Barcelona, take two.

We're baaack!! 

Our exploring of this amazing city had continued since our last check in. So far we have met a lot of incredible people (shout out to our fellow Canadians from Calgary, the German girls, Torahntah, our dodgy Londoners, and, of course, our Belgian friend Gary Poh'ah (with a tan). 

On our second day in Barcelona we dedicated our time to exploring the works of Antoni Gaudi. First stop: Parc Güell, where Gaudi had residence. This park was built with the intention of being a neighborhood, but only two homes were ever built (a bit of a failed venture).  Definitely a prime piece of real estate though, because it overlooks the entire city of Barcelona. Second stop: the Sagrada Familia. Met a bloke from the UK whilst awaiting our tour who was pretty coo. The first brick of this basilica was laid March 19th, 1882 and is scheduled to finish in 2026. We are already planning our next trip to Barcelona when we are 35 and 36 to see the final product. The guided tour left us in awe of the amount of thought and detail that went into designing each square inch of this structure, down to the last door knob. Highly recommended for any of those thinking of visiting! 

After sight seeing, we came back to the hostel for some enchiladas and sangria (again taking advantage of the bottomless sangria...I think we are falling into a routine). Went out for an organized pub crawl with our hostel - just happened to stumble upon Tony Parker and Pao Gasol at the final stop. Oh, and we so happened to be invited into the VIP section they were partying in. No big deal of anything. Made it home in one piece. 

Needless to say, the next day was most definitely a beach day. Our new friend Gary from Belgium joined us for a full day in the sun working on our Canadian (and Belgian) glows. Swimming in the Mediterranean was quite refreshing! After a long day in the sun we came home for dinner, watched Flamenco dancing, then hit the hay for the eve. 

Today was a day. We went with Gaaaaary to the Camp Nou (new stadium), home of the Barcelona Football Cub. This stadium houses 90,000 fans - would have loved to have been able to attend a match! After exploring the museum, losing Renée, contemplating leaving her, then finding Renée, we left excited to have had the chance to tour the stadium. Someone should pre-warm two fresh seats in the Barç bandwagon for next season. Oleeeee ole ole oleeee! 

We were sad to see Gary leave to go back to the land of chocolate this afternoon. Just about to head out to Barcelona's most popular club, Razzmatazz. We will let you know how we feel in the morning. Cheers to our final two nights in Barcelona. 

Until next time,

Sarah and Renée

We have arrived, first stop Barcelona!

June 25th

In front of the Mercat Boqueria entrance

Wow, the last couple of days have been a whirlwind! Arrived in Barcelona yesterday after 15 hours of travel. We attempted to have an intruiging convo en espanol, but the taxi driver was having none of it (we need to brushen up on our Spanish speaking skills ASAP, cerveza por favor just isn't cutting it !!). We arrived at our hostel 'casa gracia' and it is off the hook. The staff is really nice, the rooms are great, and after catching some Z's we  had tapas and sangria in the bistro (We took full advantage of the bottomless sangria, and have named the back patio the bistro, as it's up in the ranks with the renazzle dazzle cribazzle).

We woke up bright and early for a delightful continental breakfast. We decided to frolick the streets despite the rain and walked down La Rambla, one of the main avenues. We came across the Mercat boqueria, a market full of fruits, veggies, breads, nuts and our favourite, pig stomach. 

Catedral de Barcelona

We covered alot of ground, here are just a few places we hit..

• La Rambla de mar - ocean boulevard 
• Platja de sant miquell - the beautiful beach 
• Makamaka - restaurant patio lunch
• Barri gotic - the gothic district, full of beautiful architecture 
• Catedral de Barcelona - cathedral with live jazz music outside 
• Arc de triomf -  Paris has one, Barcelona has one, when is Canada getting ours? 
• Parc de la ciutadella - park near the Barcelona zoo with a beautiful fountain and greenery all around (the only trouble, was fighting off a man trying to peddle coconut chunks)

Parc de la Ciutadella

We then headed back to the hostel for an casual afternoon snooze. 

We went for dinner at tapas tapas, and ended our night buying aloe vera at the local farmacia to soothe our unexpected burns from the 26+ weather (the rain cleared up as soon as we left, and our rain jackets became trendy stomach belts.. We find ourselves starting to set some trends around here).

Stay tuned, we are planning to visit sagrada familia, a cathedral that is still being built after being started 85-100 years ago, as well we are in search of some viking FCB soccer players at the Camp Nou stadium. 

Bye for now,

Stay classy Canada, especially you, Campbell River!

Renee and Sarah 

Selfie at Arc de Triomf

Graduation and Beyond

I have officially graduated from UVic.. and could not be more excited! As I sit here and think back on the last five years of University, and the great memories and friends that I have met, all I can say is that these are the best days of my 23-year-old life so far. With just over 1 week until I leave for Europe (10 days... not that I am counting), I am getting anxious and excited, and my mom is now asking "are you sure you still want to go?" (She insists I take my phone and put on a texting plan so that I can contact her every day.. and tell her that I am not in trouble and I still have my passport.)
People tell me that I will learn more from travelling than I have ever did in my entire time at University.. if only I'd known that from the start.
However, I'd like to say Congrats to my fellow classmates; what an incredible group of people to have been around for the last few years and especially this final year. I wish you all the best and stay in touch! PE class will not be the same without all of you.
As a grad present, my brother bought me a camera card so I can take hundreds of pictures of my trip. He also bought me this app called 'Word Lens' where you hold your phone over writing in another language and it translates it into english. For someone who knows English and only English, this app will definitely come in handy in Europe. Now I know that I will not be stuck with just eating crème glacèe and drinking vino. However, I wouldn't be too upset eating ice cream and drinking wine for the entire time.
I am slowly starting to pack, like any trip I ever go on, I pack about 1-2 weeks in advance because I want to rush the time until I leave for my trip.

So here's to the next 10 days of packing, re-packing, and saying goodbye to work and the BEAUTIFUL city of Campbell River.

And to the next five years of adventures!!

Sarah

Getting Excited for Europe

Just checked back in to Renazzle Dazzle's Cribazzle (otherwise known as home) after my month in Kelowna. I had an incredible time at my first-ever pharmacy preceptorship where I learned more in four weeks than I have in my three years of university, and let's not forget the continuous dance party that went on (watch out, High School Musical). I also had the opportunity to attend a pharmacy conference and network with some of BC's amazing pharmacists, leaving me even more inspired to go out and make a difference after I graduate in 2 years. More importantly, I got to spend quality time with my family (I think I have fully earned the name "Rotund Renée" after all of those meals fit for royalty at Gramma and Grampa's - I joke...but not really...haha!). Oh, and of course I came home with more tea :)

It hit me this morning that I will be blasting off to Europe in t-minus 21 days. While that seems like a ways from now, I know the time fly by. Just a few of the things going on before June 23rd...:

• Finish off my preceptorship portfolio
• Reunion with some pharmaphriends (#nicetimes #cmin #hashtag)
• Time with the fam jam!
• Crossing some things off of the Epic List of Activities and Festivities 
• Getting my backpack/camera for the trip
• California-bound with Momma D and the two seeesta's 
• Packing for Europe
• Trying not to go crazy with excitement
• Last-minute shenanigans before I leave
• ...Go crazy with excitement
• Leave on a jet plane not knowing when I will be back again (well, my plane ticket tells me when I will be back, but that is beside the point..)
• EUROPE!!! :D :D

It feels surreal that this is actually happening. I don't think it will hit me until I recover from my jet-lagged stupor and realize that I am no longer in Vancouver. A part of me is scared of the unknown, but this is mostly overpowered by my extreme excitement (those of you who have seen me unleashed in a tea shop would understand).

So for now, I will start doing some of those "in-between" things before the 23rd! Watch out, Europe, I'm comin' for ya!!

-Renée