Argentina: Mendoza & Buenos Aires
Time for some wine!
My last destinations in Argentina were Mendoza and Buenos Aires. These were definitely my favourite cities in the country! In Mendoza I met the nicest people in one of my favourite hostels. As usual, I started my first day with a free walking tour. In the evening, I went to my first South-American football game, which was a lot of fun!
The next days, I spent quite some time with the people from the hostel and did a wine tasting. For me, it was definitely one of the highlights of Argentina! I just love a good Argentinian malbec wine and really missed drinking wine.
Buenos Aires was one of the cities I was really excited to visit. And it did not disappoint! I spent two weeks here, which made me feel like I was a local. The Argentinians really stole my heart, everyone is so friendly! This was also the city (and country) which reminded me of Europe. Buenos Aires is -for me at least- a mix of Paris, Madrid and Barcelona. I also took my first tango class, which I enjoyed a lot!
After a few days in Buenos Aires, I took a night bus to Puerto Iguazu from where I could visit the Iguazu Falls. When I arrived, I visited the Brazilian side of the falls first. I was so impressed by how giant the waterfalls are. You could come very close to the water and experience the power of the water running. The next day, it was time for the Argentinian side. This was even prettier in my opinion. It was a very sunny day and I was just mesmerised with everything I saw. Afterwards I went back to Buenos Aires to spend some more days here, before I headed back to Cusco (Peru)!
I loved my time in Argentina and will definitely come back to go to Patagonia!
Argentina: Salta & Córdoba
Entering Argentina!
After my short stay in Chile, I took the bus to Salta in Argentina. I had really been looking forward to traveling to Argentina, since I’ve heard so many good things about the country. In Salta I didn’t really do that much. I had good wine (I missed wine!), ate a lot of empanadas and just wandered the streets. After a few days, I went to Córdoba. The city wasn’t initially on my planning, but an Argentinian I met in Cusco convinced me to go there. I started my first day with a free walking tour, where I met a Belgian girl. We spent the day together, went for lunch and dinner and ended the evening with a language exchange class. After two days in the city, I decided to take the bus to Nono, a small town in the mountains. I did a pretty hike here and returned to Córdoba after a few hours. The next day, I already had another bus on the planning. This time to Mendoza!
Chile: San Pedro de Atacama
Chilean pisco sours all the way
After my trip to Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, I crossed the border to Chile. I decided to stay here for a short time and only visit San Pedro de Atacama, which is a desert in the North. Chile is quite expensive and I still had some countries to explore further!
I absolutely loved my time here. As soon as I arrived at my hostel (Backpackers San Pedro), it felt like coming home. I spent the afternoon chilling in the hammock in the sun and had a pisco sour class in the evening. The other days were filled with wandering around the cute town of San Pedro, having my morning coffee and breakfast at the cutest local place, a wine tasting at the hostel and visiting the Valle de la Luna.
My stay in Chile was very short (I only stayed for five days in total), but I’m really happy I decided to make a stop here! After the intense days in Bolivia, I needed some chiller days to recharge. It’s also the place where I met my friend Anna, who I will spend New Year’s Eve and Carnaval in Rio with! (But that’s a story for later, haha!)
Bolivia: La Paz & Salar de Uyuni
Short, but sweet!
After spending 43 days in Peru, it was time for a new country again: Bolivia! Initially I wanted to take a bus from Cusco to Copacabana, but because I was too late with the booking, I went to La Paz straight away. When I arrived in the evening, it wasn’t love at first sight with this city. I found it very chaotic and didn’t really feel the vibe here.
After a good night sleep and a free walking tour the next day, everything changed. I guess I was just too tired the day before and not in the right neighbourhood. Also, my American friend arrived in La Paz this day, which was a lot of fun! The free walking tour brought us to the witch market (where there are dried lama fetuses hanging in the stalls, very creepy) and the San Pedro prison. I had never seen a prison right in the middle of the city center.
The rest of my days in La Paz were especially filled with going out for fancy dinners. Since it’s so cheap here, I really wanted to take advantage of it. The first restaurant I went to with a friend was Gustu. We had a lovely three course lunch and I took a gin tonic. The food was really good, but nothing could beat the second restaurant: Ali Pacha. Here we had a full vegan six course dinner with wine. It was so extremely good! After that evening I said goodbye to my American friend and it was time for a next stop in Bolivia.
At the hostel I had met a German girl and we decided to book the same tour to Salar de Uyuni. On the 3rd of September we arrived at the city of Uyuni after a night bus. We spend three days exploring the salt flats and the surroundings with a jeep and a group of six people. I never expected Bolivia to be this beautiful! The landscapes were really impressive. On the last day, I was the only one who crossed the border to Chile. The crossing was super easy. After being cold for three days (Salar de Uyuni is freezing!), I was happy to explore the Chilean desert!
I wasn’t that long in Bolivia, but the country really surprised me!
Peru: Cusco
Cusco has my heart
Cusco was our last stop in Peru and what a pleasure it was! Initially I planned on staying here for one week, but kept extending my stay and ended up staying here for three weeks.
On the 5th of August we arrived in Cusco from Arequipa. We only stayed for one night, because the day after we went to Taray (a small village) to perform in a ayahuasca session. This was something we talked about for quite a long time, so we were super excited for it! The session started at 6PM and ended at around 10.30PM. Unfortunately, I didn’t really feel that much (even after taking two cups of ayahuasca), but it still was a good experience. Being for almost five hours in a dark tent with twenty other people who are crying and vomiting is really something I will never forget 😉.
The day after, we already went back to Cusco. As a preparation for the ayahuasca session we were not allowed to eat for 28 hours, so the first thing we did in Cusco was having a lovely sushi lunch! The rest of our days we spend having drinks with our friends, going for dinner and… planning our trip to Machu Picchu!
Getting to Machu Picchu is quite an adventure… On the 10th of August we took a bus from Cusco to Ollantaytambo and then a train to Aguas Calientes. When we arrived, we had to go to the police station with a copy of our passport and put our name on a list. Two days later, we were queuing at 4AM and eventually went to Machu Picchu at 10AM. Afterwards, we took the train and bus back to Cusco.
Two days later, on the 14th of August, we had our second excursion in Cusco: Rainbow Mountain! I think for me this was one of my highlights in Peru. It was extremely cold (which I HATE), but so so so pretty! Rainbow mountain was also the last excursion I did with Barbara, because the day after she returned back to Belgium. It was a bit weird saying goodbye after traveling together for two months, but I’m super grateful we could experience so many beautiful things together!
Afterwards, I stayed in Cusco for two more weeks. I wanted to take my time here, getting used to solo traveling. I also met really nice people I hung out with and the hostel already felt a bit like my home. To end my lovely time in Cusco, I took a small tattoo on one of my last days. A forever memory!
Peru: Huacachina & Arequipa
Desert time
After all the hiking in Huaraz and the cold, it was time to visit Peru’s desert: Huacachina! On the 26th of July we arrived here in the morning and after checking in in our hostel, we immediately booked a dune buggy and sand boarding tour. In the afternoon, a jeep took us to the desert where we first started a crazy ride in a dune buggy. After half an hour, we did some sand boarding. It was so much fun! We also met the nicest people in our hostel, which made Huacachina even more fun.
The day after, we took another night bus to Arequipa. On our first day, we explored the city a bit and visited the Mercado Central. In the evening, we went to a rooftop bar where I tried my first pisco sour! We spent the rest of our days in Arequipa with a visit to an alpaca farm, a free walking tour and hanging out with our new friends we had met in Huacachina. On the 1st of August, we did a tour to the Laguna de Salinas. Unfortunately, this wasn’t really our thing. We saw a lot of alpaca’s and vicuñas on the way, but the car didn’t want to stop. The day after, we had another tour planned and this was totally something else! At 3am in the morning, we left for a two day hike to the Colca Canyon. On the first day I really struggled with the altitude and didn’t want to finish the hike. Luckily after inhaling some agua de florida and a good lunch, I was ready to continue the hike. After hiking for over 14 kilometers, we arrived in our hotel where we had dinner and just chilled a bit. The day after, there was another early wake up call at 4am. This time, it was only going up. For over three hours straight, we climbed up. I was so happy when we finally reached the top. This was probably the hardest hike I have ever done, but the Colca Canyon is extremely pretty and I’m happy I did it! When everyone was at the top, we had our final breakfast and lunch together. We ended the day with a short visit to the Salinas, and luckily, this time we had time to take some pictures with the cutest alpaca’s.
The rest of our days in Arequipa, we just chilled and enjoyed the rest of our stay in this beautiful city.
Peru: Lima & Huaraz
From now on, you can call me a hiker
Two weeks ago I arrived in country number three in South America: Peru! On the 16th of July, we took a night bus from Cuenca to Máncora. When we arrived early in the morning, we dropped off our backpacks at a random hostel and had breakfast at the Selina hostel. At noon, it was already time to take a second bus, this time to Lima.
Most people aren’t that positive about Lima, but I have to say I really enjoyed our time here. I think it’s a combination of the hostel we stayed in (Viajero Kokopelli), the people we met, the lovely food and the great karaoke evening we had here. Sadly enough, on our last day Barbara’s phone got stolen while we had lunch at Al Toke Pez (again a restaurant that was in the Netflix series ‘Street food: Latin America). So that was quite a ‘negative’ ending of our time in Peru’s capital.
On the 21st of July, we took a bus from Lima to Huaraz. Huaraz is famous for its hikes and we wanted to do the ‘Panorama trek’ to Laguna 69. There are a lot of tour operators that organise tours to this lake, but there’s only one that offers an alternative route and starts early in the morning. So on our first day in Huaraz, we went to the tour operator to ensure our spot for the hike. When we arrived, they asked us if we had suffered from altitude sickness the past days. They also made clear that the hike isn’t easy and you should prepare your body for it.
Long story short, but we ended up staying three nights in Huaraz in stead of one and doing two hikes prior to the Laguna 69 trek. Our first hike went quite well, the second one (to the pretty Laguna Llaca) was a bit harder already and or last hike to Laguna 69 was -for me at least- really hard.
We woke up at 2AM and at 2.40AM our tour guide Leonardo picked us up at our hostel. At 6AM we arrived at the beginning of the trek where we watched the sunrise and had our breakfast. After that, it was time to start the hike! The first part wasn’t that hard for me (I’m way better at hiking up than hiking down), but the last four hours were terrible because we only hiked downhill. I was super happy when we finally arrived at the parking lot. Two hours later than expected, but we made it!
Huaraz was extremely beautiful and I’m glad we saw so many places here!
Ecuador: Quito, Baños & Cuenca
One and a half week in Ecuador!
After Colombia we took a flight from Medellín to Quito. Initially we wanted to cross the border by bus, but it would take us a very long time, so we chose to fly.
My first day in Quito didn’t start that well. When I called my parents I received the news that my dog (or at least my parent’s dog) Jules had passed away. I cried a lot that day, but luckily Barbara was with me to distract me a bit.
We spent our days in Quito with a free walking tour, eating out in the Mercado Central (delicious llapingacho for 2,5 dollars!) and strolling the Mercado Artesanal. On the 7th of July we did our first small excursion to Mitad del Mundo. It’s the best place to visit the equator, although I didn’t find it that spectacular. The day after we visited South America’s biggest market, Otavalo. We saw the cutest kids and I bought my first souvenirs here.
Our last full day in Quito started quite early. At 8.30AM we took a bus to Lake Quilotoa, which is located three hours from Quito. I loved it here! Nature was super beautiful and we saw our first alpaca’s.
On Monday the 10th of July we left Quito and headed to Baños. When we arrived at our hostel in the evening, we made our plans for the upcoming days. We decided to rent a bike and visit the waterfalls, go to Casa del árbol (a treehouse with a big swing) and relax in the thermal baths. According to the receptionist, Diego, this was all possible in just one day.
So, the next day we woke up early (we had a busy schedule!) to bike the ‘Ruta de las cascadas’, a 18 kilometers route from Baños to Puyo with seven waterfalls on the way. At noon we arrived at waterfall number six when it started raining. We decided to go for lunch first and continue our way to the waterfalls afterwards. After an hour or two, we were ready to bike and hike the last kilometers. We were super exhausted and almost wanted to skip the last waterfall. Luckily we changed our minds and biked to the last waterfall, Machay. After a 30 minutes descend via wooden stairs, we finally saw this beautiful waterfall. I decided to go for a swim here which was a lot of fun!
That day we arrived at our hostel at around 6.30PM (we took a shuttle back instead of biking). Safe to say there was no time left to visit Casa del árbol and the thermal baths 😉. What was Diego thinking… Still exhausted from all the biking we took it slow the next day and went to Casa del árbol by Uber. We didn’t even visit the thermal baths anymore in Baños.
Our last stop in Ecuador was Cuenca. We started our time here with a spiritual cleansing and massage at the Mercado 10 de Agosto, performed by a ‘mama’. It was quite the experience! Apart from that, we just chilled at our hostel and had our daily lunch at one one the many markets.
Now we’re off to country number three: Peru!
Colombia: Salento & Valle de Cocora
¡Adiós Colombia!
Last blogpost about Colombia! On Friday the 30th of June we left Medellín and went to Salento. The main reason for going to Salento was because we wanted to visit Valle de Cocora, a valley known for having the world’s tallest palm trees.
Our first evening in Salento we watched ‘Encanto’, an animation movie that takes place in Valle de Cocora. Barbara had already seen the movie twice, so it was finally my turn to watch it as well. For the weekend, we didn’t do that much except for strolling around Salento and chilling in our hostel. On Monday it was finally time to visit Valle de Cocora!
At 6AM we walked to the city center to take the first jeep to the valley. After half an hour we arrived and started our hike. We chose to do the long hike (12 kilometers) and start by the valley itself. It definitely did not disappoint! We went to the different view points and took a few (or actually quite a lot 😉) pictures while we were one of the first people here. After some time, we continued our hike and then the weather started to change. It got more cloudy and eventually it even started to rain. At this point, the hike became quite difficult and exhausting. In total, it took us eight hours of walking and some helping hands (literally to go through all the mud) from a few guys to get back to the starting point. According to Google, this was an easy hike… Well, I will never believe Google again when they call a hike easy! But in the end, it was totally worth it.
The day after we returned to Medellín because on Wednesday we had our flight to Quito! In total we stayed three and a half weeks in Colombia and I absolutely loved it. It’s definitely a country I will return to one day!
Colombia: Medellín & Guatapé
Finally visiting Maluma’s birth town!
On Friday the 23rd of June we took a night bus from Santa Marta to Medellín. After 17 hours on the bus, we finally arrived in the birth town of one of my favourite reggaeton artists: Maluma. Since we had had a busy schedule the days before (multiple taxi rides and long bus rides), we decided to take our time in the city and stay here for four nights. We did some planning the first day and had a dance session on our balcony while listening to Maluma and Shakira.
The day after we explored our neighbourhood -El Poblado- and took the cable car. It quickly became clear that four nights in the city would not be enough, so we decided to book two more nights. We spent the rest of the days doing a free walking tour with our lovely guide Milo, visiting comuna 13 neighbourhood and Pueblita Paisa and taking endless Uber-rides to discover the different neighbourhoods.
On our last full day on Thursday, we took the bus to Guatapé, a super cute and colourful village. Before entering the village, we had a stop at the El Peñol rock. We climbed the 700 stairs (with a LOT of other people) and enjoyed the views over Guatapé and its water reservoir.
Medellín was really one of the highlights of our time in Colombia. Although it lacks beautiful buildings (it’s even quite an ugly city), it has a vibe I really like. It reminds me a bit of hipster Berlin with its cool coffee spots and restaurants. Also, we didn’t feel unsafe and the people were super friendly!
Colombia: Minca & Tayrona National Park
Time for some nature!
After spending a few days in Bogotá and Cartagena, on Sunday the 18th of June it was time to see some of Colombia’s nature. Our first stop was Minca, a small village in the hills of the Sierra Nevada. It was quite a long and exhausting trip to get there, since most hostels are located high up in the mountains.
We first took a bus from Cartagena to Santa Marta, then a taxi from Santa Marta to Minca and lastly another taxi from Minca to our hostel. After more than eight hours of travel we finally arrived at our hostel, Mano Verde Minca.
On the first day we did a hike to the Jaguar Waterfall. On the map we saw it was a 1,5 hour hike, but it took us way longer. On top of it, it started raining on the way back. For the rest of the day we stayed at our hostel, chilled in the hammock, had a chat with some people who also were in the hostel and ended the evening watching one of the prettiest sunsets I have ever seen.
The day after it was already time to leave Minca. We headed to Santa Marta, where we initially planned to stay for two nights. After a terrible first night (the beds in our hostel were really crappy), we decided to go to another hostel and book for two more nights. After exploring Santa Marta a bit, on Thursday we went to Tayrona National Park.
We totally underestimated how hard this hike would be! The combination of the super hot temperatures and humidity made it quite an adventure. But it was totally worth it! After a few hours of hiking, we reached Cabo San Juan, Tayrona’s most popular beach. While swimming in the sea we met Jefferson, a super cute 7-year-old local kid. Afterwards we had two options: hiking all the way back to the starting point (by foot or on horseback) or taking a boat to Taganga. We chose the second option and had the most fun!
On Friday we left Santa Marta and took a night bus to our next destination: Medellín!
Colombia: Bogotá & Cartagena
Colombia, here I come!
On Sunday the 11th of June it was finally time for part two of my travel journey. In the morning I took a plane to Madrid (where I spent some time) and from there I took my second flight to Bogotá, Colombia on Monday. After a ten hour flight, I arrived in Colombia’s capital at 6PM. The flight was quite okay, since I sat at the emergency exit where I had a lot of space for my super long legs 😉.
On my first full day in Bogotá, I visited mount Monserrate and spent the afternoon in La Candelaria, Bogotá’s most famous neighborhood. Before my trip, I watched the Netflix series ‘Street food: Latin America’. There’s one episode about Bogotá and its Perseverancia Market. Of course, being a foodie I had to visit this market while I was here. So that’s what I did on my second day. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring cash money so I couldn’t buy anything. Typical me. After my short visit, it was time to pack my bags at the hostel and go to the airport to catch my plane to Cartagena to meet Barbara.
After a one hour flight I arrived in Cartagena. I immediately noticed how hot it was over here. What a difference with chilly Bogotá! A short taxi ride later it was finally time to meet Barbara at our hostel. I was super happy to see her again after a few months! Since she had arrived two days before me in the city, she took me for a stroll in the city center. We ended our evening at Mama’s Pizza, where we had a pizza at their rooftop. The next day we had something very exited planned: a visit to the hairdresser for both of us. Barbara needed to fix her haircut she had had a few days before and I wanted a keratin treatment. After spending the whole morning at the hairdresser, in the afternoon it was time to take some pictures in Cartagena’s colourful streets. After all, we had to show off our new haircut! In the evening we made wraps in our hostel’s open kitchen by the pool and had a drink at the bar.
Friday we decided to start the day with a free walking tour, but dropped out after half an hour (Sorry guide Arthur!) to explore the city further on our own. In the evening we went to the city walls of Cartagena (Las Murallas) for a long walk. Unfortunately, it rained quite a lot and so we didn’t walk around the whole city.
Saturday was our last full day in Cartagena and probably my favourite day this far! While walking the streets, we suddenly heard someone singing the first notes of Justin Bieber’s song ‘Baby’. Triggered by this voice, we replied with the lyrics ‘You know you love me, I know you care’ and then something really cool happened. The singer and his friend joined us and we started singing all together. As it was a movie scene we were in, suddenly the singer’s friend brought a guitar and they played ‘Despacito’. It looked as if we had our own private concert in beautiful Cartagena. We said goodbye to the city with a drink at the rooftop of Hotel Sophia.
I can already tell I love Colombia!
Barcelona - week seven
I turned 30!
Week seven was kind of a special week, because I turned 30 on Wednesday! I really didn’t look forward to this, but I have to say that celebrating this special birthday in Barcelona made it a little less painful 😉. I started the week at the ImaginCafe again to work on my English certificate. On Sunday, FC Barcelona had won the League title and Monday evening there was an open bus parade in the streets of Barcelona. It was pretty cool to see the players and I felt like a real Spanish supporter standing there between all these people singing and cheering (But still Club Bruges is my number one team of course!). On Tuesday, I went for dinner with a guy that works at the ImaginCafe. We went to an Italian restaurant -Murivecchi- and had pizza and some red wine. I’m quite picky when it comes to pizzas, but I have to say that both the food and drinks were really good! When I arrived home at 12.30PM, my roommate was waiting for me with a ‘happy birthday crown’ on her head and a cupcake with a candle on it. I had to make a wish and she also gave me a small notebook to take with me to South America and a super sweet birthday card. She told me she stayed up to surprise me and it even made me a bit emotional. On my birthday, I went to the beach and in the evening I had dinner at Thai Zaap with my roommate and a German friend of her. After our main course I got surprised again. The waiter brought me a brownie with a candle on it and the whole restaurant started singing Happy Birthday. i felt a bit awkward, but I really appreciated this second surprise my roommate arranged for me. The day after, I just went to watch a movie at a friend’s place in the evening.
I started my weekend with a visit to the hospital to have my vaccines for South America. I got four vaccines at once, one in each arm and leg. I didn’t feel bad afterwards, but I was super tired so I didn’t make any further plans. On Saturday, I went to a small festival in my neighbourhood Eixample and Sunday I had arranged a small picnic at Parc de la Ciutadella with some friends as a birthday/goodbye party. It was a lot of fun and a perfect ending of the weekend. My first week in my thirties was definitely a good one!
See you next week!
Barcelona - week six
Long weekend Menorca
Since I was a bit in a hurry for last week’s blog post, I’m now taking the time to write about my trip to Menorca and catch you up on week six properly.
As I already mentioned last week, I met a Belgian woman at my hostel and we hung out together the entire trip. It was the first time I slept in a hostel and I was really nervous about it. But, since I’m on a budget and in South America I will have to sleep in hostels, I thought I should already try it out. Turns out sleeping in a hostel isn’t that bad at all! On Sunday, I arrived at the airport in Maó and immediately took the bus to Ciutadella, where I stayed for three nights. Sunday was just about exploring Ciutadella. On Monday, I went out for a coffee in the morning and wrote down my speech for one of my best friend’s wedding. At noon, I had lunch with my new friend -Barbara- and after that, we visited two coves. The first one, Cala en Brut, is one of the prettiest beaches I have ever seen. The water had all these different shades of blue and there are diving platforms. We sat there for a while, enjoying the sun and listening to a local playing the guitar. Next, we walked a bit further to Cala en Blanes. While Cala en Brut consists of rocky platforms, Cala en Blanes has fine white sand and on the other side there’s an area full of palm trees. We had a drink at the beach and then headed home again to take a shower. In the evening, we had some drinks and patatas bravas at the port. We ended the night with some wine at our hostel, socialising with two French guys. Tuesday was similar to the day before. I went out for coffee again in the morning and then Barbara and I had lunch at the same place. Usually I never go to the same place more than once, but I made an exception in Menorca. At our lunch spot, Can Angela, we had a starter, main course, dessert, a bottle of water, a bottle of wine and a bottle of a local drink for just fourteen euros. We were also served by the friendliest waiters. After lunch, we decided to visit some more beaches. We walked for about an hour and then arrived at Cala Sa Caleta and Cala Blanca. The beaches were pretty, but I think we got too spoiled with the beaches the day before. Also the walk we did wasn’t as pretty as the other day. At the end of the day, we had a drink near the beach and afterwards went back to the city centre. After a while, we returned to our hostel. We put on our pyjamas and sat in the living room with our bottle of wine we took home from our lunch.
On Wednesday, it was already time for me to leave Menorca. In the morning, I strolled the narrow and charming streets of Ciutadella and had a coffee and chocolate croissant at Can Padet. At noon I had lunch with Barbara for the last time and after that, we walked to the bus station. We said goodbye to each other and I took the bus to the airport to return to my home town, Barcelona.
I’m so glad I visited Menorca. It’s such a charming island! I also had so much fun with Barbara. For the rest of the week, I took it a bit slow. I felt I needed some sleep and rest. Thursday night, I went for a long walk in one of my favourite neighbourhoods in Barcelona, El Born. On Friday, I decided to go to a coworking space. My roommate recommended ImaginCafe near Plaça Catalunya, so I went there. I had lunch and then decided to buy an online TEFL course (Teach English as a foreign language), which consists of 140 study hours. With this course, I’ll be able to teach English in schools and communities to non-native English speakers in foreign countries. Maybe I’ll use it in South America, who knows! On Saturday I was determined to study for my English certificate. I went to the ImaginCafe again, since I think it’s such an inspirational place full of digital nomads working here. I ended the week with a visit to Parc del Laberint d’Horta. Unfortunately, I threw my back out this morning so my trip to the park didn’t last that long. I just had a call with my parents and grandparents and now I’ll watch a movie and try to go to bed early.
See you next week!
Barcelona - week five
Exploring the Costa Brava
This week started great with a mini roadtrip to the Costa Brava. Normally I should have gone with my Italian friend, his Italian roommate and their Ukrainian girlfriend. Unfortunately, my friend and the Ukrainian girl cancelled in the end, so it was just the roommate and me. I took the train in the morning to Sant Cugat and from there, the Italian guy picked me up with his car. We drove for two hours and then arrived at a beautiful beach, called Playa El Castell.
We stayed there for a while enjoying the sun and walked the Camí de Ronda, a hiking trail along the Costa Brava. After a few minutes it started raining, so we decided to take the car and go to the nearest town, Fosca. There we had lunch (a delicious spaghetti de mar and crema catalana!). Afterwards, we had a siesta at the beach and drove back home in the evening.
The rest of the week I spend my time here in Barcelona. I discovered some new places, went out for dinner on Thursday evening, watched a digital artwork projected on Casa Battló on Friday night and afterwards went for drinks at a place where they were playing live music. Saturday I went to the beach and went out.
Now I’m writing this from Menorca, while enjoying some wine with a Belgian woman who has a mutual connection with me. Sometimes the world feels so small! I arrived here at noon and I’ll be here until Wednesday. I’m already in love with the island!
See you next week!
Barcelona - week four
Meeting new people
This week was the last week I could use my train ticket for the region of Catalunya. So, I thought I should make use of this and do some more trips. On Wednesday, I went to Blanes. It’s the most southern part of the Costa Brava and from Barcelona it’s approximately 1,5h by train. I was a bit sceptical at first, because I thought it would be very touristic and not that pretty. But, Blanes really surprised me in a good way! After a twenty minute walk from the train station, I arrived at the main beach of Blanes (Platja de Blanes). I then decided to walk towards the harbour and look for Cala Sant Francesc. The road to this cove was pretty steep by foot, but totally worth it (there’s also a cute train that can take you up here). There were only a few people on the beach and the water had some beautiful different shades of blue.
Today, I took the train to Castelldefels. After a busy weekend, I just wanted to go to the beach and work on my tan. I’m not really a fan of Barceloneta (Barcelona’s beach), since it can be really crowded and noisy. The beach in Castelldefels was perfect for today. There were quite a lot of people, but it was still calm and peaceful. Also, you have a nice view over the mountains. The perfect last train trip!
The rest of the week was filled with a lot of encounters with new people and friends I have made here. Thursday night, I had dinner at a friend’s place. Friday was the weekly language exchange café and on Saturday, I did a beach clean up at Barceloneta. It was the roommate of a friend who told me about this ‘event’ at the language exchange. So, the day after, I promised to join him. The beach clean up takes place every Saturday and is organised by Liz, a Mexican girl. We were now a group of around twenty people and gathered six kilos of trash in just one hour! (Though I have to admit that I didn’t really gather that much trash since I arrived 50 minutes too late). After the clean up, we had some drinks on a terrace near the beach and went to Parc de la Ciutadella to chill and watch an amazing music group play.
I’m already at the half of my time here and it makes me a little sad to realise. I love this city and its amazing people. But… Still four weeks left to make the most out of it!
See you next week!
Barcelona - week three
Americans everywhere
This week started with a visit to Vic, a small medieval town which is located 70km from Barcelona. I had a coffee at the beautiful Plaça Major and just walked around a bit.
For the rest of the week, I stayed in Barcelona. A Belgian friend of mine was here on vacation and we hung out for a few days. On Wednesday evening, we had dinner at Bar Lobo. We had to wait a long time before we got served, but it was totally worth the waiting. The cocktails and food were good, but it was mainly the two crazy American ladies who sat next to us who made this a great evening. Both had zero shame - one even tried my friend’s cocktail - and we had a great laugh with them.
On Thursday we had brunch at Brunch & Cake, near Barceloneta. This was also the day I finally booked my one way ticket to Bogotá, Colombia. After keeping an eye on the prices for quite a while, I decided it was time to purchase my ticket. Finally I no longer have to check Skyscanner every day!
On Friday and Saturday, we went for a rooftop bar in the afternoon to catch some sun and had tapas for dinner. The first rooftop bar was the one from the Sir Victor Hotel, with a view over Casa Milà. Again, we met some American women who have been living here for a few years now. They gave us some good recommendations for places to have dinner. The second rooftop was the Azimuth Rooftop Bar. This one had an even better view, but this time we didn’t meet Americans (unfortunately).
Friday evening, we had dinner at Vinya del Senyor. The red wine was definitely better than the white wine, but the food was delicious. We were also served by the friendliest Nathalie - of course an American again. For the dinner on Saturday, we went to L’Alcoba Azul, which was a tip from the American lady we met the day before at the rooftop bar. Both the wine and food were excellent. Also the service was great!
Today was Sant Jordi, which is a celebration of the Catalan culture. A lot of balconies are decorated with the Catalan flag. On the streets, you can find book and flower stalls. I have never seen this many people on Passeig de Gràcia and in front of Casa Battló. So I have to say that I prefer Barcelona a little less crowded.
See you next week!
Barcelona - week two
Going local
My former colleague and friend Helena once showed me an article about free train rides in Spain. Since I want to explore more than just Barcelona, I decided to do my investigation and look for these free tickets at the beginning of the week. But… Finding how to get these tickets isn’t easy at all. After some time, I finally managed to ‘buy’ my ticket, since there’s a deposit of ten euros. You have to make a total of sixteen train rides to get your deposit back at the end of April. I’m not sure if I’ll manage to travel that much, but still, ten euros for a few train rides seems like a pretty good deal to me.
On Wednesday, I started my little travel journey. I visited Garraf (a small coastal town) which is fifty minutes from Barcelona. I had some tapas for lunch and then went to the beach. Unfortunately, I forgot to take sunscreen with me, so when I returned home I noticed I had a pretty bad sunburn. The day after, I tried to avoid the sun for a bit. So in the evening, I took another train and went to Badalona to go for a walk at the beach and watch the sunset. On Friday, I went to Sitges, which is located just next to Garraf. I didn’t stay there for too long, because I had to get back on time for the language exchange café. During my walk to the café, I had a call with Barbara (again). I told her I was not really in the mood for the café, but she convinced me to just go. Turns out I had a great Friday evening again! I saw my ‘friends’ that I met at the previous café and also talked to a Spanish guy for quite a while.
I started my weekend with a visit to the Mercat del Encants, Barcelona’s biggest and most famous flea market. When I returned home, I noticed I had a voice message from the Spanish guy I met the day before, asking me about my plans for the evening. Since he’s a local, I wanted to know what his favourite places in Barcelona are and if he has some tips for me. A few voice memos later, we decided to have dinner together. At 8.30pm, he picked me up with his scooter and took me to the first place, Senyor Vermut. It’s a very cute and lively tapas bar, known for its -as the name already says it- vermouth. We shared some croquetas and I tried vermouth for the first time. Both the drinks and food were really good! After that, we headed to the Gràcia neighbourhood where we had some more tapas and eventually found a bar with great music to dance the night away.
Today I had plans with the other guys from the language exchange café. We gathered together at the Parc de la Ciutadella around noon. Two of them are musicians, so they brought a guitar, trumpet and violin to have a jam session. After a few hours in the park, we had lunch together at FrescCo, an all-you-can-eat restaurant for fifteen euros. For now, I’m just going to watch some Netflix and try to go to bed early. It’s been a busy weekend after all!
See you next week!
Barcelona - week one
Week one
It’s been one week since I arrived in my new home town. So, time for a first recap!
Some things I did this week:
mostly explored my new neighbourhood Eixample and walked an average of 19.075 steps per day.
found myself a library near my apartment where I now go every morning.
went to the rooftop of Las Arenas to watch the sunset.
went to a language exchange cafe to practice my Spanish and ended up at a guy’s house with a group to play music.
learnt the basics of tango.
took a lot of pictures with my new camera.
enjoyed the sun to the fullest at the Jardins de Mossèn Costa i Llobera.
This week’s mostly been about creating a routine here. Getting up ‘early’ and going to the library every morning helped a lot. It’s the place where I schedule my weekly plans, look up what I want to do the next two months, what I need for my South America trip, learn Spanish etc. I also started running again, after not going for a run for a whole month after my half marathon in February.
For the weekend, I decided to go to a language exchange cafe on Friday. My roommate told me about the app Meetup and that’s where I found out about this event. I was a bit nervous to go there all by myself at first, but the evening turned out great!
Since I went to bed at 4am on Friday, I decided to take it slow on Saturday. I had a call with my friend Barbara, who had just arrived in Cancún, Mexico. She’ll be traveling Central America all by herself and we’ll meet in Colombia to explore South America together. Even with a time difference of seven hours and more than 8000 km’s apart from each other, we still continue to have our weekly (for now online) chat. Talking about routines 😉.
See you next week!