Forgot About Drey?

Well I can tell you this, now, at the end of October, I have been officially localized. I have stopped by zara. I am a MASTER of the metro system. I have been asked directions by other Spaniards in Spanish, and have been able to give them precise, correct (something Spaniards could work on) directions back in castellano. I can actually hold Spanish conversations enough for Spanish locals to bear talking with me . I have even been mistaken for Spanish on more than one occasion. This place feels like home. It has been just about two months in Barcelona. However, by the end of September the honeymoon stage was over and it was about that time to get into the nit and grit of Barcelona. It was time to see the things that tourists traveling on a weekend trip do not get to see. It was time to make sure that this juice I call "studying abroad" was worth the "squeeze" I call a steadily declining bank account and 3 quarters of straight of upper division econ classes when I get back. Well after this month I cannot see how it wont be.

Tibadabo

After a somewhat failed journey to Costa Brava, which included a night looking up at the stars on prime beach property for the better part of a night, I was looking for a win. Barcelona, much like California, has its beaches as well as a mountain range behind it. On the top of this mountain rage there is an amusement park that has been there since the 70s. The place is called Tibidabo Along with the park is one of the coolest looking Cathedrals I have seen yet. To get to the top we had to take a train to a tram to another tram. The journey was well worth it. On the top, the amusement park is a bit below the cathedral and as you look out, you can see all of Barcelona. We continued into the Cathedral which was actually a little disappointing inside considering how nice it is on the outside. Eventually we walked up the stairs that surround the entire cathedral on the outside (check out the pics) and paid for an elevator to the top (2 euros to use an elevator in a church...seems a little sacrilegious) birds nest of the cathedral. After more and more stairs we finally got to the top and the view made up for the underwhelming visuals inside the cathedral. The birds nest was no more then 6 ft in circumference and is the single highest point in Barcelona. Looking forward I could see not only Barcelona but the surrounding outskirt cities as well as ships on the Mediterranean that seemed eons away. Looking backwards we saw all the way to Monserrat, a famous mountain for hiking, as well as the forest that lies behind Barcelona's mountains. The amazing view, great weather, coupled with the laughter and excited screams of children in the amusment park instilled quite a feeling. I was lost up there taking in the views for the better part of an hour.

The backside of the Barcelona mountain range.

An older Tibadabo ride...don´t like my chances

The first of many trams to get to the top

Getting lost in the crowd...

Here is an example of the staircases I was talking about.

Parc Guell

Another highlight has been Parc Guell. I visited Parc Guell with some friends from Italy and Madrid who were visiting Barcelona for the weekend. This is a park built and imagined by Gaudi, probably the most famous person to come out of Barcelona-sorry Pau. His architecture is all over Barcelona and is so distinct that after seeing one of his pieces you will be able to point out any other Gaudi creation by sight. The story goes that he wanted to create a sanctuary cut off from the busy life of the city. He imagined a suburban area in the sprawling mountains behind Barcelona where those who wanted could live in solitude amongst the beauty of nature. Almost all of Gaudi´s work involve emulating nature in some way. His pioneered style is modernista and one of a kind. Gaudi´s park is a masterpiece. Every structure and mosaic is not only beautiful, but is coupled with a grand view of Barcelona because of the park´s location in the mountains. As I explored the and took pictures, locals my age played Spanish guitar or displayed their art pieces which were usually depictions of the park. Almost all the walls are mosaic of some kind and are made to look like natural earth formations of rock, or tree. Other parts are purely modernista and have much more color and a more fantastical look. Again even the houses are mosaic. Gaudi actually lived here along with any other people who could afford it and there are tours through all the houses including Gaudi´s. Ironically enough, now it is the opposite of what he envisioned. Tourists bustle this immense park everyday for free and take in its beauty. On weekends it is filled to the brim. When the tram was invented Gaudi fought all attempts to make a line up to Parc Guell for 20 years. He wanted to keep the exclusive and secluded nature of the park intact. Even more ironic than the crowded pathways of the park is how Gaudi died. He was hit by a tram. All jokes aside, this park was phenomonal and I´m glad I got to experience it with the group I did because I think they really appreciated it.

Another one of Gaudi´s masterpieces which is still being perfected is the Sagrada Familia. It is a breathtaking cathedral, if it can even be called that, near the inner city and I have been told it is among the 50 must see buildings in the world. I was lucky enough to visit it with another group of friends visiting Barcelona (you know you picked a great place to go to abroad when everyone is coming to you). Like Parc Guell the building is a nod to the power and beauty of nature. The outside is Gothic style stone that is so intricate I looked at it for hours. Behind the gothic stone is a pristine white marble layer as well. The inside is supposed to emulate a forest. My descriptions will convey about 10% of its epicness and my pictures only about 11% so I recommend you just man up and go. The Cathedral was sadly never finished by Gaudi however before his death he got to witness the erection of the pinnacle cross. Many different architects now work on it using his blueprints and molds and there are cranes and construction equipment surrounding the whole cathedral, yet the thing still makes 12 euro a person for every second it is open. Unlike Tibidabo all the proceeds go to construction costs. It is expected to be completed in the next 30 years (which under Spanish time means Ill be lucky to see it completed in my lifetime) The Spanish Civil War is one main reason why it has taken so long to complete. During the war when the Conservatives invaded Barcelona they raided Sagrada Familia and burned Gaudi´s studio to the ground, destroying many of inner chambers in the process. It took a long time to piece together Gaudi´s blueprints and re imagine the parts that were lost forever. On the day I went it was pouring rain (first of my stay here) and this really gave the cathedral a haunting look.

I'll let the pics speak for themselves

Now it wouldn´t be Spain without a little night life and this month had its fair share of that. A couple new club openings were a big deal but the most noteworthy event was by far Sensation white. This a concert company that has been around for a pretty damn long time in electronic music standards and has progressively gotten cooler and cooler. Barcelona was their first stop with the new theme entitled inner-space. The best way to describe Sensation White is beatles circ de soleil, mixed with a crazy concert with light affects that blow interpol´s out of the water, mixed with a huge rager where everyone is wearing the same color. It was way too much fun. Here is a link to a video that a friend of mine made with footage from his go pro. I know it is long, and trust me, electric music really isn´t my cup of tea either (little abrasive) but it is worth watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=156qIoaaDPE
Credit: Sean Crane

In mid October our program planned a weekend trip to Valencia for us. Valencia is located below Barcelona although still in Catlaunya. We were only there for one night but it was a lot of fun. Valencia´s inner city is very old and very beautiful. A riverbed outlays the old town and is now used for futbol fields among other things. At any point in time you might suddenly hear an explosion of bangs. At first I thought I was witnessing a drive by but it turns out Valencians love fireworks. In fact they have a festival every year where each district creates a huge wood statue, some spend up to 25000 euro on these, and just burn it down in the middle of the street. They elect two women (one old one young and the election process is a lot like the rose parade) to represent each district and have special fire dances among other traditions. The dresses they wear can cost thousands. Spain wonders why they have no money but I don´t think it takes a detective to figure it out. Every year at least a couple apartment complexes burn down and they aren´t cleaned up right away because we saw the scraps of a couple.

Like this one

Groom's Ride

Rollin on dubs?

The night life was more bar oriented and despite almost getting into a scuffle with a random waiter, our group had a great night out in Valencia at Radiocity. I really think the prettiest part about Valencia is night and the way its lights illuminate the old streets. You can tell this city was much older than most of Barcelona. The next day we went to the second largest aquarium in the world which was a fun throwback to my youth. Sadly, they didn´t have any shamoos.

See what I mean with the light?

I like this picture a lot.

Ok this was a monster of a post. I´m sure I still left things out but hey I am only human. Next post is Portugal and some AMAZING pictures. Excited to see my pops and the minks tom.

Peace in the Middle East

What up West Side!

As a 20 year old college student, what can I say to define the magnitude of weight that visiting a place like Oktoberfes carries in the lives of myself and my peers. I would say that it is looked at as the best place to drink beer with buds, 2nd only to finding and attending the secret arena in Beerfest, but that would undoubtedly(indubiously) go over a few people's heads. All I know is a lot of what if conversations and imaginings occurred prior to the weekend of September 21st and every single one of them were proven to be naive, infantile attempts at creating a representation of this amazing festival.

With the dramatic intro aside, Oktoberfest began a little sketchily. What we thought was a hotel at the time of booking, ended up being no more than you're slightly above average hostel. They had private rooms sure, but this was a hostel-and a hostel right next to Oktoberfest. With great location came Alcatraz levels of security, not the lackidasial level of hotel security you imagined there would be when you decided you were going to split a 1 person bedroom between 4 people. What's wrong with the floor after a long day at Oktoberfest right? Let's just say they were prepared for shackers and had the necessary precautions to make shaking very difficult. Due to our possessing only one key, getting into the building-let alone the room-proved to be much more of a challenge than we imagined with security levels at an all time high at the door. I'll spare you all the details but we ended up jumping out a couple windows, landing on a couple roofs, and climbing up a fire escape. Sketch, but hey we got in and the plan worked perfectly, so no regrets.

The first night was pretty calm, but the next day was everything but. We started our day off with a couple steins of beer and a game of snappa at the houfbrough tent at around 9 in the morning. It was a Thursday so the place was nearly empty when the game began but slowly filled up towards the end and I'm proud to say we had most of the people watching and even a couple taking pictures of our game. Not so happy to say that despite a respectable amount of points and a great throw to table ratio, a couple catches went array for Sean and I and we lost 7 to 5.

Let me describe these tents. THEY ARE HUGE. All are at least as big as a football field and some definitely bigger. Inside they are just filled with tables to eat and drink at. Most of them are reserved on the weekends and afternoons during the week but if you get there early enough you can grab one that isn't reserved and it's yours until you leave. They're like beach front property, limited and in high demand.

After the game it was a unanimous decision that we should move to the tent known to house the young german crowd, Stottenhammel, (definitely not correct spelling). Well luckily right when we arrived we found a table in the BEST location right in the middle of the crowd, so not only were we getting beer the fastest (which comes in HUGE steins, probably 3 or 4 beers in one, and tastes delicious) but we owned the place. We only took up half the table so anyone that we deemed worth talking to we invited to our spot. We were waving people in and shoeing others out. It was the closest I have ever been and probably ever will be to being a bouncer. After shooing away like 4 sets of 16 year old girls who insisted they weren't to young to be hanging out with us, we started playing card games and joining in the music, chants, and feasting that goes on at Oktoberfest. We eventually ended up hanging out with some local german girls and their friends and traveled around the festival taking in the exhibits, rides, and games. It really is just one huge carnival. For me, I've been on rides and seen Carnivals so my favorite part was by far the tents.

So the next day we went straight to the tents and got a table in the Haughbrow tent which is known to be the American/Australian tent. This place was ridiculous. It was utter chaos. As you entered it sounded like you were entering The Coliseum right before a gladiator match. Just a loud roar the entire time. Every now and again people would stand on their table with their beer at least near full and start chugging. Everyone would stop whatever they were doing and start cheering the person on as he or she chugged. If you finished the cheers only got greater....but if you failed they were heartless. The whole tent would just erupt in BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS!!!!!! Some people would even throw things. It really got crazy. Even for girls! I saw a girl put on a GREAT attempt, perhaps better than I could have done. She was seconds from finishing but just couldn't do it. They were relentless, they didn't cut her any slack. We sat next to some German guys in their lederhosen in the beer garden and they were teaching us all the german chants from vulgar to sincere. A huge crowd favorite oddly enough is 7 nation army by the white stripes.... who knew. They also showed me a tobacco that you take by the nose. Never doing that again. Anyway, we spent the better part of the day at that tent and I have TONS of stories but I have more to write and they're way better in person anyway. For our third day we had to check out of the hostel because we signed up for one night of camping in tents. The third day was spent going to tents we hadn't checked out trying new beers and just hanging out. We eventually met up with some "SB locs" (some santa barbara locals) who we discovered were staying at the same tent ground as us and they guided us to our new home. Our last night was spent on a huge camp ground that had all you can drink beer and sangria as well as a pretty good dinner. It was full of college students from all over the world and was one of the greatest nights slash mornings of partying I've been a part of. Met lots of people that I will probably never see again but that is half the fun.

Awhile ago I had to make the decision to go to Ibiza (spain's neighboring party island) or Oktoberfest. They were both going off around the same time and costed similar amounts and I could only afford one. In the end I obviously chose Oktoberfest, and I'm extremely happy with my decision. It was an amazing mix of exploring a new culture and partying. That weekend is in my "best weekends of my life list" (undoubtedly in the top 3) and unless I am an extremely lucky person will probably not be topped soon.

Check out the pictures, but just know they can't even tell the half of it.

P.S. Last two weeks in Barce will be up soon. I'm slowly but surely making it towards the present.

Our Prison Cell Hostel