It's been a busy summer, and one of my favourites so far. Right now I think I'm happier than I've ever been before :)
Song for this post is Barcelona's "Please Don't Go". Band title is appropriate for the content of this post, and it's such a nice balmy summer evening song, especially with this relaxing video.
I started the summer working as a receptionist in Camden. Filing, scanning, calming patients down on the phone - that sort of thing. Not very exciting - in fact it was braincrumblingly boring, but I managed to earn a bit of spending money at least (and a little respect from my parents). Luckily I was saved from this tortuous dayjob by the arrival of extended family (cousins) in France...
Took a speedy Eurostar down to Paris to join them for general relaxation Gallic-style - shopping, pretending to be Marie Antoinette at Versailles, attempting to go clubbing and failing in Montmartre (nothing was open :P) - instead, got chastised by a couple of supposedly stylish Parisians who insisted that our style did not carry from day to night and simply wasn't "done" in Paris. Ouch!
Ah well, I wouldn't let a snide French remark bring my party down any day! So the next day we headed straight to Ladurée, purveyor of the best macaroons in the world! Oh, and inventor of the double-decker macaroon. Got a major sugar fix here! I swear I could live on the Caramel Salé flavoured ones...miammmm, as the French say!
After this Parisian interlude came our annual European family holiday - this time to Catalunya in northern Spain. Visited my old old friend Daniel at his house in Besalu, where I kicked his ass at Pokemon Stadium :P, pushed our bikes over a river (where I fell in twice...yes, that's right), watched a baker making bread and postres at midnight, and lazed around at the beautiful nearby playa (beach). Soundtrack to this part of the holiday was provided by "Flaixback FM" (pronounced "flashback") - special credit goes to DCUP's "We No Speak Americano" :P
Above: on the cool medieval bridge that leads into the town Daniel lives in!
Moved down the coast after that to Barcelona, a city we've visited a grand total of four times now, but never fails to disappoint. Beach, city and mountain (well...hills) rolled into one. Plus, delicious tapas (especially at Navarra on Passeig de Gracia - recommended!) and the flagship Zara store with about five floors of affordable high street. Love it. Plus I always have to have a fruit juice at La Boqueria market - it's just the best there! Especially the coconut and banana...mmmm, so damn good...
Went to the Fundacio Miro again too, always nice to see works I used to like in my childhood, such as the above sculpture, which sadly gets groped by all the male tourists who think they're hilarious. A lot. You can see why though, nice pair of legs she's got there...
Ooh yeah, and we went to the sculpture park round the back of the foundation too, always one of my favourites as a child and remaining so now. So awesome.
After this we moved on to Sitges, which unbeknownst to me, happened to be the gay capital of Spain. All right then, I thought - great even! Means I can lie out in my bikini without fear of the stares of pervy old guys and even maybe find a GBF (gay best friend) :D All this goodwill dissipated when I saw the men wandering around in nothing but their underpants though...that's right, UNDERPANTS. Not swimming trunks. Their knickers, darling. :D
Found an awesome Mario graffiti on one of the shop fronts!
God I look so rough here...must have been the day I felt tired from travelling and ended up watching hours of German MTV, namely the awful and addictive programme "Fist of Zen". Great for drinking games though...
Sitges in general was great though, really enjoyed it, despite ridiculously high tourist prices everywhere. The town was amazingly pretty and it had its own microclimate, meaning that even if it was raining in Barcelona (as it was the morning we departed for Sitges) it would still be nigh on 38 degrees and blindingly sunny in Sitges. Needless to say, I got horribly burnt below my bikini top line ;)
And that was it! Catalonia in a nutshell. Not the end of the summer though, far from it - next week, after Reading, a friend and I will be travelling to Turkey to see sites of interest in Istanbul (read: archaeological and artistic, sure, but also the BAZAARS! Turkish delight, awesome clothes, spices, helloooo there!) and the fairy chimneys (the name makes me chuckle everytime) in Cappadocia. Can't wait!
Oh, and in other news, my results actually came out okay :) Very unexpected, I managed to get 3 A*s and my offer confirmed at Cambridge. Deliriously happy and can't quite believe it - just waiting for someone to ring up and say "oh sorry, there's been a terrible mistake - you actually got 3 U's".
Touch wood.
<3
