Saturday, November 21, 2009
12:19 PM
On Sunday I got back from spending a week with Talia. We had some laughs, cried some cries and even ate some hotdogs. She came here on a Friday and stayed through Tuesday. Then she left for Barcelona and on Wednesday I met her there. On Friday we jetted off to Copenhagen. Kinda complicated, but really fun. While we were here, we made an impromptu trip to the Sierra Nevada, through which I hiked with my little ballet flats and stockings on. Talia proceeded to make fun of me the entire time, while continuing to force me up the mountain. C-tita. The next day we went up to the Alhambra (Al Hambra, as Talia says) and froze. After having been there three times already I think I did a pretty good job as a tour guide, although picky Talia got a little upset with my lack of or over explanations sometimes, and would get distracted. Child.
After our hike up to the Alhambra we rewarded ourselves by buying matching parachute pants. It was an epic moment. Now that I own a pair, I can elaborate on some of the best features:
- They are the most comfortable pants that have ever been created because your legs are free inside there, but you never have to worry about flashing anyone (like you would it a skirt).
- When it’s windy they catch the wind in the middle (like a parachute), and actually help you walk faster. Well, actually that’s not true, but it could be.
- They are all sorts of elastic going on around the stomach and the ankles so you’re really sealed in there.
- The patterned part of the cloth that’s between your two legs as you walk becomes visible to the world (much like a peacocks feathers) when you do a leap. I tried it several times in several different directions. It’s breathtaking every time.
- They go with everything. Well, actually, not really.
- They remind me of Alladin.
When we got home we put on our pants and pranced around for a little before getting it together and settling down for some quality Sporcle time.
The next day, busy with class and other things to do, I had no time to spend with Talia. What did she do? Unclear. Did she leave the room? No. A successful Granada morning. In the afternoon, however, some shopping was done, some boots were bought, it got kind of European in there, and we won’t talk about it anymore. After my evening class I met up with Talia, armed with several shopping bags, and we walked over to get some Churros and chocolate. The next morning, she left, and on Wednesday evening, I met up with her and her friend Claire in Barcelona.
Unfortunately, en route, I almost missed my flight, lost my phone, had to pay 40 euro to check my bag, and sat in front of a woman who had to throw up the whole way there. Finally, after an eventful few hours I made my way to the hostel to find Talia and Claire talking to some Canadians. We had some beers, took a shower and went to bed. The next day we visited park guell, which is really cool. Some of the awesome stuff that we saw there:
- Gaudi’s benches
- 2 men dancing to Indonesian/Hawaiian music that they were playing
- A man playing an inverted steel drum. It was SUCH a beautiful sound (not being sarcastic).
- Barcelona, which looks a little like a slum from the top.
- People selling stuff
In actuality, it’s a really cool park that is actually a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be. I actually imagined that it was just the Gaudi stuff, but there are a ton of paths and trees and little lookouts all over the place, and it’s really fun to walk around in.
A couple weeks prior to this trip I made my first journey to Barcelona with Grady (friend from home), and we went to see the Sagrada Familia church, which is an awesome structure started by Gaudi in the late 1800s, and not scheduled to be completed until 2026 or something like that. It is massive, and there are plans to construct a central tower that is even bigger than the four that already exist.
The outside is covered with sculptures of biblical scenes, images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, and even some of Gaudi’s classic forms. Apparently, according to Grady, Gaudi’s teacher said, while he was training him, that he was either going to be the most influential, talented architect to show himself to the world, or the worst, most horrendous example of a trainee that his trainer had ever produced. I guess people liked him, despite his odd, quirky style.
On our final day in Barcelona we woke up bright and early to catch the bus to the airport, and parted ways with Claire. Later in the day Talia and I arrived in Copenhagen, put on our scarves and gloves, and went back to Talia’s.
Despite the fact that it was rainy and cold the whole time I was there, I really liked Copenhagen a lot. On our first night we made a journey to a little hippy town (town isn’t really the right word, but I don’t know what is) called Christiania, and went to a vegetarian restaurant. I decided it was a perfect time to debut my parachute pants. I was not wrong. Christiania is a really cool little place with a couple shops, a couple houses, and a lot of middle-aged hippies smoking weed. I honestly don’t understand what it is or how it came into existence, but I liked it.
The next day we walked around Copenhagen, took in the wintry decorations, and saw a cool place that is apparently famous, even though I didn’t know about it. Everything was so cozy.
Funnily enough hygge is a word that Danes used a lot, and it means cozy. I didn’t understand why until I went there, and I felt like I wanted to use the word cozy to describe everything. Talia and I took some Christmas card pictures.
Look out for one coming your way in the mail.
Mulan might be the greatest Disney movie ever made. Although, now that I say it, I retract it because I just know that it’s not true. Still, though, it’s pretty good. Afterwards, we went to Talia’s friend’s house to cook an American brunch dinner, which consisted of eggs, bacon and potatoes, the three foods that I probably eat the most of in Spain. Oh well. It was really good, and then afterwards we got to see Lisa Drennan! Fun! (I realized that I’ve been dropping a lot of names all over this blog without explaining who they are, so let me take a quick second to explain Talia and Lisa. Both are my sister’s friends from Wesleyan. Lisa graduated in May with Molly and is now playing professional volleyball in Copenhagen. Talia is my age, and is studying abroad there. If I mention any other names, I’ll try to give an explanation. Sorry about that). Anyway, we saw Lisa, which was exciting, and then it was time for bed. Talia got a hotdog and spoke to the vender in Spanish, English and Danish. The next day I wanted to kill myself when I got out of bed, but headed to the airport anyway. 15 hours later, I was home, finally Talia-free. Just kidding
No comments:
Post a Comment