Barcelona: Everything from beach to Museums

This month, August, I was lucky enough to get to travel to Barcelona! Fantastic city. Amazing beach. Lovely culture. We went to a lot of museums, but I also loved just walking around in the older parts of the city. - Basically it is that kind of city you pack away your town-map for the day and go get lost.

We stayed at the Paraiso Travellers Hostel. It was a lovely place, with an amazing staff that went above and beyond expectation for us. The hostel is relatively central considering the different sites. However, that do depend on what you expect. If your holiday to Barcelona is beach-related, this is still an ok hostel, where you can take a bus to the beach. But it is relevant to maybe check out other possibilities closer to the beach.

Considering the sights, this city is full of possibilities. You can go all artist-crazy and see all the amazing art museums, all of Gaudi's buildings and even pay to go inside the Gaudi Park (not cheap though and possible to see his buildings from the outside. But this park is relevant to book from home!). I would suggest taking one of the free walking tours, potentially pay for a Gaudi-tour if that is of interest and go see the Museums. The Museums are on some days, and within some hours, free e - so it is definitely a good idea to check them out on forehand.

A must see in Barcelona is the Sagrada Familia - Gaudi's amazing work which is said to be finished in 2028. It is an amazingly odd church, and if you are interested it is possible to participate in the service under the church: It is open for every one, but do remember that it is a service and people do attend to worship. If you want to skip the line, then order the tickets from home. It safes you a lot of waiting time!

The Gluten Free Travel
To stay gluten free and milkfree is not that big of a deal in this city. If you ask "sin gluten" (without gluten) or "sin leche" (without milk) in spanish most people understand. There is supermarkeds that sell soya milk and glutenfree products, but I only found the gluten free products in "Mercadona". It is a larger supermarked and not like the smaller supermarkets that is spread all over town. In Mercadona there is a lot more glutenfree and milkfree possibilities. It is worth the effort to find one of these and shop for breakfast, as it is difficult to find anything else than eggs and bacon for breakfast. Most important of all: They do have soya milk for the coffee. So just ask! Huzzah for that trending!

I do suggest that you before finding any supermarket, go find the bakery: Forn Boix. They have a lot of possibilities for the glutenfree and they have made sure that it is completely glutenfree and does not have traces of gluten. They sell bread and different cakes in sealed plastic boxes you can buy.

Next, when in the area of Sagrada Familia anyway, go visit the Cafe: Gaudi Bakery, on Sardenya no. 298. They serve the most delicious glutenfree sandwiches and are fully informed on the tolerance vs allergy dilemma!

When it came to dinner and lunch it was a bit more difficult and some times I wasn't as strict as I would be at home. But I found that restaurants and cafés do have alternatives and knows the possibilities, and if anything fails you can always go to McD or drink Sangria and eat a lot of Paella!

All in all, this is not the last time I will go to Barcelona - and no I have no intention of visiting the stadium or watch football. A glass of sangria, the culture, the vibe and the beach is good enough for me! :)

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Change, the unavoidable force coming our way

Life seems to change around me in a speed where I can't keep track. I am finished with studying and is applying for a real grown-up job, friends are changing their social status from in a relationship to married, and other friends are changing from family of two to family with kids.

Sometimes changes seems more visible when a person gets a boyfriend. Gets married. Becomes a mother. All things relating to a relationship with another person. Being single, changes is more of a internal nature - not as visible as when you are two people changing each others lifes to become more compatible with the twosome they are trying to create together. Because no matter how they see their lifes, when one life becomes part of another, people change. I believe that it's supposed to change people. Having two different people trying to make a common foundation for their future life together.

Embracing singleness means embracing and holding on to the changes that are happening in your life, without relation to another human being.

I have a degree now.
I am applying for a job.
I am looking and dreaming of buying my own space.
I am dreaming of becoming an author.
I am planing a travel to The US, on my own.

All life-changing experiences that might not terminate in a lifelong commitment like marriage might symbolise, but still will make a change in me. Once I wore a more boyish stile, now I have a tad more feminine look. Once I had a mother and a father, now I only have a mother. Once I thought I wanted a family: Husband, kids and dog. Now, I honestly just want to live the life I was granted to the fullest. Travel. Meet people. Experience cultures. Things change. We change. I changed!

I guess the goal is not to look at the things I didn't get to experience, but all the experiences I gained and all the experiences that are yet to come!

Dreaming of ... Madrid

Every year my siblings and I celebrate my late fathers birthday by doing something special in the weekend before or after the date of his birthday and last year we decided to go to Madrid. Unfortunately, my brother couldn't join my sister and I. However, thinking back on the trip with my sister, I am reminded of a lot of "hygge" as we say in Danish. Tons of girl talk, getting closer to one another, and bonding. All in all a fantastic time with my beautiful sister.

I was told by someone who was quit familiar with the city to just "get lost", so we mostly did. Sometimes the best way to enjoy a different city is to just walk around and see what happens. Among the many experiences getting lost led to, a street market was my personal favourite. Sometimes the best jewellery is bought everywhere else but at home.

Madrid is in my opinion the master city in 'dress up'. Every where we went, every where we looked, there was always someone dressed up as something or someone specific. We became friends with Mr Bean and Spongebob Squarepants (Personal favourite as he reminded me of a particularly, annoyingly awesome ringtone I once woke everyone up with in a dorm room). Also a rather hilarious version of a not so fit Spiderman ruled the streets with his rather funny looks and moves!

Madrid also has a lot of different art museums and other "must see's". We did go to see the palace (a little overpriced compared to what we actually experienced within the palace). A personal favourite was all the modern art we experienced at one of the many museums. It is always amazing to see what other artists can do with heels from shoes, plastic and frames.  I am a sucker for these kinds of things and can spend hours in places like these.

All in all, we where quite lucky with the weather in Madrid. It was in March, and the temperature was warm enough to expose some skin and enjoyed the first beams of sun in the parks. Concluding, Madrid is a city I would enjoy travelling to again, but I must admit that there are several places I would love to experience before going here again. If you get the chance to experience Madrid, you should truly enjoy "getting lost", art, tons of tapas and a good glass of wine! My sister and I did most of it, despite the fact that I was a bit difficult with my gluten-allergy and such when it came to food. Luckily my amazing sister where patient with me and we had an amazing time!