Katie's Kite: January 2014

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Barcelona #2

If you are traveling to Barcelona by plane and take the bus to the city centre, you will most probably get to Plaça de Catalunya (the two photos above) and continue your way from there. It is a large and very busy square, surrounded by shops and restaurants and iStore and banks and everything else basically. It is dividing the city in two quite different parts, I would say. For me it was almost always the central point from where I got everywhere I wanted. To La Rambla (which was not at all full of tourists at that time of the year, yey!), to small and narrow streets of the old part of the city centre, or to the sea. Even thought it is a very busy place to be in Barcelona, it can actually be beautiful with its fountains and nice green areas. And in any case you can't really avoid it :)

Če potuješ v Barcelono z letalom in se z avtobusom odpelješ do centra mesta, najverjetneje prideš na trg Plaça de Catalunya (na zgornjih fotografijah) in nadaljuješ od tam. Gre za velik in zelo živahen trg, obkrožen s trgovinami in restavracijami in iStore in bankami in vsem ostalim pravzaprav. Sama bi rekla, da deli mesto na dva precej različna dela. Zame je bil skoraj vedno neke vrste glavna točka, od katere sem šla povsod, kamor sem želela. Do La Ramble (ki sploh ni bila polna turistov v tem času leta, jupi!), do majhnih in ozkih ulic v starem delu mesta ali do morja. In čeprav je res zelo hiteč del mesta, je v resnici s svojimi fontanami in zaplatami trave in nizkih dreves zelo lep trg. In v vsakem primeru se mu skoraj ne moreš izogniti :)

Barcelona differs very much from Paris. This can mainly be seen by the architecture. Barcelona is full of mediterranean flair. A lot of buildings resemble Arab rather than continental European world. Also, just a few steps from Horta and from the forrest, for instance, you find yourself passing the palm trees and in the city centre orange trees. The sea also plays a big role, having nothing in common with parisian Seine.

Barcelona je precej drugačna od Pariza. To se predvsem pozna po arhitekturi. Barcelona je polna mediteranskega pridiha. Precej zgradb spominja bolj na arabski kot evropski celinski svet. Par korakov iz Horte in gozda, na primer, hodiš mimo palm in v centru mimo pomarančevcev. Morje prav tako igra pomembno vlogo, ki nima nič skupnega s pariško Seno.

What Paris and Barcelona have in common is the Arc de Triomf. Nevertheless, apart from the name they don't have much more in common. The one in Barcelona, though, is a very interesting way to a really beautiful park, Parc de la Ciutadella. They say it is usually packed with tourists but in my case the park was a calm oasis with a few joggers and mothers with strollers. The park which also accommodates a zoo is very diverse - form the lake, ducks and geese to the red carpets of flowers and diverse architectural styles. It is really worth visiting, even thought there are no Gaudi "benches" (as in the park Guell). Even more, on the way there from Plaça de Catalunya you can pass the neighborhood El Born, a really nice, a bit funky part of the city with small shops, galleries, tapas, of course and a special charm.

Kar je skupno Parizu in Barceloni, je slavolok zmage, barcelonski Arc de Triomf. Razen imena sicer nimata veliko skupnega. Je pa Barcelonski slavolok res zanimiva pot do čudovitega parka, Parc de la Ciutadella. Pravijo, da je park ponavadi poln turistov, ampak v mojem primeru je bila to mirna oaza s parimi tekači in mamicami z vozički. Park, v katerem je tudi živalski vrt, je zelo raznolik - od jezera, račk in gosk do rdečih preprog rož in do različnih stilov arhitekture. Vsekakor vredno ogleda, čeprav ni Gaudijevih "klopc" (kot v parku Guell). Kar je še boljše, je do parka prideš od Plaçe de Catalunya tako, da prečkaš El Born, res prijeten del mesta z majhnimi trgovinicami, galerijami, tapas, seveda, in posebnim čarom.

What I miss now here in Paris (apart from the sea) are Spanish colors. In Barcelona there is really a lot of colors, even in January. Houses are often colored, the washed clothes, which people even in not-so-summery January dry outside, are colorful, and I could keep going. Maybe Gaudi left more to the Spanish people than architecture :)

Kar pa zdaj včasih pogrešam tu v Parizu (poleg morja), so španske barve. V Barceloni je barv res veliko, tudi v januarju. Hiše so pogosto barvaste, perilo, ki ga ljudje tudi v ne-tako-poletnem januarju sušijo zunaj, je barvasto in še bi lahko naštevala. Morda je Gaudi Špancem pustil več kot samo arhitekturo :)

I could go on and on with my Barcelona, my favorite spots and my experiences. But if you ever travel there, you need to make it yours to enjoy it. Still - two secret tips that you cannot read in any Lonely Planet guide:

1/ Go visit Palo Alto
Its gardens have served as a backdrop for films, including Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona. It's a cool Spanish arty Silicon Valley and if you don't take the metro to get there, you will walk through a very untypical industrial part of Barcelona. I was wondering where I was going at some moments on my way, but it was worth it.

2/ Rooftop of the Hotel 1898
It is closed during the winter but if I go back, this is where I will go first :)

Lahko bi pripovedovala še in še o svoji Barceloni, o svojih naljubših kotičkih in svojih dogodivščinah. Ampak če kadar koli potuješ tja, moraš najbolj poslušati sebe, da doživiš največ. Ampak vseeno - dva skrivna namiga, ki jih ne moreš prebrati v nobenem Lonely Planet vodiču:

1/ Pojdi pogledat Palo Alto
Vrtovi Palo Alta so večkrat služili kot prizorišča v filmih, vključno s filmom Vicky Christina Barcelona Woodyja Allena. Je res super španska malce umetniška Silicijeva dolina, in če ne greš tja z metrojem, te pot do tja vodi skozi zelo nenavaden industrijski del Barcelone. Sama sem se parkrat vprašala, kam grem, ampak se je splačalo.

2/ Terasa Hotela 1989
Pozimi je zaprta, ampak če grem kdaj nazaj, bo to prvo, kamor bom šla :)

And last but not least… I actually enjoyed traveling with Ryanair. There it goes, I said it. I can’t really believe it after all my unpleasant experiences with this company, but this time I really can’t complain about anything. And the morning airport was just beautiful. What more can you wish for when you leave a city...

In za konec… Priznati moram, da sem v bistvu uživala v potovanju z Ryanairom. Evo, pa sem res napisala to. Po nešteto res neprijetnih izkušnjah z Ryanairom (in nešteto obljub, da z njimi ne bom več potovala), kar ne morem verjeti, ampak tokrat se res ne bi mogla pritoževati nad ničemer. In jutranje letališče je bilo res čarobno lepo. Kaj več si lahko želiš ob odhodu iz mesta...

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Best spots in Barcelona #1 - Najboljši kotički Barcelone #1

My definite number one (quite untypical for Barcelona though) is Parc de Labirint d’Horta. It is located a bit away from the streets where tourists usually go, so it is a sort of a hidden pearl. It is the oldest park in Barcelona and for me the most beautiful one. I read something small about it at some point and it attracted my attention. On Sunday we decided with my friend to give it a try, and it was a really great day.

Moja nedvomno najljubša točka (čeprav precej netipična za Barcelono) je Parc de Labirint d’Horta. Ker ni v samem centru mesta, kamor ponavadi zahajajo turisti, je neke vrste skriti biser. Park je najstarejši park v Barceloni in po mojem mnenju najlepši. Enkrat sem čisto na hitro prebrala o njem in pritegnil je mojo pozornost. V nedeljo sva se s prijateljem odločila, da bova šla pogledat, kako je, in imela sva res super dan.

It all started with a small adventure. Somehow it was not very obvious to us where the park was once we came out of the metro. There were no signs leading to it as the spot is not that touristic. I was trying to find the way with my offline maps, but I apparently got it a bit wrong.

Next to the park is a big green area, the forest with a stream, and we were continuing our way into the forest, believing it would bring us to the park. But it didn’t. It was only going up and becoming more and more forest and less and less park like. We were thinking about how to get down to the stream in the quickest way, thinking that the park should be nearby. (After my adventurous and being-smart mood) we finally ended up in the middle of nowhere with no real path going back up where we came from. On the top of that, there was a lot of thorns everywhere and I wasn’t in my most sporty clothes.

I am still not quite sure how we managed to climb up on the path again, but then we simply took the street back to where we thought we missed the park.

Vse se je začelo z manjšo dogodivščino. Nekako se nisva najbolj znašla pri iskanju parka, ko sva prišla ven iz metroja. Nobenih smerokazov ni bilo, ker park ni tako turističen. Jaz sem poskušala najti pot na svojem offline zemljevidu, ampak sem se očitno malo zmotila.

Zraven parka je veliko zeleno območje, gozd s potokom, in midva sva pot nadaljevala v gozd, misleč, da naju bo pot pripeljala do parka. Pa naju ni. Pot se je samo vzpenjala in bila vse bolj in bolj podobna gozdu in vse manj in manj parku. Razmišljala sva, kako bi na najhitrejši način prišla dol do potoka, prepričana, da mora biti park nekje v bližini. Po tem, ko sem bila sama zelo pustolovska in (pre)pametna, sva se znašla sredi ničesar in brez prave poti, ki bi naju lepo pripeljala nazaj, odkoder sva prišla. Povrhu vsega je bilo povsod ogromno trnja in jaz niti nisem bila precej športno oblečena.

Še vedno nisem čisto prepričana, kako nama je uspelo splezati po drsečih tleh nazaj na pot, ampak potem sva enostavno šla nazaj po cesti do točke, kjer se nama je zdelo, da sva zgrešila park.

When we finally found Parc de Labirint, I was super excited because of the idea of a labyrinth. I have never had the opportunity to go into one before and I was wondering if people can really get lost in some of them. However, after my big excitement, I was at first a bit disappointed as the labyrinth seemed to be a very easy one.

We haven’t even stepped into it when I already saw the center and rolled my eyes. But then I figured out that this was the tricky part. Yes, I was able to see the center almost all the time, but it was not such a piece of cake to find the right path leading to it. We could have cheated, but we didn’t want to.

I had so much fun just walking around the green paths and trying to foresee which one would not force us to turn around. Observing other visitors, I believe some parents had even more fun than their kids in this labyrinth :)

PS: My blog is competing together with four other blogs for a spot on the list of Slovene blogs Đuboks. If you like my blog, click on this link and comment by saying that you vote for Katie's Kite. 2 more days :)

Ko sva končno našla Parc de Labirint, sem bila jaz res navdušena nad idejo o labirintu. Do takrat nisem še nikoli imela priložnosti, da bi šla v kakšen labirint, in porajala so se mi vsa moča vprašanja, na primer – a se ljudje res lahko izgubijo v labirintu. Kakor koli, kljub velikemu začetnemu navdušenju sem bila sprva kar malo razočarana, ker se mi je labirint zdel čisto lahek.

Še dodobra nisva vstopila v labirint, ko sem jaz že videla njegovo središče in razočarano zavijala z očmi. Potem pa sem ugotovila, da je bilo to zelo varljivo. Ja, res sem lahko videla središče skoraj ves čas, ampak najti pravo pot, ki vodi do središča, pa ni bilo čisto enostavno. Lahko bi malo goljufala, ampak nisva hotela.

Jaz sem se res izjemno zabavala, ko sem poskušala najti pravo pot in predvideti, katera bo vodila v slepo “ulico”, kjer se bova morala obrniti nazaj. Opazovala sem tudi ostale obiskovalce in zdelo se mi je, da so se nekateri starši zabavali bolj kot njihovi otroci :)

PS: Moj blog s štirimi drugimi blogi tekmuje za mesto na seznamu slovenskih blogov Đuboks. Če ti je moj blog všeč, klikni na tole povezavo in v komentar napiši, da glasuješ za Katie's Kite. Še dva dni :)

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Barcelona

Last year this time I was in Stockholm, enjoying the winter wonderland. This year I went for something quite different. If I needed to describe my Barcelona, I would say: Orange trees, Mediterranean architecture, palm trees – and the sea. And a friend and football. I could also say rebajas (sales), Plaça de Catalunya and Avinguda Diagonal, but I prefer the other choice. I am skipping Gaudi and all the buzz around him on purpose and ignoring the cold evenings.

I (again) decided not to play the tourist but rather try to feel the life and habits of people here. I will soon share them with you :)

Lani takle čas sem bila v Stockholmu, kjer sem uživala v zimski pravljici. Letos sem se odločila za nekaj precej drugačnega. Če bi morala svojo Barcelono opisati s parimi besedami, bi rekla: pomarančevci, mediteranska arhitektura, palme – in morje. In prijatelj in nogomet. Lahko bi tudi rekla rebajas (razprodaje), Plaça de Catalunya in Avinguda Diagonal, ampak mi je druga izbira bolj všeč. Namerno se izogibam Gaudiju in vsej drami okrog njega ter ignoriram hladne večere.

(Spet) sem se odločila, da se ne bom igrala turistke, temveč bom raje poskusila začutiti življenje in navade ljudi tu. Jih bom kmalu delila z vami :)

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Wannabe Winter in Paris + DIY Jar for 2014

Ok, it’s official – there is snow even in NYC, but not in Paris. For a person who adores winter and snow the last couple of weeks (if not months) have been rather strange. As much as I have enjoyed all the sunny days and non-frozen toes while walking around, I have to admit that I miss snow. After a few years now I won’t be snowboarding this year neither, so I guess I can officially say that winter is over (or rather that it has never started). Adding to this my trip to Barcelona where I am at the moment, I think I will start celebrating spring when I get back to Paris at the end of January.

If this all means that this year is going to be full of warm moments (in all the senses), then frankly I am fine with it. You know how they say – the way a year starts determines the way the whole year will go. We will see :)

I am reading everywhere now about the New Year Resolutions and how everyone wants to get even more successful, richer and more beautiful. I have approached this differently this year. Very often what we do when we set the goals is to try to solve the entire issue at once and then we get frustrated because we loose motivation before we even start. What is better to do, however, is to start a small routine, which will bring you where you want. I read recently “the dreams that you have are very different from the actions that will get you there”.

I enjoy doing yoga but am very often a bit lazy to do so if I don’t go to a yoga class. What I wanted to start with was “I will do yoga every day for 30 min”. Instead, I will (for the moment) just try to establish a small routine and do yoga every day, even if just for 5 or 10 minutes. I can’t find excuses for 5 minutes (and to be honest, I believe that once I start with 5 minutes, it won’t stop there). I will focus on my lifestyle, not life-changing.

And finally, what I really enjoyed on my first day of 2014 was to open my Jar for 2013 in which I was collecting cute and nice memories throughout all the year. Remembering some of the little things I have completely forgotten about was really heartwarming and was a great way to put 2013 behind me. I have already prepared my Jar for 2014 and I encourage you all to do the same. You will like it at the end of a one-year adventure.

Start

2014

off with

an empty jar

and fill it with

notes about good

things that happen.

On New Year’s Eve, empty

it and see

what awesome stuff happened that year.

Let it be a great year! And don’t forget – it is what YOU make out of it ;)

Okej, zdaj pa res – še v New Yorku je sneg, samo v Parizu ne. Za nekoga, ki obožuje zimo in sneg, so bili tile zadnji tedni (če ne celo meseci) kar malo čudni. Res so mi bili všeč vsi sončni dnevi in ne-zmrznjeni prsti na nogah, ampak moram priznati, da pogrešam sneg. Po parih letih zdaj letos ne bom niti bordala, kar pomeni, da lahko uradno oznanim konec zime (no, ali pa to, da se letos sploh ni zares začela). Če k temu dodam še svoje potovanje v Barcelono, kjer sem v tem trenutku, mislim, da bom res začela praznovati pomlad, ko se vrnem v Pariz konec januarja.

Če to vse pomeni, da bo to leto polno toplih trenutkov (v vseh pomenih fraze), potem pa okej, prav. Saj veste, kako rečejo – po začetku leta se pozna celo leto. Bomo videli :)

Povsod prebiram v zadnjih dneh o novoletnih zaobljubah in kako vsi želijo postati še uspešnejši, bogatejši in lepši. Sama sem se letos tega lotila malo drugače. Zelo pogosto si, ko si zastavljamo cilje, želimo rešiti celotno zadevo naenkrat in smo potem razočarani, ker izgubimo motivacijo, še preden zares začnemo. Kar je boljše kot to, je to, da začnemo z majhno rutino, navado, ki nas bo pripeljala, kamor želimo. Pred kratkim sem prebrala, da so sanje, ki jih imamo, precej drugačne od dejanj, ki nas bodo pripeljala do teh sanj, na kar ljudje pogosto pozabljamo.

Sama, na primer, res uživam v jogi, ampak sem pogosto malce lena in najdem tisoč in en izgovor, da se izognem jogi, če ne grem na “uradno” seanso joge. Moja želja za 2014 je bila najprej “Vsak dan bom delala jogo 30 minut”. Namesto tega bom (vsaj zaenkrat) poskusila začeti z malo navado – delati jogo vsak dan, čeprav samo za 5 ali 10 minut. In resno – verjamem, da se ne bo končalo s petimi minutami, enkrat ko že začnem. Osredotočila se bom na stil življenja, ne na spreminjanje življenja.

Preden napišem zadnjo piko – kar mi je bilo res všeč na prvi dan 2014, je bilo to, da sem odprla svoj “kozarec za 2013”, v katerem sem tekom celega leta zbirala simpatične trenutke v stavku ali dveh. Ob prebiranju listkov iz kozarca sem se spomnila majhnih utrinkov, na katere sem že čisto pozabila, in mislim, da je bil to lušten način za poslovitev od leta 2013. Kozarec za 2014 sem že pripravila in z veseljem predlagam to tudi vam. Všeč vam bo, še posebej na koncu enoletne dogodivščine.