It's one of those nights where I'm sitting at home, catching up on homework, getting over a nasty death cough, and listening to Bon Iver. I remember in February feeling so ridiculously homesick, missing beautiful Calgary and its beautiful people, but I have a feeling that in a short six weeks this feeling is going to be reversed.
There are moments when I literally need to stop whatever I'm doing, because it seems like I'm a movie. Am I really standing outside La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona? Si. Am I really lying on the beach by the Mediterranean? Si. It might be a little presumptuous of me, but I will forever consider Sevilla to be my third home.
Everybody has a list of the cities they want to see and places they want to go. Barcelona was definitely on my list (don't tell Madrid, but if I don't make it over there... I won't exactly feel too bad about it).
Barcelona
First and foremost, you all need to understand something VERY important about Spanish culture; people here don't associate themselves as being "Spanish", their loyalty lies with their city first, then region, and finally their country. I'm living in Sevilla, Andalucia; which is where all the stereotypes about Spain come from. Flamenco, bullfights, sangria, being lazy... all true. Now go to a different region of Spain, and you're basically in a totally different world.
Here in Sevilla the university gave us a full week off classes because of Semana Santa (Holy Week), I mean... why not? So of course, I book the cheapest flight I can find (31 euros) to Barcelona. But Murphy's Law says that on the day I want to travel, the whole country has a National Protest day, meaning... all services are either closed or limited. How I made it to Barcelona, I will never know. Granted, my plane landed at 3.30 and I had to wait until 5 because that's when the public transit would resume. Picture hundreds of people with their luggage cramming onto a train. The Exodus.
My biggest incentive for this week-long trip was to meet up with my aunt, who I haven't seen since I was about thirteen. She has been living in Barcelona for about two years, so who better to show me the city?
I have always known I'm a city girl, but Barcelona is just even more than I could have imagined. It's a metropolitan city, a tourist city, an international city, but at the same time it feels comfortable and homely. You can find your way around without a single word of Spanish (and by the way, Barcelona is in the region of Catalonia, where their official language is Catalan). The people are so friendly and willing to help you if you're lost, and they're always interested to know where you're from.
Having a mom who's an architect will make you a little crazy when it comes to architecture, so the fact that I got to see ANTONI GAUDI'S famous works, blew my mind away (only just a little). These are the places that I crammed into 4 days of sight-seeing (off the top of my head):
-La Rambla
-Barrio Gotico (Gothic/old neighbourhood)
-Park Guell
-Paseo de Gracia
-Casa Mila (La pedrera)
-Casa Batlo
-La Sagrada Familia
-Magic Fountains of Montjuic
-La Barcelonetta
Even though my digital camera broke, thank goodness I had my blackberry to take pictures, because I don't know what I would have done.
Basically, I love that city. And I am going back. Any questions?
Valencia
On Monday my aunt and I took the bus and headed off to Valencia for 3 nights. Valencia is the third largest in Spain (After Madrid and Barcelona), and it definitely reminded me of Sevilla. Our hostel was conveniently in the "old city" by the cathedral, so we were right within walking distance from anything and everything. And the churches with their hourly dinging were also within breathing distance from us... so great when you want to sleep in.
Our stay in Valencia was a little more relaxed than in Barcelona, we weren't in any rush to see anything in particular, so if anything came up we just went and explored. Most hostels I've stayed at in Spain offer free walking tours of the city, this is something I highly recommend! Personally, I like learning all about the history and random little facts you wouldn't know otherwise.
Valencia is right by the ocean, and it is also in another region of Spain which is called Valencia. They also have their own dialect; Valenciano... which is a weird mixture between Spanish and Catalan. But obviously they all speak Spanish too.
By far, my two favourite things in Valencia were the Turia River and the aquarium. Valencia used to have a river running through it, but a long time ago (hundreds of years) they decided to cut the flow to build a road, but the people weren't too keen on that so they started planting tree seedlings. Long story short, the riverbed is now a giant park, and it's beautiful. If you're a runner like I am, best place ever to go for a run. If you walk to the end of the park, you'll end up at the Ciudad de las artes y las ciencias (City of the arts and sciences). This is a giant complex of buildings, one of them being an aquarium. There's a zoo, a planetarium, etc. And it's all designed by the architect Santiago Calatrava (peace bridge anyone)? If anyone has been to the Vancouver aquarium, you'll know how amazing it is to see this whole different world. So peaceful and humbling!
A great thing about travelling and staying in hostels is the people you meet along the way. Everybody is on the same page, so you can make some great connections in a short amount of time! I was really lucky and hit it off with 4 people from; Brazil, Belgium, Wales and Pennsylvania. We even went on a pub crawl that the hostel offers on my last night there, the sleep deprivation was worth every second.
After a week of all these shennanigans, it was great to come "home" to Sevilla and sleep in my own bed. My body was definitely a trooper and waited until the last minute to shut down on me. And I didn't miss out on Sevilla's famous Semana Santa processions, which were definitely... something unique. Just look at the pictures.
I won't even try and count how many times I have fallen in love; with cities, art, food, music, people. Because it just kind of happens every day.
But don't worry, the first thing I say to somebody I meet is "I LOVE THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS."
