Last weekend of August

I feel a bit confused and unable to change anything in what and how I am. Though it may not be the best solution…I will just ignore everything and continue playing the game. This time last year I was leaving for Aarhus and saying goodbye to things I still miss and probably never be able to recover and catch up with. This time last year my life changed completely and I became a roomate. Life is different and the way I act towards it changed...

After a great week with horror movies and people I'm starting to love as days go by, yesterday I wanted to stay home and rest. The boys were supposed to return this weekend and I wanted to get ready for their crazy ways. But, 2 hours after going to bed...at around 3 a.m. Alex arrived with two of his friends from their 9 days - 9 countries tour. They were a bit tipsy and wanted to go out.

The Romanian state is continuing to take advantage of my free work...so this weekend I have to work from home.

On Sunday it was my Saint name day, a day a never celebrate because that is my name only in papers and I don't feel related to it. Still I went with Alex to Rastro, in La Latina, which is a street market full of colour  I bought myself a small, short, my new trade mark dress and some rings...and a nice Breakfast at Tiffany's wallet :). We also had Indian food at a restaurant in Lavapies. I loved the market...I will definitely go there again before leaving. I remembered today Irina telling me to visit Madrid, because it's a nice city to see and it hides lots of treasures. I realised that I cannot visit a city I live in, because I don't feel like in holidays and I don't feel like a tourist...I'm even shy to take out the camera. I never visited Bucharest, or Kiev and I never actually visited Aarhus either. If somebody would ask me what are the best things to see in these three places...I wouldn't know what to say. I will never probably see more of Madrid than I get to see while living here...and I don't mind because it already is a special city for me.

Lost in Madrid in August

Even though work at the Consulate takes more that half of my personal time and the boys weren't home this month...I still managed to spend some time out of the apartment. Summer doesn't seem to be as strong as it used to be at the beginning of July, when I arrived in Madrid. The Romanian news announced storms in Spain, but this happens mostly in the East, as I saw on the news here. I can feel the change in the morning when I go to the Consulate...I always think about taking something to cover my arms, but then when get to the never ending metro, I feel like loosing as much clothes as I can. I started using the normal stares at the metro, because since I started working at the Consulate I didn't have any time for running...so I am doing my exercises as I can, when I can.

Soon I will start writing my internship report. My classmates are announcing their return to Aarhus, and the end of their holidays...I still have no idea what I am going to do...my status is pending.

Out with Irina, Alex and others, the usual walking from bar to bar night (every time I'm going out with Alex and Andre we have to enter at least two bars, depending on how long the night is going to be, you never really drink two beers in the same place).

Plaza de Toros, sin corida (Plaza de Toros in Madrid is announced, by a big advertisement in front of it, as being the greatest in Spain. It's pretty close to my house and they seem to have coridas every weekend. The cheapest ticket is 5 euros, the view is bad and they announce you that you have to stand the heat of the sun though out the show. I would like to go, not till the end, because it's cruel, but at least to feel the vibe of the show) + Sushi night with Irina :)

With Andrei, Cristina and Florin at "El templo de Debod" at sunset (this is an original 2200 years old Egyptian construction, dedicated to Isis and Amon, which has been given as a gift to Spain by Egypt in 1968).

In love with Barcelona

The second city in Spain and Madrid's main competition. Full of colour and architectural styles, full of tourists and of noise... We left on Friday with the night train, which looks pretty much like a normal Romanian train...we were a bit disappointed when we saw it and the super uncomfortable night we spent in it, gave us the chills when we were thinking about the way back. We walked through the whole city and though our feet were killing us we kept discovering every corner of the city. The only two little days we had didn't allow us to visit everything on the outside, but we saw kind of everything Barcelona had to offer us. This is a super must see city, but maybe it would be better to visit it off-season to see everything. Catalan is different from Castilian and the people from Barcelona are different from the ones in Madrid...while there, I was thinking again about the remark I made with the differences between Spanish...and I continues to think that every region is totally different and they are a bit divided. The prices were extremely high...especially for museum and other tourist things and they were a bit taking advantage of everything they were offering. The beach was extremely dirty and the water too hot and blurry. I am the kind of person who likes to splash around but this time I didn't feel like it. The waves are super strong and you could feel the depth of the water immediately.

Still we saw the best of Spain and ate the best Paella, Pulpitos and Patatas Bravas in Spain :)