WEEK 13: Spring Breakin Part II

Fammmmm was in town!

Wow, the weekend went by so fast but being able to show them around Barcelona was really fun. I have a busy week coming up (don't I say that every week?) so I'm going to give a few highlights and pictures so I don't ramble and make this too long!

Thursday

The fam arrived around lunchtime so they set their things down in the airBnb and we went to Flax and Kale for lunch! They loved it. We then ended up walking around the Gothic Quarter, around La Boqueria, stopped at Chok for some treats, walked Las Ramblas, the outside of my school, and walked up Passeig de Gracia before heading back to our airBnB. We napped before heading to dinner at Isabella's, an Italian restaurant near the Muntaner stop. We ended up meeting the owner Isabella and I told her how much I liked the Instagram account for her restaurant and about @collegegirleats. She was super nice and the food was also amazing. After, I wanted to take my family to Dow Jones, a bar that gives prices of drinks based on what people at the time are ordering...like the stock market. They loved the place and atmosphere and obviously my dad became best friends with the bartenders by the end of the night.

Friday

After getting a little slower start to the morning due to jet lag, we finally rolled out the door around 1pm to go to Surfhouse, a bar on the beach I have mentioned before. I wanted to show my family the beach and walk around but knew it was going to be packed because of the holiday weekend and all of the tourists. We ended up waiting a little while for a table but ordered drinks and it was so nice outside so it wasn't that big of a deal because the food was amazing, again. We hung out there, walked the beach, and then went to Parc Ciutadella and hung out there before walking up to the Arc de Triomf. That night we went to Nakashita, a sushi restaurant I had heard about recently, for dinner. It was a really small restaurant so I was glad I had made reservations, but the sushi was incredible and you could see the chefs preparing it right at the bar. We had dumplings, edamame, rolls, eel nigiri, and mochi, and everything tasted so fresh and flavorful. Definitely the best sushi I have had in Barcelona. I then wanted to take my dad to Bobby Gin, a bar that specializes in gin and tonics...his favorite drink. The bar was really cool. Definitely more of an upscale bar to get specialty drinks because they were pretty expensive but the bartenders definitely knew what they were doing and the menu was unique. 

Saturday

I was so excited to take my parents to Quimet y Quimet for lunch, one of the most famous tapas restaurants in Barcelona. (Also, one of Anthony Bourdain's favorite restaurants in Barcelona.) Well, of course they were closed because of the holiday weekend. So we made a quick backup plan and decided to go to Federal Cafe, a brunch spot that I raved about a couple weeks ago. Luckily, we got a table right away and all ordered eggs that everyone loved. From there, we walked to Placa de Espanya and spent some time there as well as looking at the different Olympic venues which was actually really cool. The 1992 Olympics were considered one of the most successful Olympics ever...which I didn't know. We went to a wine tasting at 5pm at the Moritz Beer Factory in Barcelona and had such a good time. We go to have cava, white, and red wine, and the red wine was probably the best wine I have ever tasted, no joke. (I made my parents buy a bottle for me.) We were sitting next to some girls form London who were visiting and talked with them for most of the time...and my dad somehow ended up inviting them to Thanksgiving? Don't know how that happened. That night, we went to Restaurante Barceloneta, a seafood restaurant near the beach. We started with the traditional pan de tomate, a traditional Spanish tapa and all ordered fish which we loved. Andrew and I both ended up looking at the dessert menu and got the best dessert I have ever tasted. We actually licked our plates clean haha it was soooooo good. We had coconut ice cream with catalan custard which is essentially creme brulee. Yeah, it was amazing. We then went to George Paynes, the quintessential study abroad student bar to watch the first half of the Michigan State/Kentucky game. Irish bars are always a fan favorite.

Sunday

We woke up early Sunday and went to Farggi to get cappuccinos and croissants before going to church at Catedral de Barceloneta. Having mass in that church was one of the coolest experiences I've had here...even though the entire mass was in Catalan. It was packed with people visiting for the holidays and there were a lot of people out in the morning. We then went to Granja Petitbo for brunch. I had read about it on a couple of food blogs, so I wanted to try it while my family was in town and it didn't disappoint. We ordered a side of banana pancakes for the table which were really good too. After, we went to see La Sagrada Familia and then trekked up to Parc Guell to see one of the best views of the city. I then showed my parents my apartment and gave them a few things to take back with them. We ended up going to El Nacional for dinner which is a restaurant on Passeig de Gracia. Essentially, there are four restaurants within the place along with an oyster bar, meat and cheese bar, cocktail lounge, and wine and beer bar. We had drinks in the cocktail lounge before dinner and the mojito was so good. My mom also picked out some meats and cheeses for us which were really good too. Liz met us there and then we ended up eating at their fish restaurant inside called Llotja. After dinner, my dad was dying to go back to George Payne's so we went there for a little bit before calling it a night. 

Going to Lisbon this weekend with Snewt and Liz....superrr excited for some warm weather and my last trip before my program ends. That's depressing.

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!