BARCELONA: Beaches and Booze

DISCLAIMER: So I put this blog as private after random people kept on commenting on my shennanigans, which was starting to make me uncomfortable.  I made this blog for people who know me, who won´t judge me (too much) for my antics, and who know me well enough to know I´m not a drunken whore.  However, the blog did make me rethink my actions a little, and I think I´ve been enough of a biddy in Madrid-y.  Don´t worry, I´ll still be a drunken mess, but a little bit less likely to die here.  And no Naomi, this is not me growing up.  I´ll never do that.


DAY 14: BARCELONA BITCHEZ
After a grueling 9 hour night bus ride, we finally arriven in the beautiful city of Barcelona! The trip started off fairly badly, because we´re so used to being taken on trips rather than planning them on our own, so it took us like 15 minutes and a lot of yelling to find the metro.  But we got to our hostel (so many hippies) and immediately went to the beach.  Which was GORGEOUS.

After a lazy four hours at the beach, swimming and tanning and one unfortunate sand fight, we were starving.  Granted, it was only around 5 and Spanish dinners are normally closer to 9:30, so us going out that early was the start to a long evening. We went to the touristy center of Barcelona, which was so freaking pretty.  I have a thing for cities on the water.

Free champagne for the Americans!

Afterwards, we took a walk around the beautiful pier, made our personal photographer Rob Horn take enough pictures to get a prof pic out of the weekend, and went on some Marine ship.

Gotta love a man in uniform!

Then we started to drink, which is always the best part of the night.  The best bar, and probably my favorite concept for a bar EVER, was called Espit Chupitos.  500 different kinds of shots.  One, which I regret not making someone get, is called the Monica Lewinsky, and it comes out of a dildo.  We all ordered for each other, and I made Gaby get one called Semen Up, which is just as gross as it sounds.  I got the Satan, which tasted like teriyaki sauce.  Thanks Chelsea!

Super Cheap too!

After, we found the greatest bar in an alleyway called Yakuta, which had the GREATEST COCKTAILS for 4 euro.  Best mojitos and long island ice teas.  Also it had the same decor as a 70s porn loungs.  We stayed there for 3 hours and came back the next night.  After, we went to an Irish pub to meet up with people, then left because some people wanted to find another club.  It was around now when I started to just hate everyone.  I got annoyed with people fighting, and complaining about walking so far aimlessly, so I peaced the fuck out and had a great night´s sleep at the hostel! Oh, and there was that awkward moment when Chelsea and I were in the middle of changing in our room when we saw a random person sleeping in our room.  #hostelproblems.

DAY 15: BARCELONA AT ITS BEST
This day was infinetly more successful.  We went to the Sagrada Familia in the morning, which I have done no less than 6 projects in Spanish class about and therefore was the tourist destination I was most excited about in Europe.  We had a great hangover breakfast at a restaurant across the street, with actual eggs for breakfast (a rarity in Europe, I really miss TDR breakfasts).  Then we took a wonderful tour, and I geeked out.

Pictures really don´t do it justice



Then we walked around Las Ramblas, the touristy pier, and went to the most popular beach.  Oh, my main complaint about Barcelona: the people here are ASSHOLES. Like, some of the most rude people I´ve ever met, worse than people from new Jersey.  And the chldren are the worst! It´s like no one knows how to parent here, the kids just run wild, screaming and kicking everywhere.  God.  Anyways, we went home and had a nice siesta before going out at a normal dinner time.  We went to a fantastic place with the best mussels I have ever had, and some delicious scallop paella.

Then we started to drink!  For some reason, we weren´t feeling too original and went to yet another Ryan Bar, due to their extremely cheap drinks.  Here´s a fun/compromising picure!

Hi Grant.



Then when wandering the streets we found YAKUZA again!! It was fate.  Also we were pretty drunk by this point so we kind of freaked out.  At least the bartender recognized us!

How could he not?

And then came the best part of the night.  After a lot of walking and a lot of "I swear we´re almost there!" we found it.  The best bar in all of Barcelona.  ICE BARCELONA!!!  I´ll let the pictures do the talking.

Guys I look naked under the parka!

WE´RE GRINDING IN PARKAS!



 DAY 16: BUSSING FROM BARCELONA

Things happened that night that even though this is a private blog, people don´t need to hear about (landing strip!)  Needless to say, the next morning we were all hung over, dying, and dreading the 9 hour bus ride back.  All in all, it was a fantastic trip!

A Night I Actually Remember!

So guess what? Classes aren't terrible here! They may be 4 hour block classes, but the professors are extremely intelligent and keep the class from falling asleep.  This was a welcome change from orientation with a  TERRIBLE spanish teacher, who when combined with terrible hangovers, was pretty much death. Also, I only have to write like 3 papers that are less than 5 pages with very little homework.  BEST PROGRAM EVER!

Day 12: LAZERS!


Class during the day.  Afterwards, I got a haircut, which was extremely nerve wracking because the lady did not speak a word of english.  It didn't end as terribly as it could of!

That night, we decided to actually go to a fancy club.  We first went to the Orange Cafe to pregame, as they had a free bar for an hour, but there was a long line and we weren't feeling it (sidenote: there is a beer pong tournament there next week that I will DEFINITELY be going to).  So we went to a local friend's apartment and drank on the roof which was beautiful.

Eventually we made our way out to Gabana, which is like one of the top three clubs in Madrid!  I got to wear my crush dress, which brought up some great (hazy) memories.  We knew a promoter there, so we got in for free.  However, it was the most pricey bar everrr, I didn't think it was possible for a shot of tequila to cost 14 euros.  Good thing I didn't pay for it!

Mneaaahhhh.

I wasn't in a slutty make out mood like I normally was, surprising I know!  I just wanted to DANCE. They had the greatest music, essentially club music with hits from the early 2000s.  And the lasers (there are lasers in almost every club in Madrid) were BOMB.  So fantastic.  However, I did spot two guys who were towering over everyone else, and since I'm such a goal-oriented person, I really liked the idea of hooking up with the tallest guy in the room.

I did. (Guy on the right)

Eventually at 4:30 am we decided to peace, and I managed to walk home, a 25 minute walk, alone and drunk.  I think that almost qualifies me for native Madrileña status!

Tonight I'm leaving on a bus ride to BARCELONA! I'm going with 2 Phi Sig Kaps, and AXO, and a Zeta from UNC Chapel Hill.  Expect a fantastic update on Monday, or no update at all if I don't survive.

Also, I Don't Mean to Brag But...

I just want to lay out my trips for the next few months.
Sept 16th-18th: Barcelona
Sept 23rd-24th: Northern Spain for a wine tasting weekend
Sept 30th- Oct 2nd- Mallorca
Oct 8th: Segovia
Oct 10th-17th: Week long field trip cruise to Venice, Croatia, Verona, and the Greek Islands
Oct 27th- Nov 2nd- Fall Break: Paris, Berlin, and maybe Brussels, Vienna, Munich, or Prague
Nov 7th-14th: Rome and IstanbuL

THIS PROGRAM IS RIDICULOUS

Edit: No more Portugal, going to Mallorca instead!!

And so it really begins...

So don't get me wrong, I love everything about Madrid and this is the best time of my life blah blah blah.  But the honeymoon phase is over, my bank account is hurting after only one week, and I miss home.  Well, more specifically the people that I love at American University (not naomi she's not pretty).  On the plus side, I'm finally settling into a schedule here, and friendships are less welcome week-y and more real.  Here's a brief synopsis of every day so far!

Day 4: Classes?
Orientation started, and I had to sit through excruciating spanish classes while extremely hung over after my birthday. I did get a super cool phone that looks like it's from the 90's!

Day 5: Small Attempt at Culture
We went to the Prado Museum, the most famous art museum in all of Spain.  I actually got to see the paintings that we studied in senior year Humanities, which was kinda cool.  My favorite was called Saturn by El Greco, which featured a naked god eating his child.  ART!

Day 6: FLAMENCO ARRIBA!!
More boring spanish classes, but in the afternoon we went to a flamenco class!! It was hilarious to see the guys attempt to do it, and everyone really gave it their all.  Especially Nate Bronstein, who was really upset when the girls got to do an ass shaking part.  Biddie.

Day 7: Bumper Boats/ NEVER AGAIN
More spanish, the we went to El Parque de Retiro, which is a giant and BEAUTIFUL park in the middle of the city with a lake in the center.  We drank boxed wine (not teacher approved, but it's Madrid, come on) and then went out in boats!  Of course, the more belligerent people in the group took this as an opportunity to race and crash into as many people as possible.  The locals seemed mildly annoyed, but fuck if we care!

That night was quite the experience.  Things get hazy pretty fast, since I didn't really go out all week so took friday night as an opportunity to get white girl wasted.  We went to a bar called the Barbarian and since we got there at 11, of course it was empty.  We took that as an opportunity to buy about 8 rounds of tequila shots, and me and Gaby shared a red bull and vodka drink where the glass was almost as long as my arm.  Needless to say I was BLACKOUT.

Somehow I left with a group of kids from the UK to go to a fancy club Capital, but they wouldn't let us in because one person in the group had a faux hawk and the bouncer said he looked stupid.  Seriously.  I don't even remember getting home, although I do vaguely recall a taxi and a bald guy.  People the next day said how lucky I was to be alive after venturing off with so many randos.  Whoops!

The worst part, however, was waking up in the morning, and looking at my room. VOMIT EVERYWHERE. I thought my senora was going to kill me.  So gross. Like, I'm thinking of vomming just by the thought of it.  So I quickly cleaned it up and showered, then went to my senora with the sheets and said "Ummmm, can you wash these? I had a bad night." And she just gives me the most judgmental glare and said "I saw.  You know, if you continue like this, you're going to be an alcoholic by December and probably die." THANKS SENORA.

Day 8: Day Trips Hung Over are the WORST
And of course, the next day we take a day trip to Toledo, one of the oldest cities in Spain.  I must say, it is absolutely GORGEOUS!

I was doing ok in the beginning, but once we were inside the city touring a mosque, I couldn't even stand the mosque was spinning so much.  fml.  Luckily, we toured a giant cathedral next, and I took a power nap and woke up feeling great!

So the rest of the day was spent sightseeing, eating paella, and making Rob take pictures of me and Gaby.  Thanks DILF!  And after a wayyy too eventful friday night, I responsibly stayed in and slept all night.

Day 9: Handball is more fun when Drunk

Sunday was pretty fantastic too! We went to the best paella place in Madrid for lunch, and I had a delicious chicken, prawn, and shrimp one.  Nomz.  Then we went to see the latest Pedro Almodovar film, which was 1) all in Spanish and 2) the most FUCKED UP film I've ever seen.  It's called "The Skin I Live In" and SPOILER ALERT essentially the plot is that a guy rapes Antonio Banderas' daugher, so Antonio kidnaps him, and performs gender changing surgery on him to make him into a super hot woman, and proceeds to have sex with him/her.  whatthefuck.  

The first game we went to.  this one was much more empty.

We also went to another handball game, which we got free tickets for.  The stadium was much more empty this time, and we were much more drunk this time.  That made us pretty unpopular with the fans surrounding us, since we had chants like "ONCE IS GAY" and "QUE PASA HOLMES??" All in all a great day.

Day 10: Fuck, Actual Classes?

And so began our regular lives.  I had a spanish class, which I since then have switched out of in favor of a high level yet much better class.  I can only learn ser vs. estar so many times.

Day 11: Roomies!

More classes, and I got to meet my roommates! They're two girls from Endicott College, and pretty good so far.  I took them out to an all you can drink for 10 euros bar with the rest of my program, and it was pretty nice.

Update!

So it turns out on my birthday that I hooked up with 7 guys, according to scoreboard Nate Bronstein.  I hear among them were a black guy and a few gay guys.  SUCCESSFUL NIGHT!

Gandalf the Grey

Day 3: Birthday Sex

My birthday itself was actually extremely uneventful, because clubs don`t really open here until one in the morning, so by the time we got our group together it was the next day.  I need to get use to this late night lifestyle.

We got our trip schedules for the rest of the semester during orientation, and it is SLAMMIN.  We have day trips to Toledo and Segovia, a nature hiking weekend, and a freaking WEEK LONG cruise to Croatia, Verona, Venice, and the Greek Islands.  In addition to that, we have ANOTHER week long trip to Rome and Istanbul.  This is literally the best program, with the best people.  I´m so excited, in case you can´t tell from the caps. Also, there are four or five 3-5 day weekends where I can travel.  Ahhhh.

My birthday night was extremely successful! I really don´t have a clear memory of exactly what happened so I´ll give bullet points.

• If you just stand in the Plaza del Sol, random vendors will come up and try and sell you gross Mahou beer.  Fortunately, I was prepared and had a box of wine to pregame.  Btw boxes of wine cost like 50 cents.  It´s fantastic.
• There was a random hobo who looked EXACTLY like Gandalf.  We made a lot of nerdy references, someone shouted `Didn´t Snape kill you?', I took a picture with him, and he wrote down 'No publicity' on a piece of paper.  Guys I met a wizard.
• I took more tequila shots than I really should have.
• We went to an Irish pub, and then some crazy random club (Moondance).  The birthday card is literally the greatest thing in the world, I didn´t pay all night.
• Gay guys are the greatest dancers.  Even if they`re smelly.
• I made out with so many random people.  I really wish I could remember who.
• Oh, and wearing heels out literally KILLED my thighs.  Next time I´m dancing on a platform with gay men, I need to wear flats.

Jet lag is Almost Worse than Being Hung Over

So, as anyone who cares enough to read this blog may know, I am extremely lazy.  Therefore, this is a disclosure that my posts will be sporadic, unorganized, and poorly written.  Enjoy!

Day 1: Day Drinking Never Ends Well


I arrived at the airport and couldn't find a person with an American University sign, so I went to a cafeteria and bought a bottle of wine (Drink count:1).  Eventually I found a host and she shipped me in a taxi to the hotel, where I saw a familiar face and some new ones.  We went to find the perfect lunch place, then got lazy and ended up at a place called "Restaurante" where I got a sandwich and what seems to be the cheap beer of choice here, Mahou (DC: 2)

We met up with other people in our program, and found the greatest bar so far: Oktoberfest.  Since I don't think I'll be able to go to the real thing, this is almost as great of an option! They offer 3 liter beers there, but I wimped out and got smaller ones (DC:4).  We then decided to buy the equivalent of 40s here of the shittastic Mahou, and play kings to get to know each other.  But then we got bored, so we went back to Oktoberfest (DC: ???).

The program was supposed to start at 7:30, a solid 9 hours after we had all arrived at the hotel.  After a minor hiccup where a drunk girl got lost after Oktoberfest, we actually went into Madrid.  And I must say, it is GORGEOUS.  We didn't see many sights because a. it was nighttime and most of the places were closed b. we were all drunk, starving, and exhausted from hours of traveling.  But we did see the Royal palace, and some of the main plazas! We eventually got dinner, which was fantastic until I had one bite of the fairly rare steak and vomited.  Embarrassing first night.  I won't go into more detail.

Day 2: I Hope My Senora Doesn't Judge Me


So after a fairly eventful night, we woke up bright and early to meet our homestay families!  My senora is pretty great, and a really good cook which is what I'm looking forward to.  I live in a room that's essentially a closet, but it has wifi and a big closet so I'll be ok.  All I really did today was eat and sleep.

Oh! We went to a handball game, which from what we could barely tell was like soccer except with more touching.  The game was Madrid vs. Barcelona, and I think it was the championship match, because there was an awards ceremony at the end.  I enjoyed watching the fans more than the game; they were singing so many different songs and were just so into it that I was very impressed.

Dinner here is always an ordeal.  There are no less than 5 courses, and they keep on giving you wine.  It's the greatest.

Tomorrow's my birthday, so looking forward to that!