I scream, you scream, we all scream for Ice Cream!

Continuing with my passion for food, I wanted to add to the list of great places to go to here in Barcelona, Spain, one of my favourite ice cream places, besides vioko, which I already mentioned in a previous post (click here for great food 1). 

The place is called Gelateria Italiana, and you can find it in Gracia, at Plaza de la Revolucion 2. It's a small place, all the ice cream is made by them with their own recipes. I highly recommend the dark chocolate ice cream, it's the best I've ever had. Yesterday I tried the wild berries ice cream and it was also wonderful. 

Their page in Yelp

The good news: it's open all year! They are not closing for the winter time.

The prizes range from 1.80 euros to 2.5, depending on the number of ice cream balls you want, they also have waffles and crepes, which I haven't tried yet. 

Photo taken from Yelp

Stop violence against women

In reality, stop violence, period. against women, children and even men. The fact that you are weaker or can't defend yourself against an attacker doesn't mean you should be attacked. The fact that a woman wants to wear a short skirt, doesn't give you permission to rape her.

These are two articles I found about rape and violence against women and children, mostly. Have a read and let me know what you think. They are very interesting and quite scary.

50 actual facts about rape - The numbers on this article are mostly for the US, but they are still very troubling

The idea that men can control themselves  - an article on how men need to take responsibility on their actions. 

Great food - Barcelona style (part 1)

One of my biggest loves in life is food. My boyfriend says it's one of the few things I talk about with genuine passion, and it's true, I love to eat, I love food, I love to try new things and explore new flavours and cultures through their food. I believe that you haven't been to a place if you don't go to an authentic local restaurant. 

That being said, I also love to find new, affordable, cool and exotic places where I live, luckily I live in a city now where there is plenty of those, and most of all, I live in Gracia, which is an area of Barcelona that has loads of cool and exotic places to go to and have a good an affordable meal. 

Here are some of my personal favourite places, so far:

- "El mordisco" CLOSED! - c/ Grassot, 72 - this place is like a block  away from my house, they have the best ceviche I've had in years (if you don't know what ceviche is, this is an example of how to make one), I also love their arroz con pollo (chicken with rice). Very authentic. If you love latin food and like spicy things, this is the place for you. You can find things like Inca cola, chicha morada and arroz con leche. On weekdays they have a menu, 1st and 2nd course, also a dessert for 5.5 euros (no drink included) - a great deal if you ask me, the portions are huge!

- "Abissinia" - c/ Torrent de les Flors 55 - A little and very nice Ethiopian restaurant, one of the most delicious foods I've ever tasted. Their cuisine is hard to explain, so here is their webpage, it's in Spanish, it has some information about the place and also some recipes. 

Celebrating my birthday with my boyfriend at Abissinia

- "Vioko" - Passeig de Joan De Borbó 55 - This is an ice cream place (that also sells chocolates and other sweet stuff), I highly recommend the black forrest ice cream, and the vioko chocolate one (if you enjoy raisins and dry fruit). Check out their webpage for more information. 

- "Ya Wu" - Paseo San Juan, 179 - I would say this is a Japanese fusion restaurant, nice and modern, the attention is great, they also have a menu, 9.95 during lunch, and 13 during dinner and weekends, 3 courses with dessert and drink included. The food is amazing, I highly recommend the coconut soup, the veil teppanyaki, and the nem rolls, but everything has always been great, including the sushi. The people that run the restaurant are very friendly and attentive. 

- "Toyo" - c/ Torrent de l´Olla, 10 - Another nice japanese restaurant. The best part, the all you can eat buffet, on midday it costs 10 euros, and in the evenings and weekends 15. They have a little bit of everything, the sushi is very inventive, not very traditional, which I particularly like. Toyo wepage 

- "Teicawey" - Carrer de Torrijos, 50 - quite nice little mexican place in Gracia, the food is very nice and affordable. The only bad thing is you can eat in, but it's not a traditional restaurant, they don't have tables, but booths of some sort. Either way, it is worth the trip! I love their mole chicken. 

- "The dog is hot" - there is 2, one in El Raval: Carrer de Joaquín Costa, 47, and one in Gracia:  C/ Vallfogona, 40 - A really nice hot dog place! Very trendy and modern. The owners are Brazilians and the hot dogs remind me so much of the ones we eat back home. Really great! Any hot dog with the melted cheese is amazing. The dog is hot

- "Bun Bo vietnam" - Carrer Sagristans (El Raval) - I love their bahn mi! I'm not very knowledgeable about Vietnamese food, but the plum sauce there is amazing! I go there to have this sandwich every chance I get!  

Do you live in Barcelona and have a favourite restaurant? Have you visited one that I haven't mentioned here and want me to go try it out? Leave me a comment and I will check it out! 

Human Trafficking

Something I really want to do when the money is better is give to a charity. Sadly, I've been a poor student until now, and currently I'm trying to make ends meet and still don't have enough to help someone other than myself. 

Choosing a charity was a big task, but after watching endless documentaries and films I chose Anti-slavery international. Quoting their web page "Anti-Slavery International works at local, national and international levels to eliminate all forms of slavery around the world."

The form of slavery that touched me and made me decide to help these people as soon as I could was human trafficking, from child labour to prostitution, and everything in between. People take advantage of less powerful or fortunate people and make then do things they don't want to do, with no pay whatsoever, it's heart breaking. 

The thing that touched me deeply was this film: Human trafficking - part 1.

It's quite a long mini series showing the stories of 4 different people and how human trafficking affected their lives. It's not a documentary, it's all fiction, but it's based on things that are happening now. 

This is a link for the whole movie with greek subtitles: Human trafficking - full film, greek subtitles

Be ready to sit down for 2 full hours. I must say it's worth it. Also, be ready for very explicit scenes, it's quite rough. Hopefully, after this film, you'll also feel the need to help out this cause. 

Mail order brides

This is a subject I'm very interested in, mail order brides, and especially the human trafficking part and how it can affect women.

This is an article written by a girl I met at Uni in Germany, I think it has all the points of view you need to have your own opinion on the subject, really great.

Brides or victims? Some contentious points of the debate on the mail-order bride industry

Have a read, hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Wanderlust

... or why I can't seem to stop traveling

I am originally from Venezuela, I have moved around a lot in the past 7 years. I lived in Bremen, Germany, for almost 4 years, in  Birmingham, UK, for over 3 years, and now I'm living in Barcelona, Spain. One of the things I want to post in this blog is my trips. I have a nomadic blood and I will share my experience with those of you that fancy reading about it.

Caracas 

This is my first travel post and I'll dedicate it to my home town: Caracas, Venezuela. 

I found in wikipedia that Venezuela is 4 times the size of the UK (yes, the whole island), but Caracas is actually more or less the size of London (both metropolitan areas), but with less people. I'm not entirely sure that including the adjacent areas  (satellite cities, etc) if Caracas would be smaller than London or equivalent in size. One thing I can say is that Caracas is for sure more chaotic and less prepared for the quantity of people it has. 

Caracas was originally planned for 1 million people, and now has roughly 3 million living there, but around 6 to 7 million commuting everyday to work. The consequence, a lot of traffic. You can be stuck in traffic for hours (literally). In rush hour, a lot of people choose to stay at work for longer, to avoid traffic, or maybe go have a drink or to the cinema (which is not so much the case now, because the city has become one of the most dangerous cities in the world). It's better to wait until traffic is better than to be stuck in your car for hours. 

One thing I miss from Caracas is the Avila mountain (now called by its indigenous name: Waraira Repano). It surrounds the valley of Caracas, and its always at the north. I feel a little lost without my reference of the north. I think a Caraqueño abroad always misses the Avila, it's a feeling I can't even explain. 

I read once on a blog that Caracas is like a crazy girlfriend (Caracas es una novia loca - sorry, in Spanish), and it's kind of true, you love it and at the same time you hate it. Caracas was my home for 25 years, it taught me everything, and for that it has a very special place in my heart. It's sad that has become such a violent and dangerous city.  

I also miss my University, my alma mater, Universidad Central de Venezuela, its campus was declared World Heritage by UNESCO in 2000, designed by Carlos Raul Villanueva. A university that gave me a home for almost 6 years and has been a huge part of me and my life. 

I loved having a hot dog at 3 am after a night out with my friends, I loved walking around Altamira and people watching at Plaza Francia, I loved the weather, not too hot and not too cold, even though I always complained about not having seasons. 

A video of a hot dog/ burger stand - very common in Caracas

Reading Festival 2012

After my move to Barcelona, my TEFL course finishing, going to England to finish my thesis and moving out for good from my flat there, I was joined by my boyfriend and we spent a very interesting weekend at the Reading Festival (in Reading, UK). This was my experience: 



Thursday night, day zero:

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT camp in the green area unless you are 17 or under. We got ZERO sleep that night. I can understand people were excited that they were there, but screaming non-stop until 3 am is unnecessary. I also can't understand why you should bother other people, pass by their camp sites and scream, or sing, or just be rude. Also, it got crazy cold and we didn't have the proper camping equipment. A very bad experience in general. 

Friday, day 1:


Needless to say, that day we were knackered, and we had to wait for a friend of ours to arrive, which took him ages. I would like to invite you to take a look at the webpage of our other companion of the weekend: EdVill (in spanish, sorry), who came all the way from Venezuela and shared our good (and bad) times. 

Hadouken!: The first band of the day, it was really great, but the bad part was the sound, I really couldn't hear the voices at all, the guitar was also missing, sadly. Regardless, the put on a good show and it was loads of fun.

Coheed and Cambria: and amazing band, brilliant sound, these guys can play! I was waiting for  "a favor house atlantic", and they did play it, it was good fun. 

Angels and airwaves: I saw a little bit of them, not enough though. We were having lunch in the back at the time, I did feel it was a little like Blink 182, but without the funny bits. 

The Hives: One of the best acts of the weekend, seriously. I always liked them, but after this show, I adore them, if you have the chance to see them live, please do, its worth your time and money. In the mean time, check out part of their presentation at the festival here:

The Hives @ Reading Festival 2012

A Wilhelm scream: I just saw a couple of songs. I most say the lock up stage had rubbish sound. I've seen them live before in Birmingham, and that was amazing, these guys are really good. 

You and me at six: A band I've seen before at Leeds Festival 2010, I think they are ok, I love "Stay with me" and a couple of more songs, but that's about it. 

Bombay Bicycle club: this band has more fans than what I expected. I honestly thought it wasn't a band for a festival, but maybe to chill with some friends at your house... I was bored.

Paramore: Amazing as usual. It was pretty emotional for me, I love them so much. "The only exception" almost made me cry. It was a powerful gig. 

The Cure: As always, flawless, I love this people. Sadly, I was unable to stay the whole 3 hours, after 2 my body gave out and we had to go and try to sleep. 

The night was better this time. I guess people were tired and had to sleep a little, or it might have been the rain. 

Saturday, day 2:

It started better, we were well rested (or better rested), there was only one set of showers though for a BIG camping area, and it took a while to be able to take one, we almost missed the first presentation, which was unannounced and a surprise:

GREEN DAY!: Amazing as always, I had the privilege to be able to get into the tent (many people had to stay out), and it was great! they actually had to take them down, they didn't want to stop playing. It was a great surprise and one of the best moments of the weekend.

After the show (that was at 11am) we chilled for a while, went to town and had proper food, rested a little in the tent, and prepared ourselves for what was about to come:

Enter Shikari: the gig, was good? I don't know really, because we got smashed and had to get out. We were more focused on breathing and getting out of the mess we were in. Judge for yourselves:

Enter Shikari @ Reading 2012


Florence and the machine: Pouring down we managed to see this amazing band. It was great really, her vocals are flawless and the whole thing was amazing. 

At the Drive in: A band I used to listen to in the beginning of 2000, it was a real treat, this people can play! highly recommended. 

Sunday, day 3:

Another night of better sleep, a nice day out, sunny and warm, we were ready.

The cast of Cheers: a band just starting out, we saw it at the Festival Republic stage, very good, it reminded me of Bloc party, a great and fun sound. 

Eagles of Death metal: a great rock and roll band, a great sound and super fun. I was looking forward to seeing them and I wasn't disappointed. 

All time low: I really like this band, they were great fun, they cover of "Dammit" by Blink 182 was really good.

Good Riddance: I was looking forward to seeing this band, I used to love them in the beginning of 2000, but the sound was terrible, you couldn't understand anything that was going on so we went to see:

Bullet for my Valentine: I'm not particularly fond of their style, but they can play. My boyfriend really wanted to see them, so I humoured him. 

Kaiser Chiefs: We saw a little bit of their show, it was great.

The Black keys: A little boring for me, not my style, they had a lot of fans though. I was also very excited about:

FOO FIGHTERS!: a very emotional show, I cried many times in separate occasions, it was the end of their tour and they had their kids there. Dave Grohl dedicated a song to both his daughters, "Walk" to Violet and "Monkey Wrench" to the younger one (I don't remember her name), and also "These Days" to "those who couldn't be there, Kurt and Chris", I'm not a Nirvana fan, but I had my emotions on my sleeve, so that made me cry again, plus, I love that song. I found the whole show on youtube, enjoy:

Foo Fighters @ Reading Festival FULL!


We left when the encore started though, because we wanted to see:

Less than Jake: again, the sound! we couldn't hear the trombones, or anything for that matter, lock up stage: you need to work on the sound there!

That night was the worst, kids throwing thing at our camp (and everybody's camp for that matter), screaming, falling (on purpose) on our tent, it was really disrespectful. I understand that it is a festival, but, some people would like to rest, because they have been up all day, walking, standing, and some even drinking. 

My advice: If you are over 21 and want to be able to rest, don't camp in the green area! a friend of mine camped at the white one and told me it was ok, so, if I camp again there, which I will try not to do, I will go there. 

I was sad that I missed many bands, like the subways, two door cinema club, billy talent, the horrors, me first and the gimme gimmes, etc, but the reality is that in a festival you have to pick and chose the bands you want to see, you can't see them all. Next time, I guess.