dimecres, 20 de febrer del 2013

Sol, solet vine'm a veure...

Ahir va fer un dia de sol espectacular! A sobre va coincidir amb el nostre dia lliure! Les probabilitats que això passi a Vancouver, són molt molt reduïdes, per tant s'havia d'aprofitar al màxim!

I així ho vam fer! Vam anar a la UBC University of British Columbia, que està envoltada de boscos i platges! I encara no hi havíem anat...

Va ser un dia espectacular on vam caminar moltíssim, vam fer encara més el capullo, i ens ho vam passar encara millor!


Yesterday it was incredible sunny! And it also was our day off, the probabilities that this happens in Vancouver are really really reduced, so we took as much advantage of it as we could!

So we went to UBC University of British Columbia, that is surrounded by forests and beaches! And we had never been there before...

It was an amazing day! We walked as much as we could, we did as much silly things as we could, and we had also as much fun as we could!













 






5 segons per a puja-hi, i mitja hora per baixar-ne!

5 seconds to climb, and half an hour to go down!




Ena algun punt del que creiem que era un camí, ens vam trobar en un cul de sac.  La baixada va resultar ser d'allò més divertida!

At some point of what we thought as a trail, we found our self just on the top of a cul-de-sac. Going down become more fun that climbing it!















I vam acabar el dia tot caminant xino-xano cap a Downtown!

We finished the day while walking to Downtown!

dilluns, 18 de febrer del 2013

Bec's Birthday!

Ahir vam fer un sopar "tipical Spanish"! Són coses que passen de tant en tant quan vius a l'estranger, tot i ser Català! jajajaja

La ocasió s'ho valia, era l'aniversari de la Bec, una amiga que està estudiant castellà, i el seu novio amb la complicitat de l'Albert, en Jordi i jo li vam preparar una classe culinària en castellà!






La idea era cuinar paella de primer i truita de patates de segon. Pica pica, pa, postres i sangria inclòs en el menú!
A la practica, vam suprimir la truita, per que vam fer paella per a parar un tren!

Per mi, era la primera vegada que en feia, i en Jordi la segona! Així k érem uns complets inexperts!
Ens vam estar documentant, la Tieta i en Toni em van donar alguns savis consells, i al final vam fer el que vam poder!


Prou digne el resultat, no?¿ :)
No s'aprecia, però les petites són de pollastre i l'altre de gambes i calamars!

Aquí a la foto no té mala pinta, i la veritat és que n'estem molt orgullosos dels resultats! Ara, la pròxima vegada li posarem més sal! jajajajaja

La nit va acabar matant un unicorn a cops de raqueta de tenis. Surrealista, no?¿ jejejeje


Era una pinyata que havien comprat i omplert de caramels, bombons, xocolatines i una bateries de mòbil que algú va recollir del carrer a les fosques pensant-se que era una xocolatina! jajaja


I això és el que va donar de sí la nit! Posaria una foto que ens vam fer amb tots, però s'ha borrat o perdut...


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Yesterday we had a typical Spanish dinner! It happens every now and then when you are living abroad, even if you are Catalan! hahaha

It was for a good reason, it was Bec's Birthday, a friend that is studding Spanish. And his boyfriend with Albert, Jordi and me as accomplices organized an Spanish culinary class! 

The idea was paella as a main dish, followed with Spanish omelet. Snacks, bread, deserts and sangria included in the menu!
Finally, we get rid of the spanish omelet becauise we had food enought for trhee days!

For me it was the first time I cook a paella, and for Jordi the second! So we were completely inexpert!
We check recipes, my grandaunt and my uncle gave me some tricks, and finally we did our best!
The result was not so bad, wasn't it? You can not notice it, but there are two made of chicken and one of seafood!

At the picture they look pretty well, and we are so proud of the result! But next time, we will put some more salt on it! hahahaha 

The night ended killing an unicorn with a tennis racket! Surrealist isn't it? hehehe
It was a "piñata" that they bought, fulfilled of candies, chocolates and a cell phone battery that someone mistook for a chocolate while picking them from the street at night! :D

And that was pretty much all! I would put the picture of everyone, with Ben and Patrick, but I don't know how it had been erased or lost..

diumenge, 17 de febrer del 2013

L'aniversari de l'Avi Franciscu! :)



Avui he tingut un molt bon despertar! A les 7 del matí (les 4 de la tarda de Barcelona) hem fet un skype amb la family!! S'havien reunit per a celebrar l'aniversari de l'Avi que va ser la setmana passada!

Entre els píxels i les lleganyes, així és com els veia. Prou bé x estar tant lluny! :)

M'ha fet molta il·lusió poder xerrar amb tots, i poder veure als avis! Que normalment quan els truco, a la nit tornant de la feina, no els puc veure des del mòbil... No som tant moderns... jejeje

A part m'han vingut com a anell al dit, que avui al vespre hem de fer una paella per a sopar, i ells en son uns mestres! Sobretot la Tieta i en Toni k m'han recomanat de fotra-li gots conyac! Ara no sé si com a unitat de mesura, o xk li fotéssim el conyac directament! jajajaja

Doncs res! K m'ha agradat molt veure-us! Ja penjaré fotos de la paella en el pròxim post! Us en enviaria un tupper però no sé com quedarà, x si un cas, potser millor k en veigueu només les fotos que les puc retocar amb photoshop. ;)

Doncs res, per molts anys avi! :) Una abraçada ben forta i fins aviat!


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Today I had a good wake up! At 7 o'clock AM (4 o'clock in Barcelona) I met at skype with my family!! They were having a lunch to celebrate my grandpa's birthday that was last week!

Between the pixels and the fact that I had just woken up, that's how I had seen my family! Not regrets, be able to see them being so far is a luxury!

I was so happy to talk with all them and see my grandparents! Normally when I call them, while coming home after work at night, I can not see them by the cell phone... We are not so moderns... hehehe

It was so good to talk with them because today at night we have to cook a Paella, and they are so professional of it! Specially my grandaunt and my uncle that recommended me to use cognac glasses! Now I don't know if I should use them as a measurement unit, or I should better pour all the cognac to the pan! XD

Well, I was so happy to see them! I will upload the pictures of the Paella on my next post! I would like to send them a tupperware but I don't know what the result will be... So I will better send them pictures that can be easily fixed and retouched with photoshop. ;)

Happy birthday grandpa! Hugs and see you soon!

dijous, 14 de febrer del 2013

Trilogia a Nova York (III)

Finalment, i havent passat ja un temps des de que vaig tornar. Amb l'Ares i la Sabina ja a Catalunya, i jo reinstal·lat de nou en la rutina canadenca, arriba la última i definitiva entrega de la trilogia! El desenllaç. jajajaja

Ja queda només l'últim dia i mig a explicar... Però no creieu que hi ha poc a explicar!

El penúltim dia el vam dedicar a passejar per NY i aprofitar per a visitar quatre coses més que ens quedaven pendents. Una d'elles el High Line, un passeig elevat fet aprofitant les antigues vies de tren que passaven per allà.























Una altra cosa que quedava pendent era visitar la Zona Zero. L'aigua del memorial estava glaçada i glaçats ens vam quedar de lo impressionant que era recordar i imaginar el que va passar allà l'11 de Setembre de 2001. "Gallina de piel".



En acabat i per a fer passar el mal rollo, vam anar xino xano cap a Chinatown on vam dinar en un petit local, diga-li restaurant diga-li armari. On, això sí, feien uns dumplings boníssims!


En acabat, també caminant caminant vam arribar a Little Italy, el barri italià. Allà buscàvem un lloc on fer un café i resguardar-nos del fred que feia, que era considerable... Total que vam anar a parar a la cafeteria d'un centre d'art modern. On de cop i volta, mentre estava a la cua per a pagar, va i entra la Yoko Ono amb el seu ajudant i es posen a prendre algo a dues taules de nosaltres! Jo gesticulant super dissimulat a la Sabina: "Yoko Ono" dient-li k mirés cap allà. I la Sabina:"What the fuck?¿ Què?¿..." I al cap de res la va veure i vam flipar junts un rato! XD

La Sabina li va demanar de fer-nos una foto, que hauria penjat aquí, però ella va declinar molt amablement, tot dient-li a la Sabina: "Oh, no sorry darling..." com si fos la seva neta! Moníssissima! jajajaja

Així k no no hi ha proves de la trobada i us ho haureu de creure...jejejeje


I per si no hagués sigut prou sorpresa trobar-nos a la Yoko, al sortir al carrer ens vam trobar tot Nova York enfarinat! Havia estat nevant mentre estàvem a la cafeteria i ni ens n'havíem adonat!



Tot i la neu i el fred, ens quedava per a creuar el Pont de Brooklyn. I com que la neu no ens arribava al coll encara el vam anar a creuar! Espectacular!











I després per a no fer més severa la hipotèrmia, vam anar tirant cap a casa ja.










El dia següent ja no va donar temps de fer massa cosa més! Em vaig despedir amb l'Ares, d'hora al matí quan ella marxava a treballar.

I com que el meu vol sortia a primera hora de la tarda, vam pensar d'anar a veure el Guggenheim al matí. Va resultar estar més lluny del que pensàvem, així k vam anar tant ràpid que no em vaig enrecordar-me ni de treure la càmera! XD


 
Tot tornant, des del metro vaig fer la última mirada enrere de Manhattan, i a córrer a fer la motxilla.

Al metro ens vam despedir amb la Sabina. I tot i que vaig sortir amb prou temps, al final vaig haver de còrrer. El metro va tardar, el tren de l'aeroport va ser més llarg del que recordava, per sort al final vaig poder embarcar a temps! jajajaja 




Els vols de tornada van ser llargs, però els tenia molt seguits així k no es van fer tant pesats com a l'anada.

A part vaig tenir la sort de conèixer a en Kurt, un novaiorquès que vivia a Phoenix, Arizona amb qui vam anar xerrant i arreglant el mon durant tot el primer vol. Sempre és més entretingut el vol si hi fas amics!



Un cop a Seattle, vaig passar una llarga nit a l'Aeroport on vaig matar el temps, dormint, escrivint les postals que no havia tingut temps d'enviar encara i xerrant amb altres viatgers en la mateixa situació que jo.

Total que cap al migdia del dia següent ja vaig arribar a Vancouver, vaig passar pel restaurant per veure quin horari tenia l'endemà. I cap a casa a descansar! 




Com heu vist, van ser uns grans dies els que vam passar a Nova York! :)

Fi


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Finally, after some time of coming back to Vancouver. With Ares and Sabina in Catalonia, and me reinstalled in the Canadian routine again. Here it comes the last and final volume of the trilogy! hahaha

There is only one day and a half, left to be told. But it won’t be as short…

We spend the second to last day walking all along NY visiting the last things that I hadn’t seen yet. One of those things was the High Line, a promenade build higher than the streets’ level taking advantage from an old railway.

Another thing that I couldn’t see yet was the Memorial of the World Trade Centre. The water of the memorial was frozen, as frozen as we were while we was thinking and remembering about what happened there on September 11th of 2001.
Once seen, and to get rid of those feelings we went walking to Chinatown, where we had lunch in a very tiny place where we had some great dumplings!

After lunch we walked to Little Italy, the Italian neighbourhood. We were looking for a place to take a coffee and get warmer because it was really cold outside… So we entered to the coffee shop of a modern art centre, where suddenly entered Yoko Ono to take a coffee two tables away from us!! I told Sabina gesticulating as a mad, and Sabina was like: “What the fuck?¿ What’s wrong with him?¿” But then she saw her and we spend a while talking about her!

Sabina asked her if it was possible to take a picture with her while she was leaving, but Yoko told her not, so politely. She said: “Oh, I’m sorry darling…” So sweet! hehehe

As you can see, there are not evidences of the meeting, so you would have to believe me

If it was not enough surprise to meet Yoko Ono, when we went out to the street we found the whole New York snowed! It had been snowing while we were inside and no one noticed before!

Even with the snow and the cold, we still had to cross Brooklyn Bridge. So the snow was not reaching yet our necks, we went to cross it! Amazing!

Just after it, for not catching the biggest cold ever, we went home. 

Next day there was no time for many things. I said goodbye to Ares before she went to work early in the morning.
And as my flight was taking off soon at the afternoon, we decided to go to visit the Guggenheim museum at morning. It turned out to be farer than we thought, so we had to run so fast that I completely forget about taking any picture.
Coming back home, into the subway I looked back one last time to Manhattan, and go to put all my things together.

Once in the subway again, we said goodbye with Sabina and I headed John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s Airport again. I had time enough, but the subway took its time to arrive and then the airport’s train took longer than I remembered. So at the end I had to run, but I took the flight on time!

The flights were long, but I had them very close so it was not so tiring as when I came.
Also, I was very lucky because I met Kurt, a new yorker that was living in Phoenics, Arizona with who I spend all the first flight chatting and putting the world in order! It is always good making friends on the flights!

Once in Seattle, I spent a long night at the airport where I killed the time sleeping, writing the postcards that I could not send before, and chatting with people in the same situation than me!

At the end, I finally got to Vancouver. I went for a second to the restaurant to check the schedule for next day, and I headed home to rest!

As you can see, we spent such great days there! :)
 
The end

dimarts, 5 de febrer del 2013

Trilogia a Nova York (II)

Després de més d'una setmana d'haver tornat. Aquí ve la segona entrega de la trilogia! jejejeje
Sento no haver-ho pogut penjar abans, la tornada a la feina ha sigut més durilla del k em pensava i no he trobat el moment per a fer-ho fins ara.
Ens havíem quedat a... al dimecres. Dimecres va ser un gran dia! Vam anar al MOMA!!!!! (Museum of Modern Art) Us penjo una petita mostra del que hi vam veure. Però per a que us en feu una idea, hi havia el 85 o 90% de la Història de l'Art que havia estudiat a Batxillerat i a Belles Arts! Hi eren tots! Vangoghs, Magrittes, Monets, Picassos, Pollocks tots!









Aquell migdia, l'Ares treballava, així que després del museu vam anar a dinar amb la Sabina a un lloc molt curiós. Entraves a un hotel de molta categoria tot daurat, brillant... I naltrus amb les pintes que portàvem, abrigats a més no poder...




Total que amagada al darrera d'unes cortines hi havia l'entrada a la hamburgueseria més autèntica que he vist mai. Era com de un barri treballador normal i corrent, amb les parets d'obravista i totes guixades pels clients, no hi encaixava gens! Va ser passar aquella cortina i entrar en un altre mon! Ara, unes hamburgueses per llepar-se'n els dits!

Havent dinat,  ens vam tornar a abrigar i vam anar a passejar per la ciutat. Vam veure el Centre Rockefeller, l'Empire State Building, el Flatiron...





I al vespre, vaig haver de córrer per arribar al restaurant on havia quedat amb en Jayson i l'Alice. Una amics de Nova York que vaig fer mentre feia de guia turístic a Montserrat. Vaig fer 5 minuts tard potser, i a més a més no els vaig poder avisar per que aquell dia m'havia quedat sense saldo al mòbil... Un caos... Per sort al final vaig arribar a temps i ens vam poder veure i posar al dia! Em va fer molta il·lusió veure'ls un altre cop!



En acabat, intentant aprofitar al màxim, vaig fer una visita nocturna a l'Empire State Building abans d'anar cap a casa!
No hi havia cues, no hi havia aglomeracions, i hi havia unes vistes increïbles des de dalt de tot! Això sí cardava un fred a dalt...






El dia següent també va ser un dia memorable! (com tots de fet) Vam agafar un ferri cap a Staten Island on hi havia un cementiri de vaixells!









Entre ferri metros i demés, vam arribar a la mitja part del Barça-Malaga de la copa del rei a un pub on es troben els culers per veure els partits. I al xiular l'albitre el final del partit vam anar a sopar a un biergarten.
Al cap de poc de ser allà, va començar a tocar una banda i de cop i volta tothom es va posar a ballar Swing! Brutal!







Doncs fins aquí puc escriure avui. Vaig acabar d'escriure això ahir, però fins avui no he tingut la traducció enllestida... A veure si no tardo tant en escriure la tercera i última part de la trilogia!
I a partir de llavors, m'hauré d'espavilar a buscar o inventar coses noves per a actualitzar el blog... Que el viatge de Nova York està donant molt de suc, però ara em farà falta nou material per a no parar les rotatives! jejeje

Una abraçada i fins aviat! 


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After more than a week in Vancouver, here it is the second act of the trilogy! Jejejeje
I’m sorry for not be more fast posting, but coming back to work was harder than I thought and I could not find a moment until now.

We were on… on Wednesday. Wednesday was a wonderful day! We went to MOMA!!! (Museum of Modern Art) There are some pictures of the masterpieces that we saw. Just to let you know, there was about 85 or 90% of the Art History that I had studied at school and at the university!
Everyone was there! Vangogh, Magritte, Monet, Picasso, Pollock, all them and many more!

This same midday, Ares had to work so after the museum Sabina and I went to have lunch in a very curious place! The entrance was in a four stars hotel… And we dressed as casual as normal; anyone could feel out of place, but then hidden behind a curtain there was the entrance to the more authentic burger restaurant that I had ever seen! It was the typical restaurant of the working class neighbourhood, all the walls were written or drawn by the customers.
It has nothing to do with the four stars hotel! At the very first moment you passed through the curtains you entered in another world!And the burgers were gorgeous!
After lunch, and as sheltered as we could, we went to walk by the city. We saw the Rockefeller Centre, the Empire State Building, the Flatiron…

And At night I had to run to get on time to a dinner with some friends of mine. I had to met Jayson and Alice. A very nice couple that I met while I was working as a tourist hiking guide in Montserrat a mountain close to Barcelona. 
I was about 5 minuts late, and I could not tell them that I was late because I had run out of money on my cell phone... it was caothic... But luckily I finally got there, and we could meet, talk and update ourselves! I was so happy to meet them again! :)

Finally, to end the day even better, I went to the Empire State Building and I climb up until the viewpoint to have the most amazing views from New York before going home!
There was no cue, not too much people, but it was incredibly cold on the top! 


Next day it was also memorable! (as all them to be true) We took a ferry to Staten Island where we visited a ship cemetery! 
Taking the ferry, underground and all this stuff we finally arrived at the second half of the Barça match, at the typical pub where the Barça supporters use to see the matches.
Once the refree whisled the end of the match, we went to a biergarten to have dinner.
Shortly after our arrive, a band started to play swing and in few minuts all the biergarten was full of people dancing swing! Amazing!

And that’s all by now! I finished the post yesterday but I could not finish the translation until today... I hope next time it don’t takes too long to post the third and last chapter of the trilogy!
Once finished, I will need to find other topics to keep updating the blog! That the NY trip was full of things to explain, but from now on it will be harder to keep the blog updated with interesting stuff!


I a partir de llavors, m'hauré d'espavilar a buscar o inventar coses noves per a actualitzar el blog... Que el viatge de Nova York està donant molt de suc, però ara em farà falta nou material per a no parar les rotatives! jejeje

Una abraçada i fins aviat!