It's not always as it seems...

After a friend comment that they had been reading my blog (thank-you!!) and felt pretty up to date with my life out here and what I had been up to I wanted to share some of the more day to day goings on of life. Oh I wish that was the case and my days were filled with cultural activities and my evenings filled with Sangria. Unfortunately no, there are still mundane and boring things which need to be done. Shopping; Laundry; Cleaning; Working; Studying; Cooking; blah blah blah. You get the message. Once the original, ohh this is all new and exciting feeling has left life these tasks soon loose any interest you had with them for a couple of weeks. I promise doing your washing in a different country is no more exciting than in your family home. 

I think that studying abroad (which I have explained numerous times is not quite what I am doing) is sold as a romantic dream of a semester long holiday full of weekend trips, nights out, constant socialising and generally no hard work at all. Maybe that is the case for some, but I can guarantee it ain't always a holiday. Not only does it rain here *shock horror* you still have to work. And you have to work away from the support system you made back at your home uni. The people who understood when you literally didn't want to go to your room because it just meant there was another few hours of work waiting on a Sunday afternoon, the people who would get drunk with you on a Friday night because you were fed up after 3 long days in the lab where nothing had worked, and the people who would meet you during a lib session for tea to make you laugh!

I am not in anyway saying that life is bad here. It is not. For example last Saturday I went out, got free G&Ts, visited a street food festival and saw some cool music. And I constantly get to chat to people from all over the world (although there is no reason I can't do that back in the UK it's just less often). I am also still wearing shorts in October which has to be a plus right.

But I just wanted to point out that life isn't always what it seems on social media, blogs and the like. You really can put a different persona out there which only shows your life in a good light, and makes out that you are always having fun... Maybe this isn't a bad thing though. Since starting my #100happydays on instagram I really have had to find good things which happen everyday, and these are the parts of my life I want to share with people. Yes I can moan to my close friends and family about the not so exciting thing but there is a reason I only share the good stuff. At the end of the day it makes me happier. I enjoy scrolling down looking at the cake I had 5 weeks ago and remembering where I was ect. I wouldn't want to look back and see a load of work pilled up which I did one day.

Just a quick look at some of my favorite instagram snaps which highlight in my day to day
life. (Mainly food I know but you should have realised that by now!)

So what I am really trying to say is no life isn't always what you see on social media, but I think personally the good happy times are what you want to share with people!

But enough moaning! I have drunk far too much alcohol this weekend, acted a little out of character probably because I wanted to live the crazy study abroad dream, but at the end of the day I only have 2 months left here so I will just have to make the most of it...  My flight is officially booked for the 17th December and time is passing scary scary scary fast as I am sure my fellow Barcelona girls (and all the other chemists abroad) will agree with. 

Love these crazy ladies! 

My parents and little bro are visiting next weekend which I am very excited about especially now mum is fit and well enough to come for sure. I can't wait to show them around especially because mum and Tommy have never been to Spain and it'll be Tommy's first time on a plane. I do feel a little sorry for my dad having to fly with the both of them. And if anyone has any ideas on the best thing to do with the family when they've visited you abroad let me know. 

I'll make sure I will update you all soon with some of the fun I have next weekend! 

Montserrat, La Merce & Valencia

View from one of the peaks of the mountain, my
iPhone camera does not do the beautiful view justice! 

So I am procrastinating doing anything useful this afternoon by writing a new blog post. Yet again I didn't realise quite how long it had been since the last post so I guess it would be rude not to fill you in with my latest adventures. So I am not sure where I left off, but the last couple of weekends have been lots of fun! Have been getting out of BCN and seeing some more parts of Spain.

One Saturday we took a day trip to Montserrat, which according to wikipidea is a 'multi-peaked mountain' and it was quite impressive. The views were really beautiful and it was nice to just get some fresh air!

We decided to take the funicular train to the top of the peak and it was well worth it. If you are ever in this area for a significant amount of time and you want to leave the city for a bit I would highly recommend a trip here (but make sure you bring a picnic - the 'supermarket' was not all that, and there are a lot of tourists in the main square near the church so there are many places trying to flog you crap but once you make it up to the top the veiws are amazing, and the walk back down to the bottom was much more peaceful.

From 19th-24th September La Merce was also taking place in Barcelona which is the city's annual festival so I am sure you can imagine there were a lot of things taking place. But paired with a lot of people everywhere so often you can turn up to an event on time and not even be able to see due to the crowds or miss the event all together becuase the metro was so full. However I did manage to catch some of the festivities.

I hope you can gauge just quite how impressive these towers
 are.Seeing them being constructed is obviously good,
but also seeing them being deconstructed is impressive - the
 teams are obviously so organised.

On the Friday night there were brilliant fireworks down at Barcelonetta beach. It was a totally strange but pleasant experience watching the fireworks in the warmth of a summer evening because generally in the UK fireworks are associated to the winter and watching wrapped up in a coat and about 10 layers (at least they are for me due to fireworks night and new year).

I also got to see the one thing I really wanted to which were the castell. These are the human towers which are constructed just of people, which are built up as tall as possible by teams known as colles castelleres, with a small child scrambling to the top to declare the tower complete. Well at least that is what I understood whilst standing in a very crowded square slightly hungover after celebrations at the beach the night before (but that's a different story including a live band and 4 slightly confused international students!). It was also an excuse for another day off, I could totally get used to the 9 day working fortnights but sadly I don't think there is another holiday for a while now.

Then last weekend I went for a couple nights to Valencia, which is about three and a half hours from Barcelona by train. I could probably write a whole blog post alone about this trip, and I know I am going on a bit so I will try and summarise quickly!

My first and most predominant opinion on Valencia is that it feels more 'Spanish' than Barcelona if that makes any sense to anyone! I think it is just due to the weather, look of the place and the fact that it is the home of paella. Whist we were there we looked around some of the old town and then walked along the old river bed which has been turned into a park (runners paradise!!) leafing to the science and arts park which itself a little bit Wall-e/scifi like! And obviously we fitted this all in around copious amounts of wine, coffee, nestea and hummus so all in all it was a lovely weekend away. I can't wait for the next adventure - but it might not be for a while due to a various parents/friends/other half's visiting over the next few weeks.

A little summary of Valencia! (the park; art & science park; fountain by the cathedral; coffee and pastries)

In other news, I finally rejoined the gym (surprisingly easy for Spain, they just asked me to pay for August and Sept easypeasy); the chemical I have been waiting for for about a month finally arrived Friday afternoon (sadly this was a highlight); I ate some Turkish food; a new flat mate moved in; and I am sure some other things which I can't remember.

And if you want daily updates on my life follow my instagram (@AMYLJ_) because this is about the only thing I manage to update of a regular basis!