Sofia Somewhere

For Spring Break this year I decided to go to Prague and Barcelona with two friends. Julie and I were going to fly out of Barcelona to get to Prague. I took the overnight train from Granada leaving at 9:30pm and arrived in Barcelona 11 hours later. My ticket was a bit more expensive (€30) than the last time I took the overnight train. The promo tickets were sold out, and I was in the prefrente class. The seats were much nicer though than in the turista class I was in last time. They were much much more comfortable, and I was able to get a good night's rest. Fancier seats I was amused because it had controls to recline your seat and put up the leg rest We both arrived in the morning and our flight wasn't until the afternoon, so we decided to spend the few hours we had in the city exploring Parc Güell. Parc Güell is one of Barcelona's famous parks. The area was owned by Eusebi Güell and was originally planned as an estate for well-off families. Güell asked Gaudí ...

I ended my Christmas trip with a visit back to one of my favorite cities Barcelona to visit my roommate from when I lived in Pamplona, Marina. Be it Gaudí's colorful and modernist buildings or the sunny Mediterranean feel of the city... there's just something about the Barcelona that captures my heart every time I visit. Marina had work on Friday so I spent the day sightseeing and walking around the city. First up was la Sagrada Família , Gaudí's unfinished masterpiece. Construction of la Sagrada Familía started in 1882 and is still ongoing (its anticipated year of completion being 2026, the centenary of Gaudí's death). Gaudí designed the church to be an expiatory church meaning that its construction has and continues to rely on donations. He claimed that "The expiatory church of La Sagrada Família is made by the people and is mirrored in them. It is a work that is in the hands of God and the will of the people." I didn't realize how pricey all of Gaud...

In the evening I headed to  Girona  to visit one of my very good friends from Pamplona, Maria. It was the 5th of January and the city was getting ready for the  Cabalgata de los Reyes Magos  ("Three Kings/Three Wise Men Parade") which would take place in the evening. In Spain, the Three Kings is huge, even bigger than Christmas for children since it's from the Three Kings that they receive their presents, and not form Santa Claus. They even write their letters / send their wish list to the Three Kings. In the c abalgata , the three kings would parade around the city in floats called  carrozas  and throw candy to the children watching from the streets. It's quite the elaborate parade with many floats, costumes, and candy. The next day, the 6th was  el Día de los Reyes Magos  ("the Feast of the Three Kings"). We all woke up early (early being 9am), and Maria and her brothers had their gifts from the Three Kings in the living room. They were n...

On my last day with my aunt and cousin, we headed to Figueres to visit the Dalí museum. Figueres and Dalí are two names that go hand in hand, as the famous artist was born there. Streets of Figueres The Teatre-Museu Gala Salvador Dalí was conceived and designed by Dalí himself. The main building was originally a theatre when Dalí was growing up in Figueres, but burned down in the Spanish Civil War. Many years later Dalí helped in the reconstruction of the theatre with the intention of turning it into a museum for himself. It later on did become his museum, and has since been expanded. The exterior of the museum is pink and adorned with giants eggs and pieces of bread, two prominent Dalinian symbols. The museum didn't offer an explanation of the symbols (at least there were no free guides or brochures), but a quick Google search says that the eggs symbolize "hope and love" while the bread represents "feeding the mind." I want my museum to be a single...

On the 2nd of January I left Madrid for Catalunya via a seven hour bus, which wasn't so bad -- after the 22 hour bus ride in Peru, this was a piece of cake. I arrived at Barcelona Sants a little after 6pm and was on the 7pm high speed train to Figueres , the city with the nearest train station to my aunt and cousin. Spain has slowly been building train stations and introducing the high speed trains called AVE. The trains are much nicer and faster, and as my aunt pointed out, sometimes only 2-4 euros more expensive than the normal trains. My aunt picked me up at the train station in Figueres and we drove the 15 minutes to Palau-Saverdera where they live.  I met my cousin Maya and her boyfriend Nardi at home, and we all had a good dinner before calling it a night. Me: Let's take a picture to send to Ange Maya: Wait, I need to hold a glass of wine! The next day we headed to Roses to take a morning walk by the beach and I was pleasantly surprised by how warm it was! Afte...

(Sorry for the lack of updates; had no internet connection nor computer for the past few days) When I couldn't sit still anymore, I left the apartment and walked a bit before I had to meet Maya's friend. We were going to meet outside the metro, so I went to the station and waited outside. I sent her a message saying that I was wearing jeans and a Barça shirt. I looked around and realized that everyone was wearing jeans and a Barça shirt. Haha. So I added that I had sunglasses on and that I was reading a book. She came at exactly 6:15 (on time, not bad for an Española!) and we walked to Camp Nou together. She was very friendly and we got along well. We arrived at the stadium, found our seats (Thank you, Pol! - We used the season tickets of Pol and his dad) and settled down. Since it was still early we saw the players -- I spotted Messi easily -- warming up. The game started at 7 (actually pretty early for a Spanish league game) and it was a bit hot at first. But by the seco...

On our last day in Lisbon I planned for us to visit the Oceanario. We took the metro to get there; it was in another district of Lisbon -- Parque das Nacoes. This district was actually the site of the World Expo in 1998. There was this avenue of flags that had flags of all the countries that participated in the Expo. We walked along the river to the Oceanario. It was colder in this area because it was by tbe river. The outside of the Oceanarium was not very impressive looking but the actual aquarium was neat. It was cool how everything was arranged and we saw three cute sea otters!! The Oceanarium was cool but I'll have to admit that with what I've read while researching, I expected a bit more. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the aquarium and with that done, I completed my checklist of things I wanted to see in Lisbon.