Month: January 2017

Currently playing (~˘▾˘)~
Take Courage – Andrew Bird

Beautiful Barcelona,

When can we meet again? You’ve been on my mind constantly this past week and I can’t stop thinking about you. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt this way…

Yours always,
Yuliya

A really big thank you to Octavio from the Arc House hostel that we stayed at for helping us discover the best pinchos bar and to my floormates and friends for their suggestions on places to visit in the city. Both helped to make our experience in Barcelona the best possible and I am really thankful for all their help.

Inspired by this I wanted to make a list of things we did in Barcelona. Map for reference below.

When you find a deal for a weekend round-trip to Barcelona for 50 francs, there is only one possible way to go about it….. GO!

Because it is always a good idea to spend time basking under a warm sun in Spain, here are some things we did during our trip, in no particular order:

1.Walking around the Gothic Quarter was one of our favorite activities.

…Potentially because it involved a food stop every half hour or so, but who can blame us having come from Switzerland where eating out as a student is a very rare sighting (*cries a bit inside at all the uneaten fondue and raclette*)

· As you might have guessed, this area contains some of the cheapest and yummiest food in Barcelona. Although a large selection is Spanish (no complaints about that) you can also find many pizza and kebab shops here. If you see anything over 5 euro for a kebab, or 2.50 euro for a slice of pizza, it is a shop meant for tourists.

• Patisseria Santa Clara has some amazing baked goods
• Les dues Sicilies had some really really good pizza and risotto balls .. Omnom

The title is, indeed, correct – I am back online! To share post-exchange thoughts, and meanderings! More posts are TBA..

First post: what to say (or not to say) when conversing in French!

Je suis excitée – Warning, this does not actually convey your level of stoke for something. This saying is more often used in the context of romantic excitement. Alternatively, a great way to show your excited-ness:

Je suis ravi(e) de.. OR

J’attends avec impatience

Il n’y a pas de feu au lac – In other words, don’t stress about it; there is no urgency, it can wait.

The second part of the expression, “au lac” is actually referring to Lac Léman, or Lake Geneva. Originally, the first part of the expression was used to convey “don’t stress about it”. The second part was actually later added to poke a bit of fun at the Swiss, who have a reputation of taking their time with things.

J’suis posé tranquille au calme (to show your impressive knowledge of French text dialogue, use posey OKLM)

In short, I’m chillin’.

J’ai la pêche and j’ai la banane – These two are different, but with overlap within their meanings. The first saying would be something you can answer to the question “ça va?”. When you say “j’ai la pêche” you are conveying that you are feeling full of energy and on form – you would be up for something active!

While “j’ai la banane” is an expression of happiness, the fruit is the same shape of your lips smiling. Pretty creative!

à bientôt:-)
Yuliya