Too much of a good thing can be wonderful...

I am going to preface this post by saying this is a judge free zone.

I am about to admit a few of my biggest downfalls...I can neither decide if I am happy or sad that Murcia seems to cater to them all; however, I will just start my confessions--

 #1 CHOCOLATE! One word says it all.

I have an addiction...a horrible, terrible, wonderful sweet obsession with dark chocolate, light chocolate, milk chocolate--the pastries with chocolate, the sponge cakes with chocolate--basically anything, and everything that has chocolate to go with it. I am sure it is genetic considering my Grandma is also a lover of chocolate, but I know whatever it happening with me here, in this place, is unnatural. I have literally had to swear myself off of chocolate for seven days just to test my control. I feel like a kid on crack (not that I know what that feels like) needing my fix. I wish I could give you the words, but instead I will just show you the beautiful array of chocolate here in the region of Murcia. Of course this is not everything but you will all just have to use your imagination for the rest!

This is a chocolate chain in Spain...that's right you heard me, a chocolate chain!!!! This is not your average See's candies people. They have chocolate tastings, of course, I only found this out after I had sworn off chocolate for seven days. But, don't you worry, you can rest assured I will do a chocolate tasting before my time here is through! They also have a chocolate fondue with fruit. Great, two of my greatest downfalls at one little eatery.

Here is just a small glimpse of all the bountiful, chocolaty goodness this place offers.. I enlarged it for your viewing pleasure:) You can thank me later!

And now a small quote that made me feel better about my chocolate addiction:

Seize the moment.  Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert.   – Erma Bombeck

*I know, I know its a bit in bad taste but it just felt so right.

#2 Fruit

Murcia is known for their fruits and vegetables because the soil here is apparently God's gift to man. Its been called "the crop garden of Europe" and it should give you "gastronomic pleasure." I don't know about "gastronomic" but it sure brings me pleasure. I am telling you... I don't like oranges all that much in the U.S., but here I am popping these puppies like potato chips (you just can't have one). The fruit here is beyond delicious and goes straight into my "sinfully" delicious category. If I wasn't having to fight off my chocolate cravings I would be having fruit for desert. As it is I have fruit cups in the morning for breakfast and generally some during the day. I could also live off the fresh squeezed orange juice here. Basically, I enjoy the fruit almost as much as I enjoy the chocolate or equally as much and thats saying something. All I can hope, at this point in time, is that you can't overdose on fruit. I am quite sure, if you can, I am going to die a very happy woman.

Oranges, Kiwi, and Banana fruit plate!

Some of you who are on a diet will be happy to know that I have some non-food obsessions. Now you can stop reading about all my food obsessions (trust me there are more, but I just didn't have the heart to divulge) and we can leap right in to my money spending ones...

#3 Shoes

Oh jeez...where do I start with this one. There are just a few things in stores that I tend to buy more than the average person. One of them is shoes and another is lingerie. On the lingerie front I will just defend myself by saying it is not that I wear it for anyone in particular, because I don't. It is because it makes me feel confident and beautiful! and so, I'm afraid, do shoes. Now how does a woman say no to things that make her feel confident and beautiful...apparently, when she's this woman, she doesn't. In a two day period I have bought four pairs of shoes. Gasp! I know, this is so bad. All I can say for myself is that they are having sales until the end of February and I was compelled, I dare-say forced to do my civic duty as a shoe-a-holic and purchase these beautiful babies. Now, when you see them, if you have any love for what you put on your feet, you can't say I did wrong. Here is my shrine to the shoes that leave me breathless...

Well...this is the shrine...and you thought I was joking! And down below are close ups for you to salivate over.

That, my friends and family, is all the dirty laundry I can air in one day. I am sure you are as exhausted as I, but I am also just as sure you can feel better about all your little sinful delights because of the sheer proportion of mine. Large! I never did learn how to do anything in moderation...its all or nothing with me... and in this case it was definitely all!

It's a bird, no...a plane, nope... its just another castle:)

Two Murcianos I met in a café my first week here told me I should take a day trip to Lorca and, since we had a free day this Friday, that is exactly what I did. It is a small city about 50 minutes outside of Murcia. Our Mexican/American group of eight hopped on the first bus out of Murcia at 6:45a.m. and arrived in Lorca at about 7:45a.m.

Getting an early start turned out to be somewhat interesting because the city didn't wake up until 11:00a.m. Luckily, the tourist office opened at 9:30a.m. and we were able to get the run down of what we should see.

The tourist office first directed us to an old neighborhood in town and we stumbled across an outlook and church after a steady climb uphill. Here is the view from the top of Lorca...it was gorgeous:)

Gretchen and I with the stunning view of Lorca, Spain!

That thing you see in the top left hand corner is a castle. Yes, another castle. I am beginning to think they grow them here like trees. After climbing this monster of a hill we were all a little tired and hungry so proceeded to search for lunch. I had seen this wonderful meat and cheese shop on our way to the viewpoint and was instantly craving a sandwich and fruit. The rest of our merry little band wanted pizza so I separated from the group in search of something less american. This is what I found...

My beautiful Salami & Cheese sandwich with grapes!

The food was exactly what I had been craving. I plopped myself down in this little square with a fountain and just enjoyed the taste of my food and the feel of sunshine. It has been overcast for the past week and that glimmer of sunshine in the courtyard couldn't have been more perfect.

the little bench where I ate my lunch...

The fountain in this square...

After lunch a few little boys started playing soccer around me so I quickly joined in. It was a lot of fun to touch the ball after so long and a great way to pass the time.

Next we headed off to a castle that was quite a long walk up hill. It was such an adventure to walk up past houses attached to the hill, through neighborhoods that tourists rarely see. Finally, we ended up on a windy path that went round, and round the hill until tapering off into the entrance of the castle. It was called Fortaleza del Sol. The town of Lorca, in between Granada and Castilla, was a passing route and the castle was used to control the route.

View from the tower of Fortaleza del Sol

I never thought I would say this, but I am burnt out from visiting castles. I have seen three in the past two weeks and while some were larger than others they all have most of the same common features. The wonderful thing about them is their stunning views!

Something fishy this way comes...

Alicante was the last tourist destination my mom and I were able to visit before she left. It is a city about an hour away from Murcia. The airport in Alicante is where I will take most of my flights to other countries from. We didn´t know very much about Alicante before we arrived so when we got there we went directly to tourist information. The first place we headed to was the Castillo de Santa Barbara (I know you will enjoy this Breezy). It was a castle originally built by the Moors in the 10th century. The castle looks like it is a part of the mountain. The walkways were cobbled and I could almost imagine the hustle and bustle that occured when it was occupied by soldiers. Most places I visit here make me feel like I am walking back in time and this castle was no different. It was quite a bit of exersize strolling up and down the paths and both my mom and I were winded by the time we got to the top. The view was wonderful and we were lucky enough to have someone take our picture.

View of Alicante from Castillo de Santa Barbara

Mom in the arches!

Looks like it grew right up out of the mountain...

After we came back down from the castle we walked the palmtree lined promenade, La Explanada de España. It has 6.6 million beautiful tiles and I later learned it was created for the romantic spanish custom of paseo, an evening stroll. It doesn´t surprise me that the spanish consider strolling a romantic custom, but it certainly delights me. It reminded me what I love about this culture and its people.

La Explanada de España

For lunch we went to the highly suggested tapas restaurant, Nou Manolin.We finally had paella, one of the most famous dishes from España. It is a rice dish with chicken. Surprisingly, the best part of this particular meal was not the food but what my mom decided to comment on. My mom does not speak spanish so decided to point and ask in english what the man´s dish next to ours was (I tried to stop her but it was too late) and that my friends is how we arrive at...

Tip#3:
Do not. I repeat, Do Not,  point at people`s food. Especially when you are a foreigner in a spanish speaking country. And especially if you do not want to eat whatever is on their plate!

I am sure you can imagine what happened next. The two men next to us who could not understand a word my mom was saying, assumed (rightly so) that she would like some of their food. That food, happened to be some unknown marine creature, with tentacles and one eyeball (probably squid, but one can never be sure). I, being an innocent bystander, was also given one. Thanks mom.

My mom has not eaten a fish of any kind in 20 or more years, and while I like fish I steer clear of anything with tentacles and eyeballs. I tried it first. It was probably one of the most disgusting things I have ever eatan. The creature popped in my mouth squirting out squid ink. It was cringe worthy. The only good part of the situation was watching my mom go next. Not as brave as me, she cut off part of the head and ate some squid brains. Her face was priceless. I don´t think she will be trying fish for another 20 years. My biggest regret is that I didn't take a picture. Of course, one would think that after pointing once she would have learned her lesson. Instead, she decided to point at their next dish. She was rewarded with another unnamed fish, so was I. The third time she went to point I nearly jumped on her. So here is everyone´s warning: don´t point at what you don´t want in España, or, just to be safe, anywhere else.

We finished our wonderful day in Alicante walking along the Mediterranean sea. Being the tourists that we are we went to go touch it for the first time.

First view and touch of the Mediterranean!

Tapas and more Tapas

When we landed in Barcelona we took a van from the airport to our hotel, Le Meridian. Our hotel turned out to be the perfect location right in the heart of the city. It was nice staying in such a beautiful place in a central location. I will have to say goodbye to such rich digs because once my mom is out of the country it will be hostels all the way. We were exhausted but after dropping off our luggage. We hopped on the Barcelona Bus Turístic. I would definitely suggest this form of transportation for anyone who has just a few days in Barcelona. It has two routes that run past the largest attractions in the city. We were able to get our bearings and jump on and off whenever we saw anything we liked. Our first stop on Sunday was the Sagrada Familia. It was one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. Its indescribable, something you have to see for yourself to believe! The best part was taking the lift up to the towers. It is only an extra 2 Euros and the admission was 11.50 Euros. Looking down literally took the breath from my lungs (I am a little afraid of heights). Walking down was like walking through history. The stairs spiral down. There is a picture of my mom coming down below. It is an absolute must. Although I wouldn't recommend it if you get claustrophobic.

La Sagrada Familia 

Beautiful Stained Glass Windows Inside the Church

Mom walking down the Spiral Towers

After leaving the Sagrada Familia we rode the rest of the route and ended up back where we started. By this time we were both exhausted from lack of sleep and food and decided it was essential to eat Tapas before sleeping.

Tip #2: Talk to anyone and everyone you can! We happened to meet a man who had lived in Barcelona while waiting in the NY airport and he told us of a fabulous Tapas place to eat. It was 5 minutes from our hotel. The restaurant was called Ciudad Condal. It was everything he said it was and soooo delicious!

Left: Salteado de Girgolas con Jabugo (Oyster mushroom and cured ham)
Right: Artichoke with Garlic

The Tapas experience was wonderful and delicious. I can only hope that I can control myself for the next few months around all this new and exciting food. By the time we had 2 glasses of Sangria and ate we were both about ready to fall over. We went back to the hotel and fell into bed at around 7:30p.m. However, it felt like we hadn't slept in two days.

We both woke up wide awake around 2:00a.m. My mom finally got back to sleep at around 4:00a.m. and I took a bath because I was still wide awake. When I finally crawled back into bed at 6:00a.m. I was exhausted all over again. We both fell asleep without an alarm and didn't get up until 11:30a.m. which wan an accident. We were going to try to get up early and see more of the city but our bodies were not cooperating. We were starving by the time we left our hotel and headed for La boquería. It is a well know market here in Barcelona and has fish, meat, bread, and fruit stalls. We split a sandwich and then both of us got freshly made fruit juice. I had a coconut and strawberry and my mom had a banana and raspberry. They were both delicious and really helped us wake up. Make sure to head farther into the market to buy juice because the front vendors sell the same thing but charge a higher price.

We started walking Las Ramblas after we ate and we ran into these two characters....

They are freaky gargoyle things!!! They were actually pretty scary...the picture is dark so you can't tell that they had talons and were grabbing us and poking us. I can tell you after we ran into them we were wide awake. All along the Ramblas there are people dressed in crazy costumes and if you give them some spare change they will come alive. It is so much fun to watch and participate in.

We finally hopped on the bus for the second route at around 1:00p.m. This route had much more plants and trees growing and it was beautiful. We stopped at Montjuíc (Mountain of the Jews) and rode the teleferíc up the hill. At the top of the hill there was a beautiful castle with a bridge and cannons, the whole works!

Here was the bridge leading into the castle and the gardens...

We finished off the rest of the route seeing some really neat sites. We saw the monument erected for Christopher Columbus where he set off to find the new lands. We also walked through the Barri Gotíc (Gothic Quarter) with 2000 years of buildings and history. We grabbed some chocolate here that was to die for. Of course we couldn't finish off the day without some Tapas. Below is a picture of my mom in front of the place we ate at.

The food was great!

Later that night we went to see a Flamenco show that was pretty amazing. Just being in the country for two days I was already overwhelmed by the culture and talent of the people. Below are a few pictures from the show!

The entrance to the show:

One of the performers:

We finished off this night with a gelato...yummy!!!! Off to Murcía where I will be living for the next few months...wish me luck:)

Flying high...

For anyone making the trip from the states to Europe I will give you fair warning...the plane flight is difficult. My mom and I took the a 5 hour flight from LA to NY and then an 8 hour from NY to Barcelona. The first 5 hours were fine but on the way from NY to Barcelona we really needed to sleep. Spain is 9 hours ahead of the U.S. and we wanted to be ready to make the most of our 2 days in Barcelona. My mom happened to have the good fortune of picking the one chair in the plane that did not recline. We switched off through the afternoon trying to sleep but it was uncomfortable and we didn't get very much shut eye. About an hour and a half before we arrived in Barcelona I started to get fidgety so we both walked up and down the plane aisles and ended up talking to the flight attendants in the back.

Tip #1: Be kind to your flight attendants! Not only did they inform us that Macauley Culkin was in first class (I always loved the Home Alone movies) they also decided that we looked like we needed alcohol. I kid you not one of the flight attendants gave us a goodie bag to go...Take a look:)

Gearing Up....

I thought a lot of things about my trip to Spain. I thought I would have a lot of time to prepare, I thought I wouldn't be scared; however, I find myself now a week away from flying out of the U.S. and I feel both unprepared and scared. That's life for you. I am so excited to leave but it is frightening to know that I won't be back in the country for 5 months and 15 days (yes, I counted).

Being a girl, packing has become of paramount importance...I could certainly use any and all advice. I am not sure of how much of everything to bring. Of one thing I am certain, I will either pack too little or too much. Sadly, there is no in between with me.

Here is what finally made the cut:
-2 pairs of boots               -9 day to night shirts
-running clothes/shoes     -6 dresses
-4 pairs of jeans               -4 jackets
-1 sweater                        - and much much more....

Packing was so difficult. I don't know how to pack for this long of a time and I am sure that I left out all kinds of important things. If I have to go shopping it will be tough but I am certainly up to the challenge:)