A few nights ago I treated my friend Mijkl to a meal that started with sangria and ended with paella... unfortunately, being the tourist trap that it was (we were hungry and somehow ended up on the ultra-touristy La Rambla), it wasn't as good as I hoped. All I could remember was eating paella at my friend Lara´s in Toronto years ago and how I didn´t know what paella was and remembering how delicious she made it (thank you, Lara, for raising my expectations in Spain)! It was also an expensive meal but a nice change from the usual vegan cooking for 10 people (and thus focusing on quantity which often means cramming as many vegetables as you can - or that we have - in a meal) in Mijkl´s squat :)

What I´ve been up to otherwise: helping Mijkl build her wall in her apartment - quite fun (though she did most of the work :) and I have a little scar on my finger to show for it! Mostly I´ve been trying to sort out my return flight (London to Toronto in April) as some issues have arose. I´ve been taking care of other business too, waiting for my bank card to arrive at the Poste Restante at the Central Post Office which my parents gratefully sent (it arrived today - yay! - now I can make plans for the rest of my trip - shad shad shnorhagal em, mama jan!). I have booked a flight already to Venice in Italy for this coming Tuesday and a return flight to Amsterdam from Pisa at a later date. So I will be in Italy for a couple of weeks where I plan to stay in Venice and Florence mostly with the obligatory visit in Pisa to see the campanile (the famous Leaning Tower).

Today Mijkl and I will finally go to the swimming pool I wrote about in my last entry where I can have my second hot shower since arriving in Barcelona over a week ago (and hopefully have access to a sauna and jacuzzi :)