I'm home! Well, I have been since the wee hours of Wednesday morning, but I've finally recovered and unpacked and resumed my life of watching mysteries and Tribe on the telly. One day, I'll make the incredibly treacherous journey to the nearest Boots to give in my films for processing, so I'll soon be able to complete my very impressive summer photo album! Can't wait! Especially as it will be a welcome distraction from the reading I'm doing at the moment. All very complex stuff about folding DNA to create nanoscale shapes...origami basically, but with strands of DNA instead of bits of paper. It's all very exciting, but as soon as I move away from the abstract of a paper, and into the nitty-gritty, I get a tad confused and need to refer to Wikipedia. Oh, the shame! University doesn't start until October I believe, and I'm in the process of sorting out where I'm going to be living. Until then, I shall be in London, so if anyone wishes to meet up for a drinkie or two, then let me know. Do beware that I have now got about £10 in my bank account, and a few Euro cents somewhere, so it'll have to be a traditional studenty event!! I can't wait to get paid!
So, Barcelona, how did that turn out? Pretty nicely. The weather was good for most of the holiday, though I found evenings a little chilly. The food was yummy, especially for someone who loves chips with ketchup (the Spanish version is patatas bravas)! I am a little sad that I didn't eat any manchego y membrillo (cheese and quince jelly), because it's one of my favourite tapas. Oh well, maybe I can find some in the Harvey Nichols food hall! Oscar had researched some cool and funky places to get food in the city, and we found some of them but they were often a little pricey. Still, there were wacky places in the gothic part of the centre, and we gave them a whirl. We found this amazing ice-cream/waffle parlour, where they claimed to have "50 unusual flavours of ice-cream", and it was true!! They even had acai flavour, which of course I had to have as I have been craving the pots of acai I used to eat in Brazil. It was soooo good! We visited a strange sweet shop where they had sweets in every fruity flavour you could expect, packaged in space-food type plastic bags. One street was basically a chocolate-lover's paradise, and I wanted to buy some samples, but I was penniless :-( There was a funky cookie shop too that caught our eye, but if the cookies weren't filled with chocolate, then they were filled with weird cheese or herbs. I didn't like that - I just wanted a Ben's Cookies cookie! Gosh, I've gone on about food for ages...
The trip was a very cultured one. We must have visited at least a dozen, if not more, art galleries/museums. One of my favourites was the Picasso gallery, because it was very thorough in explaining the various phases the artist went through to get to being one of the most celebrated modern artists in the world. It also explained how he was influenced by other artists while he stayed in Paris, and it was great to actually be able to see that admiration in his work. A lot of the big and famous paintings from the cubist period were missing from the gallery, as they are dotted all over the world, but I preferred it that way. He's not just about the Weeping Woman after all. Another thing I enjoyed was the temporary exhibition at MNAC called El Cartell Modern, which included a selection of modern posters by European anc American artists such as Cheret, Mucha and Steinlen. I really hope a collection like this is exhibited in London soon, because it was fascinating.
I've come back filled with good food, ice-cream and art. I couldn't have dreamed of a better short European holiday. Thanks to Oscar for planning it all :-)
So, Barcelona, how did that turn out? Pretty nicely. The weather was good for most of the holiday, though I found evenings a little chilly. The food was yummy, especially for someone who loves chips with ketchup (the Spanish version is patatas bravas)! I am a little sad that I didn't eat any manchego y membrillo (cheese and quince jelly), because it's one of my favourite tapas. Oh well, maybe I can find some in the Harvey Nichols food hall! Oscar had researched some cool and funky places to get food in the city, and we found some of them but they were often a little pricey. Still, there were wacky places in the gothic part of the centre, and we gave them a whirl. We found this amazing ice-cream/waffle parlour, where they claimed to have "50 unusual flavours of ice-cream", and it was true!! They even had acai flavour, which of course I had to have as I have been craving the pots of acai I used to eat in Brazil. It was soooo good! We visited a strange sweet shop where they had sweets in every fruity flavour you could expect, packaged in space-food type plastic bags. One street was basically a chocolate-lover's paradise, and I wanted to buy some samples, but I was penniless :-( There was a funky cookie shop too that caught our eye, but if the cookies weren't filled with chocolate, then they were filled with weird cheese or herbs. I didn't like that - I just wanted a Ben's Cookies cookie! Gosh, I've gone on about food for ages...
The trip was a very cultured one. We must have visited at least a dozen, if not more, art galleries/museums. One of my favourites was the Picasso gallery, because it was very thorough in explaining the various phases the artist went through to get to being one of the most celebrated modern artists in the world. It also explained how he was influenced by other artists while he stayed in Paris, and it was great to actually be able to see that admiration in his work. A lot of the big and famous paintings from the cubist period were missing from the gallery, as they are dotted all over the world, but I preferred it that way. He's not just about the Weeping Woman after all. Another thing I enjoyed was the temporary exhibition at MNAC called El Cartell Modern, which included a selection of modern posters by European anc American artists such as Cheret, Mucha and Steinlen. I really hope a collection like this is exhibited in London soon, because it was fascinating.
I've come back filled with good food, ice-cream and art. I couldn't have dreamed of a better short European holiday. Thanks to Oscar for planning it all :-)
