood. Dan was feeling a little better by then, so he participated in about 1/4 of the eating as compared to me.

The rest of our last day we spent just walking through the main parts of the city. It was quite a contrast to Sevilla and I'm so glad we went, even for just a day.

Views from the top of a hotel we went to for drinks on the terrace.

Looking at the rooftop of La Sagrada Familia

The famous 'Ramblas" street.

Ending the trip on a good note! Forcing Dan to pose in pictures with me at Placa de Catalunya! 

Little bit of London Love

Today, despite having slept really poorly and waking up with the realization that I have a hugely crazy week ahead of me (moving again, lots of group work and massive amounts of progress on schoolwork needs to happen before Dan arrives this weekend) ... despite all of this, as I sat on the bus to my yoga class this morning I felt so appreciative of this experience I've had living in London. Things have not always been perfect. But I'm suddenly remembering that even those imperfect experiences craft how I've learned and grown here. They've shaped me in a way that only going through the tough times could.

Although its daytime, I can still see lights all over the city lit up for Christmas. I can tell that the whole city is going to come alive for the holiday and I'm filled with excitement! So it seems like an appropriate time for today's post to be a bit of a reflection on my time here, and some of the things that have made me giggle, cracked me up, or caused me to say 'Wow, only in London.' 

Signs in the tube congratulating the Duke and Duchess on the arrival of their new child.

Actually, such wisdom on the tube at all! I'm constantly amazed by the insights they provide me daily.

So true!!!!

In fact, quite a number of things about the tube amaze me....

Last week I saw a man in a tuxedo riding the tube! One would think he might've sprung for a taxi. Later the same day I was sitting in front of some teenage dudes who got out some baby wipes and literally started "bathing" themselves after a long night right in front of me. On the tube.

And then there's this woman.....

What, are we in your bathroom?? Seriously? Liquid foundation and eye liner??

Some people leave their coffee mugs from home, assuming that the maid is going to clean up after them?? (And please note the pregnant lady sign above it!)

Speaking of pregnant ladies, I saw a teenage girl get up and give her seat to a pregnant mom the other day. It reminded me of how kind people can be sometimes!

The frequency of the tube sometimes! Every minute!!!!

Then of course there are other times when you want a train and none are coming for 13 minutes!!!!!

People SPRINTING at 12:30 am to catch the last tube before it closes down at night. (You'd think public transportation might be quiet and not-so-safe at night! Not the case here! It's like mass chaos at rush hour!)

Not enough tube stuff yet? What about a fictional character who has a tube station dedicated to him!?

Sherlock Holmes greets me on my way to school daily!

Or seeing a travel advertisement for your home city!?

Speaking some more about the tube, they are so thoughtful to tell you to mind the gap...

In fact, there are a lot of things they tell you to mind...

But they aren't always polite.... it never stops cracking me up how many things they have that are dedicated to or named after "cocks"...

Really, in the middle of Trafalgar Square? A huge, blue-lit oversized cock statue!

Seems like a totally appropriate name for a restaurant right??? The Famous Cock!

Maybe I just have a dirty mind...but it's hard for me to not think this stuff is a liiiiiittle bit funny. Only in Britain do they call speedbumps "humps".

Oh, you wanted another sign that would never happen in the USA?

Or how about this racism!?

Last week, I actually went to a free yoga that ended up with me doing "fire dances" with people I had never met before..... pretty sure that's a first for me.

Also must say, the transportation apps suggest some very speedy but interesting forms of transportation!

And I've certainly NEVER seen such popularity with Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I mean the price on these bad boys alone.....it's a good thing for B&G I'm obsessed with ice cream.

And men and their style here?!!? WOW! First off, have never seen men wear scarves or shoes so well! Gotta give them props for that! But then there are a few questionable color choices.....

You know, just a dude wearing his pink sweat suit.

And a man escorting his lady through the park in a fuschia suit.

Then there are a few of my favorites....

Sunday roasts. Seriously, life can't get much better.

Why can't our policemen wear these hats? (It's not lost on me that I'm walking around the streets with a beer in my hand. Yes, that's legal here!)

In fact, you can drink just about anywhere here and NO ONE goes crazy and gets out of control like they do in the US. Picnic in the park? Bring some wine! Walking along the Thames with your brother when he's visiting? Have a beer while you walk! 

You also don't frequently see your brother stuck inside an old fashioned telephone booth.

And last, but certainly not least, the amount of free music here never ceases to amaze me. I will miss it so much. One of my favorite things has been the "Sofar Sounds" event where I got to sit in some random person's living room, with walls covered in graffiti, and listen to live bands play all night. 

As I said, today is my day of giving some much-deserved love to London. :)

(Stay tuned, Dan is coming this weekend and we'll be heading to Spain for the week!!)

What's in a Door?

So the past few weeks have been pretty uninteresting around here. I know I deserve that after a month of traveling in October....but it's hard to go from one extreme to the other. The past few weeks I've seriously been buckling down, and putting in long hours on my research project. Thank the LORD for my brother and my cousin-in-law Jess who apparently do way more research than I realized. They have been a huge help. But I really mean it that the past few weeks have been slow.

Actually, that's not really that fair. I went to the Killers concert with my friend Dave last week. And I experienced my first male burlesque show which I'm actively blocking out of my mind. DEFINITELY no desirable photos to show you from that. And I also went to the perfect little British pub - The Southampton Arms - and the best kebob place ever this weekend. Otherwise though... slow. ;)

That said... I'm pulling out some of the pics of things that I think are cool here, but I haven't really had a reason to post about! What you ask!? DOORS! Hahaha. Ok, sometimes I entertain myself more than I entertain other people. I'm aware of that. But seriously, one of the things I think is so cool about London is that everyone has these brightly-colored and/or cool-looking front doors on their houses. Way better than in the States! I'm convinced there is SOME sort of explanation for this other than that people like colorful doors here.

Someone told me that in the council estates that are now privatized, one of the first things owners do is change their door to be more "custom" so it doesn't look like the old council housing.

Maybe it's because "bespoke" is such a big thing here?? Everyone seems to get customized everything here!?

You get the idea.....

Sadly, when I googled this to try to come up with an interesting explanation....all that came up were a bunch of London door companies. Wah Wah. However, one of my favorite things to do around London (and Europe in general) is just wonder the streets through the different neighborhoods and just soak up the atmosphere. There is so much charm and history here. So...that said, I'm inviting you to join me on a little wonder throughout London to check out a bit of the charm I've come to love here. :)

I gotta say, mad props to the hot pink front door!

Seriously! Look at this all on one street!!!

I think this one was in Chelsea, where everything is colorful!

Even the crappier houses still have cool colored doors!!!

This was great! We were walking through Highbury, and some of the houses were named based on where they were. Made me giggle a little....

Plus I really like the lion head as the door-knocker on this one!

It just looks so posh! :)

That's all for now folks! Don't you feel like you just took a little stroll through London!?!?