Barcelona Trip Pics

Here are a few pics for my Trip...

Changing of the guards in Athens.

BARCELONA
La Rambla

La Boqueria market


Temple de la Sagrada Familia


Both made out of chocolate!


The magic Fountain


A loooooong metro hallway

In front of Casa Batllo

Different Alleys


At the Picasso Museum

The Waterfront

Park Guell


Dali Museum in Figueres

I'm working like a maniac right now trying to finish updating a website for my boss ASAP. I want to finish it soon because my boss will be away next week and I can come and go as I please as long as the website is finished when he gets back. Tony arrives tonight (!!!!!) SO, if I finish this today or very soon, I'll have all next week to hang out!

M

Back in Greece

I arrived back in Greece very early this morning. I had about 1-2 hours of sleep last night so I'm very tired today! I'm in Athens now and have most of the day here till I catch the ferry at 5:30 for Paros.

My trip to Barcelona in a nutshell was: tiring, lol! The city is very large and everything is quite spread out. I did a ton of walking and it didn't help having my foot stepped on by a lady on the metro (by mistake of course but it hurt quite a bit afterwards!) I'm not going to recap day by day like I usually do because it would take toooo long!

I saw most of the attractions that I wanted to, it's easiest to do a list:

Gaudi creations:
- Sagrada Familia Church which was very beautiful from the outside. I paid to see the inside but it wasn't worth it; the lift to the top wasn't working and there was scaffolding everywhere because of the ongoing construction.
- La Pedrera and the Casa Batllo were right down the street from my hostel but I didn't go inside those, just admired the outside.
- Park Güell was really cool and had a great view over all of Barcelona. Gaudi created a bunch of interesting sculptures and architecture all around the park including the longest park bench in the world made of mosaic tiles.

Other sights:
- Picasso Museum which was interesting and in a really beautiful building.
- Montjuïc Hill is a park on a hill overlooking Barcelona which has a few museums on it. I wanted to go to the Miro Museum but when I got there, it had just closed. Near there, at the bottom of the hill is what's called the Magic Fountain and at 9pm, it starts up and the huge fountain turns different colors and shapes in time to music - really cool!
- The water front was a nice area to walk along. The day I wanted to go to the beach though, it ended up being cloudy so I skipped it and went to a spa pool instead...
- Poliesportiu Marítim - Centre de Talassoteràpia was the spa pool I went to. It consisted of 4 salt water pools and a few freshwater pools, waterfalls, bubble jets, steam room, sauna, warm marble area, lap pools.... basically, it was sooo relaxing! I went from pool to pool and just vegged in them till my limbs turned to raisins. A swimming cap was mandatory, so I had to buy one to go in. I also got reamed out (in Spanish) by a lady in the locker room and didn't understand a word she was saying but I think it was because I accidentally took her locker (even though she had nothing in it!) anyways...
- I did a ton of shopping and bought some much needed clothes. I barely ever bought clothes the past year so I thought I deserved a few new things. It'll also nice to bring back European clothing back home because they'll be more unique.
- La Boqueria market was right off of La Rambla and sold tons of fresh produce. You could get a plate of a variety of fresh fruit pieces for less than 2 euro and pure fruit smoothies, mmmmm!
- I walked a lot in the Las Ramblas, Passieg de Gracia, and Barri Gotic areas which are full of shops and cafes.

On my last day, I took a train to the town of Figueres where Salvador Dalí was born. He later converted a theatre into a museum to house his work called Teatre-Museu Dalí. This museum is one of the most visited in Spain and I can see why. I was so surreal! There were weird sculptures, paintings, holograms, visual illusions everywhere. The thing that's so interesting about this place was that Dali created not just the art work inside but also the whole look and feel of the building and rooms which display his art. So the whole museum is an art piece in itself and a very strange one!

I'll post pics in the next couple days when I get back home and sort through them all.

Army Update: Tony has only 2 days left in the Army so you can imagine he and I are sooooo excited! He'll be a free man finally! He won't be told when to get up, what to do, where to go, what to eat, or what to wear anymore; he'll be able to make his own decisions! He's really looking forward to getting back to Canada and returning to college. He's doing Computer Engineering so there are a lot of things he'll have to brush up on and get back into after being away from it for a whole year.

I guess that's all the news for now, I must go and have a bite to eat.

M

Barcelona

This is my second day in Barcelona and there is soo much to see! I didn't realize it is one of the most visited cities in Europe besides Paris (atleast that's what someone told me).

The last 2 days were a bit of a blur. On Thurs, I caught the ferry to Athens and had half a day to look around before my flight. I mainly did some shopping since I really needed sandals. I completely wore out my favorite pair which I loved. They were so comfy! But these new ones I found will be a good replacement, they feel good.

After the shopping, I went for a walk to the Royal Palace and saw the changing of the guards and then headed to the airport. I had to kill a few hours till my 03:55 flight so in the airport, I read and tried to sleep a bit.

Finally, after the flight, I got to Barcelona and took a train into town and found my hostel. It's very nice!! In a great area: Passeig de Gracia. It's a very nice old building that has been renovated recently and is very clean and secure.

After getting settled, I headed out and walked around Las Ramblas area and did some shopping. After hours of walking and exploring my feet were so sore and I was tired from having barely any sleep the night before so I had an early night.

Today, I checked out a few museums and sights and I might do a little more shopping. I can't really elaborate right now because others want to use the internet. I'll post pics when I get home.

M

Driving Around

It’s been a busy week working mornings and evenings. My boss Yiannis and I have been driving around the island handing out island directories to all the businesses. It’s nice to see towns and inside cafes and shops I haven’t been to before but it’s quite hot so it’s hard work lugging all the books around. We usually stop for a few hours during the day because it’s too hot. Yiannis’ wife Maria sometimes helps and he also has a friend from Athens to help too. Here are a few pics from different areas around the island:



I had a second kiteboarding lesson a few days ago and went for others but it ended up not being windy enough or too busy. I like it though and I hope to take more lessons and actually get on the board one day.

On Monday, I went for a kite lesson but there was no wind, so instead, I ended up going for a swim with a friend. We decided to swim from Paros to the neighboring island of Antiparos! People though we were crazy but it was fun and we did it without drowning. It took about 45mins and is about 2miles. We didn’t want to swim back so we walked from the beach to the port and took the ferry back with the 10 euro bill I had stuck in my bikini top just in case, lol! It was funny walking onto the ferry with bare feet and in our bathing suits; either people figured out that we had swum there and were heading back or they just though we were nut jobs (probably the latter). Here are two pics of the kiteboarding place with Antiparos in the background.



Yesterday was my 26th birthday and didn’t do too much. I didn’t care about it this year at all. I’m looking too forward to my Barcelona trip (leaving tomorrow) and Tony’s homecoming from the Army. It was nice though; we handed out books on Antiparos and stopped to have a nice lunch on the water. Yiannis gave me the evening off so I headed to the beach and relaxed. In the evening, I hung out upstairs for a bit with Linda and Markos and I also rented a movie and bought a Mars bar – can’t beat chocolate, tea, and a movie! It was a good day.

I leave on the 10:45am ferry for Athens tomorrow and catch the plane for Barcelona very late at night so I’ll hang out in Athens for most of the day. This’ll be my last post till I’m in Barcelona. I’m really looking forward to it and the plane ride (I really like them for some reason). Anywho, I’ll most likely post pics after I come back but I’ll try to let everyone know what's going on there in the next week.

July2

I’ve been lazy at posting lately. I haven’t taken many pics either – oops! Here are few that I took: Punda Beach, the waves at Parasporos, and a view toward Parikia.



At work, we are waiting for the island directory books that we made to arrive from the printers in Athens. Once they arrive, my boss Yiannis and I will spend a few days driving around the island and dropping them off in every cafe and company on the island! That’ll be a nice change from sitting at the computer.

I think there is another heat wave going on. It’s soooooo hot!!! The beach is the only place to go after work because it’s too hot to do anything else. There are forest fires all over Greece right now too. I’m actually looking forward to rain and cold in Vic now (and once I’m in the rain and cold I’ll regret ever saying that!)

I’ve been hitting the gym a lot lately. It feels good afterwards. Although today, I’m not going; the air-conditioning isn’t on very high there so it gets very hot and not very fun to workout in.

The family that lives in the suite next to mine found a little kitten in the motor of a tractor and brought it home a little while ago. It was so tiny – about 4 weeks old. Now, it’s an outside kitten and my cat plays with it. There is another strange black cat that visits mine at night and they always fight. Sometimes I wake up to cats screeching so loud that it freaks me out! Pretty soon, I’ll have to start weaning my kitty to be a full-time outside cat because, when I’m gone, he’ll be outside all the time.

I’m looking forward to my Barcelona trip next week! I leave on the ferry on Aug 2 and come back Aug 8. Tony has only 16 more days left on the Army too! I remember us saying earlier in the year “can you imagine when there are only a few week’s left?” We couldn’t imagine it and now the end is almost here and he’ll be free again!

M

July

The last week or so has been pretty low key. I’ve been going to the beach a lot after work. I tried a kite boarding lesson last week and it seems like a lot of fun. I just learned how to fly the huge kite without the board so far. My boss’s friend Giorgios gave me a free lesson since I’ve created a bunch of advertising for his company. I joined a gym a few days ago too because karate is over for the year and I wanted some way of getting exercise besides swimming. That keeps me busy in the evenings.

I went to Punda Beach Club yesterday and on the way back, it was so windy that it was difficult to ride my motorbike. The gusts of wind nearly knocked the bike over so I had to ride very slowly and thought about just pulling over till it died down (which would’ve taken hours, so I didn’t). By the way, Punda Beach is a very touristy beach with a complex full of shops, a few bars, cafes, and a pool. I like to go there once in a while for a day to rent a beach chair (4 euro) under an umbrella and just read, swim, have a frappe, and relax. It feels like I’m on vacation at a resort, instead of on the island that I live at.

“Pirates of the Caribbean 3” is on tonight at the outdoor cinema so I think I’ll see it even though I’ve heard some bad reviews (I just like Captain Jack Sparrow!)

I’m looking forward to hopping on a plane and going to Barcelona in a few weeks and when I get back, Tony will almost be done the Army! I’m also starting to think about returning home and what I’m going to do when I get there. It’s about 2 months away, yikes! I sometimes look up job listings and apartment/suite prices just to get an idea. I hope I find a good job in multimedia and I sometimes stress about not finding one. It’s silly to think that way though; I’ll just have to figure it all out when I get there.

M

Trips Coming Out of My Ears

First off, Tony left yesterday so I have “missing my Tones shock" syndrome which I suffer from for a few days after he leaves for the Army - everytime. That was the last send off though! Next time I see him, he’ll be done for good! Here are a few silly pics from a visit to Molos beach where you can cover yourself with a full body mudmask. We took it a step further by adding a layer of pebbles and lying on the warm sand. Can’t tell where the sand ends and the person begins.



Now these pics are special. Tony decided to become a hairdresser for a while. What beautiful hair creations he can make! Hee hee…uuh..



OK, now, in other news, I finally figured out and booked flights for my remaining trips, which is nice so I won’t have to worry about doing it later. So this is what I’ll be up to the next few months till I come home in Sept:
- Aug 3-7: Barcelona
- Aug 10: Tony’s finished the Army (whoot!)
- Aug 17 – 20: Santorini with Tony and maybe friends Manolis and Annie
- Sept10: leave my Greek home for Prague
- Sept 15: leave Prague for London
- Sept 20: leave London and arrive back home in good ol’ Vic.

Sounds like a plan to me! I’m excited but time seems to be flying by. I can’t believe it’s July already. I have mixed feelings about going back home; I’ll be happy to see everyone again and be in the same city as Tony and get my own place, a new job, and start a new phase of life but I’ll miss so many things from here like my kitty, Tony’s family, the weather and lifestyle…and lots more… It’ll be an interesting couple of months that’s for sure!

M

My Greek Anniversary

Today is the one year anniversary of being in Greece. Who knew that last year when I first arrived at Paros that I’d end up staying here this whole year! I’m glad I did.

The heat wave is finally over; Yesterday was the first time it actually felt refreshing outside because there was a nice cool breeze.

I had the whole weekend off and we did a lot. On Friday night Tony and I went out dancing with Manolis and Annie in Naoussa and had a good time till almost 5am. On Saturday, we went to a baptism (one of Markos’ work friends). On Sunday, we went to Parosporos (a beach known for its big waves when the wind picks up – so fun!) and then to Tony’s grandparent’s for dinner.

Tony leaves on Wed and his sister Sofia arrives from Canada on Tues or Wed for the summer. Linda has been in London the past week with some of her students and she comes home on Tues too.

Here are a few pics of Tony and I having coffee after the baptism and Markos and Tony checking out a homemade wind generator which Markos wants to make.



M