Hola from Barcelona!

Hola my fellow Adventurers! Hola from Barcelona, Spain!!!

What?!?! Barcelona, did you just say your in Spain!?! What happened to Edinburgh, Scotland?! How did you get there, what are you doing there, Barcelona is not in the UK?!

All very good questions to ask my fellow adventurer, so don't worry I will explain to you how this little vacation came to be about!

Having just completed week 5 of classes here at the University of Edinburgh, between weeks 5 and 6 there is something called ‘reading week’, a week where no classes are held. Here in the UK most universities hold ‘reading weeks’ during the middle of class sessions in order to give students a solid time block to catch up on any homework/writing papers that they need to complete for the semester.

Since about the second week of classes, I have always known that I needed to stay on top of preparing for my essays so that way when ‘reading week’ rolled around I could have some time to travel and explore!

With that being said, currently I am in Spain and within the next few days I will be once again in another new destination! Don’t worry I am not traveling alone, I am traveling with a friend that I made here during my time in Edinburgh! I am super excited to have this opportunity to travel and I am even more grateful that I have stayed on top of my work so that I can experience more of Europe!

So to answer all of your previous questions, yes I am in Barcelona and yes I am still a student at the University of Edinburgh, but after my classes this past week, I packed my bags, headed to the airport, and flew off to Spain, a beautiful mediterranean country just waiting three hours away!

Since arriving in Barcelona on Friday night, I have seen/ visited La Pedrera, Vista les Punxes, Casa Batllo, La Sagrada Familia and even strutted in front of Font Magica de Montjuic (Cheetah Girl style)! See image below...

Considering the fact that I am writing this post to you on Monday February 19th and I didn't get to start exploring the city until Saturday February 17th, if you think about it, over the course of just two days I have already seen most of ALL the Gaudi (famous Barcelona architect) buildings/creations! With one more full day (plus one half day) to go before I depart for another country, if I do say so myself, I think i've done a pretty good job touring the city, both aesthetically and foodie frenzie style!

Now this may come as a shock to you, but before today, February 19th, I had never had paella before!!! Wait, Meghan, what's paella? Sorry fellow adventurer, let me explain... Paella is a Spanish dish of rice, saffron, chicken, seafood, etc., cooked and served in a large shallow pan. So why am I telling you this, well...

During our afternoon break for lunch, my friend and I decided to stop at a street cafe. Once sitting down we started browsing the menu and my friend declared to me that she was going to get the vegetable paella. Having never had it myself, I asked her what it tasted like, she told me it tasted similar to risotto but even better and with a mediterranean flare, less heavy and more spanishie, haha! Considering the fact that I am in a spanish, mediterranean country I figured when would I ever have the chance again to try an eklectic dish like this made right in a country that's famous for cooking it!

So, as the waiter came around he took our order, vegetable paella for two, and within twenty

minutes our meal was served!

Before taking my first bite (now don't judge me) but I smelt the dish. Believe it or not, it actually smelled a lot like my 'famous' stuffed peppers that I cook for my parents back home, and even looked a lot too like the filling that I put in the peppers, so upon my first glance I was pretty excited to taste it!

With a spoon, my friend watch me as I scooped up the rice and put it onto my plate. I picked up my fork, put a decent size piece into my mouth, closed my eyes, allowed all of the species to dance around on my taste buds, swallowed, opened my eyes and said, 'WOW that was AMAZING'! I told my friend it even tasted like my stuffed peppers I make back home too, so I bet you could have guessed, but within minutes (because we were so hungry) we cleaned out the whole pan, and our bellies were pleasantly full!

The cafe that we ate at, while I forget its name, was located right next to the entrance of the fish, meat and fresh fruit market that was tucked into a street off the La Rambla (a famous shopping/outdoor market district/street in Barcelona). Someday when you come here fellow adventurer, even if you only have a day or two to spend in Barcelona, I highly recommend walking around the little local markets such as the one I mentioned, because everything is made fresh daily (food wise) and fruit smoothies are only 2 euros (which are super cheap and super yummy)!

Aside from tourist exploring and eating, just walking around the city, taking pictures, smiling at dogs and looking at cute little balconies has made me realize how blessed and grateful I am to be able to have this experience to be in Spain, a country I have never been to before, which now takes my country total from 24 to 25 Platinum Passport Destinations!

Looks like I will have to update the map on the front of my website home page!

Considering the fact that I spent the bulk of this post describing to you my fun fact of the day, my new foodie find, spanish paella, and didn't elaborate on any of the tourist destinations that I mentioned, have no fear, over the next few days I will be releasing (one a day) posts to my 'excursion reviews' section, describing the locations (of course I will include photos as well)!

So there you have it my fellow adventurer, a short synopsis of my first two days here in Barcelona! Now if i'm being totally honest with you, the entire week leading up to me arriving in Spain, I had the song 'Barcelona' by Ed Sheeran stuck in my head on repeat (if you have never heard the song, open up youtube and listen to it now)! However, now that i've arrived, the only song that's be constantly stuck in my head from morning till night has been 'Strut' by The Cheetah Girls (from their second film, the one where they visit Barcelona! And if you've never seen the second Cheetah Girls film then after you listen to both songs I mentioned, you better rent the movie and watch it, it will make you feel like your traveling with me even more so by indulging in the Hollywood interpretation of it )!

Between now and when I leave Spain, be on the lookout for my 'excursion review' posts as well as a second 'travel blog' post describing to you my final two Barcelona days! As much as I have enjoyed my time here in Spain, I feel as though my next destination is coming at a great time as you know I am an adventurer and am always ready to visit a new country!

Until next time my fellow adventurer...

Cheers OR Hasta La Vista,

Meghan Chayka