Mayo

May was, by far, the best month of living in Barcelona. But sadly May also meant that my time there was coming to a close, but only for my next adventure. I am still in awe that I was able to live in Barcelona for those 4 lovely months, and in typical fashion, May proved to be the best month of the year. May consisted of a lot of walks, bike rides, music, museums, sunsets and good food. Dave and I mostly just soaked up the good vibe that Barcelona constantly evokes, and we couldn't have had a better time. 

We got really into cooking good meals due to the abundance of cheap fruit and veggies. Dave even graciously started me off with a recipe book as part of my birthday present where we are now writing down any recipes that we aspire to recreate. Along the same lines, Dave made a tapas evening for me, Valeria, Emi, Jeanne and Fausto as a sort of birthday dinner/going away party. But that was only after having a birthday breakfast of pancakes and mimosas on our lovely balcony. 

Pancake birthday breakfast!

Tapas birthday celebration, what more could one want?!

Falafel was one of our biggest cooking achievements during the month, and we clearly give a thumbs up to eating this on the regular. So do feel free to send us your favorite, tried and true recipes because we are adamant on expanding our cooking horizons.

Falafel Friday should be a requirement.

We also got quite into picnics seeing as how it seemed a shame to always eat inside when the weather was absolutely perfect. 

Post picnic cycle through Palau Reial.

Other birthday things included seeing the lovely Grand Budapest Hotel at the cinema! And having menu at the all vegetarian restaurant. Followed by a visit to the Magic Fountain, but this time with our own soundtrack. 27 started off quite swell, and I am really thankful for all of the birthday love I received this year, it always means a lot. 

Thumbs up to the Magic Fountain!

Going on walks always translated into stumbling upon some happening in the city that you could have never planned on. One of my favorite things about Barcelona is the fact that the city really does live and flourish out in the streets with one another. For example, I was so pleased to stumble upon the dancing of the 'gigantes,' or giants, because this is something I vividly remembered from living in Barcelona previously, and was really keen to show Dave. There isn't really much to say about the gigantes, other than that they dance around the streets to music, and Catalunya is really into it.

Aves gigantes.

Cave men gigantes

Another really cool thing we got into were free museum days. We became scavengers of free events in the city, because there was always something going on that didn't cost a cent. One day we checked out a really interesting exhibition titled "Metamorphosis" in the CCCB (Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona) regarding the history of animated films. Said exhibition even gave you a buy one get one free coupon to the Moritz factory, subsequently we spent an afternoon checking out the factory.

Shadows and films.

Magical mysteries.

We also checked out the Museu Blau, the museum of Natural Sciences. That was a really interesting museum, mostly because of the exhibit on the world's most poisonous animals. This was a particularly lovely day, because it included a long bicycle ride over to the museum, and Dave and Emi decided to try out their natural born abilities of bicycle flying... As mentioned.. bicycle riding did become a big part of our lives in Barcelona...

Self explanatory.

Pure talent.

Dave's roommate from Sweden was also in town for 2 nights, and it was really nice to see Jae. Jae has been traveling since leaving Abisko, making his way ultimately over to Portugal after seeing us. As I write this Jae is traveling back to South Korea, but will then be moving to Japan to be with his girlfriend and Dave and I are excited to visit him there some day. We enjoyed a lovely sunset and sangria from atop the 'bunker' with Jae.

Jae, Dave, and Dave's hair.

I accidentally didn't cooperate.

And then before I knew it, May was rapidly coming to a close. Alex and Lauren arrived on the second to last day of the month, and we had 2 full days of exploring Barcelona. Although we weren't able to make it to the Primavera Sound Festival in the end, Dave and I were at least able to enjoy the promotional activities happening in the city prior to the festival weekend. Apparently Primavera has a sponsorship from Heinken, and this equated to tons of free gigs happening around the city that were not only free admission, but also included your first beer for free. We took advantage of checking out the local talent, and the not so local beer. 

Primavera Sound Festival looked like this for us.

And then on the last night we spent in Barcelona, we had one last impromptu going away dinner/do. Emi made an entire pot of sangria, Dave made pizzas (a classic), and Lauren made fried plantains (platanos machos), mmmm! We spent the evening enjoying the balcony one last time. It was hard to say goodbye to Barcelona the following morning, but alas all good things must come to an end. The morning we left we were greeted with a gorgeous sunset over the calm sea, and then off we went to Asturias for the next third of Alex and Lauren's visit. Those pictures will come in my June update! :) 

Sangria master.

Sunrise over Barcelona.

And a double rainbow over the city on the day Alex and Lauren arrived.

Lastly, some pictures that Dave took during the month. He has quite a knack for snapping good photos, and I had to steal some and share them as well. Maqsum (the cat) was frequently the subject that we both incessantly were snapping away at (maybe me more than Dave). I was never a big cat person prior to Maqsum, but my heart has been swayed now, and I am quite eager to have my own handsome (chubby) black cat some day, they're just so much fun, and if you get the right one, quite snuggly.

Lounge kitten.

But then sometimes it all becomes a bit too much..

The full moon was brilliantly illuminating the sea.

Lazy days.

I usually couldn't get enough of the balcony, especially when the skies were clear.

I spy with my little eye, a cat named Maqsum.

Well May equaled a new year, and more fun than is really fair. It was surely the kick off to what will truly be a remarkable year. I was sad to say goodbye to Barcelona yet again, but overall I just feel remarkably lucky to have had the opportunity to live there once more. My Spanish is a tad better and I have tons of memories that I will cherish. Thankfully I had Alex and Lauren's visit to help me transition away from Barcelona; my heart was a tad less heavy than it otherwise would have been. Adios Barcelona, nos vemos pronto.