Tapas for Two

Imagine having the opportunity to travel to Barcelona, Spain.  Now imagine getting to explore the city with one of your favorite people in the world.  Two weekends ago, that is precisely what I got to do. 

Chritty Schuele and I met on our first day of classes at BC.  A friendly chat on the Newton Bus turned into a fast friendship, which only grew stronger with time.  We are two peas in a pod – Midwestern kids at an east coast school, die-hard fans of the Badgers and country music, social justice nerds with uncommon names. 

Fast-forward two and a half years to our epic reunion on a street corner outside our hostel in Barcelona, Spain.  After weeks of trip-planning and anticipation, I couldn’t have been more excited to see him.  The weekend was no disappointment; we did a heck of a lot in and around Barcelona.  Highlights include a saucy flamenco show, a stroll up and down La Rambla, a relaxing afternoon at the beach, an epic roadtrip (we rented a car!) through Spain’s mountainous Catalonia region to the baby-sized nation of Andorra which we thoroughly explored in less than one hour, and a visit to Gaudi’s breathtaking and incomplete church, the Sagrada Familia.  If you are unfamiliar with the Sagrada Familia, wikipedia and google-image it asap because it is the most unique church I’ve ever set foot in.  It is also hands-down my favorite of all the churches I’ve seen this semester; it features imaginative architecture for a cathedral and evokes a welcoming vibe that I absolutely love. 

La Rambla

Roadtrip to Andorra

Gaudi's Park Guell

Barcelona Beach

Sagrada Familia

The majority of my traveling as of late has been within Italy, so this trip to Spain was an exhilarating four-day immersion into a new culture, and of course, cuisine.  When it comes to dining, Spaniards and I are on the same page (minus the part about eating dinner at 11pm).  Tapas restaurants abound in Barcelona, where hungry customers stand drinking sangria while picking and choosing from a wide selection of traditional Spanish foods spread out along the bar before them.  Portions are small, so sampling multiple dishes is encouraged!  For an indecisive person like myself who wants to try a bit of everything, tapas is like an answered prayer.  Over the course of the weekend, Chritty and I tried it all – croquettes, chorizo, grilled shrimp, Spanish ham, pickled vegetables, paella, even pig ear…Chritty’s idea, not mine.  We also took a stab at cavas, the Spanish champagne. 

All in all, my weekend in Barcelona was the ideal mix of known and unknown; the place, language, traditions, and food were foreign to me while the company was wonderfully familiar.  Our "tapas for two" weekend is one we'll be reminiscing about for years to come.