WEEK 12: Spring Breakin Part I

Berlin

So our trip started kind of rough. 6am flight..miscommunication with our Airbnb host, a confusing metro, expensive cabs...but we ended up making the most out of our time in Berlin. On Friday we did a pub crawl with some of our friends from Barcelona which was really fun. We met some other study abroad kids from New Zealand and it was interesting to hear how different their study abroad experience has been so far compared to ours. They also have really cool accents. We ended up at some club where we met up with Liz's friend from home, Ben, and his friends from Wisconsin who are all doing a big Euro spring break trip. Saturday got the best of us and we slept until 1pm....I know. I never sleep that late either but we were exhausted. We ended up getting up and finding an amazing place for brunch and coffee called Silo. Who knew Germany could have cute, trendy brunch places? We then did some sight seeing..saw the Berlin Wall, Hitler's bunkers, Check Point Charlie, and ended up at the Prater Bier Garten where we had dinner and beer. It's such a cool spot and I bet is really fun in the summer being able to sit outside with live music. We ended up going to Ben's AirBnB later that night and then to a club called Tresor.

Sunday we woke up early to go to a coffeeshop that Liz read about on BuzzFeed as one of the top 25 coffee shops around the world you have to see before you die. It was called Bonanza and the coffee was amazing. They didn't really have a food menu but the place was quaint and the staff was super friendly. We then went to this outside market called Flohmarket au MauerPark. There stands selling everything from hot chocolate to records to vintage shoes. We walked around, had brats and hung out in the park before going back to the apartment to pack up our things. Our airBnB host, Ignacio, was there (highly recommend his apartment if you're staying in Berlin!) and we talked with him for a while before going to the bus station to head to Prague. 

Prague

We arrived a little after 10pm in Prague after having a super easy bus ride from Berlin. We were STARVING and had so much trouble flagging down a taxi. Apparently that isn't a thing and you have to call to get one. We finally got to the hostel and ran to put our stuff down so we could find somewhere to eat before everything closed. We forgot that we weren't on Spanish time and it was a Sunday so everything closes pretty early. We found a place close and had fish and chips and banana bread beer(!!!). Literally amazing. We then went and passed out after a long day of traveling. 

Monday we woke up and went to Bakeshop, a pretty famous bakery in Prague where we had cappuccinos and muffins. Soooooo good. I love when cafes make regular sized coffees instead of dinky small cups like in Barcelona. We then found a map and set out to see the city. Prague is seriously beautiful. The red roofs mixed with the castles and teal colors is amazing. We walked around Old Town Square, Charles Bridge, Prague Castle, John Lennon Wall and a bunch of other smaller sites. We ended up going to Bottega de Finestra, a cafe Liz's friends who studied here last semester suggested. I got a mix of zucchini Parmesan and shrimp avocado salads and they were veryyyy good and filling too. After, we went to a Dali/Andy Warhol art exhibition which was interesting. I really don't know that much about art so it was cool to learn more about the two artists and see some of their work. We ended up going to "The Beer Museum" after which has 30 different beers on tap and got sampling trays of the different ones. Beer actually originated in the Czech Republic...which I didn't know. I feel like every country is known for beer.. Anyway we then got ready and went to a sushi place for dinner before going out. 


Liz and I woke up on Tuesday, got coffees (at Bakehouse, again), and then went to Old Town Square to get the famous cinnamon sugar pastries called trdelniks. We liked it but both agreed it was a little overrated. The weather was terrible (cold/rainy/windy) so we walked around a bit, went up into the tower in Old Town Square for pano pics, had lunch and then did a little shopping. I also got a pedicure...when in Prague right? We had reservations at a Mexican place called Agave that Liz had heard about and it was incredible. Upon arriving, we met the owner, Glenn, who brought us to our table and we immediately hit it off. Of course he had to be from Connecticut (Liz). We originally had a reservation for three because we though our friend Megan was staying another night so when we got to our table, we joked around with him about bringing two guys to sit with us. He told us that actually there were a group of college guys sitting at the front of the restaurant. He ended up bringing two older guys from Sweden over to sit with us and we all became fast friends. A couple minutes later, he brought two of the college kids over..gave us all tequila shots and we found out the guys were from studying abroad in Prague and we took down their numbers to maybe hang out before the bars. I told Glenn about @collegegirleats and he brought me back to the kitchen to take pictures with better lighting so I could feature it on Instagram. Because he owns a bunch of restaurants in Prague, I told him that he needed an Instagram to cater to younger people and to feature his brand better. He gave us two margaritas on the house and we ended up being there for a solid 2 1/2 hours eating, drinking and talking. 
Well now we're back in Barcelona and my family is visiting for Easter. I can't wait to show them around and give them the tour of Barcelona. Look for SB Part II on Monday!

WEEK 5: London...A Taste of Home

London rocks. From not having a language barrier to seeing some of my best friends from TCU, I definitely felt a little homesick after leaving London. Although it was very cold, I absolutely loved the city.

Some highlights from the weekend:

Can I go back already?!?!?!?!?

I loved London. Even though I was only there for three days and barely even got to see the city, it was incredible. It gave me the familiar feel of the United States, but was so different. I can't even imagine all the places there are to eat, see, and explore throughout the city. It seemed much more hustle and bustle compared to Barcelona's vibe and I could understand what people were saying!!!! This is definitely a place I want to go back with my parents and do more of the touristy things that I  was not able to do in just three short days.

I got to see my best friends!!!!

Coming to London, I didn't realize how much I miss my best friends (those abroad AND those at TCU). It was so great to see them and catch up and just HANG out. There are a lot of people doing the TCU London program who I am friends with so it was fun to talk about inside jokes and all be together for a weekend. We did a pub crawl and went to dinner with Annie's day who was in town and of course, was so much fun. My roomies and I were all reunited again and of course my lovely cofounder of @collegegirleats. Ugh, Snewts I missed you so much. I'm so happy that we were able to go visit the weekend before Annie's birthday. Although it wasn't the same as celebrating at TCU, I want to give my best friend a shout out on her 21st birthday and I hope you have an amazing day (Feb 10th!). You are an amazing person and I know that you have so much more left to explore and do with your life in London during next couple of months abroad. I can't wait to live with you this summer and be together at TCU senior year. Happy Birthday Annie!!!!!

I experienced Borough Market.

When the London crew kept posting pictures at Borough Market. I knew it was something I had to try when I was in London...and oh we did. The market is HUGE. It's outside with permanently set up tents with every kind of food that you could imagine. Sandwich shops, pasta stations, milkshakes, hot dogs, kebabs, juices, cookies, brownies, homemade chocolates, grilled cheese, potato dishes (don't get enough in Spain), every type of cheese imaginable, and SO much more. I was overwhelmed with what I wanted so we took a couple of laps trying basically everything. The paella was amazing, the cheeses melted in your mouth, and the chocolate was incredible. I eventually decided on the lamb skewer sandwich that was topped with greens and caramelized onions and a lemon garlic sauce and it was amazing. Others got the famous hot dogs, tomato and spinach tortellini, juices, and sweet potato fries and they were all amazing. Borough Market did not disappoint.

Undocumented highlights:

• Brunch at The Breakfast Club
• Dinner with Mr. Maguire and friends at Princi
• Walking on Brick Lane and learning about the brothers and their bagels
• BEING REALLY COLD
• Figuring out the airport to the shuttle to the train to the tube to their apartment.....
• Late night falafel (scarred for life)
• Shoreditch
• Double decker tour buses
• Going inside Harrod's and wanting everything

Sorry, had to keep this post short! Long week ahead and going to Cadiz, Spain this upcoming weekend for their Carnivale and to experience Liz's previous homestay experience. I'm excited to see another area of Spain and all it has to offer! 

NAP. Neapolitan Authentic Pizza

Well if the title doesn't intrigue you...then I don't know what will. You guys, Liz and I found the best pizza place. Ever. After first coming to Barcelona and trying the random "Italian" restaurant across from our apartment that had fake prosciutto, I was really turned off from pizza. Coming from Chicago, I had not found pizza I liked in Fort Worth at school until I tried Cane Rosso. Liz showed it to me last year and I have been there countless times since including parents weekend, my dad visiting in the summer, friends' birthdays, and random roomie dinner nights. So why am I talking about Cane Rosso? Well this place we found, NAP, is essentially Cane Rosso: Barcelona Edition. 

It started when I found this Instagram....called @bcndelicatessen. If you know me well, you know my best friend Sarah and I run an Instagram called @collegegirleats where we feature food we eat, make, or pictures sent by our friends. Well the other day I found this account and basically it features all of these restaurants in Barcelona (that all look amazing). l have had so many average meals in Barcelona that now I look up the place we are going before to make sure there are decent reviews, pictures, and somewhere I can get a price point. So I saw a couple places that looked really good and started looking them up. 

First one: 4 euro signs meaning expensive... 

Second one: Not open...

Third one: 40 minutes on the metro...

Then I started craving pizza. I became desperate and started Google searching: best pizza place in Barcelona. Long story short, ten minutes later and Liz and I found this place. The pictures looked promising and we decided to go for it. We heard that they could get pretty busy later on so we wanted to go a little bit on the earlier side. 

The moment we sat down, I knew this place was going to be a winner. It was clean, not crowded, and the staff was friendly right from the start. The menu was simple and the prices were very reasonable (yes!). For the broke college students who have been taken advantage of multiple times, we were all for this. We are also people who go by recommendations so of course we asked our waitress what she liked best. She recommended the Speck pizza which was mozzarella, mushrooms, truffle oil, arugula, and olive oil. For us truffle oil lovers, we were sold. We also decided to go with one of the bruschettas which had mozzarella, mushrooms and tomatoes which was amazing. I took a picture of the sign pictured to the right and sent it to my mom because we share a love for burrata (a type of mozzarella) after getting it as an appetizer in New York this past Fall. 

The bruschetta came out immediately and we weren't disappointed. We almost ordered another one, but decided to hold off until our pizza came and I am so glad we did. I also ordered a Moritz (one of the more popular beers in Barcelona) and Liz had a Coke...what is it about Coke that makes it taste so much better in Europe???

This pizza was incredible. First, it came moments later because these pizzas are put in the oven for less than 90 seconds. The dough tasted exactly like Cane Rosso's, and the truffle oil gave it the perfect touch. It has to be eaten with a fork and knife because the crust is so thin, but never burns. Apparently there is some old, written down recipe for the dough...I still don't even understand it. Although this pizza was out of this world, next time I am excited to try another one of their bruschettas (with burrata!), a salad, and the Crudo Parma pizza which also caught my eye. Prosciutto on pizza makes everything better..right? Liz and I decided to order another beer and just sit and talk for a while. Within the next hour, the place was PACKED. I am glad we came early even though we are getting used to eating like locals at 10pm. This place was definitely a winner in our book and I think we are getting better at picking restaurants that are in our price point and have staff with the best recommendations. I am already looking forward to our next visit. If you are in Barcelona, you have to check this place out. It is a couple minute walk from the Jaume I stop.

WEEK 3: I went to Switzerland

So I went to Interlaken, Switzerland this weekend and learned a couple of things.

You can OD from chocolate.

You guys. I ate so much chocolate this weekend. I'm actually kind of burnt out for a while i think. If you are good friends with me, you know that I am notorious for having a sweet tooth (and finishing friends' froyo while they are inside a grocery store). I don't crave pizza at 11pm or chicken nuggets or fries. If I am craving something, it's ice cream or s'mores bars or chocolate. Well Swiss chocolate really outdid itself. We went into random chocolate stores and got samples, had free chocolate on the plane courtesy of Swiss airlines, and bought chocolate bars at the nearby grocery store. Even though my favorite type is dark chocolate, Swiss chocolate is notorious for its milk chocolate and it was really good. I was kind of disappointed that we didn't have chocolate fondue, but you win some and lose some.

"Depends on weather conditions" is a real thing.

I was finally going to skydive. My friend Mary (top right) convinced me into doing it even though it was going to cost me my life because its the Alps and if you run a skydiving company in the Alps, they can charge whatever they want. I had it booked and I finally convinced myself to do it. Well, it got canceled three times because of the weather conditions being too foggy and each time the anticipation made me so anxious. Instead, we decided to the next best thing and went paragliding which was still amazing and the views were unreal. Freezing, yes. But the scenery was something I will never forget.

Switzerland took all my money.

I actually feel robbed from this weekend. How does Switzerland get away with charging whatever they want? I have no clue. Anyway, I was at the ATM a few times and learned that drinks are more expensive than you think. Overall, I convinced myself this was going to be the most expensive trip and decided not to think about it. Key to saving money...split everything and take advantage of happy hour prices when possible. Also, so disappointed in Swiss fondue. We thought it was going to be really good and ended up being so much money and so random.....Hence the picture on the bottom left. So cute Ang!!!!!!!

You CAN become a local within two days.

When in the town of Interlaken, you can only go to the Irish Pub so many times. When skydiving gets canceled...Irish Pub. When happy hour...Irish Pub. When waiting for friends to finish skiing....Irish Pub. When every cafe is closed on Sunday and your hostel made you check out at 10am...Irish Pub. We did have an amazing beer as a suggestion from the bartender called Grimbergen. Also, we became best friends with the owner of the chocolate shop who gave us free truffles samples. 

Hostels really aren't that bad.

Pictured below is the infamous Balmers hostel. Apparently it's ranked one of the "Top 49 Most Famous Hostels in Europe." Whatever that means. It wasn't actually that bad besides for the breakfast which consisted of bread and jelly. Literally that's it. And of course I managed to lose my room key within the first ten minutes of being there. Underneath the hostel, there was the "night club" where everyone went both nights and was actually a great time. They also had Wi-Fi, hot showers, and heating so that was a plus. There was a pizza place and Thai food restaurant next door...so the first hostel experience wasn't anything to complain about. 

WEEK 2: Bridge to Tarragona

Well good news and bad news.

Good news: the planned trip for our study abroad program actually ended up being really fun!

Bad news: classes started and I need to get in somewhat of a school mindset.

Tarragona

Tarragona. Our study abroad center had this trip planned from Friday to Saturday where we took buses to see different sites and spend the night in Tarragona with everyone from our program. Our buses were split up by Spanish classes and conveniently Liz and I were on the same bus. I wasn't exactly looking forward to the trip but it ended up being the most fun I have had so far. We met a lot of really cool people on our bus from Indiana, Virginia, University of Illinois, North Carolina, and UT. There are so many kids from the suburbs of Chicago and this world really is so small. I felt like I had at least a connection of knowing some person to almost everyone I talked to which was really cool. And Liz of course found a Connecticut crew.

On Friday night, after hours of touring and a scarring papas bravas experience at lunch, we could do basically whatever we wanted. In the small town of Tarragona, there was approximately one bar open. After a couple of GroupMe texts, 20 minutes later and all 400 study abroad kids were at this bar. It went from having one bartender and one room to opening up a night club downstairs…so random but so fun.

The next day we saw a monastery in Santes Creus which was really interesting. After, we drove to a restaurant and had a traditional “Spanish BBQ” which was a 2 ½ hour lunch where we were introduced to the baron and calçotada. A baron is essentially a bong that holds wine and you pour it into your mouth. I can work with that. A calçotada is a blackened leek that you dip into a sauce and eat…yeah. It was a pretty fun (and interesting) lunch and after we headed back to Barcelona. It is so weird to me that just being in Barcelona a few weeks, it feels nice to come “home” after only being gone for a day and a half.

So you guys. I had the best and worst sushi of my life this week. Liz and I were craving sushi after having bread, potatoes, chicken, and cheese for the past two weeks and decided to venture out to a sushi place we saw a couple days ago. It was terrible. I wondered why I ever thought sushi in Barcelona was okay in the first place. Well after we got back from Tarragona, Liz and I wanted something lighter for dinner and found a sushi place on Yelp with amazing reviews.So we convinced each other to bite the bullet and try it.

The location was awesome. It’s called Fishop and located right off the metro stop in Passeig de Gracia near the Nespresso building. You walk downstairs into a trendy, lively atmosphere and we were seated immediately. Lesson learned #1: look at prices before you go to a restaurant. I wasn’t looking to spend four euros on a single piece of nigiri, so Liz and I decided to get three rolls (that only consist of four pieces.......) and split it. Well that and two beers later and we were at 44 euros. How did that happen? I have no idea. Oh and we had to pay four euros for our table. Don’t get me wrong, the sushi was incredible and really fresh, but I can't justify spending 22 euros for six pieces. 

Spicy Tuna

Highlight: We’re going to Interlaken, Switzerland this weekend. We’re staying with Angie (one of our best friends from TCU), her roommates and their friends from college. We’re planning on doing a pub crawl, hiking, and exploring so I think it will be a really fun weekend. This is also probably going to be our only winter trip so I’m glad that we decided to do it. I’m excited because so far, all the traveling we have planned is to new cities in Europe.

Oh and Liz and I attempted to make pasta with meat sauce this week to get out of our chicken and vegetable rut that we've done probably three times. Lesson learned #2: tomato paste is not the same as tomato sauce. Liz accidentally bought tomato paste instead of sauce and it was to say the least...disgusting. We ended up straining it, saving the meat and concocting a red wine sauce that we made by sautéeing leftover red wine, olive oil, pepper, garlic salt, spinach, onions, and diced tomatoes. It ended up being surprisingly good…need to get creative in this European city of ours. We added mahón cheese on top which is AMAZING. One of my teachers recommended it to me and it comes from the island off of Minorca which is on the Mediterranean cost of Spain. It is more of a sharp, buttery taste with a hint of sweetness. I’m obsessed. I put it on everything.

Goals accomplished: get my Spanish SIM card to work (hallelujah), spend an absurd amount of money at the bar, switch out of one of my 9am classes, meet new friends and lose six pairs of socks already.

Goals for this week: get school supplies, go to Park Guell, make more dinners instead of eating out every meal, not crave and spend money on a cappuccino each morning (they know my order…I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or bad thing), and try something new.

Liz, Angie and me

See you later this week!

WEEK 1: Syllabus week?

WE MADE IT! 

After a whole semester of talking about studying abroad and being in Barcelona, I can't believe that it is finally here. There was always the constant struggle of not wanting to leave behind my friends at TCU for a semester but also wanting to do something different and explore a new country to get out of my comfort zone. My family has gone on a few trips to Europe and other places around the world, but to change my whole routine and way of life living in a new country was definitely something I wanted to try. 

So far, Barcelona has been amazing. Liz and I are living in an apartment with two other girls and our RA, Claudia, who is from a village about two hours from here. Going into this, I was expecting a small, beat-down apartment with no space, so I was shocked when I came into a spacious, fully-furnished apartment with kitchen amenities, a nice dining room table, TV, and spacious rooms. This first week we have been focused on getting settled into the apartment (Liz and I share a room and a connected bathroom) and getting used to the slight cultural differences. We are about a 25 minute metro ride from our school, which hasn't been too bad considering we are close to a metro stop and have quickly figured out our way to get there.

View from the top of Placa de Espana

Accomplishments: broil toast in the oven (because we don't have a toaster), successfully find the wine opener, cook our first meal, locate the dumpster outside, take less than three minute showers to conserve hot water, realize wedges have to come off before stepping foot in the apartment to not wake residents below us, find a good running path, that not tipping is okay, and that you need to bring your own bag to carry home groceries. 

Still figuring out: how to successfully brew a pot of coffee, use the correct functions on the washing machine, wake up before 11am, where to buy refrigerated milk, live without air conditioning, use a Spanish SIM card correctly, the purpose of "x" in Catalan's vocabulary, and why there are more Zara stores than cafes. 

As someone who considers herself a morning person, getting used to Barcelona time has been very different. Most of the time we have dinner around 9 or even 10 and then go out after that so the days are much longer than we are used to at home. We have only had Spanish classes start so far so I am excited to meet more people when our full load of classes start tomorrow. At first I was really excited about having 9am classes so I could have the rest of the day to explore and now I am slightly regretting it...but I'm sure once we get in the routine of classes, it will be a lot easier waking up. 

So why am I doing this blog? Of course I was against it at first because it seems like a typical study abroad student just blogging about her time abroad and all the interesting places she's traveled or things she's discovered. Liz convinced me into doing this to share my semester abroad with my family and friends, so I thought I would give it a try. The purpose of Talk Tapas to Me is to share my eats, drinks, and finds throughout the city of Barcelona and other places I travel. My goal is to find the best tapas in Barcelona, see every coffee shop there is, and be able to talk my dad's ear off about Spanish wines when he visits during Easter. So join me as I learn more about this incredible city and everything that it has to offer.