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stephshap

19 Blog Entries
9 Trips
136 Photos

Trips:

Steph does travel.
Espana!
Ireland.
French crepes
Discovering Spain
Alhambra
NateDogg in da house
We came, we saw, we ate greek salad
When in Rome

Shorthand link:

http://www.blogabond.com/Stephshap


University of Pittsburgh 2008
Political Science and Business Administration
Israel: dec 17-jan 7
Barcelona, Spain: jan 7-may 15


the end :(

Barcelona, Spain

Sooooooo,
its comin down to the wire and I will officially be kicked out of my beachside flat in Barceloneta this Saturday, so sad!
Since coming back from Sping Break, Ive just been relaxing and enjoying Barcelona. Last weekend was cold and rainy so instead of taking the CEA trip to Mallorca I stayed in Barcelona and hung around with Laurie. It was nice to just relax and and recover from all the traveling. This weekend I went out Thursday night with Lily to Port Olimpico. There are all these little kinda sleezy clubs that get you to come in by offering you a free shot, which is basically just fruit juice anyways! But we had a great time dancing to the techno beats.
Friday night I went to Chabad house with Kim and Brian and it was so interesting! We went to services first, and then Rabbi Liebersohn´s house for dinner. There were probably about 20 people at dinner representing at least 6 countries: USA, Sweden, Chile, Mexico, France, England. Then on Saturday I spent the day hangin out at the beach and Saturday night I went to Atlantic with Laurie and her friends that were visiting.
Yesterday I went to the festival in Park Ciutadella with Lily and her friend Delana. It was huge! There were so many artist and food booths, live music and dancing, people starting their own drum and dance and acrobat circles. It was an ethnic festival and it really made me realize how many different nationalities live in Barcelona, especially Latin Americans. Also, there was a whole part of the festival specifically devoted to vegetarianism and animal cruelty. Needless to say, I think every tree-hugger came out for the festival.
So Sharone comes tomorrow! and I am smiling just thinking about her being here!
I have 2 finals on Wednesday, 1 on thursday and also final essays due on Thursday.
But besides the work I have, I will make some time to show Sharone around Barcelona before we set out on our travels... we leave on Sunday for Budapest, then we take trains to Krakow, Prague, Munich, and Amsterdam. Total we will be traveling for 17 days! So excited!

permalink written by  stephshap on April 23, 2007 from Barcelona, Spain
from the travel blog: Steph does travel.
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When in Rome

Rome, Italy

Rome is simply put.... amazing!
Kim and I arrived late Friday evening, trained it to Termini, and then somehow figured out the bus schedule and found our hostel: Happy Days. The owner is this 43 year old Italian guy named Ivanni who is so stereotypical loud, touchy, Italian, but he def made us feel welcome in his ¨home¨ We called it a night so we could get up early for the Vatican.
Saturday we woke up and i immediately realized that I had caught Claire´s pinkeye. So we had to find the clinic and then the pharmacy which took a few hours and we didnt get to the Vatican until 11am. It was a 3hour wait, so Kim and I decided to hop on a guided tour which gets to skip the line! It ended up being a great experience bc we had someone explain everything to us in the museum and the Sistine Chapel. St. Peters is very impressive!
We had a cute pizza brunch at a cafe nearby and then strolled around Piazza Navona and a few other main streets. We headed back to the hostel around 6pm to rest and get ready for dinner with Ivanni. Every week he takes out whoever in the hostel would like an authentic Italian meal. We went with three other girls studying abroad in Paris and the food was to die for... 5 courses in all! Later, Ivanni took us on a little walking tour at night of the major sights, Pantheon, Vatican, etc...
Sunday we spent the day hitting the rest of the tourist spots including: Campo dei Fiori, Piazza Navona, Jewish Ghetto, old Synagogue, Coloseum, Palatine Hill, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon. While sitting outside the Coloseum we met a Chabad rabbi from Pittsburgh! Small world!
Kim and I had dinner and called it a night, we were exhausted!
Monday we took a bus to Tivoli, its a small town outside Rome about 40 minutes. The town was so cute, and the sun was shining. We visited Villa deèste, and just hung out near all the gorgeous fountains in the ginormous gardens.
Later, we had dinner at a place near our hostel and made friends with the waitors who had previously lived in Barcelona!
Kim left early Tuesday morning but since my flight wasn´t until later in the evening, I just hung out in the plazas and near the Pantheon reading and enjoying my last day in the city.
Now its back to Barcelona for projects and finals ... and im just now starting the process of planning my travels with Sharone! Can´t believe that I have to leave Barcelona, my flat, my home in 2 weeks! crazyyyyyy

permalink written by  stephshap on April 12, 2007 from Rome, Italy
from the travel blog: When in Rome
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It's all Greek to me

Athens, Greece

Hello from Athens! I'm currently writing from an internet cafe in Omoania (sp?) Square in Athens Greece. I wanted to add a few things about my spring break trip thus far:
Friday March 30th: Kim, Claire and I arrived in Athens, after an interesting and stressful round of confusions with Alitalia which resulted in our flying first class! However, Claire realized on the plane over that she caught her roommates pink eye, so the first evening in Athens we searched the city for an open clinic and then an open pharmacy for the drops! Oh, and they were playing Free Willy with Greek subtitles at the hospital waiting room..hehe We stayed at a cute little hostel to the north of the Acropolis and the main downtown, it was called Victor Hugo on Veranzerou.
Saturday March 31st: We visited the National Archaelogical Museum and hung out in that neighborhood. Later, Claire and I walked around Ermou and the Monistiraki neighborhood. That night, I went on a nice date with Kim and ate some yummy Greek food while sitting outside in the square, in a gorgeous jungle atmostphere. We then headed for a bar called Bretto's where the walls are all lined with alcohol bottles filled with colored water.. pretty!
Sunday April 1
We got an early start to walk to the Acropolis. On the way we stopped at the National Garden and also the Temple of the Athenian Zeus. We had our trusty guidebooks to lead us in telling the stories of Ancient Greece and give us an idea of exactly how long ago these monuments were built. Then we took the treck up to the actual acropolis and what a view!! Madeleine later showed up and the four of us strolled around and had a nice dinner with a view of the Acropolis.
Monday April 2: Early (6am) flight to Santorini. We checked in to Anny studios and headed straight back to bed. When we woke again it was nice out to lay by the pool and just relax. Later we had a greek meal near our place on Perissa Beach.
Tuesday April 3: Laid out by the pool again. That night we got a ride into Thira and rented a car for the day. We sat at a quaint cafe and watched the world-reknowned sunset, and yes: it is as beautiful as you see in the pictures, i could hardly believe my own eyes!
Wednesday: In the morning we laid out by the pool again, and then took the car to Oia in the afternoon because this is supposed to be the most famous sunset overlook. Well, it was a bit too windy and cloudy but the view of the volcano and mountain cliffs are always spectacular. That evening we ordered in and watched some DVDs
Thursday April 5: We woke up early to catch the bus to Thira and make the treck down to the old port. We hopped on our boat and took a tour of the Santorini Island. First we went to the volcano and hiked to the top, then we stopped at the hot (cold!) springs and later at the small island of Therissa for lunch!
By the time we got back to Thira we hung out in the town for a while, and then by 8pm headed back to our hostel to pack and watch Blood Diamond.
Overall a very relaxing and enjoyable break, and I cant wait for Rome, more to come soon!

permalink written by  stephshap on April 6, 2007 from Athens, Greece
from the travel blog: We came, we saw, we ate greek salad
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I come to Spain!

Barcelona, Spain

Nate (the big bro) left this morning at 4:15am, and I was so sad to see him go! He had a wonderful visit, I hope, and we both had a great time experiencing Barcelona together. He arrived Wednesday afternoon; I met him at Plaza Catalunya from the Aerobus. Right away we headed for Las Ramblas where Nate was in for a few surprises. He gawked at the birds for sale and the statues with their full-on body paint. We headed back to my flat to drop off his bags and then took a nice stroll on the boardwalk, and down to Port Olimpico. Later, we strolled around the Born neighborhood, and then Gothic Quarter, where I showed him all the historical sights and had a dinner of Spanish tapas at Bilboa.
Thursday I had class in the morning. Nate met me at my break at 12:15 and we walked down Las Ramblas to La Boqueria. Then Nate came to my Contemporary Spain class with me! Later, we stopped by Sagrada Familia. Then it was time to get ready for Cirque du Soleil. What an amazing show, the performers where unbelievably talented, and their bodies moved in ways that should be impossible. After the show, we stopped at Ovella Negra to drink a pitcher of Sangria and play a few games of billiards.
Friday we woke up and went on a bike tour with Gnarley Charley. There were about 15 total people on the tour, mostly from England and Australia. They took us all over the city, including: Port Olimpico, Parc Ciutatdella, Sagrada Familia, Monumental, and the Gothic Quarter. It lasted from 1:30pm until about 5pm and afterwards we all sat at Flaherty’s for a beer. We stopped home for a quick shower and then headed to Chabad House for Shabbat services. The rabbi saw that we were new and invited us to his house for Shabbat dinner. Fantastic meal with a crazy mix of people! The rabbi is originally from Mexico, but has been in Barcelona for 9 years where he has raised his 4 kids. There were also two travelers that are doing a year at seminary in Israel. A couple from France who are in Spain for business, and finally a New York native who translates for a living. Needless to say, he was a translator for the night. We didn’t leave the rabbis house until 11:30pm. Later that night, I agreed to go with Nate to the casino, and he won at BlackJack! Saturday we took a train to Monserrat, it is this extremely old monastery dating back to the 9th century. We took some amazing pictures of the view from atop the mountain. When we arrived back in the city, we attempted to see the FCBarca game, and arrived just at the end and realized that our sources were incorrect, it was actually a basketball game and not futbol as we had thought! We came back to the apartment to get ready to go out and hung out with Kendra and her friends visiting from Colorado. Nate, Kelsey, and I went to Chupitos for a few flaming shots and then decided to head for the Irish bars since it was St. Patrick’s Day! We had a beer at My Bar and then tried unsuccessfully to enter a few clubs but there were huge lines and 20 euro cover charges.
Sunday, Nate and I had a good brunch on my street overlooking the harbor at Maristany. Then we took a stroll through Born and the Gothic Quarter. Nate did some souvenir shopping. Then we tried to take the furnicular up to Montjuic but the wind was too strong so it wasn’t running L. Instead we took a metro ride and tried to go to the Espanol futbol game at the Olympic Stadium, but we were too late for that one too BOO! We had a fancy shmancy dinner at Les Quinze Nitz and called it a night. Monday we took a walk around Las Ramblas and then hopped on a bus for Parc Guell, another one of Antonio Gaudi’s masterpieces in Barcelona. On the way I was able to show Nate Casa Batllo and Casa Mila. We had a fun photo session at the park and also the little museum and then it started to rain so we headed back for my place and then the casino so Nate could feed his gambling addition again… Later that night we took a cab to Plaza Reial and had a quick bite at TravelBar before going to a live Jazz/HopHop show at Jamboree and then a live Flamenco dance show next door at Taranto! So much fun!! At that point, Nate and I were both exhausted from our busy week, we came back and slept a few hours before he had to catch a cab for the airport at 4:15am. Overall, I would say it has been a hectic couple of days, but well worth it for all the wonderful memories and fun times!

permalink written by  stephshap on March 27, 2007 from Barcelona, Spain
from the travel blog: NateDogg in da house
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CATFACE knows barcelona.

Barcelona, Spain

What a blast having Catlan McCurdy, my best BTown friend and her 3 Irish companions in town to discover in Barcelona! I was able to play tourguide for the second weekend in a row as I showed them all the neat and fun things to do here.
Catlan, Guiliana, Meredith, and Becky arrived from Paris on Friday afternoon around 6pm. First things first, I showed them around Barceloneta and took them on a walk down the boardwalk to Port Olimpico. The weather was a little grey and rainy but then again, they are used to much worse in Dublin. Later, we stolled through the Gothic Quarter where I pointed out some of the famous historic sights. Dinner was tapas at Bilboa. That night we heard a live Cuban band at The Harlem Jazz Club. So much funk...
Saturday we made a nice breakfast for ourselves at the flat, then it was off to find rental bikes. On our second attempt we rented from Fat Tire and I took them on a similar route to the one I had gone on with Nate the week before. We went all over: Parc Ciutadella, Sagrada Familia, Paseig de Gracia, Casa Mila, Casa Batllo... the only problem was the yucky rain! On the way back to drop off our bikes, we crossed paths with a rally/protest against the unfair and extremely high housing prices in Barcelona. There must've been at least 1000 people blocking off the main square and therefore the roadways at Plaza Catalunya. Crazy Spaniards! That evening we did some window shopping and then had a high class meal at Els Quatre Gats (4 cats), a historic restaurant established in 1897 and where Picasso used to hang out. We stopped back at the apartment to chill out and get ready for our night out on the town, but on the way home we ran in to the sardena dancers at the catedral, probably about 30 circles of old people and a really good Catalan band. I made the executive decision to start out at Chupitos shot bar and then head to the oh-so-euro discoteca Razzmatazz. This place literally is 5 clubs in one that everyone must pay a 15euro cover and has access to all 5 levels. What a crazy party. We made it home by 4am, but with the time change it was really 5am... oyy
Sunday we took the cable cars up to Montjuic with a spectacular view of the city. I think the Dublin girls where really amazed at how big Barcelona is compared to Dublin. We had a nice time prancing around the gardens and taking pictures of ourselves, and weird Spaniards doing dances with boas to "Last Dance."
That night I got Maoz with Cat and Guiliana, as we got spit on and called "putas" by a passing gypsy freak. Luckily she was on the other side of the glass. Sunday night called for some good flamenco dances, so we headed for Taranto, my third visit.
On Monday, I met up with the girls for some hardcore shopping and checking out all the latest euro trends... they are so much more fashionable then us shlumpy Americans... oh well.
We had a nice long Spanish lunch and then headed for Park Guell. Basically, the 5 of us could entertain ourselves anywhere with stories and funny comments.. leave it to Catlan to find quirky and unique friends! Monday night we walked around the Las Ramblas area and then hung out at a cerveceria in Plaza Reial. Then it was time to say goodbye and hope to see them again soon! (we might meet up again in May- can't wait!)

permalink written by  stephshap on March 27, 2007 from Barcelona, Spain
from the travel blog: NateDogg in da house
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GRANADA

Granada, Spain

What a cute town! I flew to Granada last thursday and stayed with Leah, my friend from Pitt who is studying abroad there. Leah was on my trip to Israel and we had talked about visiting each other and I am so happy that it worked out!
I stayed at her Señora´s flat because her roommates were both out of town.
She was so sweet, but only spoke spanish so we didnt communicate that much. She didn´t really cook all weekend bc the other 2 roommates were outta town, but we did try some of her tortilla española... mom, your cooking skills far surpass any spanish madre´s and i cant wait to come home for some bomb mommio shapiro food, how bout a brisket sandwich?¿ haha
Thursday when i got there, Leah showed me around the main downtown area, we got some tapas at a place called Bella y Bastia and had a few drinks... in Granada the tapas just come free with a drink purchase! I wish it was like that in Barça.
Then we stopped back at her place to change to go out. We started at a chupitos bar called Dulce Vita where we met the bartender Paul. Paul pretended the whole night like he was a native Spaniard and it was only until we were leaving the club later that he admitted that he was from United States! But his Spanish was perfect because he had been living in Granada for 2 years.
After the shot bar we went to Granada 10, a club nearby that is in an old converted theatre.
Friday we met up with a group of Leah´s friends to do some hiking up the mountains... about 3 hours in total! It was cool bc one of her friends is this guy Justin from Granada who loves the outdoors and knew where to take us.
Leah and I went to the Arab baths after... WOW so relaxing, it was 7 different temperatures of hot tubs in a steam room (one was freezing cold) and then a massage after. Back to the flat for a siesta... gotta adopt the spanish lifestyle ya know?
That night we went to get some coffee, then out for tapas, met a cool waiter from Tunisia who taught me a lot of Spanish! and then to a little club called Havana where they played some good techno/hip hop. We met up with Leah´s Spanish friends Jose, Javier.. they are brothers.
Saturday I woke up at 7am to make it to the Alhambra at opening time to insure that i got a ticket, it was amazing to walk through a village that is that old! I also took a stroll through the Albaicín, the old Moorish part of town.
I met up with Leah for some lunch and we visited Capilla Real, where the crpyts of Ferdinand and Isabella are) and the Cathedral (their private church).
train back to barcelona at 9:30pm overnight! 12 hours total, but i slept the majority of it
Nate arrives tomorrow... i get to play tourguide all week and show off everything i know..
more later!!!

permalink written by  stephshap on March 13, 2007 from Granada, Spain
from the travel blog: Alhambra
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Kapital

Madrid, Spain

Heyyyyyyyooooooooooo,
a few trips and adventures to write about!
saw barça beat on bilboa on feb 25th! great game...
that thursday, march 1, we left at 11pm for a CEA sponsored trip to Madrid. Drove all night (9hours) to arrive friday morning, take a short nap, and then explore the city!
i walked around by myself in the morning and strolled up gran via (like main street). saw all the theatres, shops and restaurants... its a bustling city center.
That afternoon my friends and I went to the royal palace, and toured all of the rooms that visitors are allowed in, wish i could live like a queen, that is the life.
We later walked to the park and rented cute little paddle boats on the manmade lake, just relaxed and enjoyed the sunset. then it was time for some dinner and then back to the hotel to get ready for our big night out. we chose Kapital, since everyone says it is ¨the club¨in Madrid and they were right! 7 different floors of music and dancing and a great atmosphere, they even have karaoke and a movie theatre in the club! i was having a good time dancing with my friend sarah and her friend gabe who is studying in Madrid. the first time i even thought to ask what time it was, it was already 430am....we got back to the hotel around 5am....crazy
Saturday we had a program bus tour that took us all over the city, then we broke off for some lunch and decided to visit the reina Sofia museum to see picasso´s guernica and some really cool paintings by chuck close.
That afternoon we hung out in the park again and just chilled with the hippie drum circle, there were prob like 15 or 20 ppl with their own drums just making some music.
Back to the hotel for dinner and then a long busride back to barcelona! i slept most of sunday to recover and then spent some time on the beach in barceloneta
sweeet life

permalink written by  stephshap on March 12, 2007 from Madrid, Spain
from the travel blog: Discovering Spain
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Barca rocks!

Barcelona, Spain

Hola Chic@s!!
haven't written for a while bc there hasn't been a whole lot to say, but I better put some stuff down before I start forgetting!
Last weekend was pretty low key. Friday we had a CEA day trip to Figueres and Girona. In Figueres we went to the Salvador Dali museum, which I absolutely loved! He was one crazy/messed up dude, but the art was so much fun to look at and we had a Spanish tour guide who knew what she was talking about so that always adds to the experience. While in Girona, we walked around the old walled city and through the Jewish quarter, but we were only there for about 1 hour total.
Wednesday night I went out with Lily to watch the FC Barca game, we lost but Lily and I had fun at Nuba near my apt and then Chupitos. All day I saw so many Liverpool fans who came in to the city to cheer for their team, they were out on the streets drinking and cheering and singing songs, futbol fans are crazy! Thursday night we just stayed in and had some friends over, and last night we went to Pippermints bar for a drink.
I am excited because tomorrow CEA is taking us to the FC Barca game against Bilboa! It's not a big important game but it should be fun...

permalink written by  stephshap on February 24, 2007 from Barcelona, Spain
from the travel blog: Espana!
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Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Louvre.... Paris duhhhhhh

Paris, France

Returned from Paris, France this morning... what an eventful weekend!
First, let me update on last week in Barca.
Last sunday, I visited the Picasso Museum because a lot of the museums are free the first Sunday of the month, good deal, but very crowded. We went to Nubaa near our apt in Barceloneta to watch the Superbowl. I didn't stay the whole game, but all of the Chicago fans were not too happy the next day (including roommie Laurie). Wednesday I went out with my friends to a club called Piratas (Pirates). You can guess what the motif was.
Thursday, I hurried home from class to pack and catch a cab to the bus station to take a bus to Girona airport. We got a good deal on our flight with Ryanair, but the flight is out of a far away airport and then we landed at Beauvais (not the main Paris airport). It's kind of a big hassle so I don't know if we will be traveling like that anymore if it can be prevented. I traveled with my roommates Kim and Laurie, and also our friends Claire and Sarah.
Thursday evening we checked in to our hotel in the Latin Quarter on Montparnasse and had dinner at the Hippopotomus. Friday we woke up for a full day of sightseeing. First, we headed out to grab a quick crepe (yum!) and then to the Luxembourg Gardens. Then to the Notre Dame cathedral, Laurie even posed as the hunchback. Next, a nice stroll along the river Seine to the Eiffel Tower, we took lots of fun pics and then waited in the line to take the elevator all the way to the top! What a great view and weird feeling to be so high when the rest of the Parisian buildings are only a few stories high...Quick panini lunch and then off to explore only a fraction of the art exhibited at the Louvre museum. This collection is huge and I don't think any normal person could enjoy even a fourth of it in one day. We headed for the main attractions: the Mona Lisa, Venus sculpture, the crown jewels, the Egyptian collection, and the medieval section of the Louvre.
Then back to a spectacular night view of the Eiffel Tower- it sparkles so pretty!! Dinner at Kleber cafe, a rest stop at the hotel and then a drink at Lotus bar (swanky lounge with techno DJ) near our hotel in the Latin Quarter.
Saturday, we had another full day scheduled. First, we headed straight for the Arc di Triomph, a monument built by Napoleon and which now holds the eternal flame of the unknown soldier. We paroused the shops and luxury designer clothing stores of Champs Elysee but I refuse to pay $39048239048 for a freakin purse. We next walked to the Musee d'Orsay for an Impressionist experience. I saw Monet, Van Gogh, and lots of other cool art- it just so happened that the workers were on strike that day so the museum was free entrance! cool.
We metroed our way to the Church of the Sacred, my favorite out of all the gazillion churches I have seen since I've been in Europe- there's a lot of Christians here.
It is the highest point in Paris and has a great view of the neighborhood of Montmartre down below and the rest of Paris. We had lunch at a cafe and then attempted to see the grave of Jim Morrison- oops- we walked to the wrong cemetery. Then we saw red light district and the Moulin Rouge! We metroed to the monument where the prison of Bastille used to be (history lesson: the storming of the Bastille started the French Revolution). The neighborhood in that area, St. Paul, had lots of cool shops and bakeries and stylish clothing stores. Laurie's friend recommended a photography exhibit and when we went in the one artist we were there to see was actually closed for the evening. We spent about 15 minutes looking around until we realized it was not art, but weird and nothing that we could appreciate... there were little pictures of body-builder men taped to butterfly bodies- it was called "Fly or Die"- freakin weird. Rest stop at the hotel, dinner at a huge restuarant, Cupole, where all the waitors winked at us- and tried to talk to us in the most incomplete English sentences, and they were probably around the age of 16. hehe
We taxi'd to a bar recommended in my "brown pages," the nickname that Laurie gave the pages I ripped out of my Let's Go Europe book. Hey, I wasn't about to carry a huge heavy book if I only needed about 15 pages for the weekend.
There was a really good live blues music band, 7 members total. Dad, you would've been jammin. Everybody was packed in all sweaty and dancin, we had a good time just soakin it all in. The real trouble came when we left the bar and waited FOREVER for a cab in the rain. Then we had a 4:45am wakeup call to catch the bus back to the airport.
Overall, I'd say it was a very successful weekend, we all had a great time learning a new city together and laughing when we got lost. The city is fairly easy to navigate, and we had little trouble using the metro system. French people have BO- eww. And it was a little difficult when we needed something because none of the 5 of us speak more than 3 words of French.
We returned to our apartment in Barceloneta at around noon. Today was the Feste de Eulalia, so there was a lot going on in the Gothic Quarter. Kim and I walked through to see the tall people statues parading through the streets and then the castellers (human castles) in the government square. They go 6 or 7 layers high! So dangerous and so cool to see the little kids on top so confident and serious.
We also took a walk along the boardwalk and it was pretty full, lots of rollerbladers, bikers, couples, tourists. Tons of sailboats out on the water. I can't imagine what it's going to be like in a month or two when it gets for real warmer and more tourists start coming, craziness.
Class and such this week, same old ... only I'm in spain! Kim put it best when she said that, it's so much fun to take weekend trips, and it's even better because we know at the end of our travels we are "only" goin back to barcelona!
Au revoir!!!
<3steph

permalink written by  stephshap on February 11, 2007 from Paris, France
from the travel blog: French crepes
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Some updates...

Barcelona, Spain

Hola,
Just having a lazy Sunday afternoon and thought I’d add some of the weeks events.
Nothing exciting happened Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday after we returned from Dublin, just trying recoup from the weekends festivities.
Thursday, I had a class fieldtrip for Contemporary Spain. We met outside Jaume I metro stop and did a little walking tour of the Gothic quarter, the Generalitat and City Hall buildings and my professor also explained to us the location of the original Jewish quarter, which really doesn’t exist anymore- since the Inquisition in 1492.
Thursday night, I went out with Laurie and some of her Chicago friends to Sutton Club, it was such a nice atmosphere and a great dance floor!
Friday, I decided to Google a place to go for Shabbat and I found out about Bet Shalom, a “progressive Jewish community.” The first time I called, the office lady didn’t speak English so I waited and got a call back 20 minutes later and it was from the shul leader, who is not a rabbi but leads the services and runs the events. He’s originally from Chicago and moved to Barcelona 5 years ago, but just decided to start a new synagogue one year ago. Kim and I went to the service at 8pm. The service was led in Spanish, but we knew almost all of the Hebrew songs and prayers so it was easy to follow along. Then after the regular Kabbalat Shabbat, there was a Tu B’shvat seder and we had some really good fruits and nuts and Spanish wine! Nice, I like! We will definitely have to go back, and I also want to find the Chabad house in Barcelona.
Friday night, Kim and I met up with our friends at Chupitos- a shot bar- with probably over 200 different kinds of shots to choose from, and then we ended up at a place called Kahiki, a really cute Polynesian bar with funny tiki man mugs and super long straws that you sip your drink out of. There were about 12 of us just chillen. Today I woke up and took a stroll with Sarah through El Born, and we stopped at the Caterina market. Then decided to look for a tapas restaurant for lunch. We shared chicken with spicy sauce, pan and Spanish cheese, and some kind of potato kugel.
Saturday night we went out to Danzatoria, which was a disappointment just like the first time we went there. Too far away, a hassle to get to, but the actual club is beautiful.
Today is Sunday, I just got back from the Picasso Museum. A lot of the museums are free on the first Sunday of every month, so it was way crowded, but still nice to experience. We also stopped at the Santa Maria del Mar where church services were being held. This place is huge!
Tonight we are going to CocoBongo to watch the Superbowl, but I doubt I will stay until the game is actually over at 5am. It’s bittersweet, because this time last year I was celebrating The Pittsburgh Steelers winning the Superbowl! Fun memories….
I should probably start working on my International Business assignment- we have a lot of writing to do! I still don’t have my new check card and it’s getting really old when I keep mootching off my roommates for cash. Damn pickpockets.
A couple of things I want to mention, as far as the differences between Barcelona and Pittsburgh:
1. There are no drug stores that sell everything you need like an Eckerd or Walgreens, just Farmacias which just have drugs and then other little convenience stores which might or might not have what you are looking for. There are a lot of shops and stores that just sell stuff- like you have no idea what they have until you actually go in and look around. Their advertisement could read: “If you need stuff, we have stuff!”
2. Spanish people eat dinner really late, and a lot of restaurants don’t even open for dinner until around 8 or 9. The clubs don’t even get full until 1 or 2am.
3. Why are there so many schawarma and falafel places here? It’s like their version of fast food, but there are also McDonald’s and Burger Kings- weird.
4. My room is really small and I don’t have a tabletop or desk to put anything! Annoying..
5. Why don’t Europeans have clothes dryers?
6. Why don’t they put their milk and eggs in the fridge?
7. Going to the market and seeing pigs feet, ears, blubber, and huge legs hanging from the ceiling is disturbing- not appetizing.
8. I wish I could afford all the unique handmade jewelry I see in the stores- especially in the Born district, so trendy and fashionable! But it’s still fun to window shop.
9. Way too many people here smoke cigarettes. All my clothes smell, and there’s nothing I can do about it. When are Catalans going to realize the inhealthy effects this nasty habit has on their body? Gross.
10. They don’t get coffee to go, or any food to go like Americans do. They sit and sip espresso. If you ask for coffee they just give you a shot of espresso, you have to ask for café con leche or café Americano.
To be continued…

permalink written by  stephshap on February 4, 2007 from Barcelona, Spain
from the travel blog: Steph does travel.
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