judy´s great escape

Brussels is dirty, in more than one way…

2010-04-08T00:43:00.001+02:00

So our first impression of Brussels was a tired blurrrrrrrrrrrrr. We barely slept Thursday night due to our 6 a.m. flight so we just lollygagged in Brussels until our 7pm train to Bruges. However, arriving back from Bruges Sunday night at 10 pm left us with a terrible second impression of this city.

Looking at a map we realized that we’re probably a 10-15 minute walk from the Nord train station to our hotel. All was going well until we walked straight into the Red Light District. (Who knew Brussels had one! Rick Steves did not mention anything about this.) Women wearing lingerie were just hanging out in storefront windows, smoking a cigarette underneath some red neon lights. It was time to turn around and catch a cab. I wish I snuck a picture in, but it seemed rude.

In the end our hotel wasn’t in this exact neighborhood, but knowing this exists a couple streets down, doesn’t make us feel so safe. Our hotel room is nice and big through. We’ve got pretty skylights and a bathtub for a bubble bath (no shower though).

The old town of Brussels now isn’t so bad. The town square is beautiful with all its gilded architecture. The beer, gaufre (waffles), chocolates, and frites (French fries with mayo) are all great.

gaufre!

chocolate! Godiva man making chocolate covered strawberries!

I think we just miss the quaintness, tranquility of Bruges and its bikes. :(

On a side note:

The mascot of Brussels is Mannequin Pis. It's a little boy peeing! It apparently symbolizes the city's irreverence and love of the good life :) hence a little boy urinating.... The city commisioned it show the joie de vivre of living in Brussels. I mean... idk if life in Brussels is that great, but apparently, happy people eat, drink.... and drink... and then pee. Sometimes he's even dressed up in costumes given to him as gifts from all over the world.

The Magritte Museum:

Brussels likes student discounts. Actually, they like letting art students into museums for free! :) Anyway, this museum was amazing. If you know the work by Rene Magritte of a pipe with the words "This is not a pipe" then you know who this artist is.

The Magicalness of Brugge! Aka Bruges, aka Brujas

2010-04-08T00:10:00.002+02:00

This tiny little town is fantastic! It’s full of history, bicycles, shock-a-laliers, and hints of Colin Ferril. Most guidebooks suggest spending a day to soak in this city, but we wanted to spend forever in this tiny town. In the end, with all our hotel reservations set we only had 48 hours in Brugge. The best was finding a map made by locals for young people that marked all the cool local spots in the city.

Highlights:

The Chocolate Line:

where grandmas get their chocolate. This is not a normal chocolatier but a shock-a-latier! The Havana cigar chocolate is made out of Cuban cigars! (illegal in the US) The wine-vinegar chocolate is surprisingly delicious, and there’s even a Coca-cola chocolate that tastes exactly like coca-cola!

Countryside bicycle tour:

We rented bikes for 24 hours and took a day trip to a near by town of Damme. 20 minutes later, following a canal, past lots of farmland, horses, and cows, we made it! Upon arriving, the town was having a race. It was cute because even grandmas and grandpas participated in it. Families and supporters hung around the finish line, clapping for everyone passing by. Afterwards, we tried to make it to the ocean, which was supposed to be 40 minutes away. However, everyone we asked for directions gave us different advice. An hour later, we found our canal again and peddled back home; we were tired and sore. Even though we never made it the ocean, our countryside adventures were awesome!

Beer:
Our map by locals pointed us towards some cool locations for our Saturday night beer outing. The nice bartender gave us some great suggestions based on what we were looking for in a beer. At our second place we had some Garre beer. It came in awesome glasses. (And no, we didn’t steal them; that would have been rude.)

Picnics:

The one thing we miss is the 10euro prix fix lunch menu in Spain. It’s hard to find inexpensive Taste. Therefore, we’ve been picnicking a lot. It’s actually fun and exciting because we go to bread and meat shops and actually feel like locals buying groceries! We pack everything into the mochilla on our bikes and peddle away to a park or bench for a delicious picnic.

Juliette’s:

This breakfast-lunch-tea room is super mono! The mother-daughter restaurant had delicious goat cheese, apple, and honey salads, as well as croquette misseuir (ham and cheese sandwich, very typical Flemish food.) The té was superb; and did I mention that it came in the cutest tea pots ever?

Meh highlights:

The Bell Tower:

373 steps of a super narrow passage used to go up and down by hundreds of people a day results in human tunnel traffic! The only disappointment arose from the "limited panoramic view due to construction." Umm... basically, we only had two wire-frame windows to look out of. Not as fun as Colin Farrell made it seem in the movie "In Bruges."

I <3 Brugge!

BCN does not know how to handle natural disasters…

2010-03-11T02:40:00.000+01:00

such as heavy* snowfall. Jaja

There are layers of ice on the street, and I almost fell down three times walking the 100 meters to my metro stop.

I had to walk around obstacles such as fallen tree branches.

Monday night the metro shut down during rush hour for 2 hours. Buses and ferrocarrils (another fancy word for metro trains) shut down completely. The government ordered reduced rates in all hotels for the stranded commuters who could not get home. Girona, a city two hours away, lost all its electricity.

I’m just happy my Tuesday morning class got canceled, but that meant more time to work on studio stuff...

But then Plaza Catalunya and all of southern Barcelona was gorgeous with no sign of snow...

At least I can tell people I was in Barcelona during the worst* snowfall they’ve seen in 25 years jaja

*relatively speaking

This is not my life.

2010-03-08T20:56:00.009+01:00

begining of January, when asked if it snows in BCN
“Very rarely. It snows in Barcelona once every 7 years.” -Magda Bernaus

2 months later…
View outside my window.

1 hour later…

Words cannot describe my anger and disappointment for this “(a)typical Barcelona weather.”

I signed up for blue sunny skies! la playa! dresses! warmth! I was supposed to leave Chicago and Pittsburgh weather behind. So far we’ve had lots of coldness, rain, and now snow. Only a handful of sunshine and days above 60.

What happened? I miss this day!

This really makes me want to cry because everyone's fb status is about Aruba, Florida, Cancun, or other warm and sunny places. ;( Mother Nature, why do you hate on BCN so much?

Alhambra, you’re so cold! Gypsies, you’re not so bad.

2010-03-04T02:24:00.008+01:00

I’m behind by like 6 posts :( and this weekend I’m heading to Madrid, so I couldn’t leave without trying to catch up on past trips. The sad part is, I forgot all the funny anecdotes that I try to write about vs. a sharing a boring recount of my experience.

Therefore, enjoy the photos! And first ever video post :)

Alhambra! got to love the artsiness of photostitch :)

Below are a series of pics from our walking tour...

Say hello to Alfonso! He's so cute and I love his accent when he spoke english!

Los Reyes Catolicos! They built this beautiful Capilla Royal (Royal Chapel) for themselves in Granada since they were the ones who won over this last arabic city and joined the nation together with their marriage. They've also left enough fortune to have a mass held in their name everyday.

strange... a used mattress and a broken exercising machine. typical.

A sneak-peek into someone's "carmen" which means a house and a garden in arabic? maybe. you have to be pretty well off in Granada to have a carmen.

It's like mini-Morocco over in Granada. Even though they expelled the arabes and Jews, a lot of customs stayed behind.

like traditional tea houses! they were super mono (cute).

view of the "Caves" where gypsies live(d).

Pudding hot-chocolate and churos. super intense! but best hot-chocolate ever, IMO.

friends: Liliana and Hannah-Hunt

Tour of Alhambra photos

I'm trying to say warm. My feet froze in this arabic castle. While sunny Granada was much warmer than BCN this time of year, the Alhambra was freezing!

Now imagine this painted in red, blue, yellow, and green colors! That's how beautiful this place was 500 years ago.

The 11 lions around this fountain are MIA for restoration purposes. They tired to take the fountain out of the Alhambra too, but couldn't get it through any doors! So they built this display case for it instead for restorers to work in.

The Generalife Gardens, aka the summer place where it was much cooler for the arabic princes, sultans, etc to say in.

They say it's prettier here in the summer when the flowers are in full bloom, but this was beautiful enough for me :)

Enjoying a menu del dia price fixed lunch with some Magda-bucks.

Yay for friends and pitchers of sangria :)

Saturday night flamenco dinner and show!

The show was great!

Had tons of tapas for dinner but the dessert was the best. This was shared with 4 people, and the ice cream with pomegranates brenched in liquior was delicious! We stole everyone elese's left overs ;)

Did you know: Granada means pomegranate? It's the fruit of the city!

"This is taste!"

2010-02-28T21:32:00.003+01:00

Typical Spanish bocadillos with cerano ham and cheese on a freshly made baguette finely paired with a few bottles of wine. :)

Frisbee and soccer on the playa!

That’s a typical Friday afternoon in Barcelona… :)

Oh and did I forget to mention that nudity is allowed? ...and apparently, it's popular to come over and chat with one another.

I love my life!

How I got randomly asked out twice in Paris

2010-02-25T00:59:00.001+01:00

First time, I’m standing outside L’Opera house and just taking in the view and architecture.

Tried to see a show, but my lack of French failed me... :/
After a few minutes, I’m at crossroads about where to go next, so I sit down on the steps to look at my guidebook and decide from there.

As I’m about to leave, a man a few feet away says something in French. I never learned the phrase for “I don’t speak French,” so I stare back blankly trying to remember the pronunciation for “Je ne comprends pas” (I don’t understand). But he gets the hint and asks if I speak English. So we exchange a little bit of convo, where I’m from, how long I’m staying, etc. I’m ready to leave when he asks if I’ve been out for drinks yet in Paris. O boy… I know where this is going now. I try to brush it off causally, saying yesterday I had a long day, I was tired, so no. So then he asks about dancing, have I’ve gone out dancing. Parisians are so persistent! I can’t remember my response, but I knew I had to leave soon before I buried myself too deep in this conversation. Eventually I told him I had to go, and that it was nice meeting him. Au revoir.

The second time I was walking down the street heading towards the Pompidou Center.

Pompidou Center. No it's not under construction. This building by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers is like a building turned inside out. They took all the structure, pipes, and guts of the building, color-coded it and exposed it for all to see.

All of a sudden I hear French being spoken to me. My response is, “No francias, pardon!” So this man starts to speak broken English to me, explaining how he only knows a little. He asks where I’m going, and I don’t know why I answered what seemed to be an innocent question, but next thing I know he’s asking if he can walk with me. I’m trying to play dumb because he doesn’t know the verb for walk but makes the gesture for walking with his fingers. After a while, I say, “you want to walk with me to the museum?” “Yes!” is his response. Ok…

Really awesome escalator on the outside of the building. It's how one gets to all the exhibition spaces

So in my head, I’m thinking, Great, I wanted to see this exhibit in peace. I need to go to Nadia’s room in two hours to get my suitcase and leave for the airport. How am I going to get this man to leave me alone! Thankful this guy was cheap because as we were standing in line, he asks do you need to pay to get in. Yes, you do, but I don’t know how much, I answer. So we make a deal that I would call him in an hour after I’m done. So that’s how I got Jean-Marc’s number. Sorry if he was disappointed that he’ll never hear from me again!

View from the top of the Pompidou Center! So pretty :)

I didn’t know men in Paris are so forward, and that a drastic age difference is no big deal to them. Both of them were at least ten years my senior. Sorry but I find that creepy. Go hit on someone your own age.

more pics from Paris to come…

Cadaqués, THE summer gettaway spot in Catalunya.

2010-02-15T13:24:00.003+01:00

So it’s too bad my friends and I visited it mid-winter...

But it was nice to experience the place without the normal tourists and people cramming the beaches and restaurants like they do in the summer! Granted it never snows in Catalunya, so the weather was just crispy and a little windy.

Cadaqués is a sleepy fishermen’s town off Costa Brava where Salvador Dalí spent his childhood and later vacationed. It’s the picturesque Mediterranean town with its white houses and blue window trimmings and doors! There was unspeakable beauty in the tranquility of the place. Just the locals and us wondering the tiny streets.

We had our own private concert in this tiny town church we stumbled into. The organist was simply playing for God, and the music drew us inside. So we sat down, listened, and did a little wandering around for 15 minutes.

I finally sat down and sketched for awhile. Is there a resemblance?

Best of all, Sean brought his kite, and the windy conditions were perfect for flying! I was the unofficial photographer and used his fancy camera to take these sweet pics.

Unfortunately, Dalí’s house is closed this time of year, so we only wondered around in his front yard. He’s got this tree chained to the house though…

People here are very pro-Catalan and Catalunya. Maybe I should explain that regionalism, not nationalism, is more popular in Spain. People don’t consider themselves Spanish but instead Catalunian or Gallego or Andalusian, etc. Catalunya wants to separate itself from Spain because they have their own separate language (Catalan) and history. It wasn’t until Isabela and Fernando linked the two kingdoms through marriage back in the 1400s.

Sean, Hannah-Hunt, and I splurged on a fancy dinner at a family owned restaurant, Casa Anita. I tried some of the best sea bass and gambas (shrimp) I’ve had in my life! We ended up with a bottle of wine on the house since they forgot our dessert.

I would live here if I could… but maybe just as a summer home like Dalí.

I <3 these pics, but it too bad I'm doing the the-sun-is-in-my-face-I-can't-see-squint-smile.

Yay for Cadaques!

Making spanish friends is hard work

2010-02-10T16:00:00.002+01:00

I've seriously considered starting up smoking just to make Spanish friends during class breaks. Spanish people need their descansos, so every 1.5 of class there is a 10 minute break where everyone gathers outside talking, smoking their cigs. Meanwhile, I'm just chilling and pretending to be vaguely interested in something I can waste 10 minutes on.

Yesterday I had my first day of class at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC, but not to be confused with Uof I at Chicago). They have a school of architecture, ESARQ (Escole Superior de Arquitectura) at which I am taking one class, Composicio IV.

The first day kinda sucked. I got there early, and everyone is outside the classroom all chatty with their friends. (I think there's some kind of rule where you don't enter the room until the professor gets there.) And here I am, standing all pathetic by myself. Ten minutes is a really long time! But at least I got the classroom right!

I soon found out that this architecture history class was not going to be research paper based. Yay, no boring research papers. Nay, finding a 4-person group! That part has been stressing me out since yesterday, especially since I only exchanged a one word convo with another person.
"Is this seat taken?"
"No."
However, today I made 5 new friends! without having to light up. lol And one of them was a Polish girl, who is studying abroad from London, so we spoke Polish, but she's dropping the class since she can't understand Spanish. 3 more are part of my group. Magda, Eva, and Sergi. I kinda lucked out and picked their names out of a hat because the professors said the foreign students must disperse amongst the groups, so for better or worse, they are stuck with me.

But we're meeting tomorrow to visit and analyze the Mercat de Santa Catarina.

It has a pretty awesome roof.

From there we have to make an architectural exhibition for 8-10 year old kids, write a 4 page paper about it, make a model, and design an educative game. Que chulo, no?

Gossamer mountain monastery

2010-02-01T00:39:00.008+01:00

God walked among us on this sacred mountain. It’s like He took foot steps and left behind a trail of clouds. The fog in the morning and early afternoon made this monastery feel like a secret treasure wrapped neatly in a gossamer blanket.

The early morning started with a train ride and the scenic but not exciting rack rail, cremallera, to the top. (Unfortunately, the Aeri, the little German cable cars, and the funiculars are not operational during the winter months. Lame. It seems a lot of tourist things are put on hold this time of year…)

Although I have no picture of the funicular, this ride to the top would have been super chulo.
There’s not much to say besides; the monastery was a tranquil trip, nothing big and exciting. Just beautiful scenery, a cat that followed me around until I fed it, a daily boys’ choir performance, and magnificent church architecture.

However, the whole experience gave me time to reflect how lucky I am to be here. It took years of saving babysitting money in high school to working hard in college, but I finally made my study abroad dream come true. :) Thank you, God, and thank you everyone else who made this possible or influenced me in anyway. Yay!

How I tried to get into Mies van der Rohe’s bathroom and failed

2010-01-31T19:57:00.007+01:00

The Barcelona Pavilion, as it is known to most architects, is really referred to as the German Pavilion in this country. After all, they did build it! It just happened to be built here in Barcelona for the 1929 International Exposition.

I found it ironic that while the theme for the Expo that year was electricity, the pavilion has no interior lights. Right now they’ve inserted some ugly free standing stadium lights for when it gets dark, but Mies would seriously disapprove.

But enough about history!

I remembered doing sketches of the Barcelona Pavilion for Kia’s summer sketch assignment two years back, and I was positive there was a bathroom in the little caretaker’s wing, which has not been turned into a gift shop. So I asked the man working there, if there was a bathroom here. He replied, “No.” So I grabbed a book off the shelf and started flipping to some plans, and sure enough, a little toilet and sink were showing up in the drawings. So I start talking to him again. “Was there a bathroom here once? There’s a drawing of a bathroom on these plans.”
And he admits that, Yes, there is a bathroom here, but it’s not public.
So I ask politely, Can I just see it, please?
No.

The gift shop/former caretaker's quarters where the bathroom in questions is located.

Plan view. Very innovative for it's time.

Zoomed in version. Notice the bathroom in the upper left hand rectangle. There's a little sink and toilet.

If any of you readers come see this place in the future, I hope you try asking, and may you have better luck than I did!

Barcelona chair!! But they don't let you sit on it :(

The pavilion is famous of it's reflections. Notice how the marble is cut and mirrored. "God is in the details"-Mies

The placement of this status, Morning, by Georg Kolbe is also important. It's stratigically placed in it's location to be seen from multiple views.

I feel obliged to mention for the architecture noobs that this pavilion is a recreation in the exact same spot using Mies' original plans. The first pavilion was temporary and taken down after the Exhibition. Then they realized how great it was and rebuilt it again in an OCD Mies kind of way.

Doug Cooper would be proud of me sketching.

view at night... some catering company setting up a private dinner party inside the pavilion. I was totes jeal.

Greatest. Onion-eating. Lunch. Experience. Ever.

2010-01-23T23:21:00.003+01:00

Calçots + Parrón = Yumminess

We hiked for 2 hours up a mountain to reach this invisible-to-the-regular-tourist restaurant, called Can Marti. The trip was well worth it. They served us a Calçotada feast consisting of calçots (mild, less bulbous onions) and wine out of a parrón, plus the traditional pan con tomate, lamb ribs, Spanish sausages, salad, olives, red peppers, and delicious cream puffs for dessert.

There is no way to describe the traditional way of eating calcots and drinking from a parron without pictures. Let’s just say you need a bib for the whole experience…

The calçots are cooked here on fireplace and get all carcoal-y black, in a good way.

How to eat calçots:

Find the middle part of the onion. Pull on the most bottom carcoal-y part.

It should look like this!

Dip in romesco sauce and eat! Delicious!

And afterwards drink some wine out of a parrón, which looks like this up close:

Michelle being an expert parrón drinker. Now you see why bibs are necessary...

Especially in situations like this:

more food, lamb ribs and spanish sausage.

and dessert, creme puffs covered in warm chocolate sauce!

and then we took the Tram home because we were too fat and full to walk back...

Best lunch ever!

4 cool design places off the beaten path in Barcelona

2010-01-22T00:33:00.006+01:00

1. Vinçon -- a design store similar to an Ikea but 847530528 Xs better. We got a tour by the current owner (son of the original founder/owner) of the two-story store located on the prestigious Passeig de Gracias (next to a Coco Chanel and Louis Vuitton store). They sell anything from moleskins notebooks...

to cool lamps to vintage toys to sick bathroom fixtures to mod furniture.
And barets of course :)

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2. NaniMarquina – a designer carpet store. (Her father invented the vingerera, a device that dispends olive oil or balsamic vinegar at the perfect rate. No more mishaps of drenching your bread or salad with too much!)

However, not only are her carpets amazing, unique, and full of texture, but she let us draw on her wall!

I had to share my favorite carpet—a polar bear on an iceberg in a sea of blue…

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3. Palo Alto – artist/architect/designer studio factory. A secret garden-esque, old factory where Javier Mariscal’s studio is located, a long with other renowned interior designers, photographers, sculptors, painters, and architects. Mariscal is a famous designer who know does anything from shopping bags for H&M to cutlery to Cobi, the mascot for the Barcelona Olympic games.

We ended up having lunch at a restaurant where Mariscal is a regular. That’s him in the back left with the halo effect! :) I know you can't really see him, but we sat at the same long table!

And I just like this candid courtesy of Sean Wittmeyer

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4. Park next to Herzog and de Mueron’s Forum building – The building kind of sucks. It only looks good in photographs, and some of its materials up close are cool to touch and look at, but the park next to it is baller! Forget the safe-I-don’t-want-my-kids-to-get-hurt parks in the U.S. This place tests your balance, mobility, and dexterity.
That circle things spins in case it's hard to tell in the photo...

There was also a spider web like contraption/slide! Best thing ever!

To do or not to do... when going out in Barcelona. That is the question.

2010-01-21T20:17:00.018+01:00

Crazy story about Tapas, jumping over construction fences, loittering in parks, and partying until dawn in Barcelona.

Monday night CIEE took us out to a traditional tapas dinner in the Old Town. Marc, one of our "Guardian Angels" aka a student studying at ELISAVA who's job it is to show us a good time, took us to this kitsch restaurant. I say that with great admiration for the place because the food was fantastic! We had a budget of 180euros, and Marc asked the owner to cut us off at 160. Unfortunately, somewhere in the process of ordering tapas and pitchers of Sangria (which tasted so deliciously good!) the bill came out to be 242euros. Marc got annoyed and told the owner it was his fault and started arguing with him, in Spanish of course. Marc then tells us it was our role to play the (dumb) American card and that we just arrived today and have no money. Well, it took some time, but we left the restaurant and only paid the 180euros CIEE gave us for dinner. We can never go back there now unfortunately.
Do: go out to dinner with your friends
Do: pretend to be ignorant when necessary

Since it was midnight, half the people decided to break from the group and head home before the Metro closed. The rest of us ended up heading on a journey to a secluded place to drink in the city. Marc suggested this park on top on Montjuic, a mountain bordering the Old Town. Unfortunately, the pathways were underconstruction, yet we thought it was still be a good idea to jump over the fence and go up there anyway. Instead, we found ourselves walking in mud because it was drizzling all night. Not the brightest idea...
Do: drink responsibly without being seen by los mossos de esqueda
Don't: climb over construction barriers; they are there for a reason... :/

After meeting up with Marc's friends, who were all pretty cool, we headed to Apolo for some Nasty Monday clubbin.' (Side note/funny annecdote: While waiting in line to get in, Rachael and I had to use the bathroom, but the cafe across the street said the bathroom was for clients only, so we bought a shot in order to pee.) Going out to clubs is not the same as in the States. No one grinds, no one's creepy. People just enjoy themselves and dance and drink and smoke their cigarrettes. However, it gets hot and sweaty really fast as if you're doing a 4 hour work out. It was really fun to stay up all night dancing and wishing life was like this everyday... And then we took the Metro home at 5:30.
Do: have fun and dance the night away
Do: check your coat and large bags/purses at the door
Don't: forget your cellphone at the bar (lol Rachael)
Don't: forget that you have still have class tomorrow

BARCELONA, I want your loving and your BAD romance!

2010-01-13T20:56:00.002+01:00

Let's just say Long Island Ice Teas are not prepared the same way here as they are in the USofA. But it's a good thing!

The ratio of ice is 2 ice cubes compared to a whole glass full :) And Europeans are not sparce with the alchy. So 1 drink really = 3

Hey, it's always 5 o'clock somewhere ;)

"Study" abroad? The truth about my classes

2010-01-12T22:48:00.003+01:00

So everyone keeps asking me, "how are your classes?" "Do you like your classes?" "Are they easy?" "Do you have a lot of work?"

Well.......... Good. Yes. So far no. and No. are all the answers, respectively.

Right now we have a two week Spanish language immersion where we have 5 days of Spanish for an hour and a half each day. Spanish class is too easy for me, but I'm already in the highest level possible so... Oh, well! :) However, the whole point of it is not to learn any new grammar but to review it and understand the rules from a more formal point of view.

In addition there is another two week class that focuses on the city of Barcelona and it's visual culture. This class is amazing! It consists of a short lecture with a site visit to important Barcelonian landmarks, buildings, musuems, public art sculptures, you name it! Doesn't feel like a class at all. After these two weeks, we will have 2 more Friday meetings and then at the end of the semester present our final papers to the class. sweet!

Did you know that Barcelona was founded by the Romans? Here's my profesora showing us the outlines of the Roman colony walls that made up the beginings of Barcelona.

As for homework, barely any. A short composition in Spanish, a quick reading for Visual Culture and I'm done! 1, maybe 2 hours max. awesome! But I will start more "serious" classes January 25 and my UIC class in February. Let you know how those go then.

Pics from one of our site visits to the Gothic Quarter/El Barrio Gotic:

The big "columns" or blocks of stone are the remants of the Roman walls. I love how the city incorporates them into new architecture. The light red panels inbetween them are contemporary construction. Behind it you'll be the Cathedral under renovation. It's the only Cathedral in Spain. That being said, yes, there are other churches (just not cathedrals).

Barcelona is famous for its Gothic architecture. Here is a view of the Cathedral/monastry from the back.
However, today I actually felt as if I am studying abroad for real. I visited the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya with the other CIEE architecture students taking classes there as well. There are four of us out of the 15 in our program because not everyone's Spanish is at an advanced level. While I'm only taking one class there, it already feels like my home! The university is small, but the buildings are fairly new (only 12 years old) and in a great location! The campus is up on the lower slopes of the mountion range above Barcelona, so the view of the city is beautiful.

I wish I had taken pictures inside the studios and model shop, but I didn't want to be all touristy on our guided tour. There are only two buildings on this campus and they pretty much mirror each other. While they seem small from the outside, think again. There are at least 3 stories below ground.

I'm having a love affair with Barcelona and its architecture

2010-01-11T00:04:00.003+01:00

Today I visited La Pedrera, a beautiful building by Antoni Gaudi, a Catalan architect who started the Modernista or Art Nouveau movement in Barcelona, for all you non-archies. He is the reason why I'm studying architecture, and what better way to study his works than to live in the city where he left behind a legacy.

I loved the feeling of the stone columns and walls. The texture is rough to the touch, and people must have thought I was crazy to be admiring the columns instead of Maillol's exhibit of paintings on the walls.

The interior atrium is amazing, too. The light that enters reflects on the walls, which are painted in tints of purple and blues in certain points. The whole thing looks magical. I love the organic forms of the balcony's, especially the iron-work. Unfortunately, it's ashame that the museum has added a drop ceiling and covered most of the walls with flat drywall to display the art. Also, heavy curtains are drawn over the windows looking out into the atrium to limit any sort of glare. It's just unfortunate that this building gets covered up so much from the inside.

10 things you need to know about Spanish food.

2010-01-10T12:46:00.002+01:00

1. They put olive oil and salt on everything! on bread, in rice, on fish, on salads, on vegetables... They're not concerned that olive oil is fatty; to them, it's healthy. Other spices, pepper, basil, etc. don't exist.
2. This means the food is kind of bland. Don't get me wrong, it's good, but not full of so many flavors as one would find in the States. For example, two nights ago we had hamburgesas, and my senora just cooked them in olive oil and salt right out of the plastic wrap it came in.
3. Bread at each meal is consumed in large amounts. Low-carb diet? Out the window.
4. Tortillas do not equal Mexican corn or flour wraps. It's actually a traditional Spanish dish very similar to an omelet but instead of cheese there are lots of vegetables in it such as onions and potatoes, for instance. This dish has become my favorite :) Did I mention it's soaked in olive oil??
5. Cafe con leche is the equivalent of a small latte. It makes me really happy that I can have one each morning since my senora has an espresso maker.
6. El menu del dia for la comida, or lunch, is the best thing ever. Restaurants have a nice price fixed menu for under 10euros that comes with an appetizer, entre, dessert, and glass of wine or water. And you can't have both water and wine without paying extra because...
7. Tap water does not exist in Spain. Yes, you can drink out of the faucet, and the water isn't horrible. However, people just drink bottled water here.
8. La cena, or dinner, is at 8:30 p.m. That's because lunch is usually around 2.
9. Jamon (accent on the o) is a delicacy. HUGE legs of pork hang in store windows. It's very good, but a little salty for my taste. However, I've only had one type so far, and there are many types of jamon to choose from.

This one used to be whole when I came the first day. Now it's almost half gone.

10. Fruit is considered a dessert. While they do have cake, chocolate, and icecream on the menu, Spainards opt for the more healthy option, while those sugary sweets are mainly consumed during holidays and special occasions.

gracias a los reyes! that i didn't get mugged on my way back home today

2010-01-07T02:30:00.001+01:00

Today los espanoles celebrate El Dia de Los Reyes. My spanish mom's extended family all came to her house today early in the morning to set up the living room with a ton of presents. It's pretty weird to open presents with people who aren't related to you in any way what so ever. However, they tired to make me feel at home and everyone gave me a little something ranging from a Barcelona guide book to a picture frame to authentic Spanish castanets (their kinda like little clappers that make noise when you dance...) Anyway, it was nice to see everyone really happy and excited. And once you open a present you yell, "Gracias a los Reyes."

Afterwards, more family and meeting even more people at my senora's sister's house. They're all a mix between crazy and nice. Let's just say they're all very out there and expressive. And I'm sitting there quietly smiling... eating my food... smiling. Talk about being intimidated. And afterwards we saw a documentary on dolphins and whales at the IMAX in 3D. Gracias a los Reyes!

Later that night, I met up with some friends for drinks and dessert. Barcelona is very pretty at night. Muy tranquila. However, who knew that the Metro closes early tonight because of holiday! O well, I ended up walking home, which was only a 20 minute walk, but probably not the smartest thing at one in the morning. Gracias a los Reyes for getting home safe!

what not to wear on a rainy day in barcelona

2010-01-06T13:07:00.005+01:00

It was drizzling a little bit in the morning, yet I still decided on wearing my cute new flats.

Unfortunately, they were not water proof. In fact, they enjoyed soaking up water slowly throughout the day. By night time, my feet were frozen, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the Cabalgata!

It's a special parade where the children and their parents gather on the streets of Barcelona to welcome the Three Wise Men who bring gifts and presents. Instead of Santa Claus and Christmas morning, Barcelonians celebrate the Festival of the Three Wise Men.

The start of the parade with a big explosion of sparkles and candy :)

Pretty... one of my favorite floats!

Here you can see one of the Kings. He's the one on the throne to the right with the bigger hat.

And another one, he's kinda hard to see in the back...

My favorite where these crazy horses!...

and this crazy bird. I want to make one now! lol

Judy´s Thumbs...

2010-01-04T23:58:00.000+01:00

Some of you might know my infamous thumbs from high school, but what better why to start my blog then with a thumbs up and down list.

Thumsb up to:
-awesome Lufthansa planes with personal touch screen video monitors.
-free alcoholic beverages on board :) hello, vino!
-the airplane bathrooms located a floor below. I had to be a loser and ask where they were because I couldn´t find them at first.
-knowing more than one language means easedropping on conversations
-being an EU citizen. No waiting in custom lines!
-free water, Fanta, and candy while waiting in long ass customer service lines
-competent Lufthansa customer service agent man. You gave me a seat; thank you very much!
-having my luggage waiting for me at the airport lost and found. Just when I thought it never made it, it turns out they all came on an earlier flight!
-finally getting some sleep in a decent bed.
-hello Barcelona! I´m here!
-my Spanish mom. She´s so cute and nice!
-buying a cell phone that works in Spain.

Thumbs down to:
-500 days of Summer. That movie sucked. Where was the happy ending? (Oh, that´s right; they did mention it wasn´t a love story...)
-Security checks in Europe. Thank you for making me feel violated, German female version of TSA agent.
-Germany. A few inches of snow and you freak out and cancel my flight! wtf, mate?
-waiting in a 5 hour line only to get frustrated 1 hour before the check-in counter and leaving
-some really stuck up girls giving Americans a bad name. Good thing I ditched them.
-being on stand-by with 50 other angry Barcelonians
-not being able to text facebook my new status and frustrations.
-airplane delays...
-having no Spanish friends to call on new cell phone, yet.

Pics to come; promise.

2009-12-07T04:52:00.001+01:00

In less than one month I'll be in Barcelona! I'm setting up this blog in preparation for my travel adventures and mishaps.

It's called my great escape because I just need a break from CMU. I love it there, but lately I've felt burned out. Hopefully, this semester abroad will fill me with new insprirations and excitment about architecture and the arts. Gaudi is the reason why I decided to study architecture afterall!
Enjoy.