Family Time...

It's half term in England, which means it's time for the family to visit! After months of me boasting about how much warmer Spain is than England, their arrival naturally saw the weather take a turn for the worst. Geared up for a second summer and excited about a week of warmth, my sister Hannah and my parents were greeted by rain, clouds and cold. Prior to their arrival, I'd thoughtfully planned out an itinerary to show off Catalonia's capital and I refused to accept this unexpected temperature change. As we left the flat on their first day here, I confidently reassured the family that it would be warm by midday. It wasn't, which meant not only did we end up shivering our way around the city, but also made us stand out even more as tourists among the locals who looked more as if they might be heading to Antarctica. 

Barcelona with the Clan

Apart from the tourist hot spots, I showed my family the markets, my favourite cafes, my local bakery and, of course, where I'm studying. As we walked through the courtyard, corridors and cloisters of the almost deserted university building at 2pm my dad pointed out the huge contrast from the campus in Leeds which is always bubbling with people, and he asked me where everyone was. Unless the cafeteria counts, my University here doesn't have a student union*, and the nearest thing to a society that I've found would be my Bible study group - GBU. The lack of student union, and the appeal of a busy city just outside the university doors mean that there seems to be a lot less people hanging around the university than at Leeds.

*as far as I know.

Family day out - Montserrat

The beginning of November conveniently provided yet another bank holiday, this time due to the 'La Castanyada'. This Catalan tradition is celebrated on November 1st and over the last few weeks little stalls have been popping out all over the streets of the city with people selling cooked walnuts and sweet potatoes. In addition, panallets - the other speciality typical of the Castanyada - have taken over the window displays of bakeries everywhere. The most typical panallets are made with a smallish ball of chestnutty tasting marzipan covered in pine nuts and then cooked lightly having been painted in a bit of egg white. Apart from the pine nut ones, I've so far found almond, chocolate, coconut and strawberry ones to try!

Panallets, Moniatos (Sweet Potatoes) i Castanyes (Chestnuts)

My family and I didn't stay in Barcelona celebrate the Castanyada; instead we bought a bag of panallets to have as a mid-morning snack and we headed out to Montserrat, a mountain and a monastery about an hour out of the city. We couldn't have chosen a nicer day to go: the warm and sunny weather complemented the clear skies which enabled us to see as far at the coast with perfect panoramas! The warm weather continued the next day too meaning that their last day was a brilliant mix of sun, sea and sand! Sitting down in the beautiful 22 degree heat next to the Port Vell with a huge pan of paella in front of us, we could have easily mistaken ourselves for being on a Summer holiday - not 3 days before Bonfire Night.

November Sun