Day two began with another round of talks, this time about security abroad and things of that sort. Breakfast was significantly better thanks to what seemed to be freshly baked chocolate croissants. Molt bé. Once done with the official business, we again headed out to be tourists. First stop was food, though, since we had been obsessed with finding a Döner Kebab since arriving in Iberia. Taking Jordí's advice we found a nice little place on Calle de la Cruz near Sol. Yum. Not having much of an itinerary we then continued to wanter about the city, first passing through the Plaza de Cibeles, where the gorgeous Post Office, Bank, and Cervantes Institute are located. A stroll down Gran Vía then took us for a bit of shopping down Fuencarral. Despite all the cheap shoes I ... read more

After our first morning of sleeping in, Alex, Kelsey, and I did a bit of shopping, first stopping at the Casa de Formatge. This store is, as you may have guessed, entirely devoted to cheese and has ample free samples. There is also a restaurant on the 2nd floor that offers everything from raclette to fondue to just plain cheese tables. You can even buy a hardcore raclette device that really is just a heat source and cheese mount so you can actually just smother your food with melted cheese from one giant hunk - no fuss with paddles. I look forward to the day I have a mental breakdown and calm myself via shoving pounds of cheese from this place down my throat. Our next stop at the food section of the Pyrenées department store ... read more

Day two started bright and early as we had to be at the government buildings quite at 9am to meet our liaison, Jordí to start all the paperwork. We had also learned that there were in fact 3 students from Oxford joining us for the first few months and met Rakhi, who was also staying in our Aparthotel. Jordí was great - somewhere in his 30s, nicely dressed with a little European scarf and nice shoes and with excellent English. The whole immigration process is somewhat tedious, and without our Residence Card we can't really do much in the country. For the next few days we would be running around to various government buildings and even the hospital for blood tests - the residence card wouldn't be ours for another week or so. Lame. The bank ... read more

Day two in Barcelona, our last full day together, started around 10 when we woke up after a hot, uncomfortable night’s sleep on a shitty mattress. The plan was to hit up Corte Inglés for a) shampoo and soap, since I had left my stuff at Inés’ mistakenly, and b) get an outlet converter since Chris had left mine in Valencia. Well I had conveniently forgotten it was Sunday, when all the shops are closed all day long. Perfect. Our dreams of a cheap lunch from the supermarket were also crushed. Alas, instead we decided to soak up some Barcelona culture at the local McDonalds where we knew we could at least get free WiFi with ordering something. I got a cup of coffee and a donut for 1 euro, which gave us 30 minutes. We ... read more

Finally there came a morning where I woke up at a reasonable hour, and I was able to wake up leisurely, shower, and write some blog entries before heading to the beach. Around 11 Inés' friend Dámaris picked us up for a day at la platja de Sant Joan - a beach in the town of Sant Joan, which is right next to Alacant (Alicant) and some 40 minutes away. The ride down was painless - it was interesting to see how desert-like and desolate it can be between cities inland from the coast. The beach itself was fairly crowded and lined with hi-rises, but the mountain backdrop and blue water were absolutely beautiful. The water was super warm - I don't know how we tolerate New England water. Still Inés claimed it was gelat - ... read more