Restaurant Review: Sinatra in Barcelona

The dinners were definitely the highlight of Kate and my Barcelona trip.

I'm a foodie, what can I say?

The first night we stumbled upon this little plaza and had paella.

The second night we went to the plaza again and one of the promoters told us about this awesome restaurant.

It was down a dark alley, so perhaps going to it wasn't our smartest move, but it was well worth the potential danger.

Friends, I present to you Sinatra.

The food was sort of a fusion American/Spanish.

I had the best risotto with walnuts (interesting combo but so delicious) and a Tequila Sunrise (to match my sunburn).

The decor was old Hollywood, and they had a movie screen up with Casablanca playing silently. I died.

If you ever find yourself in Barcelona, Sinatra is right off of La Rambla. You must go.

second post of the day...it happens.

Today is a rainy day in Paris.

And I'm resting up before going out tonight.

So why not ramble on some more?

Are y'all on Pinterest?

I'm obsessed.

It's like DIY heaven.

Thought I'd share some of the best things I saw today.

when I'm a grown up and throw Super Bowl parties I'll make these!

sugar cookie fruit tacos - i die.

i dream of being this organized one day

aren't these freakin' cute? perhaps i'll make them on my first day back in America

yum yum yum

drooling

appropos, non?

...huh...

all food related.

so typical.

click here to follow me on pinterest!

I see a little silhuetto of a man...

Last week my friends and I went to an Irish pub and this live French band was playing (American) music.

Bohemian Rhapsody came on and I sang along. It was one of the best moments of my life.

Good beer.

Good friends.

Good music.

That's about all I need.

Barca via iPhone and why I'm about to have the best week of my life...

1. View from the balcony of our hostel

2. Legit spray paint on a wall--so euro

3. My polka dotted shirt!

4. In the plaza where we ate dinner all three nights

sangria and walnut cake--life doesn't get much tastier.

Friends, have you ever been to Barcelona?

Spain's city on the water is the most popular place for people from my school to go abroad.

Kate and I jetted there for the weekend.

We feel like mortal sinners for admitting this and I know my generation will collectively disown me but

...we didn't like it.

The humidity was oppressive, the city was really dirty, and it's very Americanized.

We did manage to have some fun and got to see a friend from school, so I'm very happy we made the trip.

I'm going to try to upload more photos, and I have a restaurant review planned, but I have a very busy week ahead of me so it might have to wait until next week.

You may have noticed the title of this blog post...here's what I got cookin' this week:

Tomorrow: (post-midterm...the only gray cloud on an entire week of sunshine) Shopping on the Champs-Elysees, then seeing Harry Potter at midnight (because France is baller and releases movies on Wednesdays)

Wednesday: one of our friends in our program is turning 21! And Bastille celebrations start Wednesday night.

Thursday: BASTILLE DAY. Since I missed out on the 4th in America, I plan to live vicariously through France and its independence day. Red, white, and blue, get ready!

Friday: Amsterdam!

It's okay to be jealous of me. I'm jealous of me too!

Five Things Friday: Paris II

Kate and I are running around Barca this weekend!

While I'm a little sad about leaving my wonderful Paris,

I'm thrilled about soaking up some Spanish sun.

Today's Five Things Friday

is Parisian-themed again,

just like last week.

(okay, let's be real...this whole blog is Parisian themed, at least for the next month)

This week I'm sharing five of the most amazing things I've seen in this gorgeous city so far.

Trust me, this isn't even the half of it.

I hope I'll be able to fill you in on everything,

but that could take a while.

Like maybe until December.

But we'll see what we can do.

1. The pyramids outside the Louvre. I felt like Tom Hanks in The da Vinci Code (just with better hair). They are visually stunning and completely stand out from the traditional Parisian architecture. And the big one is sneaky--it's actually an entrance to the museum, which I never realized.

2. The Mona Lisa. Everyone told me seeing it would be disappointing, and it definitely was (it's tiny, you can't get that close, etc) but it was so exciting to see something so famous! And my boy Leo was pretty damn talented, even if the Mona Lisa is kind of a let down.

3. A whole windowsill dedicated to macarons. If I could choose any dessert in the world to eat for the rest of my life, it'd be those bad boys.

4. The religious iconography in the front of the Notre Dame. The detail that the 13th-century sculptors put into it is just astounding.

and last but certainly not least...

5. The Eiffel Tower light show at night. The highlight of my life thus far. If you've seen it, hopefully you know what I mean. If you haven't, I can't describe it, except to say that it is incredibly amazing and you need to get your booty to Paris. Visually stunning, and it made me feel like a part of something really special.

Adios!

Hope you all have wonderful weekends!

I promise to show you the highlights of Barcelona next week.

Don't you Louvre it?

So I've been getting some feedback.

And y'all seem to like all this Paris nonsense I've been rambling on about.

I figure, you gotta give the people what they want!

So fret not, I'll continue to speak of Paris

24/7

365.

Today's adventure covers

Le Louvre.

What is especially cool about the Louvre is that it is free for art history students (which my ID proudly boasts--I'm studying the history of Paris through its architecture, y'all!). A group of my friends and I took advantage of this sweet deal and headed to the palace on the Right Bank on our third night in the city. It was the second-coolest highlight of my trip thus far (you'll see the first tomorrow!). The Louvre is the most exquisite combination of modernity and ancient history that one can imagine. I could ramble on for hours on end about its magnificence, but I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Pretty dang cool.

I still have a museum wish list:

Musee d'Orsay

Ann Frank's House (Amsterdam)

Van Gough Museum (Amsterdam)

Paris: A Foodie Perspective

Food. A topic on which I could ramble forever. It's just so dang good.

In the months leading up to my trip to Paris I was really strict about what I ate.

Tryin' to make room for some Parisian food, y'all.

And boy have I made up for it in these 6 days.

One important point, though: Paris does not love vegetarians.

I'm making do, but most menus don't include any just veggie options at all.

crepes, sandwiches, macarons,

oh my.

my favorite thing so far was the croque madame sandwich (directly above) without the ham.

i got it after my orientation at a cafe right down the street from my school.

guess where i'm going tomorrow.

also, new goal for the trip: eat at least one crepe or macaron per day.

it will be a miracle if i haven't gained 300 pounds by the time i get back.