Well, now that I’ve finally arrived in Portland, I think it’s safe to say that the business school adventure has officially come to a close. Which is to say, I won’t be maintaining this blog anymore. However, now that I’ve been bitten by the blogging bug, I’ll simply be blogging on a different page about different subject matter. In fact, I’m pretty sure that anyone who knows me can guess the subject of my next blog — that’s right, I’ll be writing about living in Portland as a grown-up, and of course, I’ll specifically be focusing on learning about beer! You can follow my exploits in Portland at http://beyondmapledrive.wordpress.com/.

Cheers, and hope to see you over there!!!

Crystal

Unbelievably, it seems that my time in Barcelona is drawing to a close. I celebrated my graduation from ESADE last Friday, had a tremendous time with my parents, Mary and Doug, and now need to spend the next week packing up my life and moving on to the next, Cape Tonian chapter. Whew!

BUT: before I left, I thought I’d leave you all with the legacy of information I’ve been gathering for the last 18 months about where to eat and drink in the city (having made myself a sort of unofficial expert, it’s the least I could do!). I’ll be doing this in two installments — where to eat and where to drink — since I have so damn much to say on both fronts!

Tapas, a few views:

For yummy, inexpensive, typical tapas: El Tropezon, Regomir 26, in the heart of the Barrio Gotico. This is a nondescript little joint where you write down your order on a slip of paper, hand it to the waiter, and wait for huge, oily, delicious plates of tapas to appear. My favorites at El Tropezon: pescaditos fritos (literally, “little fishes,” lightly breaded and fried, you eat the whole thing, and they’re fabulous — like fishy popcorn, as my mom would say), patatas bravas (the most garlicky aioli in town!), pimientos al padron (oily, salty, flavorful, delicious), champinones (in a white wine sauce with olive oil and salt, you’ve never had such yummy mushrooms!), pan con tomate (typical toasted bread with tomato and olive oil, and a must-have at any Catalan tapas joint), queso manchego (typical Spanish sheeps-milk cheese — dry, salty, potent, pairs perfectly with your pan tomate!). To be fair, though, you can’t really go wrong with anything there — it’s all delicious!

Another view on tapas: Calle Merce in the Barrio Gotico, in general, offers a slew of divey Spanish bars offering chorizo al diablo (Spanish sausage that comes to you in a little ramekin, covered in aguardiente — they light it on fire when they bring it to the table, and you cook it yourself!), chorizo a la sidra (chorizo cooked in Basque cider — the flavors complement perfectly!), and, unforgettably, leche de pantera (“panther’s milk” — an opaque white beverage that you buy by the bottle for about 9EUR, seems sweet and innocent enough but seriously packs a punch!). Calle Merce is a great place to bar hop and try a variety of inexpensive tapas, Basque Cider and leche de pantera without breaking the bank. If you like a good dive bar, these are awesome places to go!

Speaking of inexpensive tapas, I would be remiss in not mentioning La Champagneria, Carrer de la Reina Cristina 7 — in no way a secret to Barcelona natives OR tourists, as you’ll see by the mosh-pit dense crowds that always populate the locale. However, it’s absolutely worth getting a little pushed around (or, let’s be honest, felt up), to get your hands on a 2EUR chorizo sandwich to go with your 2EUR bottle of cava. A word to the health-code wary: don’t freak out. It may be dirty, it may be crowded, but fear not! I’ve never known anyone to get sick from eating there — and we’ve eaten there a LOT. I’d recommend starting an evening out there — try to get there before 5, particularly on a weekday, if you want to avoid the insanity. Also, be advised that they close early — 10pm, I think.

For the freshest tapas around, El Quim in La Boqueria never fails to deliver. It’s definitely on the expensive side, but you’ll be so happy with your jamon iberico, asparragos a la plancha, chipirones, pimientos al padron, gambas al ajillo, patatas bravas and obligatory cup of cava, you won’t care at all. Plus, it’s completely entertaining to watch the men prepare the food right in front of you, and infinitely satisfying to know it probably came from the stall right behind you. Tip: try to get there before 2pm, which is lunchtime in Spain, since there are only about a dozen seats around this tiny bar, and they fill up quickly. Also, they close at 4, so you’ll have to plan on going there for lunch.

For fancy, up-scale tapas, Carles Abellan, a disciple of El Bulli’s Ferran Adria, has provided two different perspectives on what tapas can be. His tapas bar, Tapas 24, is a bustling, hip little spot on the corner of Diputacion and Passeig de Gracia. He offers typical tapas done with style and flair. It’s reasonably priced, and well worth the hour you’ll probably wait to get in, as they don’t take reservations. (I recommend nosing up to the bar for a glass of cava or several while you wait — the hour will fly!) Be sure to order the bikini (a toasted sandwich with mozzarella, jamon serrano and truffle paste — heaven!) and the chocolate dessert (little balls of chocolate ganache covered in olive oil and chunks of rock salt — it’s decadent, interesting, and utterly delicious). Going further up the pricing scale, I must mention Comercio 24, a much more avant garde take on tapas. I recommend really going for it and ordering the Grand Festival: 12 courses of tapas, each one flavorful, decadent, innovative and rich. I ate there on Saturday with my folks and Mary and Doug, and there was precious little conversation in our 4-hour meal that didn’t sound something like “oh my GOD, did you try THAT one yet??” We ate things like sea urchin soup, duck risotto with foie mousse, oysters on the half shell, entrecot with cauliflower foam, and tuna tartar with egg yolk vinagrette (to name just a few). However, be warned: you may spend a month of rent on one meal — but it’ll be worth it!

Moving away from Spanish cuisine, I’ll mention a few non-Spanish favorites:

For delicious, home-made Italian cuisine, Made In Italy, Calle Ample 50. This has been my stand-by favorite restaurant in Barcelona — it’s close to my house, affordable, and always delivers a meal that is as delicious as it is filling. I recommend the Insalate Tricolore, Rollitos de Salmon or Queso al Forno to start. For main courses, you pretty much can’t go wrong with the pastas, but the lasagne tends to be a hit, as does the pear and goat cheese filled pasta with gorgonzola cream sauce. Also, I’m a big fan of the pumpkin risotto that actually comes to the table in a hollowed-out pumpkin. For dessert, the home-made tiramisu is excellent, or the irish coffee — made with mascarpone! — can help to pick you up for a long night out.

Other honorable mentions that I love:

Arc Cafe, Calle d’en Carrabassa 19 — super affordable, eclectic menu, free wifi!

Abissinia, Torrent de les Flors 56 (in Gracia, metro L4 Joanic) — home-made Ethiopian food. Order the Plato Combinado, go with your friends, and prepare to be delighted by the friendly service and rich, interesting food!

Bollywood, Avenida Drassanes 27-29 — authentic Indian cuisine (the mango lassi is excellent!) and Bollywood films on screens around the restaurant. A great place to go with a large group, and a totally awesome vegetarian choice as well!

La Coronela, Calle Consulat de Mar 23 (in Born) — the only place, in my opinion, to eat Mexican food in Barcelona. A bit on the pricey side, but worth it when you’ve experienced the awesomeness of the conchinita pibil and tamarind margaritas!

La Paladar del Son, Torrent de les Flors 6 (in Gracia, metro L4 Joanic) — Cuban food — ropa vieja and mojitos that don’t disappoint! — affordably priced and sufficiently off the beaten path to avoid the hordes of tourists you’ll find in other areas of Barcelona.

Maoz, a chain of take-away vegetarian falafel joints, can be found in various locations around the city, and is the perfect way to fill up on healthy-ish food on the go. Be sure to load up your falafel with toppings at the Buffet Libre to get the most bang for your buck (er, Euro…)!

Milk, Gignas 21 in el Barrio Gotico, is the only place I know in Barcelona to get brunch. This is a great place to recover from your big bad Friday/Saturday night — which you can do with a Bloody Mary and an Eggs Benedict! They only serve brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 10-4, but at night this cozy little restaurant becomes a cocktail lounge and bistro. At any time of day, it’s not a spot to be missed!

Rambla Samosas — for a late night snack, when you’re stumbling around Las Ramblas after the bars close, don’t be afraid to buy a samosa (or several!) from one of the many men to be found with boxes of hot samosas at 3am. Seriously, they’re delicious, and you’ll be glad for the oily, alcohol absorbing properties of the fried potatoey goodness!

Alright, I feel like I’ve covered most of my favorites, but PLEASE feel free to comment and add any that I’ve forgotten!!!

Next post: where to drink. Cheers!

First of all, thanks to everyone for the ideas and advice. Second of all, yet more apologies for my further extended absence – life is just so full these days! That said: clearly, a decision has been made. Equally clearly, you probably already know what I did. Just in case: I am still in NYC.

The decision pretty much made itself when my boss came back to me, two days after my last blog, and said that he had gotten approval to extend my contract through the end of the year. So now I find myself… still here. Which is, actually, totally excellent. Though the days are long and the work is still, er, under-stimulating, I’m enjoying being in the eye of the storm, as it were. It’s incredible to have a front row seat to all of the action in the marketplace. It was kind of devastating to have to say no to CT (again!), but felt like the right decision. After all, what is the purpose of the MBA? Really? Career advancement, obviously.  (Um, and, you know, learning. And stuff… But seriously? Career advancement.) And it looks as though I’ll be able to do some pretty good networking in the next couple of months, and perhaps secure myself an offer for post-MBA before I leave, so it will have all been totally worth it to say no to CT.

However, I have awesome, cake-eating news! Turns out I can still go to Cape Town to study! In May! Soooo… I’m gonna. It’s especially excellent because I was worried about just how much work it was going to be to finish on time and still graduate in April (turns out a lot – a crazy lot – of work would have been necessary to finish on time). I’m SO excited to still be able to go, and feel like it’ll be the perfect way to close two of the best years of my life.

So that’s my big news, for now. There are all kinds of other details I could and probably should provide about the awesomeness that is my life right now — but suffice it to say, I am happy, I am doing well, and I couldn’t possibly be more thrilled with my life right this minute. And hopefully, I’ll be able to find more time in the near-ish future to recount, in greater detail, the various reasons why. Until then, I’ll just say that I’m delighted to be able to have my cake, and eat it, too.

So I suppose from my lengthy and uncharacteristic silence you might infer one of two things: either my summer is going terribly ridiculously insanely awesomely well, or it’s a disaster and I’m under a rock crying in self-pity and frustration, too embarrassed to update the blog.

Well, let me assure you — the reason is totally the former. I’m actually not sure how this summer could be going much better (well, no, I am – but more on that in a moment).

I knew it was going to be great pretty much from the instant I got here. In my first week back in the States, I got to enjoy a surprise visit from Diana (surprise to both of us, actually — sneaky Jason!!), go to a FREE production of Hamlet in Central Park with Clarke, Megan, Will, and a buddy of Clarke’s, go to the MoMA, take the little boys to a pub in the Village to watch the Eurocup final, and spend a LOT of time hanging with the family. Not a bad way to start a summer, right?

In the following week, I started my Awesome Summer Job. Which is really all I could *sort of* complain about, actually. Because it’s… well… in a word? Boring. Really really really boring. And not that awesome at all. However, to be fair, it’s really the name on the resume that matters, right? And furthermore, after a WHOLE year of identity crises, frustration, an acute case of square-peg-round-hole syndrome, and general ebbs and flows of school-related misery –  I have to say, it’s kind of okay. I finish my 10- or 11-hour work days with plenty of mental energy, and the job causes me exactly ZERO stress. Really, none at all. So that’s not so bad. And, er, they’re compensating me rather handsomely to be, you know, mostly bored, soooo… Yeah, like I said, it’s annoying, but I really shouldn’t complain.

I will now, in bullet form, give a quick overview of the many things that have been making my summer so very kickass (in no particular order):

– Family!! One of the hardest things about living abroad is the distance from the family, so I have been soaking up as much family time as I can — and it’s been AWESOME. Mary and Doug are some of the coolest folks I know, and it’s a total bonus that we just happen to be related and I get to spend the summer with them. And the kids? Man, don’t get me started. Let me just say that they all rock and are becoming very impressive human beings, and I am totally enjoying our time together.

– 4th of July weekend in Boston — catching up with Laura and Sean, Becky and Ben, the crowd at the JJ, brunch with Lauren and Tom — all awesome stuff.

– Charlie Chaplin shorts in Prospect Park for Jason’s birthday — picnic in the park with beer, Charlie Chaplin, great friends, and a live orchestra? For $3? Are you kidding?

– Dark Star Orchestra concert on Governor’s Island with Doug and some of his work colleagues (Dark Star is a Grateful Dead cover band, so I was apprehensive, but MAN, was it a fun show!!).

– 4-mile run with Megan, Annie B (18-year-old cousin who was here to babysit for the boys in July), Will, Doug, and a friend of Megan’s in Central Park (yes, folks, I ran — well, more walked than ran, but still! — a 4 mile race!!), followed by brunch at the Boat House and a trip to the Met. It was easily one of my favorite days this summer. 

– Dating — it’s just not happening right now. I had a few half-attempts at dates, only to realize that I just can’t be bothered to make romance any kind of priority at the moment. Which I consider a personal triumph.

– LA for J&L’s wedding! Highlights from CA: finally getting to the (beautiful!!) Getty to see where my awesome aunt Annie spends so much of her life; lunch with Scotty H — hadn’t seen him in YEARS, and still love him to death just as much!; dinner with Guille in Newport (his wedding is in PR in two weeks, and we KNOW that’s going straight to the list of summer highlights!!); pre-wedding bonding time with Jen; protein shakes and killer talks with Annie every morning; dancing with Casey at the wedding (BIG moves!!); the wedding itself, obviously — J&L really know how to throw a party!!; real mexican food!; bowling with Annie and Martin and the folks who live in their building. Anyway, the list goes on, but it was a very busy week!!

– Movies! It’s been a great summer for movie-watching — both at home and in theaters. It’s just nice to have the free time to do that, I guess.

– Beer!! I’ve made a few dangerous discoveries in Brooklyn that have led to some rather expensive but CRAZY delicious beer drinking. The Beer Table in Park Slope might be my new favorite bar ever. If only they had beer for less than $14… Siiiiigh…

– Food!! Much like the above entry, I’ll say that this city offers WAY too much wonderful, though expensive, cuisine. But damn! I’ve been eating well. And of course, we know that my uncle is pretty effing awesome in the kitchen, so it would be innacurate to say that all of those excellent meals have taken place outside of the house. Probably more like half, actually.

– Grad school friends! Megan lived just 2.3 miles away (really — she made me clock it in the car) so we spent a good amount of time together, and it was GREAT! Also: Christopher (my hermanito from school!) came for a whole week. We managed to catch a Broadway show (39 Steps — out of control hilarity!!), drink a beer on a lawn in Central Park, eat some fabulous meals, visit with friends, and just generally enjoy the city.

– Laura in Brooklyn! She actually just left about an hour ago, but we had a GREAT weekend, and I got a chance to show off almost everything that I am loveloveloving about Brooklyn.

So that brings us to now. Mary and Doug and the kids have all been in CA and get back tomorrow, and I can’t wait! I’ve missed those guys! And then I’ll have just about a month before the next adventure begins. Of course, before the Big South African Adventure starts, I can look forward to a trip to Puerto Rico, hopefully another weekend in Boston, a week or so in CA (Summer’s wedding!), and lots of other New York wonders.

So: apologies for the long silence! But I’ve been busy enjoying my awesome summer. Seriously, this might just be my best summer ever. F’real.

Ooooh, man, am I IN it now. Whew! After a freaking fantastic weekend in London (seriously, it was SO awesome–I’m actually feeling pretty sold on London as a possible post-MBA location–thanks, Patrick and Laleh!!!), I have come crashing back to reality, only to find myself in a sea of projects, deadlines, and, yep, a hell of a lot of stress. I think it’s safe to say that I’ve spent the last 2 days on the verge of absolute panic, complete with the uncomfortable sensation that I might just vomit, any time now. Tonight, I think I most likely don’t get to sleep, as I have a project draft due by noon tomorrow, and there is still a LOT to do. It doesn’t help that I might just be the most inefficient person ever created in the history of man, so things take me a million times more time than is absolutely necessary. (Yes, I am fully aware that I sound slightly hysterical. And hysteria only exacerbates my hyperbole problem, as we all know. Caffeine doesn’t help either, and, at this point, I’m a little bit surviving on crappy bocadillos and, you guessed it, coffee.)

How ’bout a quick summary of the causes of my hysteria? (Because I feel like sharing my pain, obvi.) So here goes: today I had my make-up law exam, for which I studied with Guille in the library until almost midnight last night (and, at the risk of jinxing it, I actually felt like it was pretty easy–whew!); tomorrow this project draft is due, to the tune of 25 pages in, of course, Spanish, and I’m having a hell of a time navigating databases to get the info I need, and the finished draft is due Friday; I also have an article summary that I agreed to do for my class tomorrow as well, also, clearly, in Spanish; we got our Geopolitics final today, which is a presentation and a 5-page paper, due Monday (group assignment, obviously); my quantitative models final is Monday as well, and I have yet to fully understand that class, which means I pretty much have to learn it, you know, this weekend; I have a case to read for tomorrow for Geopolitics (this might not happen, not gonna lie); etc etc etc. I could go into greater detail about how scary all of this is (SIX finals, THREE major presentations, etc), but then I might actually lose consciousness because of my panic, and frankly, I just don’t have time for a panic attack right now. (Yeah, and of course, it totally didn’t help my panic that I totally SLEPT OVER my marketing class this morning–didn’t I already learn the lesson about the alarm clock needing to be ACROSS the room???) And right now, instead of updating my blog, I should actually be working on my project for tomorrow. So I’m going to go and do that. Of course. I will say this, though: I sincerely wish that writing this paper was as easy as writing my blog. Sheesh.

So, um, wish me luck? It’s all over in 9 short days, and then, yeah dude, it’s time for pjs and hollandaise sauce. And hopefully I’ll be able to provide a real entry with some concrete details about just how much I loved London. Because I loved it, seriously, and that deserves a blog entry.

Ack! I’m distracting myself! Back to work back to work back to work!!!