Started planning spring break this week. So far, I have a one-way ticket to Pisa, Italy. The planning went down @ Jackie's place, over a nice pasta dinner. My friends and I have been having a lot of joint dinners together, where we cook at one person's
piso one night and then at someone else's the next night.
For Valentine's Day, the girls and I went to
Cacao Sampaka, a chocolate market/restaurant.
On Thursday night, Jackie, Heidy, and I found ourselves in Plaza Real, a public square in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. We enjoyed some WKD, which tasted like Otter Pops.
I love Fridays here because I have no class (that has never worked out for me in Berkeley), and so they're always free days to explore. This week, I went to Montjuic, a hill whose medieval Catalán name translates to "Jew Hill." On the long bus ride to the top, we stopped by the botanical gardens, walked around the cemetery, and then finally made our way up to the castle.
View of the city from the botanical gardens.
After visiting the botanical gardens, we hiked up to the cemetery. It was very old, big, and peaceful. Photos weren't allowed, so I took these from the internet:
When we were leaving, we ran into what must have been 15-20 cats. Our guess was that maybe they were purposefully kept around the cemetery there to chase out the mice? Anyway, there was something peculiar about these cats - they looked kind of sickly and none of them meowed or made any noise. One cat with one eye kept following our movements, which was a little eerie. I tried to get a picture of him and his one eye, but my timing got this:
Finally, we rode the bus to the top of Montjuic to see the castle.
Then we took the teleférico, or cable car, back down.
Heidy was not a happy camper after we dragged her first to the cemetery and then on the cable car...haha pobrecita! :)
Later...more cuddling with Ángel...look at that face...
At night, we went to a bar called Chupitos, which specializes in an array of unconventionally-named shots. Some were even lit on fire.
Phrase of the night, courtesy of Heidy: "You're going home with me? ...Shhhewwwt!" ;)
Slept in way too much on Saturday...I definitely set a record in terms of laziness. Saturday evening, I went to La Bella Napoli for dinner. I was craving pizza and this place had very good ratings, so we thought we'd try it out! The pizza was delicious, but our waiter was rather rude and sassy. I think he realized this, because after making us move to a different table, he promised us some free chupitos (shots) at the end of our meal.
On the way back to Akansha's, we saw this, and I had to remember it:
It's actually the logo for the bank Santander. I assume it's supposed to look like a... flame?
Saturday night, we hung out with Akansha's roomies, went to a kickback at the piso of one of her friends, and then headed over to Snack 55 for Danisha's 21st birthday!
We finished Saturday night / started Sunday morning by wandering around the end of La Rambla. As it is Carnaval season, people (kids and adults alike) are dressed up in colorful outfits, costumes, and masks. I hope to go to Sitges, where there are Carnaval festivities and parades, this coming Tuesday.
