Barcelona, Spain – Day 12
July 26, 2015
Today I had some really bad swelling in my legs which really sucked. And I’m starting to get a cold. 🙁
I had class all day today as per usual, but at lunch one of the CEA advisors went to the pharmacy with me to help me buy some stuff for my legs (ie. a cooling gel and something to ease of water retention) and that was so helpful!
After class we went to go tour the Gaudi house, Casa Batllo. When we walked in they gave us a head set and a handheld video screen that you could move around the room to see what type of furniture used to be in the room and what the rooms look like empty. They also have an audio track for each room describing Gaudi’s inspiration which in this case came from water and the sea.
The house was really uniquely designed, unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Pretty neat. There wasn’t any real plans for the design of the outside of the house either, so Gaudi stood outside and supervised the construction/design work.
After I went home and took a quick nap because I couldn’t really sleep last night. Then a couple of my roommates and I headed out to do a Spanish Tapas Workshop that we had to complete for our Spanish classes. We headed over to Las Ramblas and met up with the group outside of an Opera House and then went to the workshop. At the beginning of the workshop (all in Spanish) we learned a little bit about tapas and the history of tapas including: tapas is not considered tapas unless served with a drink, is eaten standing up, is a modern type of food, and most types of tapas include bread. Tapas are different from pintxos which are “toothpicks,” you pick a toothpick of something (usually costs 1-2 euros) instead of a plate of tapas (3-4 of the same item).
At the workshop we divided up into groups and we cooked: tortilla de patatas (potatoe and egg pancake), calamares a la andaluza (calamari), gazpacho, hues rellenos (spicy deviled eggs with olives), montadito de atun (peppers stuffed with tuna), pan con tomate (tomato bread with garlic and olive oil). I was in the calamari making group. It turns out to be so easy to make and it’s only a few ingredients. So quick, so simple. Everything turned out surprisingly so good!! I can’t wait to make tapas when I get home!
After tapas we headed back to the apartment, changed, then made our way over to George Payne for Round 2. Didn’t make sign ups for beer pong tonight sadly, but Sarah and I are gonna try for Round 3 next week!
xoxo J