Day 73: Chill'n - MTV Espana Style

Back in the day (elementary school, middle school, high school, even some college days), summer meant staying home, not changing out of my PJs, watching MTV and messing things up and then cleaning random things around the house at commercial breaks. I remember the good 'ol days of watching Trading Spaces for hours, of clearing everything out of the refrigerator so that I could properly clean the shelves and then rearranging everything when I put it back inside (I got SUCH satisfaction out of this), wearing the same PJs for days (or until we went to the pool or McD's and I had to change out of them real quick)... ah, Summer Bliss. Being a lazy bum is always the right answer.

And so when I woke up at noon today to the crazy screaming of the Crazy Spanish Neighbor Lady across the way, all alone in an empty apartment, I knew what I had to do: I had to re-create a perfect lazy summer day!

I stumbled into the kitchen to find chicken nuggets made just for me and ate a few before setting to work on Kiwi Compy, checking facebook, writing emails and catching up on failbook.com. Then the cleaning bug hit me and I swept all the floors, cleaned out the refrigerator, degreased the hood of the stove (that was sorta tricky but oh-so-satisfying!), learned that toothpaste really DOES shine silver (omg!) and polished my rings, Windexed the bathroom and glass doors, and dusted shelves. All the while, MTV - ESPANA was on and I got my fill of Next (the gay version - hell yes), Parental Control and My Super Sweet Sixteen all while practicing my Spanish listening comprehension! QUE GUAY! ;)

By the time L got home, things were all tidy and I was completely rejuvenated! Traveling and living close to other people is a hoot - but I hadn't had a Chelsea day to myself at home in months and months and months...!! L kept worrying I was so bored cooped up in her apartment, but nothing could have been further from the truth! ^_^ A day alone to do whatever I wanted and not leave was JUST what I needed!

*Blissful Summer Day*
XOXO
Jet-set Cupcake

Day 72: Greetings from the Rail

I know, I know. I charged Kiwi Computer all night long so that I would be able to catch up on the blog posts from two weeks ago that I never had time to write. I fully intended to write them – really. But when I opened my computer, I realized my outlines for the days were on my blog already, and seeing as I have no internet connection on the train... I felt a bit SOL. “Perhaps,” I thought to myself, “I could just check the pictures from those days on my computer and piece together things from there?” I opened the pictures folder on my computer but immediately got distracted by tons of pre-Spain pictures I hadn't looked at in months and months and months!

And then it hit me.

I <3 my life. :)

I've been so worried about leaving Spain that I forgot that my life was awesome before I got here and will be awesome after I leave, too.

I opened the folder from Las Vegas and giggled at the weird videos the Brazilian took of me when I didn't know I was being recorded. I looked at all of the pics of us dressed up in casinos, out to dinner, at the pool, hang'n in our uber chic hotel room... and damn.

I opened the folder from San Diego and looked around me on the train to make sure nobody was looking at the pics of us passed out in bed, pics of us posing in our panda gear next to the real panda bears in the zoo, pics of me on my 22^nd birthday getting damn tipsy and making strange faces at a bird while eating a discounted cinnamon roll... and damn.

I didn't even open the folder from Brazil – that would have taken the whole train ride to go through those 600 pics!!!

And now I'm sitting here, on a train to Madrid, coming back from Barcelona where I took a cruise to Italy and back... and damn.

It didn't hit me until this moment just how much I've traveled in the past year and how ridiculously grateful (… and a little guilty...? Should a girl's life be allowed to be this jet-set at the age of 22? I mean, I know it's my life dream to travel all over... but I can't believe I have. I don't feel like I earned it... but I think I did? I'm not sure.) that makes me feel.

Las Vegas → Boston → Portland → Belo Horizonte, Brazil → Fortaleza, Brazil → Denver → San Diego → Denver Road Trip → Madrid, Spain → Asturias, Spain → Valencia, Spain → Barcelona, Spain → Florence, Italy → Rome, Italy → Naples, Italy → Palma Mallorca, Spain (this coming weekend) → Malaga, Spain → ???

Every time a trip would come to an end I'd get upset and worried that things could never be as wonderful as they were up until that point and from there on it would all be downhill. Boy have I been wrong!! After 18 trips in about a year I think it's time I learn that the end of one journey is the beginning of another, and that I never lose people I truly adore so worrying about it is wasted energy that could be better focused on enjoying the journey I'm currently on! <3

Jeeze – I always think of Lincoln riding the train in the Civil War en route to Gettysburg and how he wrote the entire Gettysburg Address on that train ride and figure that this little zone should be so inspiring. But the truth is, I feel so much pressure to write well while in such a perfectly picturesque jet-set enviornment that my writing style falls flat on its face. >_< BLAH.

Anyway – enough reflection silliness. The next nine days are going to be AMAZINGLY, AWESOMELY THE SHIT!!! I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooo happy I'm headed home to Madrid! <3 And hour an a half 'til I'm back in Atocha!!!! LOVE!!!

XOXO

Jet-set Cupcake

Day 71: Vicky Chelsea Barcelona

We started our morning off with a stop at Dunkin' Coffee (that's right - Dunkin' Donuts is called Dunkin' Coffee in Spain. Idk. Weird.) - despite how American it was of us, I tried to remain a little authentic to the Spanish and got a doughnut filled with dulce de leche and a horchata to drink. Hee hee!!

My ankle still wasn't feeling great, so we decided to do a bus tour of the city so that we could still see all the sights but I wouldn't have to walk too much. Below is a picture I took while we waited in line for our tour bus tickets; the Desigual bike was AMAZING so I had to snap a pic, and managed to get our double-decker tour bus in the background! Success!

Sam and I were a little kooky. It was morning time (for us - in fact I think it was about 1pm)... it was really hot... we were standing in a line... the resultant picture:

A few minutes later and we were on the second level of the bus, work'n on our tans and seeing the sights without hurting my ankle!! YAY! We saw a ton of stuff - lots of Gaudi buildings, royal palaces, etc.

When we'd completed the Red Bus route, we took a lunch break at Hard Rock Cafe - YUMMMY!!! In case you're ever near a Hard Rock, please listen carefully: GO INSIDE, SIT DOWN, ORDER A BROWNIE SUNDAE. OMG - it was bliss in a glass. For. Serious. Damn!! After lunch I went in to visit my bears (I collect Hard Rock bears from around the world), but had to leave without one, as I literally have only American money at this point (and not much of that - damn). And so I had to decide that while I shall continue my Hard Rock bear collection, I only need one bear per country so that I don't go completely broke. ;)

Next it was on to the Blue Bus, which took us by the Sagrada Familia. The bus was going along, doing its thing... announcing sites here and there... and then it turned the corner and there it was...

Oh.

My.

God.

There are no words for the sheer awe I felt upon seeing the structure. It was SO big and SO intricate and SO gorgeous and SO amazing. Both G and I gasped and G proclaimed it to be "One of the most Amazing sites I've ever seen." It's just... so... DAMN. I was dazed (as you can see below).

The Sagrada Familia was begun by Gaudi in the early 20th century and is still under construction thanks to private donors. According to Gaudi and his plans for the structure, it will take up to SEVEN generations to complete - HA! When asked if this didn't seem like a long time, Gaudi replied something along the lines of, "God will still be around then." Hee hee. (Little did he know, perhaps, that the idea of "God" might possibly quite out of vogue in 5 more generations - lol.)

After our amazing glance at the Sagrada Familia, everything else the Blue Bus had to offer on the tour was a little lackluster. Haha. So when we circled 'round to our stop, we headed to Starbucks for a pick-me-up. Seeing a Starbucks menu in Catalan was the shit. <-- HOW COOL to have it in such a random language (well, random seeming to me, anyway!) They spell "ch" with an "x" - I mean, come on. SWEET. I kept wondering if Chocolate is spelled something like xocolata... then would Chelsea be spelled like Xelsi? Damn, that's neat. Maybe I should move to Barcelona just to be able to spell my name like that. I tried to test it out by giving the barista my name, but she misheard me and just wrote, "Jesi." Darnit.

Next it was off to a stroll down Las Ramblas. I found an awesome Desigual facade and found an awesome CUPCAKE poster advertising an 80's dance party ...

 ... took a blurry pic with Custo Barcelona IN Barcelona (omg cool) and found an "automatic ordering" set of kiosks at McDonald's (omg weird) ...

But the best part of Las Ramblas by far was the crazy Dali-inspired street statue guy!! Sam practically cried and ran away when we suggested taking a pic with the guy (who HAD to be gay - I mean he had two inch purple feathers for eye lashes), but we finally got him to oblige. Hee hee!!

After Las Ramblas, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for our journey back HOME (Madrid - <3) tomorrow morning/afternoon. On our way we stopped for drinks for our room and I found a tiny pyanda byear! OMG - LOVE!! <3

I spent my night catching up on the week's blog posts that were all somewhat incomplete and am now seriously pooped. But I'm almost too excited to go to sleep 'cause I get to go HOME to MADRID tomorrow!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!! My Mediterranean adventure has been a hoot, but I miss my life in Madrid soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much. I can't wait to be on MY metro and spend plenty of time bothering L and going out with my Familia and seeing Ernesto and traveling a shit ton. YAY! ^_^ Time to go back to where I belong! <3

XOXO
Jet-set Cupcake

Day 70: Barcelona and the Case of the Sprained Ankle (Owwww...)

By 9:30 we were off the ship. By 11:30 I had successfully stressed myself out, grabbed Sam's suitcase 'cause he was dragging it down the stairs and it was seriously pissing me off, and fell down the stairs in Barcelona's metro station, successfully twisting (or - eek - spraining?) my ankle. >_< I swear I never used to fall down stairs until I met L - it must be the karma of her epic cupcake fall biting me in the ass. I was so upset that I barely felt my ankle's injury... but after walking all the way to the hotel with my bags, all the way back to the metro later on and all around Park Guell, I can honestly say my poor little ankle is swollen, stiff and really damn upset with me. :-/ *whimpers*

I mean, nobody told me what a ridiculous hill I'd have to trek up and down to get to this park - but the view of Barcelona from the top was awesome!! We could even see our ship on the horizon in the port!

On the way up the huge hill we stopped for a snack. Sam had a brownie and toast while I had a little empanada that looked and tasted like a giant tortellini with cheese, basil and tomato and a fresh little salad on the side - YUMMY! The cafe was so bright and colorful and cute!! ^_^

 

After a million hours of walking, we finally got to Park Guell itself!! YAY!! I felt as if I were in Vicky Christina Barcelona - tee hee!!

It was much different than I'd expected it, but I still enjoyed it tons! The crazy architecture and the the awesome colorful ceramics are amazing!!

After the park we went to get some dinner (well, sorta) and then headed back for the hotel, as we were pooped and my ankle was hurting so badly that G had to switch me shoes so I could wear her Birkenstocks back home. ARCH support, please.

XOXO

Jet-set Cupcake

Day 69: Palma, Mallorca!!

At the beginning of this tour, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about Mallorca... our tour guide, Julia, was a wee bit of a crazy bee-yotch. I felt a bit like cattle or herded sheep... but Mallorca shined through the craziness of the tour guide and I feel in love with it! The first stop on our tour was the infamous castle of Mallorca:

The next stop was to a tiny little town (Valdemosa?) that reminded me of a quaint, Spanish and tropical version of Aspen! There we had some AMAZING drinking chocolate and tried one of their local, yummy pastries. Nom nom nom...

The next stop was the Pearl Factory (a big bust - they're like bs plastic, over-priced pearls - wtf?) and the Plaza de Toros. Much to my surprise, the bullring turned out to be one of the most creepy, eerie and awesome things I saw on the trip - as I went off on my own to go exploring I found the Enfermaria... but one that seemed to have ceased functioning decades ago. Presumably, it was where the injured bullfighters were taken straight from the bullring - but to me, it looked like a perfect setting for a modern-day Hitchcock film. I spent a half hour there shooting pics of the place, thinking that if one day I wanted to have an exhibit of photos, these would be the photos I'd use. The place seemed SO old, but at the same time nothing had been taken down and looked as if it'd been used fairly recently. The juxtaposition, along with the looming cross, made everything that much more dynamic! Damn.

I figured a few pictures of the outside of the bullring would also be nice, just to show how gorgeous it was compared with the bleakness of the infirmary inside its walls.

Happily, my intrigue did not make me lose track of the time and I returned to the bus before everybody else. The next stop, Julia the guide explained, would be a drive by the cathedral, and then back to the ship. If anybody wished to stay in the city, however, they were more than welcome.

DING DING DING

Exploring on my own in a new foreign city?! I THINK SO!! After running over to the market that was just ending (it was worth the quick steps in the serious heat for my five euro fake, crazy colored Ray Bans - haha), I headed in the direction of the cathedral - one of four major cathedrals I studied in Little Gay Professor Man's Spanish Art History Class!! OMG!! The cathedral was absolutely BREATHTAKING! I couldn't believe it!

It took me a few hours to actually end up at the cathedral, though, as I wandered the streets of Mallorca, coming across crazy naked statues, crazy naked columns (and getting up the guts to ask somebody to take a picture of me with it), crazy fortress castle palace places, an amazing jewelery store (at which a purchased the cheapest necklace they had and that I adore - a little chain with a picture of a yellow bird on it and a dangly leaf, pearl, heart and fake diamond!) and a guy playing the guitar who reminded me so much of Jack Johnson that I just wandered around for awhile on that street soaking up his guitar playing and voice. <3 I gave my last euro to him and he smiled real big and thanked me sincerely. A euro well spent, I believe. :) I listened a little while longer and then when I went to leave, gave him the most grateful/sweetest smile I could and turned around and went on my way, taking that moment with me. Ahh... street music in foreign countries is the best.

All in all - an amazing afternoon of exploring a new place. <3 This sort of thing is most certainly one of my most favorite activities EVER!!!

Soon enough it was time to head back to the ship, where we had dinner and played a few more games in the arcade before turning in our thousand plus tickets into really dorky prizes. ;) I got a martini before heading down to dinner at the Italian restaurant (Sam had been begging to go there the whole time) and was feeling happy as a clam... but Grandma had a bad headache and went up to the room as our appetizers were served. This meant that between Sam and myself, we had a steak, a pizza and a bowl of penne pasta to eat for the main course!! It was really cute 'cause Sam took it as a mandatory task to do his best to finish it all. He ate every last noodle, three pieces of pizza and a fourth of the steak! DAMN!!! After stuffing our faces, we returned once again to the arcade to get our final prize picks done. Last night on the ship = a bit bittersweet.

XOXO
Jet-set Cupcake

Day 68: Whatever Floats Your Boat

Aaaaaaaaaaaand I'm proud to report that I did absolutely NOTHING today!! Wooohoo!!! It was a "Day at Sea" on the ship and that meant official laws were put into place that read, "Nobody is to make a tiny squeak until 2:30 pm, lest they wake up the Oh Great Sleeping Chelsea from her deep, deep slumber." And, lo and behold, nobody did!! ^_^ Hell. Yes. Actually, I woke up when I heard Sam using his cute little, "don't wake anybody up!" whisper around 12:30 when they left to go eat and watch Slime Time Live, and although I tried to fall back asleep, the memory of him kicking me in the face awake (it wasn't his fault, his feet were close to my head in the bed arrangement - lol - and it'd happened a few other times this week, too! Waking up with a foot in your face is an odd feeling...) in the middle of the night made me giggle and it was all to no avail. So I got up, headed upstairs to the buffet, and lounged a bit.

The rest of the day was filled with quality Sam time! Lunch, arcade games, wandering the ship, lots of soft-serve (for him, not me - eww) and, finally, late night hot-tubbing. ^_^ Awesome. It was just the two of uw in the hot tub and we had a great time. One conversation led to another and suddenly we were talking about what happens after we die and what might the meaning of life be. For a ten year old, Sam could definitely hold his own in this discussion and got very into the whole thing. It was adorable to have somebody who acts so young during the day (and when around only certain people) to be so mature and pensive by night in the glow of the moon in the hot tub. Honestly the most adorable part of the whole cruise.

When we got back to our room, Grandma was just on her way out to hit the casino. Captain (M)organ had left us a towel monkey hanging above the bed (he always leaves us towel animals - in fact the ship has towel animal classes sometimes - lol), and Sam took this as a personal challenge to make one himself. And dang did he succeed!

 

Though I didn't get my tan on, nor hit up the panda slots nor the block party slots, hanging with Sam made the day at sea a delight! <3

XOXO
Jet-set Cupcake

Day 67: Amalfi, Pompeii & Churrascaria

After my usual hearty breakfast of cinnamon buns with extra brown sugar on top, scrambled eggs, bacon and OJ, it was off to the bus for our trip in Naples! First stop? The Amalfi Coast!!! <3 I ADORE the Amalfi Coast - it's just so blissfully gorgeous. The winding roads high, high up on the lush cliffs, the perfectly clear sea below, the brightly colored flowers and the quaintness of each little village.... mmmmm happiness!

Our tour guide took us to the main village of Amalfi and I got a few little things for my favorite people and a postcard of Amalfi at sunset, which I plan on framing. :) Next it was off to a really fancy lunch overlooking the Mediterranean. It reminded me of the meals we had in Amalfi when I was there in 2003 - blissful views with pants-wetting conversations... not that I wet my pants, but it just made me reminiscent. Haha.

After lunch it was off to Sam's destination of the trip: Pompeii. While Pompeii in general is very fascinating, I gotta say my initial introduction to it last time was a lot more attention-grabbing. Upon walking into Pompeii when I was 14, a person had just died of heatstroke in the middle of one of the old buildings. They'd placed a sheet over the person, but it still looked oddly apt considering the surroundings. This visit, however, did not include any recently deceased individuals (phew).

I think I was so intregued by this person's death on my last trip that I failed to hear some of the interesting facts of Pompeii - like that the streets often had water in them, so they had high stepping stones that carriages could still go through so that you could cross streets even when they were wet; that there were over 40 bakeries in the city; that there is still at least 25% of Pomepii buried under ash that has yet to be excavated; and that three-somes were on the menu in the brothel (but only 2 guy, 1 girl ones as far as I could tell).
 POMPEII

I also didn't recall seeing the molds of some of the deceased people (and dog!) like I saw this time. It was really freaky to see their bones and teeth all while they were in positions of asphyxiation. :-/ How awful.

By the end of the day's tours, we were more than pooped and went back to the ship for a relaxing night filled with Brazilian BBQ at world's only Churrascaria on a cruise liner! YUMMY!!! Pao de queijo, fried 'naners and enough steak to feed me for a month... DE-LICIOUS!

All in all, a fun but tiring day.

XOXO

Jet-set Cupcake