semana santa with my dad: barcelona, lisbon, paris, & madrid

Never in my life have I been told more that I look so much like my dad. When he visited, both my friends here and my teachers from school, were just awed that I look so much like him. I guess it's because a lot of people here haven't seen me next to my mom in person, but I think I look like her too. A little more like dad though, especially when we are next to each other. I don't mind though, because he is one of my favorite people in the world, so being more like him isn't a bad thing.

So for dad's trip, I just have to say it was SO GOOD to see my dad and have him here. It's nice when the people you love want to know about your life and experience and see it, and know that you are happy and why. So it was just really nice to share this world him. It was nice to share not only Madrid with him, but the wanderlust travel side of my life that a lot of people don't really understand until they see it or experience it with me. AND understanding that traveling and adventuring is fun, but living out of a dirty suitcase, and running to make metros or trains, or missing flights, or eating super cheap food because you're on a budget, is not always as glamorous as it seems to be.

Anyways, so we started in Barcelona and got to see all my favorite things there. Barcelona was a good hub for us to travel out of and it's a great Spanish city to see, so we began our trip there. Dad flew into BCN from LAX and flew in that same morning from Madrid. I've been to Barcelona before (on 2 different occasions, once w mom and once with Joyce & Harold) but it's so incredible with all the Gaudi art and the beach, I didn't mind going again to show dad around. We did all my favorite things, we went to La Boqueria (awesome open air market with fresh food, some tapas restaurants, fresh juices, but also spanish fresh meat/fish/veggie market), La Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, the Picasso Museum, the Olympic stadium, Casa Mila, and the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc. Dad had his share of tapas, and on our last day there we also ate at Moaz Veg which is this awesome falafel place that I love, but they are super scarce in the world.

Unfortunately, it wasn't super hot while we were there to enjoy the beach. BUT my dad HATES the beach anyways so it's a moot point. I don't really understand how you can be a Los Angeles native and Californian for life and hate the beach but, he does.

Next, we flew to Lisbon, Portugal. Everyone told me that I would love Lisbon and that it's beautiful and super small and cultural, and I love cities like that (like Prague, and like Sevilla). And I was super excited to go because I had never been there before!! Lisbon was small, and super hilly. It reminded me of a really old San Francisco, I think that Tito (MK) would like it because she loves San Francisco and will never come home. Anyways, so Lisbon. The first day we were there we kind of just walked around and explored. I made my dad walk down to the ocean with me (which was like a 10 min walk from where we were staying) even though he hates the beach. But there wasn't really a beach, it was more port ish, kind of like parts of the port of Long Beach.

Dad hating the beach

Teresa & I

Us in the GoCar

Dad driving the GoCar

If you visit me, I'll make you do stupid things like pose as a fish...

Dad & a penguin

The city was really old, not as kept up as I thought it would be. Our first night there, we met up with Teresa (my roommate from the fall in Madrid). Teresa was on Erasmus (our version of study abroad type thing but in Europe) in Madrid and she went back to school in Lisbon at the end of January. I was really excited to see her and we almost missed each other because she was going back to Braga (her hometown from northern portugal) for Easter vacation, the next day. I didn't realize how much I missed her until we were having dinner. It was soooo good to catch up with her and just talk about life, because she knows what my life is like here so it was really fun for me because she gets it. I'm so glad I got to see her, and I'm sure that I'll be back sometime to see her or we even talked about meeting up somewhere this summer.

That night, we researched what we wanted to see/plans for the next day. At the tourist office, we got a flyer for GoCar, which is actually a scooter but in the shape of a mini baby car. So the GoCar has a GPS that leads you on a guided tour, but you drive it all around. And Lisbon isn't that easily walkable because it has so many steep hills, so dad and I (but mostly dad) thought this would be a great idea to go sightseeing around Lisbon and to Belem. It was definitely an adventure, it was super fun, but we got lost a lot and there were a lot of one way or small streets that we couldn't turn on. I would only ever do something like that with my dad so I'm glad we had that experience. It let us see Lisbon in a different way which was really cool. We also got to see the Oceanario, which was huge and amazing. And it had jellies (i love jelly fish). We got to see penguins, sea otters, tons of fish, sharks, etc. It's almost as cool as the Long Beach Aquarium.

The next day, we took a day trip to Sintra to see the Palácio Nacional da Pena and the Moorish Castle. Both the Moorish Castle and Palácio Nacional da Pena are in the Sintra mountains and Sintra-Cascais Nature Park. The National Park is a World Heritage Site classified by UNESCO in 1995. I mainly wanted to see the Palacio de Pena, which is this great big princess palace!! Seriously, from fairy tales. It was gorgeous, and medieval, and painted pink, purple, and yellow. It was really fun to go there and see the palace because I had heard so much about it from friends of mine. It was definitely worth the trip to Lisbon and the train to Sintra. Dad also wanted to see the Morrish Castle while we were there, so we hiked along this castle/defense wall up to the top of these strategic look out points. In reality, the Moorish Castle wasn't really a castle but a series of defense walls, so that was a little disappointing, but it had really cool views of the whole National Park and the Sintra mountains.

All that being said, I didn't love Lisbon as much as I thought I would, maybe because I had really high expectations, and it turned out to be an older city, not as kept up, and not as walkable, and the beach didn't really exist. Even so, it was really fun to explore somewhere new with my dad and to see Teresa.

The next city we went to was Paris. I always have mixed experiences in Paris. The first time I went, I was 18 and it was time in Europe, so it's super nostalgic and with mixed memories of high school friends and Jenna/I's crazy backpacking trip. The last I went, it was with Joyce and Harold and it was super awesome because it was our first city in our month Europe trip, and I hadn't been back since I had lived in Sevilla. So I've had really interesting experiences in Paris, the first not so great and I didn't like it and the second time, I loved the city. So this time, was nice because I still have good feelings about Paris and I wasn't rushed to see everything. Dad and I did all the things we wanted to see because we did one of those big red bus hop-on-hop-off tours. We went to the Eiffel Tower, the Lourve, the Moulin Rouge, Sacre de Coeur, the Arc de Tromphe, Champs-Elysees, Notre Dame, etc. One thing that I've also always wanted to do was take a day trip to Giverny. In Giverny, in the Normandy province of France, is Claude Monet's old country house and gardens that inspired his famous "Water Lily Pond" painting from 1899. It is a dream garden. And I had always dreamed of going, so it was definitely something I got to cross off my bucklist. Dad said the water lilies (Japanese garden) was idyllic. It was super serene and peaceful. Such a great place in a painter's heart. I loved the flower garden though. The mix of colors and different flowers was awesome, it was just gorgeous. It's one of those places you describe really, and pictures don't do it justice. It's a being there thing.

At the top of the Arc de Triomphe

 On the hop-on, hop-off bus

Dad in front of the Lourve

Eiffel Tower by night! I swear, he had more fun than this... he just didn't know I was taking a picture

Giverny!!!

After Barcelona, Lisbon, and Paris, we came back to Madrid. I love traveling, but it was really nice to finally be home. That's one of the things I love most about living abroad and getting to travel on weekends, is that you have a home base and it's nice to be grounded every once in a while. I had to go back to school on Tuesday so we had a super short time in Madrid. We went and did a few touristy things in Madrid like Mercado de San Miguel, the Crystal Palace, etc. Dad had his share of Spanish jamón (ham) and tapas including spanish tortilla de patata, paella, and other favorites. It was nice because he got to see my life and meet my teachers/friends too. It was sad to see him go but we had such a good trip!! I'm so glad that he came.

Last weekend, I was in Marbella/Gibraltar and this coming weekend I will be in Sevilla for Feria (that reminds me, I need to tell my Manoli that I'm coming). Life has been so busy so I will update you later on my beach weekend in Marbella and my undying love for Andalucía. I literally haven't fully unpacked bags for almost a month now, since I have been traveling so much -- and I am finishing this blog post as I repack my bag for Feria in Sevilla tomorrow. I can't wait to be home and see my Manoli.

Things to look forward to: LESS THAN 2 MONTHS UNTIL SHARLA COMES (!!!!). and I will be home August 1st. I can't wait for Dodger games, and my family, and the beach, and the California sun, and hiking, sister concerts, and Lemonade, and my friends.