I Heart Barcelona: April 1-April 4

Day 1

Not off to a good start. I Was pick pocketed by a group of Italians volunteering to help with my luggage up the stairs. Lost goods: a credit card, driver’s license, and Kimba’s iPhone. Sorry Kimba. Met 2 girls at a tapas bar: Canadian and Wisconsinian (haha). I vented about my night and they invited me to hang out with them for the rest of the night.

Day 2

Walked to the beach attempting to find “La Barca”… supposedly a restaurant with “amazing” paella, but was unsuccessful. *Note: Don’t take directions from drunk girls. Ended up eating at some random restaurant: calamari, seafood paella, ice cream, and sangria for 12 euros. Not bad. That night I strolled La Rambla for a cheap place and met a Mexican, Italian, and a group of British folk. It was a good night.

Day 3

Hiked up to Parque Guell to see Guadi’s works. Amazing. Wish I had time to see the houses he built as well. Next time. And yes, there will be a next. From there, took the same line to the FCB Stadium see the chaos and excitement of FC Barcelona fans in hopes to find a season pass holder to invite me in for cheap. No luck. Due to the excitement in the air, I bought myself a ticket and watched FCB beat Athletic Club 4-1. It was worth it. Next: Paris

Stayed: Hostel Palermo

Sights: La Rambla, Barceloneta Beach, Parque Guell, FCB Stadium

Sights I wish I saw: Casas de Guadi, Picasso Museum, Miro Museum

Did: FC Barcelona vs. Athletic Club 4-1

Eats: Tapas Bars, Paella, Crème Cataluyan, Gelato, set menus

Drinks: Sangria, San Miguel, Estrella

Transport: Aerobus (airport to Placa Cataluyan), bus (N17 to airport (alt), metro

Photo Album of Barcelona, Spain:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=8095&id=100000701717224&l=177c5c8ba0

Bad Timing in Scotland: March 28-April 1

Day 1

Landed in Edinburgh, picked up a bus to Haymarket St. with ease where Doug picked me up to bring me to his flat. Unfortunately, I was only going to be there for 1 night because Doug had to go down London for work. He works at the Heineken corporate office as an accountant and by his stories, it sounds like the best job ever! We later walked into the city for some dinner and beer. Chicken stuffed with Haggis alongside a pint of Strongbow cider.

Day 2

Packed my backpack, camera, and laptop for 3 days. For the remainder of the time I stayed at the Heatherlea Guesthouse. Check-in wasn’t until 2, so I lugged my stuff around all over the city. It was colder today with light rain, which made my backpack and stuff seem that much heavier. I made my way to the Edinburgh Castle and spent most of my day there. After the castle, I made my way down to the Royal Mile for a late lunch - Bangers and Mash alongside a pint of Tennents. Apparently, you can’t go wrong with Bangers and Mash. Yum. I then tried a deep fried Mars bar that I kept hearing people rave about. Seems more like county fair food not UK food. anyway… delicious! hah. I then took the wrong bus to the guesthouse, but eventually made it. I got to my room and knocked out for 3 hours. I woke up hungry, took a short walk and found a Chinese “take away” spot. Yes, “take away”, not “take out”, not “to go”, grabbed some UK snacks, watched some TV and slept for 12 hours… jetlagged perhaps?

Day 3

I woke up to it pouring rain outside. It wasn’t much of an invitation to go out and do things. Being tired of museums and galleries, I did some research on the web for other things to do indoor and found the Edinburgh Dungeon tour. It was kind of creepy, kind of cheesy, but entertaining nonetheless. I quit Scotland early today. It was too cold and too rainy to do anything else.

Day 4

Today I woke up to two feet of snow! Really Scotland? Is this how you welcome me? I had minimal clothes and my pair of converse. So I layered most of the clothes I had and doubled up my socks with a plastic bag in between the two. My feet were still cold, but at least they weren’t wet. I made my way out of the city to see the Rosalyn Chapel where parts of the Da Vinci Code was filmed. The roads were blocked off in many areas, so finding the bus I needed took up a good amount of time. The ride up was beautiful! It was white everywhere and took about an hour. I got off the bus, walked (attempting not to slip and fall) for about two minutes to a gate that read “31/3/10 SORRY, CHAPEL CLOSED DUE TO WEATHER.” wtf?! It seemed I was the only one around. There was no one else in sight. Everyone else must have gotten the memo. The buses back to the city only run once and hour so I took some pictures and found my way to hotel restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner – Steak pie and chips. I caught the bus and headed back to the guesthouse. Tomorrow… Barcelona.

Stayed: Heatherlea Guesthouse

Sights: Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile, Saint Cuthberts Burial Ground

Sights I wish I saw: Rosyln Chapel

Did: Edinburgh Dungeon Tour

Eats: Haggis, Bangers and Mash, Steak Pie

Drinks: Stronbow Cider, Tennents

Transport: FlyBus (airport to Haymarket), bus

Photo Album of Edinburgh, Scotland:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=7760&id=100000701717224&l=c5db21d81d