La Mercé

So La Mercé is a 4 day fiesta in Barcelona that takes place each September. It consists of a bunch of street parties and at many of the main plazas have concerts of all sorts – Rock, Reggae, Flamenco, American, etc . All the concerts are free and so the city shuts down on Thursday (first full day of the parties) and then continues on through the weekend. It ends on Sunday at Plaza España which is near my house. Whichever stage has the biggest concert of the night ends their show with fireworks. Needless to say, basically you party for 4 days straight. I had Thursday off from school, it was sorta like having 4th of July in the middle of the week as I had to go school on Friday. Thursday is Barcelona Day (I’d say it’s like Labor Day). So of course since Freeman was in town on Wednesday night we headed OUT. We went to a bunch of local bars and a shot bar – fear not they were fake shots with very little alcohol (Freeman can confirm this) and then to a local bar we gathered was like Cain and Ables in Austin without music called Black Sheep but cheap drinks. Friday I headed out with friends from school to a great tapas restaurant and then to Port Olymipico.
On Sunday I went to the final festivities since it was a 2 minute walk from my house for the ending fireworks show. Now, I appreciate the Wilkirson/Tally/Baker 4th of July extravaganza however, Spain has got fireworks down a whole hecka lot better than we do. My little band nerd heart was so content watching the fireworks staged to all sorts of music, the booms were in the right place and the shapes used. Only thing missing was a little Sousa but maybe next year I’ll get to add the music choreography to our festivities…… anyway here are some pics from the weekend.

Scotland....London Baby!

Well Kristen and I just got back from the UK. Good news, we only managed to freeze for a day before finding proper clothing attire. The rain jacket I bought has turned out to be a good purchase for BCN this week as it is raining. I officially got dressed today without sweating!!! Okay…back to Scotland. We started in Edinburgh and joined a tour group for 5 days. Edinburgh was pretty cool; it is broken down into two sections – old and new. The architecture between the two is very different so it is easy to tell the difference. We shopped some in new town looking for a shoe I could actually walk in, let’s just say my limping had Kristen annoyed in about 20 minutes. But we were successful, had a hamburger and then headed back for the city tour. On Sunday we spent most of our day in old town; we walked up a hill to get to Edinburgh Castle, toured it until we were icicles and then came on down the street. We had lunch in a pub and started the many many plates of fish and chips (which comes with mushy peas – so gross even Kristen doesn’t eat em). We also had a traditional Scottish dinner and I am proud to say both Kristen and I tried Haggis (won’t describe because you may not ever try it yourself but look at the pic) and it was good. It tasted like spicy taco meat (sigh how I miss tacos). Fom there we got to here a piper, I have a video but have yet to be successful in uploading so it will wait to Dec. Here is what I have to say about pipers – I enjoy them a lot more when it is not right outside my window at the crack of dawn (family shall remember the pink house). From Edinburgh we moved on to the Highlands, basically country mountain/hills. Rather than looking for deer we looked for sheep and low and behold found tons of em. We waited for them to cross the street enough said. We ended this part of the trip in Glasglow and had a very fun night (discussed in another blog).
LONDON BABY!!
By London we were very tired of pub food so we hunted other types of food and found Chinese (yay) and steak. Now the steak not as great as a Texas steak but quite satisfying compared to the bistec in Spain J We saw Oxford, the campuses are beautiful and then did some sightseeing in London – Westminster Abby, Big Ben, Parliament, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus and saw Chicago. All in all it was a fun trip with my sister.

Its the most wonderful time of the year....

It is the most wonderful time of the year. Yes I have decided that Labor Day weekend beats Christmas because this weekend kicks off Football season. Finally after months of nothing to read but a few articles about spring practice we hit July and let the debates begin! And now FINALLY after 8 long months, we get to see the start of a new season and what controversies it may bring. I’m not as eloquent in my writing but for once the Daily Texan hits it right on…please read:
1.1864614 http://www.dailytexanonline.com/sports/ncaa-football-boise-state-oregon-highlight-beginning-of-the-best-season-of-the-year-1.1864614

Dear Football Gods,
Ah excitement I can feel it in the air, the glorious 3 day weekend arrives with 3 days of football. Thank you! This year I have just a few simple requests from you.

May the Horns and Tigers remain healthy and strong as some have already suffered enough injuries during practice.
May the Tigers not give my sister a heart attack each week and win their games.
May the Tigers take down Florida and Tebow because I’m beginning to get as sick of that name as I am of the USC dynasty. (Which I don’t get how you have a dynasty and when you go to the Natl Championship 2 years in a row and win once but whatever and just play the Rose Bowl each year).

Plus a Natl Champ game between the Tigers and Horns Round 2 would be so fun!!
May the Sooners continue to choke in all important games.
May everyone remember that it is September 3, 2009 and OU still sucks!

May everyone eat tons of pink dip and have some for me too!!
Please allow Colt an amazing year and a Heisman Trophy.
Please allow the Aggies to have a better season than last year, let them win their first home game and beat the Bears.
Please let Leach have some big hissie fits to entertain me in Spain.
May all the Longhorns – Come Early, Be Loud, and Stay Late!
May I find a bar or bares to watch some football games this year.
May Moms enjoy every second of football watching of the weekend ;)
May I return to the states in order to see the Horns once again in Pasadena!
Hook Em!!

Okay a few notes from this week....

Well there hasn’t been much to say this past week due to the fact I have limited mobility. I did make it to Tarragona on Saturday. This is a nearby beach town that is beautiful. Not nearly as many people so the beach is more similar to what we see in the Caribbean. There’s also a great town to explore but the sites were all uphill so I will be returning to see that once my foot is better. The sea though is my new best friend; I got in the water and managed to take out half of the swelling. All of a sudden I had an ankle again! Yipee, so now 4 days later I am really doing well. I can pretty much walk on it without crutches however; I’m still using them so that I will be good to go by the time I leave for London on Friday. Check out my bruises though!! Aren’t they awesome? Ankle Debacle 2009….

This week I have done some shopping, I went on a search for Birkenstocks with no luck. I need a warmer shoe than flip flops for London and Scotland but one my ankle and brace can fit in. No such luck here, so hopefully I will find some when I get to London. Other than that, we did the beach again today in Barcelona; it has been raining the last 3 days so this is the first pretty day in a while. Friday I’m headed to London and Scotland – London baby!! I believe Kristen and I will have some fun and find a few things to do…..
Tomorrow is test day again and dinner is ready so I need to head out. Look at the pictures hope you enjoy.