Why Pasta Is a Savior

Buenas tardes todos (good afternoon all)!
See, I told you I would blog more now that I have access to my computer.
So, as I mentioned before my mom was here visiting in Spain, and it was so much fun I wish she could visit every week.
While it seems weird to have your family visit your first full week of being abroad, it worked out really well for a few reasons.
1. I have a horrible sense of direction and get lost A LOT, especially somewhere new.  With my mom and her BFF Marlyn (my second mom) here they helped me get around and I got a better feel of the city.
2. There are so many cool things I wanted to do, but wanted to do it with people I would cherish the memories with: so who better than my birth mom and second mom?  We did as much of Barcelona  as you could fit into 6 days.  My feet are still recuperating from all the walking.  We saw Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, the beach, the Picasso Museum, and so much more.
3. I got to see Madrid with them for the first weekend, and I don't know if I would have gone by myself.
4. I got a lot of great meals on the expense of my moms instead of out of my own pocket haha! (This is a joke, while it was nice to have fancy meals their company was much more appreciated).

My mother, Marlyn, and me at Park Guell

So while they were here they rented an apartment in Barri Gotic (the Gothic quarter) which was great because they got to cook for me too! Well, technically I believe they got the apartment to cook for themselves but I got to enjoy it as well.  So in this picture Marlyn had made delicious haricot verts, (which is really just French for thin string beans), pasta with tomatoes, olive oil, tons of herbs, and we had a salad not pictured.  We also had bread with olive oil and this Ibizan sea salt they bought with dried flowers in it (I have to get some of this for my cooking back state side).  While there is cheese in this picture, and in the ravioli I assure you I did not eat any of it; although it was very tempting.

Sadly on Friday I had to leave for the academic trip and they finished their time in Barcelona.  While I was gone I found that in smaller Spanish cities being vegan is non-existent.  So I tried to stick to either the vegetable platters (which are really expensive), or pasta with olive oil if possible.  When in doubt, I've found that going to an Italian restaurant in Spain can save your vegan soul.

This was 10 euros!

Pasta with olive oil, garlic, and oregano for 8 euros

So for those of you planning on traveling to Castilla y León, Burgos, or Sargossa, be ready to eat really expensive salads or Italian food.  Subsequently I've also found gyro places to be great for vegetarians but my food was covered in tzatziki sauce.  Sometimes being vegan is just not going to happen, but you need to learn to roll with the dairy punches and hope for a more humane meal next time.
Hasta luego, I need to get back to practicing Spanish.