Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Spain, The Bonus Features

So, I feel like our trip to Spain was one of those 2-Disc Deluxe Edition DVDs that you buy. And the part when I got stuck was Disc 2 with all the bonus features. So, on to the bonus features. I'm sort of determined to finish posting about Spain before we head to Utah. I have 5 days of bonus features to cover. And we leave for Utah this afternoon. So, I'm doing all of this in one shot.

As a side note, you may notice the picture quality diminishes in the bonus features. There's a good reason for this. With me being stuck in Spain, we thought it would be a good idea for me to keep Mr. Frisby's laptop with me so I could have internet access and we could video chat and everything. So, we had to swap carry-ons. I kept the laptop bag and he took the camera bag with our DSLR. I took all of the Bonus Features pictures with just my point and shoot camera. Although, in its defense, it has been a great little camera. I love Canon.

Okay, side note aside, we move on. So, Tuesday morning was the big day that we were both supposed to go home, but of course only Mr. Frisby went home. We got up in the morning and he got all ready to go and then we walked to the bus stop where he was supposed to catch the bus to the airport. After saying goodbye and watching the bus pull away, I walked back to the hotel where, all of a sudden feeling very lonely, I cried. After many tears, I pulled it together and got down to business. I called Delta again, but it was no dice on getting out of there before Sunday. So, I packed up my stuff, checked out of the hotel, and made my way to the new hotel. They were nice enough to let me check in early, so then I got settled and the first order of business was to wash some underwear because, as you might imagine, I was fresh out of clean ones. That done, I hung out in the hotel for a bit and then set out to find some dinner. I found a McDonald's and I don't know if I've ever been so excited to see one. Believe it or not, it tasted delicious. After the long day I was exhausted, so I headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

Wednesday was better. I was rested and more comfortable with the situation, so I headed out to see more of Barcelona. I started at Park Guell, a Gaudi designed park that was intended to be a real estate development. It never got that far, but is now just a huge park with definite Gaudi modernista touches. It was not at all what I had expected, but it was really cool. Here are some pics from my visit:








I even got a nice American couple to take a picture of me


After checking out the park, I decided to do another neighborhood walk recommended by my guidebook. This one took me through the L'Eixample, the Art Deco section of Barcelona, and I loved all the old architecture. Pics from the walk:


I came across this little alley street during my walk and decided that it was possibly the cutest street ever. This picture, unfortunately, does not do it justice. I decided right away that if Mr. Frisby and I were to live in Barcelona, it would have to be in one of the super cute houses on this super cute street.






On Thursday, I decided to be adventurous and head out for a day trip. I decided to go to Girona, which is a small town north of Barcelona that came highly recommended. And, I loved it! It was very old, so they had ancient Roman walls around part of the city and they had some ancient Arabian baths which are very well preserved. And, of course, it had that old European town atmosphere which I love.


Houses along the river in Girona



This bridge was designed by the Eiffel brothers. Can you tell?









That's me on the ancient Roman wall



Looking through a window on the ancient Roman wall



The well-preserved ancient Arabian baths


On Friday I did quite a bit of shopping and just poked around the city more. At this point, I was really getting ready to go home because I felt like I had seen what I wanted to see. This was when I filled my own H&M Goody bag. I found out there was a mall within walking distance of my hotel. Said mall had an H&M in it. I felt that I deserved to buy some things to cheer me up because of the sad situation I was in. So, I went. And it was glorious.

On Saturday, I hit a few more little stores that I had wanted to go to and spent most of the Euros I had left since I would be leaving the next day. I ended up going into this little store that may now be my favorite store in the world. If you ever go to Barcelona, let me know and I will tell you where this store is. It won't disappoint. After the morning shopping, I headed to the city park and enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather.





On Saturday night I got all packed up and ready to leave. Sunday, I woke up giddy. I mean, I had a good time for the 5 days I was stuck and I was able to see some really cool stuff. But, let's be honest, I was ready to come home. And I missed Mr. Frisby immensely. So, Sunday morning I got all ready, checked out of the hotel (which is another story in and of itself) and made my way home. It ended up being a great trip and we had a fabulous time in Spain. Of course, if there's anything that will take the travel bug out of you, it's getting stuck in a foreign country for 5 days. When I got home I had no desire to go ANYWHERE. And now we're off to Utah!

Anyway, that's it for Spain. This was a long post - congratulations if you made it all the way through. And, if you haven't had enough, you can check out the rest of our 450 pictures here.

3 comments:

Andrea said...

Sounds like you made the best out of a bad situation (although it does sound funny to say that being in Spain for an extra 5 days is bad). I would have had issues by myself though being the baby that I am. :) See you tomorrow.

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Molly said...

Ooh, I want to go to your favorite shop in Barcelona. So in 30 years when I go back to Barcelona, I'll ask you where it was. :) PS--I probably would have had myself a little cry, too. I really don't like being away from Christian (ever--seriously) and having to stay somewhere when he got to leave would be rough. Even if that somewhere was an awesome vacation. Just not the same alone. But I'm so glad you made the most of it and enjoyed yourself!