#2 - Visit a New Foreign Country
September 2-12, 2009 - Barcelona, Spain with Steve
Missel, Katie Wissink and Julie Walker, followed by a week at a castle
in France with a whole bunch of people. It's hard to even know how to
atempt adequately summarizing the trip, but I'll take a shot at it.
Barcelona
- Went for a bike tour led by an Australian dude.
- Saw Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila, Casa Batila and Guell
Park.
- Rode the funicular (you can't spell it without "fun") to the top
of Mount Tibidabo, where we were surprised by the juxtaposition of old
cathedral-esque church and amusement park.
- Swam in the Mediterranean, which as it turned out was tainted by
the day's effluent of shit.
- Tore up the nightlife until 5am.
- Missed our train to France.
France
- Arrived by bus, 4.5 hours later than we would have by train.
- Got lost mutliple times on the way to the castle because we
didn't rent a GPS.
- Visited Saint Emilion, Rocamadour, Perigueux, Cap Ferret,
Bordeaux, Riberac and Brantome.
- Got food poisoning (Jimmy only) in Cap Ferret/Bordeaux.
- Stayed up late two consecutive nights throwing our own dance
party, the second of which was affectionately referred to as the "Pants
Off Dance Off".
- Attended a murder mystery dinner, preceded by a day at the pool
with fun underwater camera action.
- Ate kangaroo and donkey (not related to #4 above).
- Went for a boat ride 300 feet underground (in "Mother Earth's
vagina").
- Saw Julie puke from a castle tower.
- Bought $90 worth of cheese all at once.
- Drank tons of wine, and always woke up ready to do it again (no
hangovers!).
Memorable Quotes
- "The brown stuff you see? Well, it's shit."
- "Yo soy Julio Walker."
- "You requested a 7am wake up call. It is now 9:20."
- "It's natural. The body prefers it."
- "This is how we do it in Fruuuuuuuhnce!"
- "Cougar's gotta pounce if it wants to eat."
Tons of photos were posted online. The group has a Picasa site here, and I put
a collection of
my favorites on Facebook here.