So cold...

Back in Frankfurt. It's so cold here that even the advertising pillars (if that's what you call them in English?) have to wear woolly hats! And it's raining, too. Will stay inside.

Montjuic

Today when I stepped out of the Metro, it was absolutely pouring with rain! In a matter of minutes, my shoes were soaked. The good thing was that the air in the city smelled a lot better afterwards.  Plus I didn't feel bad about spending time inside: I went to "Caixa Forum", which is a great exhibition space at the foot of Montjuic (one of the hills around Barcelona). It's free, the building itself is really worth seeing, and there are always lots of different things going on. It's also open on Mondays, by the way. 

Then I climed up to the "Palau Nacional de Montjuic". The view from up there is just phantastic. For the first time I also had a look inside the building - very impressive! It's the home of the national museum of Catalan art (I didn't actually visit the museum, though, just the shop. Got great postcards, though.)

A walk in the park

What I find strange here (still Barcelona, by the way) is that the Ramblas seem to be the main tourist attraction, when in fact there's not much to it but other tourists and living statues. There are so many really great places to see in this city. For example the Parc de la Ciutadella, which was just lovely in the afternoon sun today. From there I went down to the beach again (I had woken up with the best intentions to do something cultural, but then decided I couldn't possibly go inside while it was still so warm, plus all the museums are closed on Mondays anyway.) Before going home I bought my new favourite tea, "Mint Splash" at Sans i Sans. 

P.S.: Ok, I do admit there are good things around the Ramblas, e.g. the Palau Güell or the Boqueria.

To B or not to B?

I've just realised that so far, places starting with the letter B have played an important role in my year off. It started even before this blog: Basle, Boat, Berlin (maybe I'll write something about these later) . Then Brussels and Barcelona. Today I went to the beach (I found this guy with the seagull on his head on the way). And coming soon: Brisbane. Coincidence or fate? We'll see...

Barcelona!

I've loved this city since I first came here for a semester at the university sponsored by good old Erasmus (if you want to have an idea of what it was like, check out L' Auberge Espagnole - Barcelona für ein Jahr). I 've been back quite often since, but there are still many things that I haven't seen even though they are in all the travel guides. So this time around my goal is to do some of the "musts". The first has been "La Pedrera", one of Gaudi's great buildings on Paseo de Gracia. The view from the top alone was worth it, but the building itself is really cool, too. I especially like the wacky figures on the roof. There's also an appartment to visit and some good explanations about the history of the building and the new techniques he used.  If the queue to get in is too long (this is what kept me from visiting before), part of the building is also used as a gallery, and there are interesting (free) exhibitions inside. So you can get a glimpse of it without queuing or paying and see some art, as well. Also around the corner is the design shop Vincon - great for all kinds of cool gifts.

As I'm writing this, I'm sitting outside in the sunshine and sipping a glass of red wine. The more I think about it, the more sure I am that my dream job would either be in a country where it's warm and sunny or (even better) give me the freedom to decide where I want to be most of the time. The wine is optional, though... 

Frankfurt isn't so bad, either

When the weather is as beautiful as it has been today, my hometown is quite nice, too. In fact, if I didn't know for a fact that cold and grey months were ahead of me, I wouldn't have felt the urge to book a flight to New Zealand and Australia to spend the winter there. But there we are, it's done, and I'm glad the money is invested in travel rather than on the stock market. In the meantime, I'm enjoying Frankfurt - went to the English Theatre yesterday (we saw Gaslight, which was good, but not as scary as I had hoped), then a nice walk along the Main and a good bookshop browse. What more do you need? Having said that, am off to Barcelona tomorrow to enjoy even more sunshine (hopefully).

Brussels, Food

As usual, the best food was provided by my friend Ann-Clo. But we also went to some universally accessible places:

• Marcolini's. For me this is a must for every Brussels visit! Not for the chocolate (I'm not really into chocolate, you know), but for the stylish shopping bag.
• The bistro/cafe "Tasty" (Rue Edith Cavell 32, Uccle). You'd never guess that it's actually a hospital cafeteria, because it's a stylish space with good food. They also sell gifts and even do room service for the patients. What a great idea! (Idea: Start something like this in one of the many horrible German hospitals!)
  
• The "kifkif cafe" - an Arabic/Jewish restaurant, and this combination works very well in this case. The appetizer platter was extremely delicious!
  
• A fresh Belgian waffle from one of the waffle vans. I'd always thought I didn't really like those things but changed my mind completely!

Brussels, Sights

Just came back from a long weekend in Brussels. Even though I never seem to be very lucky with the weather there, I do like this city (and it didn't rain all the time). This picture is from the Museum van Buuren - both the garden and the house with its beautiful furniture and art collection are well worth visiting. We also enjoyed the Musical Instruments Museum (even if you don't go in, check out the building!) and spent a rainy Sundy morning in filigranes, a great bookshop (mostly French, but also a growing section of books in English).