Saturday 3 March 2012

guess who's coming for dinner?

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For the last day and a half, I've had the pleasure of hosting Kallie, who I got to know last year when I went to New York for a week. I love when internet friendships inexplicably turn into real friendships... isn't it amazing how well you can know someone even before you've met them?

We've had a crazy-packed itinerary so far! Kallie's plane had a five hour delay (poor her) and I caught a cold in honour of the occasion so we've both been stumbling around in jet-lagged/medicated stupors a bit, but we've had a lot of fun so far!

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The first evening we went to a little bar in the Gothic Neighbourhood to meet some friends. Barcelona is literally exploding at the seams with tiny, atmospheric, and crowded bars, and the €3 Mojitos were a selling point at this one!

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We hit the city on foot in the morning. This photo cracks me up because the street cleaners in Barcelona are literally everywhere, usually causing a load of noise and spraying dust (or water) all over everyone in the pursuit of a couple of dead leaves. Here, they strike again, ambling into my photo with Arc de Triomf.

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detail shot of Palau de la Musica Catalana, one of my favourite buildings.

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We had pintxos and sparkling wine for lunch...

And then we went to, and actually went in, Sagrada Familia...
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As a "local" I never go there ... there's usually an enormous line and it costs more than I want to pay to go into a church. But that's the fun of having visitors! They'd finished the inside since the last time I went and I have to admit, it's beautiful and magical. I won't bore you with an overload of pictures of tourist central, but I absolutely loved the coloured light streaming through the stained glass windows, mixing with the natural light and throwing shadows and highlights on the wall.

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Photos 3 and 5 by Kallie, Photo 4 by Albert

23 comments:

Norbyah said...

looks like a lovely visit. i had a look over at her blog and it's lovely. i can see how you two have made a connection. similar interests, dress sense...visiting a new place is always nicer when you are going to have friends show you the sights.
xo
n

Annebeth said...

haha I had your blog and kallie's blog open and I was like "huh I thought I was on emily's blog" and then it dawned on me that she was visiting, CYBERTRAVEL :D the pictures are amazing! hope you guys had a blast!

Zoë Winters said...

You guys look so cute! Looks like you had loads of fun! That is my favourite thing about blogs, meeting like minded people! :) x

Shybiker said...

I'm so jealous! You stole my gal -- I wanted her to come to my party, but she said you and Barcelona were a bigger attraction. I had to concede... :)

Laura said...

For being jetlagged and medicated, you both look remarkably well! I went to Spain when I was 16 and I'm so disappointed that Barcelona wasn't on the itinerary...it looks so wonderful. Maybe someday I'll make another trip out there :) I hope you two have a lovely visit!

thejoyfulfox.blogspot.com

islabell said...

ah! You two!!!! How much fun would that be. Everything looks amazing/delicious and I am very jealous. I hope you feel better and Kallie gets over her jet lag. xxx

Zane said...

wonderful photos

Closet Fashionista said...

YAY! So much fun, except for being sick and the plane issues, haha
I love that too, its funny that you can be so close to people you've met online. So far I've been on a few vacations with Harry Potter online friends, and another one coming up to London, haha
http://www.closet-fashionista.com/

Deppa said...

Ella es hermosa!! cuando me vine al blog y vi la primera foto y el título en bloglovin pensé que se trataba de una hermana tuya o algo así. Según yo hay algo parecido entre ustedes.

Me alegro mucho de que disfrutes de su visita.
Nos vemos!

The Semi Sweet said...

What a fantastic time you guys had!!! I love all the photos.

Emily said...

Holy cow, that is an AMAZING view!
<3

Celia said...

As a local, I've never even been inside the Sagrada Familia. I remember I was sick the day my class at school went for a visit...
I love Kallie's blog, looks like you're having a great time!

Anonymous said...

the light inside the church is magical. You are being a great hostess!

callie said...

Woww such gorgeous photos. I saw a few on Facebook too. : ) I must admit I'm super jealous! I've been wanting to go to Spain forever. One day. I can't wait to see Kallie next week & hear all about the trip.

Monique said...

so great you ladies got to hang out on your side of the world. it is so fun to tour your own city with a friend. The food looks delicious and I'm sure it paired perfectly with some bubbly wine. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Emily, Resplendent Tranquility said...

Aw, fun! I'm glad to see that you ladies had a great time :)

Wow, that colored light is spectacular. Stained glass never ceases to be magical.

Nina said...

Looks like a lovely visit! I didn't go to Sagrada Familia when I went to Barca last month, like you said the queue was massive and the ticket prices were a little too steep for me. But seeing your pictures makes me wish I'd gone. Oh well another excuse to go back to Barcelona :)
xx
Nina

Unknown said...

Oh, I'm so jealous! It sounds and looks like you two are having an amazing time (despite the cold and flight delay!)

TheHeadlessMannequin said...

I'm a big fan of both your blogs and it makes complete sense that you two have become friends...you both have a similar sense of style and a similar slightly wry and sarcastic sense of humour :) I hope ye've a lovely holiday together :)

Virginie said...

It's so cool that you girls connected like that and are now galavanting all over Barcelona!

Hope you feel better now :)

Virginie ♥

Dus of Cuddly Cacti said...

Loved this little tourist peek of Barcelona, your pictures of the stained glass are beautiful & glad the construction is finally over. Did it just finish because it was going on when I was there in 2007!? So awesome you two became friends via blogging and... totally random but you look like you could be sisters.
http://dusanabotswana.com/

Anonymous said...

Looks like you had a lovely time together. Sagrada Famillia looks great also.

I have finally found my way back to this blog, got a lot of reading to do. :)

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