Exploring Barcelona and a New Nephew! (9/17/06 - 9/20/06)

After our trip to Ibiza, my friend Sam came back to Barcelona to hang for a few days. After a lengthy slumber, we decided to do a Gaudi walking tour of L'Eixample, which included a number of his more famous works. The first stop was at La Manzana de la Discordia, a famous modernist landmark. It's known as the "block of discord" due to the clash among three designs: Casa Amatiller, Casa Lleo and Casa Batllo (picture one). The next stop on our walking tour was Casa Mila (La Pedrera), an apartment building that some say Gaudi created using the sea as his inspiration (picture two). After Casa Mila, we took the long walk to visit La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's unfinished cathedral

masterpiece. Apparently the construction started 119 years ago and published reports say that it won't be complete until 2020. Only eight of the planned eighteen towers are complete and the church still doesn't have an interior (picture three).


After Sam left Spain, I continued the sightseeing with a trip to explore Born, the Picasso Museum and Port Olimpic, where I dined on Frank Gehry's famous fish sculpture (pictures four and five). Next up... Festes de la Merce (festival) and a return trip to Ibiza!




In other exciting news... my nephew/god son was born on 9/19 at 5:22pm. Proud auntie is still waiting for pictures!! His name is AIDAN MATTINGLY and is a BIG boy at 9 lbs 2oz and 22 1/2"!!!

Ibiza (9/9/06 - 9/16/06)

The sure sign of a good trip to Ibiza is that only 4% of your photos and stories are fit for posting on your blog. With that in mind, this entry is going to be short and sweet... well at least short. The trip was like a roller coaster with no brakes - there were so many ups and downs and we just kept gaining speed. The villa, the music, the people and the clubs were amazing. So much so, that I'm going back (more on that later!). I've listed it out by day here, but as you could imagine, one ran into the next (-;

Saturday - chillin at the villa, welcoming everyone from the airport, sunshine, cannonballs, one massive spank that sent me into retirement and a trip to Ibiza Town to check things out

Sunday - We Love Space Sundays, SpinClub @ Privilege to catch Nick AC, afties at the villa...

Monday - Nature walk #1, crashed a villa party up the street, Circo Loco @ DC10, bed

Tuesday - Up at 6am to hang with the crew coming home from Cocoon, lots of goofiness, a trip to town, a family dinner, Carl Cox Global Sessions Closing Party @ Space

Wednesday - Up at 8am to head to Formentera, where we swiftly passed out on the beach for the day, ate paella, went home and napped, Subliminal Sessions @ Pacha...

Thursday - Nature walk #2, more villa debauchery, nap time (which for me lasted until the next morning)

Friday - Up at 6am to hang with the crew coming home from the Renaissance Closing Party @ Pacha and head to afterhours, got distracted by breakfast, friends and sun and some of us never made it to afterhours. Chilled on the beach for the most of the day, met an Ibiza legend wearing a banana hammock, hit Bora Bora, drove across the island to see the sunset overlooking Es Vedra, tried to heist a llama sign, got a flat tire, ate Burger King, went to bed

Saturday - Up early to cleanup and head home, friends got into a car accident with the rental, had to drive all over the island to get people to the airport, etc., finally made it to the airport myself and called it a trip.











DC-10 Going Bunkers!

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Adios Nueva York, Hola Espana! (9/1/06)

Days 1-2 (8/30-8/31) ::: NYC, Chicago, Paris... and then finally Barcelona! It took me over 24 hours to get to Spain (I flew on frequent flyer miles), but the wait was well worth it. I got in around 2pm and made my way to the rental agency to retrieve the keys to my brand-spanking new apartment. My roommmate had arrived a week earlier to have some fun and find us a place and she wound up landing a sublet from a marketing exec who happened to be moving back home to Dublin. The decor is very modern and the walls are lined with funky, contemporary artwork...we even have a balcony and a roof deck... not at all what I was expecting for a spanish apartment, but I'll take it!

Day 3 (9/1) ::: No rest for the weary. A day after arriving in BCN, I took off for San Sebastian, a beautiful beach town on the northern coast. A bunch of friends from school were up there leading a trip (similar to the one I took to Peru last year) and so I decided to meet them there for some quality catch-up time on the beach. We stayed at Hotel Monte Ulia in the Gros section of town and made our way to the surfer's beach, Playa de la Zurriola, shortly after my arrival. After a few hours at the beach, we wandered around town, took showers and went to el Parque de Miramar, an open lawn with a lovely view of the beach, for wine and cheese. Dinner was at Izkina and the night went long.... with stops at multiple bars and a late night club right on the beach. Sleep didn't come until 7am.

Day 4 (9/2) ::: Up at 10:30am for the local cider festival after only a few hours of sleep. We grabbed fried eggs, toast and bacon at a great little spot called Iratxo and sang Phil Collins while we ate. After that we passed out on the main beach, Playa de la Concha all afternoon and then had a late lunch at La Perla overlooking the water. The group thinned after lunch as naps called, but me and two others made our way up Monte Igueldo for spectacular views of the city and a trip around the amusement park... we were the tallest people on each of the rides by far... the house of terror, the mysterious river and the roller coaster. That night we did a tapas crawl, had a friend get engaged and I acquired a rainbow light saber. Good night!

Day 5 (9/3) ::: The crew from school left for the States at 6:45am so Kristin and I said a quick goodbye and crawled back into bed. That afternoon we moved into the Parte Vieja (old part of town) and checked into Ibai hostel for our last few days in San Sebastian. Once again we made our way to to the beach - do you see a pattern here? That night we had a good dinner at a cute little Mexican restaurant and cracked a bottle of wine in the main square, Plaza de Cervantes, drinking and talking for quite a few hours. In Spain you can drink in the street - in fact, the bars give you plastic "to go" cups... definitely makes for a fun and cheap night out!

Day 6 (9/4) ::: We had a late breakfast at our favorite little spot, Iraxto, and then hopped a bus to the Museo Chillada Leku about 20 minutes outside the city center. Eduardo Chillada is San Sebastian's favorite son and contemporary art guru. We spent 3 hours wandering the outdoor garden where his stone and steel sculptures are housed. It was a great day and a nice break from the time on the beach. After the museum, we did some more exploring in San Sebastian and then read, got online and took a nap before getting a final pile of tapas before leaving town. After eating, we went out in search of some trouble but the town was really quiet or so it seemed. Somehow, we made our way to the one bar with some traffic and realized we found a goldmine of Aussie revelers. We made A LOT of new friends from all over the world as we cruised from one spot to the next. I comendered a fishing pole, we took photos of mullets and danced the night away at Be Bop Bar before heading home around 4am.

Day 7 (9/5) ::: We took the bus an hour west to Bilbao and checked into the Hostel Mendez before taking the local train to the Guggenheim, which definitley lived up to its billing. Gehry's design is incredible inside and out. I couldn't believe it but they had an exhibit entitled "Rusia" which meant I got to see a bunch of the Russian art which had eluded me on my trip to Moscow and St. Petersberg this winter. After touring around Bilbao, we searched out Aji Colorado, a Peruvian restuarant known for it's yummy ceviche. We looked for trouble that night, but some how it eluded us. We were in bed by midnight and on a return flight to Barcelona the next morning. Need to settle into the new apartment and get ready for Ibiza. Let the games begin!