| The Chew | The View | |
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| Mi amiga MinCi @ Chinese New Year's | Nord Parc |
~2/14: Chinese New Years (oh yes, and St. Valentine's Day)
St. Valentine's is overshadowed by the bigger festival of Carnival. And as my USC Madrid homies and I went exploring the streets and various plazas (4 plazas along one street, this is getting insane my Spaniard friends), we stumbled across a gathering. I thought they were pirates. Silly me--they were HUMAN PYRAMID participants.
Apparently it's part of a big competition among various parts of the city. And see those tiny things ascending the human cliffside? Those are CHILDREN with poofy helmets. This country seriously lacks health codes and child labor laws--which makes the fiestas ten times more interesting than they are ever legally allowed to be back home.
<3 mis Madrileños
Oh dear how I was craving anything Asian. Food, people, gambling--and somehow it all came together through my Singaporean friend, MinCi. This crazy chica organized an outing to a Chinese restaurant in Marina called El Restaurante Chino or something equally original.
7 courses for 7 euro. All my New Year's dreams came true:
On top of this cornucopia of wonderful grease and comfort, my mother was present. Yes everyone, my mother sent her minion to Barcelona for the sole purpose of feeding me. MC, I CAN NEVER EAT WITH YOU AGAIN. She doled out huge portions to everyone, and--similar to a goldfish--I continued to eat the food that magically rose out of my plate. I have not eaten so much in all my time here in Spain.
~2/16: Tuesday Carnaval in Sitges
Dios mio. In a country where living in the moment and indulging in wine and pleasure is the norm, the day before the conservative Lenten season is complete INSANITY. And where else to engage in the most amazing displays of costume than in the gay capital of Catalonia?
Sitges is a beautiful seaside town just 30 minutes south of Barca. Our local friend Miguel drove us down to his friend Carlos' grandparents' summer home. Yet another trend in Spain, a home for each season. They have their own version of "snowbirds" here, snowbirding across the state to seek a roost for the winter.
Or maybe they flee Sitges because of this:
Photos from our night will be up shortly, and perhaps I'll recall more stories then...
~2/18: Alice's Surprise Birthday Dinner
Have I told you about my doll of a friend, Alice? She's been studying in ESADE for six months already, speaks incredibly colloquial Spanish (using the highly technical adverb of "superrr" + adj), and has opened up her circle to us newbs.
As such, a surprise dinner was in order at Maitea, a traditionally Basque tapas restaurant.
Two of my many pintxos of the night. Cream cheese with assorted nueces (nuts) and Foie-filled champiños con queso (I found out about the foie filling later, to my chagrin, but the mushroom was juicy and amazing with cheese).
Still on a high from the amazing night of clubbing last week (aka Chupitos Bar & Hyde Club), I was in the spirit to celebrate. That spirit found us at Kahala Bar with some amazingly tropical drinks. As if I needed more rum after Sitges...
Banana daquiri, Coconut with cinnamon, limon-fresa, Bailey's with Coconut
Rum bellies, here we come!
Now I'm off to Zaragoza, a city in between Barca and Madrid. University town, tapas, shopping, Roman architecture? I'm down.
Also, I will not forgo Lent in the most Catholic country ever. Instead of taking away the negative (as in the abstinent manner of Catholicism), I've decided to add a positive--I've decided to journal everyday. We'll see where these 40 days of self-reflection take me. And don't worry, I won't write all that schmaltz here. Goodness you'd be sick of me.
Happily anticipating the 4 hour bus ride,
The Chew
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