Sofia Somewhere

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...

On the morning of the 30th, we went out shopping for a New Year's Eve outfit, since in Spain, people tend to really dress up for NYE. We didn't have much luck, but we had the next day to continue. We split up, and I met Julie and Zed for lunch. A few days back I had messaged a Filipina friend who lived in Madrid a few years ago if there was a Filipino restaurant in Madrid. She gave me the address, we found it, and decided to try it out. The owner was a Filipina who had settled down in Madrid many many years ago. I had some kare-kare and satisfied my Filipino food craving. After lunch we decided to ice skate at a makeshift rink nearby in Callao . We paid €5 and could skate around for an hour. The skaters were 95% kids, but we still had fun. :P Most of the adults weren't skating, just standing by the railings taking pictures of their kids. So we asked a nice woman to snap a picture of the three of us. Christmas lights in Madrid  After ice skati...

Sorry for the hiatus but the holidays got the best of me and I spent the last couple of days visiting friends and relatives, having the most wonderful conversations, relaxing, and eating, of course. I'm back in Granada now; back at work and giving private classes and writing up entries for my blog. So without further ado, the next part of my holiday trip: For our next La Riojan adventure we headed to another nearby San Millán de la Cogolla , another nearby town in La Rioja. The village has twin monasteries: el Monasterio de Suso   y   Yuso , which is the birthplace of Castillian Spanish! Below is a replica of the books where the first words in Castillian Spanish were written. (The original ones are in the archives of Madrid). It was another fairly interesting tour - the parts Mar translated for us at least. It was a cold and winy day (as it was most our whole stay in La Rioja). At one point we looked out to the courtyard and thought it was rain...