Archive for October, 2010

Of course I made my flight!  I told you, nothing comes in the way of a trip for me, especially a trip to a Mediterranean island.  The good news: I found an emergency Dentist that was able to see me right away and that spoke very good English.  The bad news: I had to get an immediate root canal.  As much as root canal’s suck, I had never been so happy in my life to have someone drill a hole into my tooth (it also helped that the Dentist was a sexy Spaniard, wink wink).

I was in and out within 2 hours.  We still had another hour to kill before we needed to be at the airport and due to the nice high I was experiencing  from the mix of Novocain and Vicodin, believe it or not, I was well enough to get some last minute shopping in!

Our flight to Ibiza was probably the shortest of my life to date.  I wish that I could have filmed the flight, because it truly was like a scene out of a movie.  People were passing around big bottles of alcohol, there were women dressed up like Playboy Bunnies, and when we landed everyone started cheering.  Oh, and a very drunk passenger in the row ahead of me decided to use his water bottle to urinate in while still in his seat instead of walk 5 feet to the bathroom.  I am certain that my swollen cheek was a strange sight as well.  What the hell were we in for in Ibiza???

It was dark when we landed, so I was not able to see much of the island on the drive from the airport to our hotel.  In future posts, I will go into more detail about the hotel we stayed at, since it deserves to be talked about.  For now, I will tell you the name was Ocean Drive and it did not disappoint.  The manager, Juan, is one of the nicest guys I have ever met and he quickly became friends with my brother and I.  I think he felt bad about my tooth, as he said that he was going to plan the most amazing night for us.  He told us to check into our room, get showered and changed, and return to the lobby at midnight.  Yes, you read correctly, midnight.  Usually I am asleep at this time, however tonight I would be eating dinner at this hour instead.

Juan first sent us to the super-trendy sushi restaurant B.For.  Without his help there is no way we would have gotten in without a reservation on this short of notice.

You would never know from the smile on my face that I had had a root canal 8 hours before.

B.For is the restaurant of choice for the “in crowd” on the island.  Do not go there under dressed, or you will be turned away.  Also, be forewarned that it is very expensive.  And when I say expensive, I mean 2 people cannot eat for under $100USD expensive.

The interior of the restaurant.

The restaurant's bar.

But on that night, money was no object.  I was celebrating being out of pain and having made it to Ibiza!  What better way to celebrate than with a nutella and banana maki roll?

Although the decor was stylish and the food was sublime, the best part of the dining experience was our very friendly waiter.  Like most people we had encountered thus far, he assumed that my brother and I were a couple.  Midway through our meal, he brought us 2 free drinks and said in Spanish, “This is for inspiration for later on.”  I thought maybe I had misunderstood him and asked him to repeat himself.  He said the same thing again, winked, and pointed at the menu.  The drinks he had given us were called Sex on the Beach.  While he laughed, I wanted to vomit.  My brother quickly told him that we were siblings, not lovers.  He just laughed even harder and brought us out 2 more free shots for the mistake.

Me and my new best friend (the waiter).

Juan also got us on the VIP guest list at Pacha, saving us about $200USD in entrance fees and having to wait an hour in the line to get in.  The club happened to be next door to the restaurant and by the time we arrived it was pushing 2AM.  I was starting to feel the effects of the root canal, but I wanted to get a taste of the notorious Ibizian nightlife.  As I was dancing to David Guetta I felt like such a rock star; earlier in the day I was getting a root canal and now I was having the time of my life in one of the coolest places in the world.

At around 3:30AM I left my brother on the dance floor and retreated back to our room.  We still had not made up our mind of how we were going to explore the island over the next couple of days.  Juan told us about some incredible Royal Caribbean cruise deals, where we could take boat around the island or to other nearby islands.  We had also heard that renting a scooter was a great way to see a lot as well.  Nonetheless, I was just happy to be recovering in Ibiza!

I should let everyone in on a little secret now.  The entire time I had been in Europe, I was in some major pain.  It started a day or two before I left for the trip; my tooth had begun to ache.  I am not one to let anything come in between me and a trip, so I ignored it.  However, with each passing day, the pain became more intense.  And when I awoke on this day I truly wanted to pull my own tooth out.  Having said that, I decided to continue to ignore the pain, as I was determined to see more of Gaudi’s work AND board my evening flight to Ibiza.  Some people come to Europe for skiing holidays in the Alps, well Perullo’s come to Europe for exotic beaches in the Mediterranean.

From our hotel it was about a 30 minute walk to Gaudi’s most famous creation: La Sagrada Familia, or the Church of the Holy Family.  Believe it or not, it has been under construction for over a century and is still not slated to be finished for another decade at least.

While it is a masterpiece, it is is not my favorite Gaudi creation, nor was it the one I was most excited about seeing.  That honor belonged to Parc Guell, which is where we visited next.  It required us to walk another 45 minutes and this time it was straight up hill.  Between my sangria hangover and toothache, it was not the most pleasant stroll.

Parc Guell, in my opinion, is Gaudi at his best.  The skillful mixture of colors and shapes is simply fantastical.  As one approaches the park, which has no entrance fee, one feels as though they have entered some magical world.

Can you spot me?

While every part of the park was carefully designed, it was not flamboyant like other Gaudi creations.   I think my favorite part were the gorgeous handcrafted mosaic tiles found throughout.

Another thing that Parc Guell offers is one breathtaking view of the city!  It is definitely a place I would recommend an afternoon picnic at.

As soon as we took our last picture in the park, the weather changed for the worst.  Thankfully, we had seen everything and had already decided it was time for lunch.

We took a taxi back to the center of the city and found a cafe near our hotel.  While we waited for the food to arrive, I could no longer bear the tooth pain and felt like I could pass out at any moment.  I told my brother to stay and enjoy his lunch and that I would go back to our hotel and see if they could point me in the direction of an emergency Dentist.  It was now 3PM and our flight to Ibiza was at 8PM.  Would I make that flight. . .

When traveling throughout Europe, make sure to purchase some Calling Cards, as using your cell phone from abroad can cost a lot of money.

Since the moment I began exploring the world I have always struggled with whether or not, once I found a special place, to either keep returning to it or to keep moving on?  I know I am not alone and that this is a common traveler’s dilemma.  During my trip to Brasil several months prior to this European trip, I found myself dealing with this exact struggle.  I was in the country for the 2nd time in less than 5 months and I was feeling guilty that I had returned this quickly, but at the same time elated to be back.  One day while floating in the gorgeous Brasilian water, I decided to stop worrying and to just follow my heart and never look back.  So what if I have been to Buenos Aires eight times, but never Boston!?  I know I will get to Boston one day and in the meantime I have had 8 unforgettable trips to Argentina.

Thus, when I asked my brother where he wanted to go for our last night in Barcelona and he suggested we return to Puerto Olimpico I said of course!  There was so much more of Barcelona that we had yet to experience, however we had had such a wonderful time in that area the previous night, why not go somewhere we were guaranteed to enjoy?

Us back in the same spot we were in the night before.

We did choose a different restaurant and instead of tapas we opted for paella, although there was sangria drinking again.

Salud to our time in Barcelona!

After dinner we decided to go to a nearby club.  As much as my brother and I love Latin culture and as much as we study Spanish, we will always be gringos and soon as we walked into the club, the female dancer zeroed in on my brother, grabbed him by his hand, and pulled him up onto the stage.  Now, my brother is not a shy person by any means, but I was shocked to see him dance on stage in front of hundreds of people without any inhibitions.  Must have been the 2 pitchers of sangria we consumed?

Once the shock wore off, I started taking pictures.  I had a feeling that he would 1) want his bravery documented and 2) these could possibly come in handy in the future if I ever needed to blackmail the kid (or write an interesting blog post).

Then I realized, that while pictures are worth a thousand words, videos are worth a thousand and one.

The next thing I know another woman jumps on the stage, which resulted in more photos and videos.

And in order to end the night in a grand fashion, I decided to join in on the fun.  I think the brunette was a little sad to see my brother go though.

Song of the post:

La Rambla, or Las Ramblas, depending on if you are just talking about the main street or all of the streets branching off from the main street, is considered the lifeline of Barcelona.  The famous tree-lined avenue is 1.2 km’s long and a walk down it is a must when visiting the city.  There you can find anything your heart could possibly desire, along with some of the best people watching possible.

The normally 15 minute walk to get there from our hotel took us about 2 hours, as there were multiple distractions, such as a tapas restaurant and more boutiques that continuously called out our names.  Oh, and the architecture along the way was not bad either!

The 1st thing to greet us as we encountered the beginning of La Rambla were the people who dress up like certain characters and then act as statues for tourists money.  Normally, I would have walked by them without paying any attention, however my brother found them to be quite entertaining.

Especially, the man dressed as Jim Carrey from the movie “The Mask.”

Of course my brother felt like I needed a turn with him as well.  Yes, there is a video of me dancing.  No, I am not sharing it with the world.  Everyone will just have to be content with a photo.

One of my favorite things about European cities is that you can wander down an unsuspecting street, like below. . .

. . .and discover something hidden like this, a magnificent plaza:

We could have easily spent hours in the plaza watching the world pass us by and contemplating what life would be like if we lived in Spain, however it was our last night in Barcelona and we wanted to celebrate in style.  Thus, we began our way back to the hotel.

But not before enjoying some ice cream, ahhh la dulce vida. . .

Song of the post:

Right across the street from our hotel was this Gaudi masterpiece:

I am completely enchanted with Gaudi’s works.  They are the perfect mix of craziness and brilliance, resulting in pure magic.  He is definitely a person I would have loved to have shared a bottle of champagne (or two) with.

 
Since the weather was looking ominous, we decided to spend the morning shopping along Paseo de Gracia in case it started to rain.  I had mentioned that I have a thing for H&M, well I also happen to have a thing for Zara.  And what could be better than shopping in Zara in its home country (especially when the Euro had dropped significantly in its worth)?

 
As we emerged from Zara the sky opened up and we were instantly drenched.  We quickly rushed back to our hotel, where we waited out the storm with some coffee.  Once the sun came out, we decided to take advantage of our rooftop pool.  We needed to brush up on our tans, since in 2 days we would be in Ibiza!

The pool.

After our little siesta in the sun, we set off for Las Ramblas.  If you fancy a city break to Barcelona, Direct Line Holidays has some fantastic deals available for anyone departing from the UK.