Oh my Gaudí! (Barcelona, Day 1)

¡Hola! Soy Sabine y durante mis vacaciones, fui a Barcelona, la capital catalána. No puedo hablar o escribir en catalán, pero es fácil leer. Como consequencia, voy a practicar mi español. No importa porque todo el mundo en Barcelona habla español...

Sí, I'm practicing my written Spanish. During my break, as you might have already guessed, I practiced my spoken Spanish. My brother, his girlfriend, and I went to Barcelona for a weekend. We had an amazing time and saw plenty of impressive sights. Tonight, I'm posting about el Parque Güell...or Parc Güell in Catalan (and French).

So, the park might look familiar to you if you've seen the second Cheetah Girls movie on Disney Channel. Instead of "strutting", I'm going to give a little bit of history as found on the pamphlet I received. Now, part of the park is open to the general public. For the monumental part, you have to pay a small entrance fee. It's totally worth it, though. Ok, let's begin!

This colorful, mosaic tile artwork is EVERYWHERE in Barcelona. Why?

Let's just thank el señor Antoni Gaudí, the famed Spanish-Catalan modernism artist. Barcelona is very much HIS city; his work can be seen almost everywhere. The Parc Güell is only one impressive sight of his. Entrepreneur Eusebi Güell hired Gaudí to create the park, which was built from 1900-1914. It opened to the public in 1924. 

Here are some photos of the mosaics seen on the main terrace... 

Here is the view from the terrace. One of the buildings is a museum for the history of Barcelona. The smaller building (on the right) is a gift shop.

Here is a beautiful mosaic dragon. It was vandalized in 2007 but has been restored. It's terrible that people would do something like that.

Here's the view near the main entrance. If you've seen The Cheetah Girls 2, you probably recognize this.

Here's the gift shop! It was just too pretty.

That was my first adventure in Barcelona. I also stayed in a hostel for the first time. It actually wasn't that bad. We met some super cool people, especially these two girls who were traveling Europe alone. I'd love to travel the world alone someday. That's really how you meet people and have adventures. I do love the company of my friends or family, but I also like the idea of having adventures and meeting people from all over the world. So, I leave you with this:

What is your favorite type of art? Were you familiar with Gaudí before this post?

Besos,

Sabine

Faire du shopping: Euralille style

Bonsoir, tout le monde ! C'est Sabine, et on sait peut-être que j'aime beaucoup faire du shopping.

That is, I like to shop. You can never have too many clothes, right? Right. So, you're probably wondering where my friends and I like to shop. There are unique boutiques lining the streets of Vieux-Lille, but those tend to be pricier. If affordable fast fashion is what you're looking for, the Euralille centre commerical--or mall--is the place to go! It's currently being renovated on the inside, but I still took some pictures to give my readers an idea of where I go to do some serious damage (to my wallet).

Here's one of the entrances that includes the metro. It's a very modern building in a more modern quartier, but if you walk down the street, you'll be among the old, Flemish architecture again. 

There is a massive Burger King near this entrance. It's right next to Quick, which is another fast food restaurant. My parents didn't really feed us this stuff, so I personally think it's gross. I'm from Lille; if I want fries, I'm going to a friterie...not a fast food place!

Here's one of Sandrine's favorite stores. These apparently exist in the United States, too. Sephora is expensive in France; my American friends say that it isn't as expensive in the US. I'm not one to buy expensive makeup since I'm not into it like Sandrine is, but I did go on a mission to find Miley Cyrus's Viva Glam makeup line. However, you can only find it at MAC cosmetic stores. I will buy expensive makeup to support my favorite pop star and actress.

Naf Naf is Aurélie's favorite store. It sells fast fashion but at a higher price. It's also extremely girly and not really my thing.

We also have a Lego store! I WANT THE FROZEN LEGOS. I know that once I build the castle, it would just sit there and look pretty. I'm kind-of past the playing with toys stage, but I can't help but want everything Frozen. Legos are more expensive in France, sadly. I might have to snag a set when I visit the US this summer.

Ah, here's one of my favorite stores. Pimkie is similar to Forever21, but again, a little pricier. The prices aren't outrageous or as high as the prices at Naf Naf. They have cute clothes that suit my style perfectly.

We also have other American stores like Claire's and Hollister. Hollister totally isn't my style, and I love the Frozen merchandise at Claire's. I bought a kit that teaches me how to braid my hair like Anna's...

I didn't buy much this shopping trip. I found some awesome jewelry for a friend, and I had to get it. I love finding perfect surprise gifts for those close to me. 

I hope you enjoyed this peek inside the Euralille. I have more interesting posts about Lille coming up, so stay tuned!

Do you like to shop? What's your favorite store?

A tout!

~Sabine