Vivo Sin Dormir

Hola! Bonjour! Proust! (that is “cheers” in Dutch)

Sorry this update has taken a while – it is the biggest ordeal to set up internet at our apt. Anyhu, it’s going to happen sooner than later – hopefully by the end of this week. So I won’t get kicked off of G-chat or Skype and can update this blog more often. I typed this long-ass blog entry on my computer so when I had a few seconds of “borrowed” internet – I pasted it on. Sorry if formatting sucks and sorry for no pics. Anyhu, It makes me so happy that ya’ll read this ramble of mine – thanks loves! I really have enjoyed owning a blog and encourage any of ya’ll that have considered creating one to do so. Especially those of you who are about to have a baaaaabbbbyyyy (Kaaaayla!) as I will need constant updates on this exciting upcoming event! Eek!

So where to begin!? I haven’t really been in Barcelona but a few days this month as I spent a week in Paris and a few days in Valencia. In between I have been sleeping, packing and exploring my new neighborhood with Anna. I did do my first club experience in Barcelona with some of the girls from school. This one called Cat Walk has techno/house on the bottom and hip-hop on the 2nd floor. Guess where I was the entire time? I loved it though – as everyone dances – it did make me have a few flashbacks to Dallas (metro sexual I guess was invented over here in the EU) but it was still a crazy, fun time. Also, Anna and I found our new favorite bar within walking distance – it’s called Alfa and the entire reason we walked in is because they were blasting out 60s-70s R&B Funk. It’s going to be our 2nd home. I just know it. Oh! And the DJ – he wears glasses. I mean…Need I say more? We also went to the Gracia festival which is a crazy celebration for our neighborhood’s birthday. It was a different themed party on each street block – good times. We also recently discovered that we are in easy walking distance to Passage de Gracia – which is the equivalent to Champs Elysee in Paris or Michigan Ave in Chi-town, etc. Bad news bears. But besides the exploring – not too much going on in the BCN.

Okay, so let’s begin with Paris!

J’adore Paris! It’s so beautiful, so full of great people-watching opportunities and the chocolate croissant (I went blank on the French name) is heaven. So of course – as I have some of the worst travel luck – I get to Paris late as my flight was delayed from Barcelona. We exit our plane and are heading to the baggage claim and find the doors locked…We turn around to get back to where they exited us from the plane and THOSE doors are locked. About 100 people are locked into this box of a room. This French woman who I guess worked for the airport said we couldn’t get our baggage or something to that nature…I think I was the only English speaking person in this room as I heard like 10 other languages going on except mine. So finally some guard let us through but they wouldn’t let us get our bags until an hour later – we are literally watching our bags circle the baggage claim thingy but have these guards blocking us…I am suspecting that there was some drug smuggle-smuggle going on but who knows. I think the French like to make things more difficult than they need to be. So after that chaos (and my airport experience returning to Barcelona was even worse!) I get to my friend Scott’s apartment and begin my exploration of the city. I don’t want to bore ya’ll with some of the basic details as probably more than ½ of ya’ll have seen The Louvre, Museum d’Orsay, The Eiffel Tower, etc. but I will pick out my favorite places and activities and funny stories from the trip. If you do want me to bore you with my more touristy details – just shoot me an email – I will fwd on the email I sent to my family that has those glorious details.

So! Scott took me to the best bar in Paris, as far as I’m concerned. It’s called Ten (what is the French word for ten?) and is really quaint and old and red and French. The wine was yummy and cheap and the jukebox only played Louie Armstrong and blues. It was perfect. And this is funny, but I kept thinking – this is such a New Orleans bar. So maybe I should start thinking the opposite? As New Orleans is a bit younger than Paris. Anyways, great similarities. I wanted to go to Hemingway’s bar but the cheapest drink there is 30Euros so besides this one and a few random other bars to grab a quick cocktail – I didn’t do too much of the Paris night life (no clubs).

We did do a night bike tour of the city which made me feel very Amile-esque. I forgot how much I liked biking and plan to get one while here in Barcelona. After the bike tour we took a boat tour and I got to see the bridge from the final episode of STC where Big rescues Carrie. I think I screamed at this point and probably pissed off majority of the people on this boat – also in the process- spilling my full glass of red wine down my dress. But I mean if these people were smart, they would have reacted the same way- it’s freaking the biggest turning point of the best TV show… Okay. As for some touristy things I really liked Musee de L’Orangerie– it was the smallest but holds all of Monet’s water lilies which were beautiful and impressive. Also some other great French Impressionist works (Renoir’s floral portraits, Matisse’s nudes, etc).

Now onto my story about The Louvre – Soooo – I hated it. So freaking crowded. I am really not impressed with the Mona Lisa and ended up exploring the African/Indian artifact art rooms as they were not crowded whatsoever. So after that I am strolling around and I had my iPod with me as it was helping me drone out the amount of people and noise in the museum. I see this guard that keeps looking at me and following me down the hallway. So I stop at a painting and he stops as the one next to me, I hurry along, and he hurries along. So I’m thinking – Shoot, I’m going to get in trouble for something stupid like listening to my iPod or whatever. So I get to this next painting and he steps right in front of me and goes – “Hello! What’s your name?” – So I start to talk to the guard – he was from the West Indies and is going to law school in Paris, he’s heard of New Orleans and wants to go there, etc. So literally 2 minutes into our conversation he goes – “I would like to take you out for dinner and drinks tonight.” I stood there with my mouth open – seriously! I got asked out by a guard at The Louvre! I told him I had a boyfriend but thanked him. He then repeated “I am so stupid, I am so stupid” – so I felt bad and made him show me his favorite spots in the museum (but – haha – he couldn’t leave the corridor as that is what he was “guarding” so I think he was just randomly picking paintings like – “Oh this one of Baby Jesus is pretty.”) Okay, so here I go with being un-PC – but the guard was black so I mean, do I need to explain why he picked me out in the crowded museum? Nope. My mom, I kid you not, after I tell her this story, goes – “Well I guess the big booty thing is international, huh?”

Dear Lord.

I think one of my favorite moments was the night picnic we made (okay, Scott cooked everything as he is the one attending Le Cordon Bleu) and had under the Eiffel Tower my last night. I know a lot of people complain about the light show that the tower does every hour but I really loved it. Every time it went off, me along with other drunkards sitting around with our bottles of wine would start clapping or oohing and aahing. Seriously, you are no fun if you don’t enjoy a good light show.

Paris was great – I would definitely go back and just may when my parents come visit me. Scott was a good host and dealt with all of my touristy requests and occasional bratty outbursts so I’m very grateful for that.

So onto my other crazy adventure…Valencia/La Tomatilla festival!

Okay, so there is no way I can put into words what the La Tomatilla Festival is like but let’s just say it’s absolutely nuts and is and will be the craziest thing I have ever experienced in my entire life. But, before I get to the festival, Anna and I decided to explore the small city of Valencia a few days before – which I’m very grateful for. Of course, with my luck, we get to the train station on Monday and our train – and all trains to Valencia – are cancelled that day. So they haul everyone that was supposed to be on the train on these charter buses and instead of our cozy three hour trip it ends up being a 5 hour bus ride… But we still made it with time to explore Monday so it all worked out. So Valencia is known for its beaches, its main Cathedral and Paella. It also holds Europeans largest aquarium.

So lucky for me – Anna is a big nerd like myself and was super excited about exploring the aquarium. First off, it is the coolest building I have ever seen. We will post the pics on the fbook soon. I have never seen such future-istic buildings which look so out of place in such a classic, beautiful city. But yet, it worked. So we enjoyed the aquarium – seriously the best one I have ever been to (minus Seattle’s as they had a very large sea otter exhibit and they are my absolute fave). The highlights were the dolphin show, the sea lions, the violent/horny walruses (they kept attacking each other with their tusks and then one just um started doing a little number that was a bit intense). My fave were the beluga whales! They are the cutest things on earth and just look absolutely happy and enjoying life, my kind of animal. So after the aquarium we went to eat Paella on the beach. Valencia’s beach is very similar to Manhattan or Hermosa Beach in California (Beans, I thought of you when strolling around) – very pretty with all restaurants and bars on the beach lined up. Much more trendy and resort-like compared to Barcelona’s beaches which are much more crowded and not at all hoity-toity.

So the next day we headed out to Valencia’s cathedral which holds the Holy Grail! Well, supposed. If you Google Holy Grail you will see that a lot of ppl claim to have it or that it’s still missing but this is the most legit case for it. I believe it at least. So the Cathedral itself is absolutely gorgeous – with over 15 chapels surrounding the main church. Very ornate and a lot of past Spanish bishops and cardinals are buried there. There is also one of the prettiest statues I have ever seen of Mary and Baby Jesus that is somewhat famous. Women that are pregnant come to the Cathedral and present the statue of Mary with flowers – then they follow this adoration by walking clock-wise around the cathedral nine times to represent the nine months they will hold their child. I thought this was really interesting and sweet – as there were soo many flowers before Mary when I was there. The main side chapel is where Jesus’ Chalice – aka The Holy Grail – is located. It’s a very simple gold chalice that is much smaller than what I expected but still very ornate- perhaps too ornate for Jesus’ chalice. It has been in the cathedral since the 15th century which, that in itself is pretty amazing.

So after the cathedral and exploring the beautiful city, we met up with one of our friends that also lives in Barcelona, Kirby, who came in just for Tomatilla Festival. The festival is actually in the small town of Bunyol, a 40 minute train ride right outside of Valencia. We planned to take the last night train that day, leave our stuff at the hotel and pull an all-nighter for the fiestas that evening that lead into the tomato fight which begins at 11am the next morning. So we ended up missing the last train by misreading the time it left and had to buy a ticket for the first train out the next morning – the 6:30am! So we go back to our hotel and bump into this American boy going into his room next to us. We all start talking and he tells us he is from Chicago but lives in Amsterdam and he and his friend, from Amsterdam, were planning on going to the festival early the next day as well. So the more we talk I put two and two together and find out that we share a mutual friend! It was really bizarre and such a small world experience. Anyways, the five of us get up the next morning at 5AM and leave for La Tomatilla!

So Anna and I kept saying this would be like our Spanish Mardi Gras – as drinking in the morning is key…And there is no way on earth I would go to a festival where they chuck tomatoes at you sober.

Okay, so we aren’t the only crazies as the train is jam packed with everyone wearing their white shirts getting pumped for Tomatilla. Anna and I split a bottle of Bacardi mixed with Fanta (NEVER do that – Fanta brings out the alcohol taste even more – it was so gross. I named this drink “The Wake Up Call” and pretty much made everyone in our train cabin take a shot from it). Once we get to the small town of Bunyol – which is very pretty – I blacked out. Seriously, I don’t remember how or when we got to the center of the town – I remember bits and pieces but yeah – the Bacardi Fanta did a number on me. I do remember this guy coming up to me and going “Esta es muy bonita Chino chica” – so this guy became obsessed with Anna and kept calling her a China doll or something. So these two make a little connection but – I benefit from this as she kept telling him I was her “Number One Sister” and that he had to protect me too. So this guy was not that big and he made it like his number one duty to watch over Anna and me during the entire festival – it was pretty hilarious.

Okay so around 9AM we are in the center of the action and the festivities kick off with the “Grease Pole” tradition. There is this huge pole in the center of the town that is covered in Crisco-esque grease. At the top of the pole is this HUGE ham. The whole goal is to have someone climb up the pole and grab the ham so the tomato fight can begin. Of course, this has never happened in the many years this fight has been going on but people still try anyway. You will have these men (and a few girls) using all of their might to climb up the pole – they will climb over other people or use their shirts as a device to pull them up…There was actually an old man that had rope that made it soo close! He was about a foot away from the ham – but yeah, nobody got it so around 11AM –after watching this madness – a big siren goes off and the fight begins. Dump trucks come parading down the street FULL of tomatoes with people in them smashing them (as it has to be smooshed before you can throw it – ha!) and throwing them at the crowd. All I remember next was madness.

I had my goggles on and Anna and I were between The Protector (we don’t remember his name) and Eric (the big Dutch guy) picking up tomatoes from the ground and just chucking them at people. It was nuts. By the time the 5th or so truck comes by you are covered in tomato juice, have been smacked in the face by an unsmooshed tomato or a frozen one (some people are just mean) and cannot see out of your goggles as they are covered in tomato guts. The fight goes on for only an hour – at 12 is when they sound off the alarm and everyone is supposed to stop throwing but let me just say…a food fight consisting of tomatoes and 40,000 people that lasts an hour feels like FOREVER! It was so much fun in the beginning until Anna and I – close to the 45 minute mark – were drowning in tomato juice and trying to avoid the fights breaking out. We started to make our way out of the crowd which was near impossible. If you have ever been to Bourbon Street on one of the main Mardi Gras nights (Sat-Mon) – you know that you can’t walk freely down the street, you are forced to move with the crowd. This was the same experience except 10 times worse as you are wading through two feet of tomatoes with even more people that are covered in the slime.

So while we are trying to escape – I lose Anna in the crowd. Like, pocket person down – cannot see her for my life. So luckily, we decided a meeting spot before this began (and luckily I remembered this despite my blackout period) so I start wading through the crowd, trying to get out, avoid the fights and all of a sudden – this guy comes out of nowhere and riiiip – tries to rip my shirt off. Okay, so this happened to all of our guy friends – like I don’t know why, but some people were obsessed with ripping off each other’s shirts – and that really isn’t a big deal for guys but come on – us gals?! So thank GOD I had on a sports bra and not a bathing suit top like so many other girls... It was nuts. Okay, so I finally make it out of the madness and get into the town to get water dumped all over me. The town of Buynol gets their hoses (some which are fire hoses) and buckets of water and dump it on the people walking out of town. Seriously – I have never in my life wanted to be hosed down more than this. It was hilarious. On my walk back to our meeting point, I hear “Lindsay!” and there is Anna – missing her shirt as well, with two left-feet flip flops (neither hers) running behind me. Again – total nuts. So we meet up with the guys and hung around the town – there were tons of DJs and it was just crazyness – everyone was soo gross, covered in tomato juice but soaking wet. I remember dancing to Pitbull non-stop with Anna and then we got on the train and made it back to our hotel to shower (for reals) just in time to make our train back to Barcelona…

I know after typing this it just seems like the craziest/bizarre thing ever. I know all of you can’t even PICTURE me at this event. I have to say – I will never do it again. BUT – am SO happy I did it. We had the best time (minus for the very end of escaping the madness), made some new friends and got to experience a once in a lifetime chance and tradition that is known throughout the world. I would NEVER suggest this to any of my friends. Also, Anna and I also realized that MAYBE we aren’t really as prissy as we think we are because we got down and dirty with the best of them… mainly crazy Spanish guys. Now, I would suggest this to one person and that would be my little brother, Christopher…but that speaks for itself. Anyways, I made it back safe and alive and now am covered in bruises with a great story to tell. We also brought a water-proof disposable camera that we plan to develop today so once I get those pictures up – I will post them too. I have NO idea what we will discover on this camera – I don’t even know if anything will have made it but man – if you could have seen us post-fight- it would have been hard not to laugh.

We are going out tonight with our 2 new Amsterdam buddies from the festival – they are doing a tour around Spain and happened to be coming to Barcelona next so – even though the thought of alcohol makes me kind of gag a bit – I must do my job as a host and show them the best of the BCN. So come visit me and I promise to do the same for you!

Sorry this was a lengthy one. Hope you got some laughs – I know Anna and I did!


Looking for a Matador that doesn’t like tomatoes,

Linds

PS – I am going to email everyone back a long, deserving email respectively once I get internet. Prrroomise.

Music Suggestions:
“Good Song” - Blur
“Coming Home” – The 88
“Buckets of Rain” - Bob Dylan
“Baby, Let Me Follow You Down” – on a Bob Dylan kick…

Movie Suggestions:

Moonstruck
- I know most of ya’ll have seen this but I saw it for the first time the other night (we have a little movie rental place with random-ass movies to rent) and fell in love with it. Nicolas Cage is actually hot in it and Cher is just perfect. So much perfection and cheese…In my book - it’s up there with Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally.