where to eat in barcelona

I just got back from Barcelona yesterday, after 5 days of exploring the city. 

I have been there once before when I was younger, but can't remember anything other than the football stadium, for some weird reason. So it was really good to visit again and really see the sights!

... If truth be told, I was more excited to shop in Zara and eat paella than I was to see the popular sights. Not that surprising, though, for me shopping and eating always take priority over sight-seeing.

But it didn't take me long to realize that there are a lot of crap food places in Barcelona. 

So, I done what anyone would and googled "best places food barcelona," but most of the places that came up were really expensive. Which obviously is no bueno because I'm a poor student and can't afford €8 potatoes, you know??

So, instead of writing about what I done, I decided to do a helpful post and list out the best places I ate. 

A couple tips before I start:

1. Don't order paella if there's a picture of it in the window or menu. It isn't real authentic, it's frozen and;

2. Eating places around the Sagrada Familia are double the price of anywhere else. Even the McDonald's has different costs.

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M O N T J U I C

Carrer Blai

This is known as the "tapas street" because it's a long row of tapas restaurants. We tried quite a few of them and the best two were:

Blai 9 - By far the BEST place we tried. The tapas/pintxos were around €1.80 and the combinations were much more unique than the other restaurants. They had this nice octopus taco thing and one that was like a mini English breakfast. Plus a jug of sangria only cost €3.

La Tiza - This one was kinda hipstery and also one of the few that served desserts.

La Tasqueta de Blai - This one was probably the most authentic we tried. The pintxos were simple (really just cheese and ham) but they were only €1 so I can't really complain.

G O T H I C  Q U A R T E R

La Boqueria

If you're going to Barcelona, you must visit this market. It's a huge food market with everything from raw fish and meat to complete tapas meals with sangria. There are also a lot of stalls that sell these fruity smoothie drinks which cost €1 and they are stupidly good.

Chök

Just around the corner from la Boqueria, you'll find this donut store. Dude. I got a pistachio and hazelnut donut and I think I died and went to heaven, no exaggeration??? 

The Benedict 

One of the mornings, I was really wanting pancakes, so I made us walk around until we found this American brunch restaurant. It was the first time I had alcohol with breakfast, in the shape of a mimosa, but I gotta say I'm a fan.

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S A G R A D A  F A M I L I A

Timesburg

I think this is only in Spain, but it's for sure a chain. It's sorta fast food except it tastes like a real restaurant. They have like 15 types of burger to choose from, and you can get a kilo of fries for €4 extra.

Mendieta 

This is one of the many bars throughout Barcelona. If you go to Spain, you'll probably end up in one at some point. They sell food all day as well as coffees and alcohol.  This particular one was arouond the corner from our hostel and it was where I had the best café con leche in the whole week.

So that's all the places I recommend! It turned out to be a bigger list than I thought, I lowkey thought I would only remember 3 places and this post would be kinda weak. But I basically remembered 8 so way to go.
I don't know when I will write a post next, but I will try not to take too long.
I hope you all have a great week!

april

This post is a bit late. I don't really have an excuse.

Since finishing my classes in mid-April, I done nothing for the rest of the month. I couldn't even write a blog post because I was doing nothing.

However, I did leave Canada on May 9th to go to France.

I got here on May 10th after a day of travel. I had a 5-hour layover in London Gatwick where I definitely spent too much money on presents for my brother's and sister's birthdays (but I really hit two birds with one stone there -- bought birthday gifts AND killing time).

I also started my Summer classes on May 7th. I hope this Summer semester works out as well as last semester because my grades were soo good. I'm not even sorry for boasting!

I did think I would do well because I studied a lot and stayed on top of the work (despite feeling depressed as hell most of the time), but I never thought I would get an actual A.

Those are my first two A-grades in my whole four years at university. Considering the topics they're in, I'm thinking I should become... a healthy woman??

Talking about health, mine has actually improved, sorta. I had a particularly low period during January and February, but thanks to my newest medication, I am doing alright.

I'm on Bupropion (or Wellbutrin) and it has reduced both the low moods and the high moods. Instead of waves of emotions, I am a line. My mood never goes above or below a 4 on the "Rate yourself out of 10" scale. I say 4 and not 5, because there's never a time that 50% of me is happy or sad. It's at max a 40% increase or decrease.

Which isn't necessarily bad. I much prefer this to what it was before. I'd take no emotions over too many emotions.

So that's a quick update about my life. I am going to Barcelona next week so I'll write a couple posts about travelling in the weeks to come.

4-ingredient vegan crêpes

There's just a couple more weeks until I leave Vancouver to visit my family in France for 3 months. 

I am so excited to see everyone. FaceTime is great, but it's not the same, you know? Also: British TV. I am so ready to watch some Take Me Out and EastEnders. Lol.

I am also kind of nervous, though, because I know there will be some arguments. 

Every family argues, but with a family as big as mine there are like...  four a day. The good thing about living 8500 km from my family is that I have largely stayed out of these arguments (definitely not completely stayed out of them but I've done pretty well).

So maybe it's because I'm missing French life (or just because I have a craving) but I have made crêpes twice this week. Both times I have used a vegan recipe. 

I think I've really perfected the recipe because I made them today and they turned out the best yet. Now I just need to work on some sort of syrup for the topping.

Vegan Crêpes

Ingredients (makes 5-6)

1 cup flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 cup almond milk (FYI it does give an almond aftertaste)

Method:

1. Mix everything together 

2. Use a spoon to put enough of the mixture in your fry-pan to thinly coat the bottom

3. Flip when the top is covered in these sort of popped bubbles thingy

buttercream frosting

Hi everyone!

My classes have finished now, and I have a few weeks of absolutely no plans. So, I have been spending my days binge-watching The Mindy Project.

You know, shows like Friends and The Mindy Project really make me want to live in New York. And have a really nice apartment. But I'd literally need to be the CEO of Goldman Sachs to afford a house like that.

Anyway, yesterday I was watching the episode with Mindy and Casey's engagement party (not a spoiler, its season one and it was released like 5 years ago), and there's one scene with a huge cake, which made me crave cake, so I made cupcakes along with my own frosting.

The frosting is simple, actually, but I wanted to post it here anyway, in case anyone wants to use it 

and also so it's somewhere for me to find in the future.

Heads up, if you do make this it is really sweet and like one cupcake with this frosting will be enough sugar for a whole week. 

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Ingredients
2 mini sticks of butter (about 1 cup)
4 cups of icing sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk

Method
In a stand-up mixer, or with a hand-mixer, soften the butter before adding the icing sugar. It should be dry when it's mixed properly. Once the two are mixed, add in the vanilla extract, and add a little bit of milk until it's the right consistency.

"sick"

 *this post will be talking about depression in detail and may be triggering/unpleasant

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i never liked calling people with mental illnesses “sick”. it doesnt feel right to me. 

“sick” has such a negative connotation.  to call someone with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder “sick” kinda seems like an insult. they’re not “sick”. drinking lemon tea and taking it easy for a couple days wont cure them. 

and there is always a cure for sickness. there’s antibiotics or chemotherapy or other things depending on what’s wrong. sickness can be fixed. 

mental illness cant be fixed like that. you can take medication to make your anxiety easier to deal with - but you’ll always have it. it won’t shrink, and it wont go away. 

it’s always gonna be there. there isn’t a cure. taking your pills wont necessarily make you better. 

i’ve done everything right for the past 2 years. 

i’ve taken the meds, i’ve done the counselling, i’ve slept and eat properly. i’ve talked about it. i’ve wrote about it. i’ve exercised, i’ve meditated.

i’ve done all the things the doctors tell you to do. and i’m still depressed. 

i still want to disappear. 

i still cry uncontrollably for no reason. 

i still feel like a complete waste of space, who’s only making life difficult for my friends and family. 

i still cant focus on anything because i dont see the point in doing anything at all. 

so, i pretend. i pretend i am good, and happy, and excited about the future. 

the funny thing is that pretending actually gets easier when i feel worse. no one knows when i’m at my lowest - they think i’m finally getting better. 

but my doctors know. i suppose thats the plus side to all this - i never lie to them. 

despite feeling the way i do, i still know its possible to actually be happy. 

i know it’s possible to not be depressed. and that’s why i dont lie to my doctors, because they’re the only ones that can help me get better. they’re the ones that know what to do when i dont. 

back in canada

Hi everyone!

I am now back in Canada. I left France on the 29th of January. This was the first time I travelled alone. I got lost a couple times, and cried in the middle of Charles de Gaulle airport but hey what can you do.

So far, things seem sorta normal. I am staying with my boyfriend, so sometimes its easy to imagine we're just having a sleepover, and my family is just a 30 minute drive away and not half way across the globe.

I have skyped home everyday, and it's helping a lot with the distance. When I call, I'm just starting my day and they're having dinner -- it's a pretty good time, we always have things to talk about.

I have also been looking for an apartment so hard. My friend and I have visited 4 so far, with no luck. Moving out of home is so expensive. I gotta find a job too, but I didn't want to do that before I had a place to live, because I don't know where I will be living.

My classes have started too. I've been to one seminar already. And can you believe that after 3 years of university, I am still too scared to talk in class? Terrified. I had to do it today and I was almost peeing my pants.

These pictures above are from Scotland. I visited just before Christmas to say goodbye to everyone over there. I love the UK at Christmas time. I don't know how to explain it, Christmas is just all over. Like, here in Canada, there aren't decorations in every shop and there isn't Christmas music playing everywhere. Plus, the UK has Christmas specials of everything.

So, yeah, my life has been a bit busy lately but I'm doing good. Everything seems to be going preeeetty smoothly right now, so I'm not complaining.

I hope you're all doing well and enjoying the first week of the year!

- Iona