Paco and I
Mom, Paco, and I
Dad, Paco, and I (Dad took most of the photos this trip... and unfortunatley I do not have one of Dad, Mom, and I but I am sure Dad has one)
Mom and Dad on the walk to our first lunch
The market... La BoqueriaI met Mom and Dad at the airport on Tuesday Morning. We took a cab to their hotel and put their things away. I think they were really pleased with the hotel and its price! It was the Fira Palace near Placa Espana. We started the day off by walking to Paco’s apartment. Mom and Dad met Paco and checked out the place. Then we walked through Raval to FAD to check out where I worked. Then we walked down Las Ramblas and I showed them the famous market La Boqueria. Then Dad was getting hungry and I made him wait till we walked to the port where we had a great seafood meal and a free bottle of wine. Then like true Spaniards we went back to take our Siestas!! We also took the metro for the first time. I got my computer and went to Mom and Dad’s hotel room. I received an email late Monday night saying I have a phone interview with PwC. I have not heard anything from her since which is strange. We awoke and I went back to change for some dinner. Also today was the first leg of the semi-finals of Chelsea vs. Barca. Barca was supposed to kick Chelsea’s butt; however, Chelsea held them off to a 0-0 tie. So our dinner consisted of eating at this strange bar called Happy Bar on Rambla Cataluña. Paco suggested it for a place to get food and watch the game where we could talk. All correct, except the food was a little strange. No pasa nada. Then afterwards we headed to O’veja Negra off Las Ramblas for some Sangria. Afterwards we called it a night since we had to be up early to go to a wine tour.
Wednesday was more of a day outside of Barcelona. We took the train from Barna to the famous wine region called Penedes. I took Mom and Dad to the most famous winery called Torres: Mancha la Plana. It was the same one we went on with my school. However, this was better since it was with my parents and we actually got to learn about the wine instead of having to just tell people to stop drinking too much. I think Mom and Dad really enjoyed this. We then went back to the train station got some café as we waited for the train. We hopped on the train south to get on another train North to Sitges. Once we got there we had an amazing view for lunch with some ok Paella. It was the same place that Sheila, Vin, and I ate at except at the nicer restaurant. It was a beautiful lunch, but it was getting to Siesta time so we headed home and took a long nap. I woke up and got ready around 8pm for our big dinner with Paco at La Botafumeiro in Gracia (famous for seafood). Mom and Dad arrived at Paco’s place. We chatted for a little, took some pictures, and then Paco drove us to the restaurant. It was an amazing restaurant. We talked all dinner and Paco’s English was incredibly impressive. I have never heard him speak that well. Also, I found out he had a case of some sort of throat, ear, and nose cancer 8 years ago. He went through 2 years of treatment. This was surprising since it helped explain a lot such as why he chews gum so much (to help produce more saliva) and why he has bad hearing (not that bad but not the best). I always respected the man immensely but that was just adding the frosting to the cake. I also finally found out how his first boyfriend died by a brain tumor. We also talked about other things that night, such as: how Paco will try and have another student in the fall (he was asked if he wanted one, and he told us if he is like John I will take two… nice of him to say that), Health Care in America vs. Spain, each others travels, etc… After the amazing meal we went back home. I stayed up a little with Paco, but was exhausted and went to bed.
Thursday was the last day with the rents. We started the day out by walking up to the Joan Miro Museum on Mountjuic. Miro was a crazy guy. He had very few painting that I really liked; most of his stuff seemed to be very similar. I have been to better museums but was glad I went. Then we took a cab to Park Guel with some crazy music from Hair the musical and some Christmas songs. We got some food and some beers at the restaurant and walked around. Parts of the park were closed due to construction, which was unfortunate. We walked down to the metro and headed towards Passeig de Gracia for some shopping. We hit up some stores and got some ice cream. Mom bought some scarves for the girls. Afterwards it was Siesta time again. I went back and bought a suitcase from a tienda de Chino for 25 euro. I packed a bag, cleaned my room, and figured out who was coming to dinner with us. We went to dinner in Placa Rius i Taulet near Placa del Sol where Paco’s Bar is located. Vin Jeffery, Laura, and Marta joined us for dinner at Bo where supposedly they had the best Patatas Bravas in town. The dinner was great despite the raining weather outside. Afterwards we headed towards El Dorado in Placa del Sol which was about a block or two away. Tonight was El Dorado’s 22nd Anniversary. There was Cava, cake, live music of the same guys I saw earlier live at his bar, and a strip tease of woman and guy. Mom and Dad were only there for the music, cava, and cake. Paco and Juanjo were being extremely nice and gave us a bottle of Cava for us to have. The whole night was a blast and my friend Oxana who joined us later in the evening was taken up by the male stripper and sat in the chair so he could do his dance to her haha. Too funny. Afterwards we all went home cause it was late. The next day I woke up late got ready for Seville and made sure to take care of my emails.
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