Enferma.

Hola a todos,

 

This is a view of part of the courtyard of my university, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. The courtyard of one of the buildings has a cafeteria on the ground level and classrooms on the upper levels. I actually spend quite a lot of time in the cafeteria there, and especially in the queue for coffee (bottom, on the left).  

On Friday morning I went with my friend April to Park Guell. This is a park designed by Gaudi that has the house he lived in for several years. To get there, you have to walk up a really giant hill. There are actually some escalators on the hill as well but they stop before you reach the top. But the good thing is that the view from the top of the hill is amazing. You can see all of the city plus the ocean. It was beautiful. In the picture the gherkin-like building (the same one that is in London) is near my head. Further to the right is Sagrada Familia. Further still are two buildings that are near the beach/clubs, as well as fairly close to the university. 

On Saturday a big group of us went to a place called Montserrat. This is a monastery/church/tourist area up in the mountains. It was about an hour-long train ride outside the city, plus a trip by cable car. Then from there we went on a hike up the mountain. I just about collapsed. But the views were beautiful!

Yum. This is a suizo, or hot chocolate with whip cream. The chocolate is not actually all that sweet so I added some sugar. This has inadvertently become a bit of a food blog, so in that vein I will tell you about our trip to an all-cheese restaurant called (in English) CheeseMe.

We shared a Spanish cheese platter, but they didn't tell us exactly what cheeses were there. I know manchego, goat cheese, and blue cheese were there, but I'm not sure what else.

Another shared appetizer of bacon-wrapped goat cheese.  A little heavy on the cheese but good with bread.

Patatas bravas. Supposedly a Spanish delicacy, but as one person put it...fried potatoes with mayo and hot sauce. 

My entree of beef carpaccio and lots of parmiggiano. Needed salt. 

Overall the night was very fun and the restaurant was pretty tasty, although not 'authentic Spanish.' 

Two more reviews: 

We went to a club Thursday night called Opium. The music wasn't that great (some of the beats were slow and I didn't recognize a lot of the songs). However I liked the free champagne drink we got. I also liked that it was small and had a really nice terrace on the beach. 

The club we went to Friday night was called Catwalk. It was much larger (multiple stories) and much more crowded, but I liked the music and the energy better. The free drink was a blue koolaid-ish thing. 

I have felt crappy today because I have a cold. After eating dinner I felt better, but my throat still hurts and I can't really breathe through my nose. This weekend I'm going to Madrid with five other people. We're flying there and taking the train back. Should be very fun!