Barcelona, where I was meant to be born (...not that Rochester isn't great)

Speaking of birth... happy birthday, SARA!

Okay, so, I went to Barcelona for a long weekend (Friday morning to Monday night). I flew into Barcelona's Girona airport via RyanAir... I was wondering why it was relatively cheap and I found out why! Girona is more than 100km away from the city's center! Luckily, there is a pretty cheap bus that travels frequently between the airport and the city! And I even made a friend on the busride... an American exchange student at Madrid's Compultensive University.

Anyways, Barcelona is an incredible city. There was not a cloud in the sky for the majority of my trip and the sun was mostly shining (except for in the pictures I'm posting apparently ha) . There are a lot of tourists, and a focal point of the tourist area is a walkway called the Ramblas, with people performing, souvenir stands, flower stands and all types of jewelry and such. The Ramblas lead directly to a statue of Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus, who is allegedly from Barcelona -- although it is highly debated). Beyond Cris C is the port of Barcelona, a gorgeous mess of sailboat masts, mediterranean blue, and booeys that look like statues... Below is a picture of the port, the ramblas with a view of the Columbus statue...

Here is a picture of my dad's cousin Octavio's son, Enoch. He is feeding the palomas in Placa Catalunya. For the record, every sign in Barcelona is in catalan; so, you can navigate your way around with castellano (spanish as we americans know it), but you'll find yourself asking information booths for help.
ALSO for the record, Enoch and Jemima (his sister) thought I would enjoy this activity, but they didn't know about my fear of birds AND the fact that their palomas (direct translation:doves) are PIGEONS, something I would not call a dove. but rather a rat with wings.....


Here is a picture of a guy in blackface, yes, blackface and horrible fake dentures pretending to be FC Barca's Ronaldinho. He was in the Ramblas juggling and such. There were a lot of portrait artists in the Ramblas who do caricatures and a lot of them used Ronaldinho as their sample caricature... poor guy.














Other cultural landmarks in Barca obviously center around the grand design of Gaudi. This year is actually the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death. Gaudi was so devoted to his craft that he was standing in the street sizing up a building and was run over by an oldschool trolley. That's how he died. Crazy, huh? His work is so respected because of the way he makes stone look malleable. The Casa de Gaudi (below left) has some cool mosaic crystal statues on the roof that I didn't get a good shot of and the Church of La Sagrada Familia (below right) is still under construction. Furthermore, some city builders are pushing to get a metro station built underneath the Church. It is highly contested because nobody really knows if the church will cave in or not, and obviously a lot of time and energy (and MONEY) has gone into the church so... we'll see how that goes!

I actually spent most of my time in Barcelona in Sant Cugat, a suburb/village about 40 minutes outside of the city. This is where Octavio's family lives. Its relation to Barcelona is analogous to Oakville and Toronto. A lot of families live here and there are schools, and a lot of the parents work in Barcelona and commute by train or car. It is essentially much cooler than Oakville however hahaha.... well, it is. It has a 9th century cathedral that's freaking gorgeous, even if a groundskeeper was urinating right in front of it when I went to visit it.

I spent a lot of time in Sant Cugat walking around and I found it to be quite cozy. Octavio's family was really quite nice; although, the 17 yr-old daughter spoke so quickly and she mixed in catalan with her castellano... I could not understand her or her brother. And, for the record, I probably spoke 7 words of English the whole time I was there, struggling to understand Catalan, Portuguese, and French, while I used castellano as my STRONG language.... wow, is all I have to say.

It was easier to understand my dad's Tia Esther (who only speaks portuguese) than to understand the Catalan. Mike Stancs might even come in handy(!) if you guys make it over to Barcelona.

Though in retrospect, it is possible that Esther was easier to understand because she dwelled on the same topics. She is a lovely woman of course, loves her family in a teasing way. Fortunately the Tierney women have made me accustomed to the tough love of a matriarch hahah.

Anyways, as nice as she is, she's also very old-fashioned and wears her indignation on her face. She's very disappointed my dad never had me learn portuguese ("why castellano? why not portuguese?!" she implored). She wondered MANY times about why I do not have a nice Goan boyfriend (...all the Goan guys I know are family, Esther)... She was very funny though, and has such a spontaneous, girlish giggle. She's a lot of fun to be around, and she absolutely loved me because I look so much like her sister (my grandmother Zamira).

The first time she saw me, she broke down into tears. She and my grandma Figueiredo were best friends until my grandma died ("minha irma Zamira nao tenia maldad" she kept saying... "you couldn't say anything bad about my sister Zamira" etc.)

I've always heard that I look like my grandma, but this really confirmed it for me. I guess I look a lot like her when she was younger, and I have the same eyes and facial features.
It was an eye-opening weekend, and I figured out where my dad's fear of dogs comes from (the Fernandes side of the family)... and where his illogical generosity comes from. These people had me living like a queen for 4 days.
They do the traditional Spanish meals, in which they stuff you with multiple courses at lunch. The food is mostly some sliced baguette, a cut of fish or chicken with lentils or potatoes and a salad. Then they finished off the meal with a yogurt, flan or piece of fruit (the pears here are my favorite). Also, they do shots of espresso with steamed milk and sugar at the end of the meal.

Here is a recipe I found online that is similar to my favorite dish that they gave me. It was cod.
http://www.canyellespetites.com/food-main-ajoarriero.htm She didn't shred the cod, and she served it with baked queso de cabra (some sort of UNBELIEVABLE Spanish cheese)... it was beyond phenomenal.

For dinner, they would have something as simple as toast and yogurt or... one night they sliced up a baguette and put mashed tomato, olive oil and salt on top of it and called it a day, or they put a cheese platter out with sliced up baguette and olive oil.

Barcelona was incredible. It is a city that is so surrounded by art in its everyday landscape that I think the people who live their don't even notice sometimes!! I found myself taking snapshots of random houses and stuff because I just couldn't even believe my eyes. Anyways, I recommend the city, and I hope to return with people my own age when the weather is maybe a little bit warmer so I can hang out and walk around downtown.

And, YES, I am aware this post is rife with errors in grammar. Deal with it!

Pig Knuckles and Sauerkraut...

Segovia is about a 2-hour train ride North of Madrid. The landscape as you move into Castile and Leon looks kind of like what I imagine a small German village to look like, with more and more snow with every 40 minutes or so North and little chalet-style houses. We (2 of my friends from residence, the ones from the last post) arrived and took a bus up a mountain to the Plaza Mayor where there was a gorgeous Cathedral with Moorish-influenced architecture. Also, there was a huge gazebo in the middle of the plaza that reminded me of the "16 going on 17" scene from Sound of Music.

From the cathedral we walked to Alcazar. These are the kind of narrow, cobbled streets you can picture knights in medieval armor walkind down. Alcazar's design allegedly helped inspire Walt Disney's design of the Snow White Castle, but personally I think that claim is erroneous. The view of Castile and Leon in the winter was breathtaking, even though you can't help but imagine how springtime bloom would really make everything pop.

I was watching a behind-the-scenes interview with Pedro Almodovar on the "Volver" dvd, and he had this theory that the Castillian landscape is so blank --few trees and rolling hills--that people from Castilla naturally evolve into storytellers in order to add layers to this barren landscape. I think what he was trying to say that the imagination is spurred to create when presented with such a blank canvas. Of course, Castilla is also Don Quixote/Cervantes territory; so, I thought that Almodovar's theory was interesting, and I looked at the landscape with all that in the back of my head, but I thought it was beautiful because it was so simple. I can see how in such a place, you would get to know the rocks and trees as landmarks because they are so few and far between that they almost have personalities..

Anyways, we went to the top of Snow White's tower where the view was just incredible, even though I am afraid of heights and the stairs up the tower were playing tricks with my mind.

Afterwards, we decided to stop and try the traditional Segovian food, sopa castellana (garlic broth with hard-boiled egg and soaked bread) and cochinillo asado (roast suckling pig hoof)... both were... an experience, and I honestly would not order either again (very strange textures, cutting through the cochinillo was like cutting through a sneaker)... Anyways, the whole Segovian culture is fascinating in terms of this food. The hoof had a tag on it that said how many siblings the pig had, who it's mother was, where it lived and the day it was killed (3 days ante-plate in my case)... Furthermore, after we ate it, the waitress came back and said, "oh, we just logged when it was eaten too. The only thing we don't know about this pig is the name of the person who ate it." Fascinating. After that, we went to catch our bus because the last train was leaving soon, and the bus pick-up was right underneath the Roman Aqueducts, which we obviously wanted to see because they are AWESOME. The most impressive part about it is that rocks that comprise the aqueduct are not bound together by concrete, and it has endured to this day. It appears that the only thing keeping it together is some solid physics and moss... Very cool.

Anyways, here are some pictures of Segovia:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=99405596103.666232539603.1234486059871&page=1&sort_order=0&navfolderid=0&folderid=0&ownerid=0

Let me just brag a bit and say that I took a shower that morning and my hair DRIED like that!!! That is probably the best my hair has looked in LONG while... must be the Spanish air/water! Also, sidenote, the last picture of the album is Retiro park in Madrid on a Sunday afternoon. It is so fun; there are bongos and lots of people in mascot costumes. The people-watching is good, and I tried the most rich traditional Spanish fare: the hot chocolate (chocolate tradicional a la taza)... it is pretty much a cadbury bar melted into a tea cup. So good... must be awful for the insides. That's what they dip churros into for BREAKFAST, which makes even me a bit queasy. Anyways, it was good, and the people-watching from the terrace was very relaxed.

I had my first day of class today. It was good, VERY different from Toronto. I can talk about that later; for now, I don't want to think about it. I am going to Barcelona in like 6 hours and I haven't started packing. I am going to meet Dad's godbrother and his family. He has a daughter a couple years younger than me with whom I spoke on the phone, and they are the nicest. ever. They only speak to me in Spanish, and it's not a big deal to them; so, I just roll with the punches! This should be interesting, especially because I'm meeting Dad's godmother, who was really good friends with my Figueiredo grandmother. So, maybe I'll hear some cool stories and get the REAL scoop on whether or not I look like a lot like my Figueiredo grandma. More soon! I miss you all!

La Vida Loca

Hola todos, it's been a busy couple of days, and I don't know if I'm going to get around to writing about the Prado and Thyssen museums (especially the Thyssen, due to Steve's sensitivity regarding the O'Keeffe from the previous post ha). Anyways, next time I talk to you, ask me about it, although I can't guarantee I'll shut up once I start talking. ALSO, sidenote, I've only used an audioguide once at a museum and it was at the Prado, and it was the best decision I've ever made.
Okay, so last night, I went to Alcala to have my weekly visit with Matt and his Loyola friends. They had a nice tapas potluck and wine dealy that I partook in. Then we went out. For those of you who have been reading the blog from the beginning, they played a couple of SHAKIRA songs at the second bar we went to so I was very happy/ dancing up a storm!
Anyways, after returning to Madrid today, I had a chance to hang out with two kids in my residence who I've been in touch with since the International Students Orientation meeting on Wednesday. Jenny was actually in a bunch of my Spanish/Portuguese courses over the years at U of T, but we had never spoken before the meeting on Wednesday, and she is a very nice girl who actually went to language school in Madrid for 3 months a couple years ago. Andres lives 2 doors down from me, and he's from Mexico/San Diego. He really likes soccer and a lot of the same music as me; so, that's cool, and we're definitely planning to see Real Madrid play.
Anyways, we went into Madrid tonight and met up with Jenny's friend Alberto who's from Barcelona but is doing his Masters in Madrid and he basically took a metro map and circled everywhere we need to go, gave us the lowdown on the weather, the neighbourhoods, the culture, etc. It was really quite fun and informative. Also, Alberto doesn't speak any English, and I felt totally comfortable and could understand what he was saying and interject when necessary. It was good.
We went to this place near Gran Via called Monteditos, I think... anyways, everything there was 1 or 2 euros, and it was delicious! The cerveza clara was SO good. It is Cruz Campo brand beer (which like corona) mixed with lemon soda. It was almost cider-esque but not quite as sweet. I quite enjoyed it. Also, the bocadillos, pictured below, were VERY good. You could order them with pan normal (white bread) or pan integral (wheat), and they came with chips... which I OF COURSE stuffed in my bocadillos just like I used to during hot lunches at Seton hah gives it a nice crunch. Anyways, picture mini sub sandwiches with a variety of fillings... one of mine was filled with brie and chorizo, one with tuna and olive oil and a mayo-esque sauce (alioli?), and the BEST ONE was filled with jamon iberico and some sort of tomato-based oil sauce. Every Spanish person raves about jamon iberico (thinly sliced, cured ham), but honestly ham is not my favourite and I was super skeptical. I am currently going on the record to say that it was highly delicious!
Anyways, I should go to bed now because the three of us are going to Segovia tomorrow morning for the day. It's the capital of Castile y Leon, and it has a Roman aqueduct and a really nice cathedral that I will be taking pictures of and describing to you in my next post!! Take care everybody!

Madrid Card Day 2- Pretty much comatose...

I went to two art museums today, El Prado and the Thyssen Bornemisza... They were both amazing, and I spent the whole day between the two; so... I'm exhausted and will write about this experience more later, but for now I just wanted to say that there was a visiting exhibit at the Thyssen.... from the Albright Knox in Buffalo, NY. Also, I wanted to post a picture I snuck in of a Georgia O'Keeffe sunset that looks EERILY like that SBTW arts and crafts project Stevie didn't get a super on for lack of glitter... Sorry to drudge up unpleasant memories, it's just uncanny!

Madrid Card - Day 1... Happy and exhausted.

I went and picked up my Madrid Card at the Tourism Center at 9am this morning. The Center is located in the Plaza Mayor. And, from the get-go I realized a recurring theme... there are few Spaniards in the tourism field that speak any other language... more specifically, none of which I came across today. I found myself translating for Brits, Chinese and Germans (gestures)... man some of these Spanish ticket people are rude. Just because they work there every day and are probably bored out of their minds and expect people to know their language in their country... ok, so maybe it sucks to be them. Just sayin', some of these poor tourists.

So, the first thing I did was take the provided Madrid Vision bus on a trip around the center of the city, past all the museums around the Paseo del Prado that I'm going to see tomorrow, past el Retiro (famous park, constructed by King Felipe IV and considered to be his baby in terms of public works), through the ritzy shopping district on Calle Salamanca, past the National Library, down and around, etc.

The first stop I got off at was the Palacio Real (the Royal Palace)!! Phillip V built it. He was the first Spanish Monarch of the Bourbon Dynasty, and Spain wasn't the popular Monarchy back in the 18th Century so everything's super decked out to overcompensate for that and to exude an image of power and wealth. The throne room was unbelievable, and all of the material used for everything was rich, rich, rich. Also, there was some great artwork, including lux tapestries and some paintings by the likes of Velázquez, Caravaggio, and Goya. It was very interesting to see some of the queens' toys too, that were made out of like solid gold if I'm not mistaken. I like stuff like that simply to imagine what it would feel like to walk down those corridors as a noble back in the day who had to worry about colonies and heirs and the like, and apparently the current Royal family uses this place for state functions still so... that's cool.

This is the view of Segovia from a terrace to the left of the Palace as shown above.

I didn't go into the Campo del Moro (the park behind the palace) because it was raining and I did not see the entrance for the life of me; so, I went to the Plaza del Oriente in front of the palace and frolicked for a little bit before I headed off to Santiago Bernabeu. It looks sunny and I'm squinting/ winking(?), but I assure you it was downcast. Hence the hood. Here are more pictures of the Plaza del Oriente.

Next, I took the metro to Real Madrid's Stadium, Santiago Bernabeu. It was SOOOO fun, even though I felt like a huge loser because I kept trying to take pictures of myself until this group of African guys in front of me offered to take my picture. Also why I'm a loser... I kept taking random pictures of Sergio Ramos and giggling to myself.

Here's one to the right... haha. And then down below to the left is me sitting on Real Madrid's cushy, cushy bench!!! My feet didn't even touch the ground which is pretty disconcerting, as I'm sure there are players shorter than 5'10" who need to rest their dogs.

After playing around at Santiago Bernabeu, I went to the Reina Sofia national museum of art!!

It was fantastic, particularly because I studied a lot of its works freshman year of University. Also, I saw Picasso's "Guernica" which was truly horrifying, huge and daunting and makes you want to cry. There was a lot of photography and art in general regarding the Spanish Civil War. There was a temporary exhibit featuring some George Grosz, who depicted Germany's Weimar Republic as gluttonous and he then joined another artist John Heartfield as one of the first to publicly criticize Hitler. So, I found that interesting. Also, I love the Spanish surrealists Dali and Miro, and I got to see an abundance of their work. Here's a picture I snuck in of Dali's "Invisible Man," which is actually pretty perverted from far away, but the detail and the colours, even the characterization... unbelievable.

Okay, I'm exhausted and have a whole day left on my Madrid Card for tomorrow!! So, I guess, hasta pronto!

A few trivialities...

Currently, it is snowing in Madrid. Allegedly, this is rare, but it has happened at least twice already this year. Every other day it has been about 14 degrees C and sunny; so, I think I've found a place more temperamental than Rochester weather-wise.

Anyways, I tried to make it to mass this morning, but ended up grabbing the wrong bus due to being impatient and hopping on the next one traveling in the desired direction... So, that was kind of a wash.

While I sit here coordinating tomorrow's visits to the Santiago Bernabeu (Real Madrid's stadium) and some of the museums, I am just going to write some of the random, random things I have observed in my (almost a) week here:

1. Their tap water is delicious. Apparently, Spaniards are famously proud of it, and now I know why. So, if you go to a restaurant order "agua del grifo" because if you just say "agua," they will probably just give you a bottle of water.

2. Never buy a newspaper because it is highly likely that you will run into today's copy of "El Pais" or "Que" on the train. Honestly, I have read the newspaper every day this way. Unfortunately, "Que" is a bit inane, with only a few feature articles mostly about random municipal news, like the problem Madrid is having with "Caca de perros" (Dog poo) for example. Actually, come to think about it, there was some interesting stuff about electoral parties in the Basque region...

3. People are less attached to their ipods and cell phones on the metro. I might be mistaken, but it is more likely for them to be just reading something random. I have seen more than a few people practicing reading English in the metro. Ipods and cell phones are far more common on the train system. Also, most cell phone plans come with headphones (for blue tooth and the radio) so that's pretty common. Also, groups of teenagers play their music like a boombox on the train, mostly hoodlum boys with crazy spanish rap.

Okay, more later!