The Clothes Keep Coming In

Playing: Let Yourself Go-Green Day
Reading: China's ghost towns and phantom malls by Robin Banerji & Patrick Jackson

This year I didn't really shop at the end of summer a lot, so there's no End of Summer Shopping post this year. I've been getting ready for winter by cleaning out my closet, selling old clothes at Buffalo Exchange, and buying some new stuff. While helping my brother shop at Urban Outfitters, I got distracted by this sweater, which will be great for Southern Californian winter. I like how there are orange and yellow specks on it and it fits me really well, even though it's from the men's section. Also got this American Flag scarf from the men's section as a sign that I'm proud to be an American, since no one at my school is. Plus, it's so soft and looks pretty rad too.

I always thought TJ Maxx was bluffing, when they said they have designer clothing, but they had Helmut Lang, Marc Jacobs, Love Moschino, Theysken's Theory, Emilio Pucci, and Juicy Couture there. I will definitely come back, especially since they're selling Helmut Lang blazers for $200, when it costs $595 at Barney's New York. This black sweater from Nanette Lepore will quickly become a staple in my wardrobe, since I get tremendous usage out of all my black sweaters. The bow around the neck is a sweet touch and keeps it feminine.

 

Both of these oxfords I got at a total steal, which is great for me, since I can't get enough of fun oxfords. The pink, Bass ones are really lovely and well made, while the Qupid ones I kind of regret buying. I liked the different colored faux leathers and thought I should finally get in on the Navajo trend without realizing I'm not a very bohemian type of person, when it comes to dressing. Also, they're very uncomfortable. Since I got them for only $16, I don't feel too bad though. If you added the prices of everything I got above, it would still be less than the original price of the Nanette Lepore sweater.

Since this is my first year in a long time without having to get dressed out for PE, I can finally start working with accessories again. I want to start wearing jewelry more, since I've largely been ignoring it and want to get in on the embellishment trend. I love the Givenchy earrings' mix of glass, pearls, and chains and I want to go back for the matching bracelet, since it's very unique and has an edginess to it that I like. The brooch is just lovely and if I pin it to my black blazer, it will look so Dolce and Gabbana Fall/Winter 2012, no? When I wore it for the first time to school, a girl stopped me to tell me it was "the most beautiful brooch in the world." The tights are just something fun I picked up at a Halloween store for dress up purposes. Plus, they're very playful and will make me look like a Tim Burton extra. What's your style like? Maybe you'll inspire me.

One of the Best

Playing: Wrecking Ball Heart-Jack's Mannequin
Reading: Milan's Standout Models by Brittany Adams

September 18th was a good day, a very good day. Even though I had to go to school, I sent my mum on a mission to go to Target to get the new Killers CD, Battleborn. She got to Target before Target even opened and the sales people hadn't even put it out on the shelves yet, when she got there. That way, when I got home, I had an amazing time doing my pre-calc homework. Why? Because I love pre-calc. Just kidding. Because I had the new CD to listen to and look at. It's amazing and I love the Killers, so it was a win/win for me. With the new Green Day CD quartet coming out and the new Yellowcard CD, this season is going to be a great one for rock.

In order to attend the Runway to Reality show on the same day at the Burberry store at South Coast Plaza, my mum told me I had to get all my homework done first, so I skipped lunch at school to work on my homework. It was worth it! Only 40 people were at the show and only 30 stores world wide were hosting a Runway to Reality showing. I went with my friend, Jessy, so the two of us were the youngest there, while the most famous people there were the housewives from the Real Housewives of Orange County.

At the showing, they had tons of British appetizers to snack on before the show. The show consisted of the actual runway show, a little interview with Christopher Bailey, and a look into how the clothes are made. After the show, you could order pieces from the show and get them delivered to your home eight weeks before any of the stores got the clothing. Plus, some of the pieces won't even go into production, so you could order those too, custom fitted to your measurements!

Here are a few of my favorite looks from the show. I loved the diversity of the fabrics chosen from metallic silk to lace to leather! It surprised me to see corsets and bathing suits go down the runway, since Burberry usually doesn't showcase those pieces during their runway shows, but I was pleased to see corsets done in a classy way. My favorite piece from the whole show has to be the perfect green, lace trench coat. No way could I justify splurging on that since it barely rains where I live and I already have three Burberry rain coats (two trenches and one coat). You already heard me rave about the Menswear Spring/Summer 2013 show, so I'll save you the time by saying this, I LOVED how wonderfully this show complemented the menswear show, but still didn't feel like I was just seeing a repeat of the menswear show. If you want to see more of my time with Jessy, click here.

What do you think of corsets for wear outside of the promiscuous realm?

PS I'm catching up on the English drama, Leaving, since it stars one of my favorite models, Callum Turner! I thought he was handsome as soon as I saw him in the Burberry ads and all my friends disagreed.

Just One More Day

Playing: Only the Young-Brandon Flowers
Reading: Avantgarde Harajuku

For my last day in Berkeley, my parents helped my brother and his roommates set up his apartment, so I spent my time working on summer assignments for AP United States History, which was terribly boring. We went to a gourmet take out place offering French food called Gregoire for lunch. I ordered the Grilled Chicken Patty with Nueski's Bacon and Roasted Peach on Pantofolia, which was delicious except for the lettuce overload. One or two leaves would've been more than enough, but they just stuffed it with tons and tons of lettuce. This restaurant is located in a really cute area of town and all the food is very good, so I highly suggest this place.

To keep myself from dying from boredom, while reading my APUSH assignments, my brother took me around Berkeley, where we visited T-Shirt Orgy. T-Shirt Orgy claims to have the largest collection of
t-shirts in the world and all of their tops are organized by movies, music, etc. There are three levels, offering joke shirts, Cal basics, and other various things necessary for Berkeley students.. The collection is amazing and even if it isn't the largest one in the word, it's still impressive.

While walking around, I came across this message. I love how everyone in the bay area is pretty hippie-ish and environmentally aware, not to mention pretty quirky. Where I live, everything is so clean cut that they'd probably cover this up with a new layer of cement. I guess that's also the reason why everyone wants to move into my town...

One of the laundromats there had a free book pile, so I picked up the three most random books I could find on the Mickey Mouse Club, the year 1873, and  a collection of satirical pieces on Japan. I haven't gotten the chance to read them yet, but if they're good, I'll let you know. My brother's roommate, Joon, is done with his mythology course, so I took his textbook, figuring I enjoy mythology anyways.

For my last dinner in Berkeley, my brother took my parents and me to down town Berkeley to Nanayiro, where I ordered the Nabe Beef Udon. The mushrooms weren't  cooked in anyway, so it had a very earthy taste to it, but I really enjoyed having  the raw egg, so that I could stir it into the soup. Overall, it was good, but wasn't one of the best places I ate at, while up in Berkeley. The service was friendly and the menu had a roll called the Sexy Roll, so who knows. Go try it and let me know.

"Summer in San Francisco, Kissing Chlorine in the Swimming Pool"

Playing: A Matter of Time-The Killers
Reading: Guns Inquiry Urges Action Against 14 in Justice Dept. by Charlie Savage

Whenever I drop off my brother at college, I always spend a day exploring San Francisco, which my uncle describes as the most beautiful city in the world. For my first stop, my family and I went to Coit Tower, which offers a great view of the surrounding city. Plus, it's a nice area to walk around and there are plenty of European and Korean tourists there, if you're looking to work on your foreign language skills.

For lunch, I went to Tartine Bakery, which Lisa recommended. After reading some Yelp reviews, I decided to try one of their croque monsieurs and ordered the shitake mushroom one. Unfortunately, the croque monsieurs aren't made to order and aren't even reheated. However, the taste is good and my dad thought it was the best dish we ordered. I also shared a small pastry with my brother called the Frangipane Tart, which had blueberries in a puff pastry tart with almond. I would definitely try all the pastries there, if you go. There was also this super model-y looking guy there that I talked to until his boyfriend whisked him away. Figures the one time I decide to be bold and talk to a cute guy, he would be in a relationship...

Right down the street was Bi-Rite Creamery, which I've read about in many magazines, so I had to try the two flavors that were recommended the most, the Salted Caramel and the Balsamic Strawberry. I have to agree with Lisa that Tartine Bakery is more of a must. The pastries there were amazing, while the ice cream at Bi-Rite was truthfully only ok. They did have interesting flavors that day like Basil and Olive Oil and have cool employees, all with multiple piercings, dyed hair, and cool hair cuts.

After lunch, I visited the Presidio of San Francisco to hike and look around. I regret not taking a look at the Walt Disney museum there, but I enjoyed looking around the water line. If you want, you can come here for a less crowded view of the Golden Gate Bridge, which surprisingly enough isn't golden. That shocked me a lot, when I was little and watching Full House. Here's a quick note though, wear warm clothing. I couldn't hike that long because I was running around in a thin sweater and jeans. Not windy weather attire at all.

On the same road along the Presidio is the Palace of Fine Arts, which I saw on Lisa's blog and her blog kind of became my place to check out where I should go in San Francisco. It's absolutely beautiful there and it's interesting to see all this Greek/Roman influence in an area that was never occupied by them. (No duh...America wasn't "discovered" until 1492 and the Greeks/Romans lost power before we ever got to four digits.) If you have time, I recommend walking around the area and looking at all the cute houses. The styles differ tremendously so.

Actually now that I think about it, the driving time to get from place to place wasn't bad at all. With not much trouble at all, we got down to the Fisherman's Wharf just to walk around because my brother likes it down there. We mostly wanted to go to watch the sea lions roll around and be lazy like sea lions do. This is also a great area to go, if you're into boats. They have tons of boats from different eras to explore. I'm pretty sure you buy one ticket to visit all the ships.

For dinner, we headed back to Berkeley to go to one of my favorite restaurants up there called Gypsy's Trattoria Italiana, which offers amazing food at extremely low prices. My brother and I always get the cream sauce or Alfredo sauce with our pasta. (Yes, there is a difference.) I have to admit the cream sauce is better, but for this trip I got the Shrimp Alfredo, which came with tons of shrimp. All dishes come with toasted bread and roasted garlic, which is one of the best parts of the meal.

For dessert, I walked down the street to go to Cookies Rule Everything Around Me. For only $2, you get a scoop of ice cream squished between two fresh baked cookies. I usually share mine with my brother and our favorite is Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream with White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies. The other one my dad got was Blueberry Ice Cream with Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. The great thing about CREAM is that they offer vegan and gluten free choices that way everyone can enjoy no matter what their dietary restrictions are. I actually think Berkeley is extremely underrated in the food circle because they offer a wide variety of ethnic foods at a low price that tastes amazing. I have not had a bad meal there.

Title from "The Future" by Patrick Wolf

Just Something Pretty

Playing: Dropout (The So Unknown)-Jack's Mannequin
Reading: Carine Roitfeld, Going Her Own Way by Eric Wilson

For Labor Day, I went to Los Angeles with my parents to try Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles, which Chef Duff recommended on Best Thing I Ever Ate. I even ordered exactly what he recommended, the Carol B. Special, which includes one deep fried chicken breast with one fluffy waffle. The chicken meat is marinated in some spices before it's deep fried, so it's extra flavorful and the breast was surprisingly moist. I ate it the way Chef Duff said to, so a bite of chicken with waffle, smothered in butter, maple syrup, and Tabasco sauce. I highly recommend trying this place, if you're in the area.

After lunch, we headed to Rodeo Drive because I wanted to check out Lanvin, Tom Ford, and Dolce and Gabbana, all of which aren't at South Coast Plaza. Unfortunately, Lanvin and Tom Ford were closed for Labor Day. I looked like an idiot, trying to force the doors open by pulling and pushing with all my strength. Dior had this cute store front to apologize for their reconstruction. They made their outside look like their signature Lady Dior purse!

Dolce and Gabbana's Fall/Winter 2012 show was definitely my favorite. Everything was so perfect, especially the shoes. Everything Dolce and Gabbana does is so detailed and beautiful. Practically everything in the store makes my wish list and I'm dying to have one of the darkly romantic lace dresses and one of their corsets. Even though their store front didn't showcase my favorite looks, I still loved everything in the window.

The inside of the store was equally gorgeous with the over the top chandeliers plus the glossy black walls juxtaposed against sleek mirror panes. The upper level housed all the jewelry and some of the more interesting pieces of clothing from past collections and the current one. Unfortunately, they didn't have any of the shoes from the collection there. I also liked how they had these velvet couches to relax on, while you watch the runway show on the wall.

One of my favorite things about Rodeo Drive is how conducive it is to walking around. They carved out a certain block to make it look like a small European street, which felt very cozy. The Versace building was very fitting for the ostentatious brand, considering the building was very over the top with the contrast between the black and white and the tall columns. Inside, it's even more impressive. It feels like a grand ballroom with stair cases curving down from both sides. While I was looking at shoes at Barney's New York, I met Anne Hathaway. She wasn't terribly friendly in real life and it was pretty disappointing. There was one couple there, who wanted a photo like me, so I asked her if I could quickly grab one and her response was, "Do you mind? This is my day off." I was surprised by her response, so I didn't know what to say and ended up just telling her it was alright or something like that. Then, she told me something along the lines of maybe next time, which I'm positive there won't be.

Have you ever met a celebrity?

PS Almost three years ago, I came here after performing for History Day to kill some time and a photo shoot for America's Next Top Model was going on. I saw a girl being photographed there, but I didn't see Jay Manuel there, so I didn't know it was for ANTM until I saw it on TV. Overall, Rodeo Drive is an amazing place to go. There's always something amazing going on there and it's a great place to hunt down celebrities.

Last Day in Spain

Playing: Ready to Go-Panic! at the Disco(Love the costumes in this video! Super pretty and fun to watch!)
Reading: Hollister Models Post Racist Photos from South Korea Store Opening, Get Fired by Valerie Isakova

For breakfast on our last day in Spain, my family and I faced another day of not really caring about where we ate, since we were pretty tired of everything by then. We ended up at a cheap chain called Radilla, where I ordered the Aguja de Ternera. According to my brother's pretty basic Spanish, it's filled with veal and I tasted some red bell peppers. It was only ok, but I was pleasantly surprised by how flaky and buttery the crust was. Radilla served tons of sketchy looking sandwiches, filled with creamy fillings, but everyone there seemed to be enjoying them and my family said they were good.

We spent most of our morning walking around the Almudena Cathedral, which was interesting because it's one of the few cathedrals I've visited that was made fairly recently. Its hallways were filled with artifacts and different religious relics, but the actual church part was the nicest. It wasn't anything special or so outrageous that you just had to visit it. Truthfully, my family and I were running out of places to visit, so we ended up just going to sites that weren't highly recommended by tour books just to fill up our time.

Across from the Reina Sofia, there weren't many places to eat at, so we stopped by a convenience store, bought a few drinks, and asked the guy where we should eat. He was from China, so of course he recommended a Chinese place to us. Restaurant Chino was surprisingly good, considering most of my meals in Spain were pretty mediocre. We ordered Dumplings, Beef with Onions, Singapore Fried Noodles with Curry, Eggplant Stuffed Meat, and Chicken with Black Mushrooms and Bamboo, which were all pretty good. The service was friendly and they spoke alright English, alright Spanish, and fluent Chinese.

After lunch, we went to the Reina Sofia and got in for free because it was Saturday. Out of the three art museums that Madrid is famous for, I thought this one was the weakest. It might've been because it really was the weakest or that I was just tired of visiting so many art museums. I did however like the building. I loved the bold color, sleek lines, and use of glass to break up the redness of it all. It was fascinating to look at from all angles and side.

For dinner, we ate at Restaurante Asador, which is on a street right off Plaza Mayor. I had the Centra de Solomillo de cebon con Foie, which basically means steak with foie gras, I think. The food here was rather good, but overpriced, and the service was friendly too. When you're in Spain, I recommend skipping main dishes and just ordering a bunch of appetizers. The appetizers we got there were the best part, even though they accidentally gave us another guest's food and we dug into it, not knowing it wasn't ours. They served us this really beautiful, glass water bottle and I thought they were going to toss it like we do in the USA, so I stole it. The waiter came after me to explain that they actually have to return the water bottle and I couldn't take it. How terribly awkward...I don't steal things; I promise. I just thought they were going to toss it and I saw so much artistic potential in it.

We ended up at Puerta de Sol, which is supposed to be the center of Spain and the place where all roads start. We pretty much ended up here every single night because the night life was interesting and for me, there were cute boys to stare at. I'm not a creeper nor am I desperate. I just like pretending I'm a model scout. "Oh, he has a nice face, but he's too short." "He would be perfect, if his eyes were brown." Yes, I'm very critical, when it comes to my model scouting. Overall, Spain was nice, but it wasn't the most amazing trip I've had. It's more of a trendy spot aimed at college students for partying and drinking. Even though Madrid is supposed to be more historical, I found Barcelona to be more enjoyable. Would I rank this as a must see place? Probably not, but that's not to say I didn't like Spain. I did like Spain, just not as much as some other places I've been to.

PS My favorite band, Jack's Mannequin, is splitting up and I absolutely need to get tickets for their last concert. However, I don't want to give $400 to scalpers because I want the money I spend on the tickets to go to the Dear Jack Foundation, not some scumbag. 

"Cannery Row...is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream."

Playing: Love Will Tear Us Apart-Joy Division
Reading:"La Dernière Classe" by Alphonse Daudet

One of my favorite books is John Steinbeck's Cannery Row because it chronicles the lives of this eclectic community and shows how everyone is intertwined. Even though everyone in the book has their flaw, they're deep down good people and that's what makes everyone so lovable. After hearing about Sophie going there, I asked my parents if we could go on one of our days up in Berkeley and they agreed. First of all, the drive down is gorgeous beyond belief and I wish I had time to stop off and hike everywhere. Second of all, I will save that for a day when I am older and have adventurous friends. Anyways, we got to Cannery Row around 11:00AM and it was really foggy outside, but nice to look at. A lot of the old fish canneries were still there too.

The whole area is cute to walk around, but it's super touristy with tacky restaurants everywhere, trying to lure you in. If I had more time that day, I would've loved to have gone kayaking amongst the sea otters. See the little dots in the photo? Those are sea otters! Not only am I really good at kayaking, but I heard the otters were very friendly and would paw at your kayak. I'll definitely have to try that one day.

If you read Cannery Row, you'll probably like the rest of the photos. Here is Pacific Biological Laboratories, which is the basis for Doc's Western Biological in the book. Doc was actually based off of one of Steinbeck's good friends, Edward F. Ricketts. Ricketts owned Pacific Biological Laboratories and was a biologist that wrote on everything from Buddhism to Bach.

Wing Chong's was the inspiration for Lee Chong's in the book, which is kind of obvious due to the fact that the names are so similar. Wing Chong's was a real store, even though it went out of business awhile ago, but it's still there and other shops have filled it. I can't remember which stores, but I think mostly touristy shops with t-shirts and such.

Although it's no longer a whorehouse, since Cannery Row is a family friendly area, the Bear Flag Restaurant is still there. In the book, Bear Flag Restaurant is owned by a lady named Dora, but in real life, it's owned by a woman named Flora. See? Not much of a name change here either. Personally, after visiting, I think Cannery Row is a dedication to the people of Cannery Row, even the bums, because Steinbeck loved them all so much. That's why all the characters are good people because Steinbeck saw them that way and he didn't see all the bad parts. At least, that's what I think.

Have you read Cannery Row?

"We're Going Up-Up-Up"

Playing: Good Old Days-Matt Maltese (Have had this on repeat for days!)
Reading: Spring 2013 Ready-to-Wear: Alexander Wang by Nicole Phelps
I started the new school year and my General Physics class is a complete joke so far. I wish there was another science class I could switch into. The AP science courses are too difficult, but the college prep classes are way too easy and what I really need is an Honors Physics class right now. The discrepancy between the two levels is too large and there's nothing for people like me, who are in between. Plus, science is my worst subject. End rant. Enjoy the photos.

Before I had to go back to school, my family and I had to drop my brother off at college, which involved our annual six to eight hour (depending on traffic) drive up to Berkeley. Although the scenery is pretty to look at, it stays constant throughout most of the ride, so eventually you start to get this feeling that you've seen this all before. On the bright side, it gave me six to eight hours to listen to my new Killers CDs and some other CDs I had in the car.

We finally got to our hotel, the Claremont Resort and Spa, some time in the afternoon, where we unloaded all our stuff. The Claremont Resort and Spa is a pretty hotel and very nice, but I find the service to be either great or really awful depending on who I ask for help. This time there weren't any problems with the service, but the last two times, I had to deal with sassy workers and not sassy in a fun way.

While walking around Berkeley, there was this cool apartment complex that had all these plants dripping down like a waterfall. It was absolutely gorgeous and was a interesting contrast to the clean lines of the building. Also, imagine hanging out with friends on the patio up above.

For dinner, my brother suggested Noodle Theory, which always has a long line. We waited for thirty-five minutes in the cold outside just to get a table. The things my family will do for food. It was completely worth it though because I thought this was one of the best places we ate at. The Mr. Q Cumber Cucumber Soda was refreshing and a nice way to cool off your mouth after all the spicy foods. For our appetizer, we ordered the Chinese Five Spice Sweet Potato Fries with a Thai Green Curry Aioli. The aioli didn't really taste like curry to me, more like a cinnamon dip, but nonetheless, it was very tasty and the sweet potato fries were crispy and hot.

The Grilled Niman Ranch Beef with Udon in a Coconut Lime Curry Broth was so amazing. The broth was flavorful and the beef was tender, while the udon did soak up some of the flavor. Out of all the dishes my family ordered, I thought this one was the best, even though everything else was super delicious too. Despite the long wait, I highly recommend eating here at least once. I will be uploading more photos from my trip soon, so please look forward for those. 

Post Title from Loreen's "Euphoria"

Sickness

Playing: Konstantine-Something Corporate
Reading: wild wild west photo diary by Rumi Neely (Just enjoy all the beauty!)

Been living life in a haze for the past few days. Not really able to focus on anything really, so I've spent my time taking photos, reading, practicing walking in heels for school, dancing, acting like I'm Patrick Wolf, etc. Instead of my "Seven Days of Lonely," I think this is my Eleven Days of Sickness. Oh, and you should really watch this mariachi band serenade a beluga whale. Thank you Tosh.O for always showing the most random stuff.

PS I'm back in school. All my teachers seem chill and my history teacher loves Stephen Colbert almost as much as I do. And my French teacher is an ex-model.

Redhead

Playing: Daylight-Matt and Kim
Reading: The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien

Photo Creds: Jane Aldridge, Girl on the Beach, Patrick Wolf, Nicole Kidman as Satine, Rita Hayworth, Gerard Way, Karen Elson

One of my dreams or goals is to dye my hair every single one of the major hair colors before I enter corporate America or whatever industry I go into. (If I work in the fashion industry like I'm hoping, they won't mind all my different hair colors hopefully.) I've done brown and I was born with black, so red was the obvious next choice. Redheads have been getting a lot of crap over being soulless day walkers lately thanks to South Park, which I admittedly find very funny even if it is crude. Everyone from models to bloggers to singers and actresses have been dying their hair red or reddish orange, so I compiled a collage of some of my favorites...

...and then I went for it right before the new school year started. I was originally aiming for a Patrick Wolf/Jane Aldridge red because they just have the most perfect auburn color, but I left with more of a Rita Hayworth/Satine reddish, orange tinted brown. So far, I'm not really liking it that much and I find the work that goes into it isn't worth it. It took my hair stylist three and a half hours to get my hair to this color and three rounds of dye, which all felt like they were burning my scalp. I'm really not liking how whenever I wash my hair, the water comes out orange, even though I'm using cold water like a good kid. I think it makes my skin color look too pink, but I've been getting a lot more compliments from guys that I don't even know ever since I dyed my hair, so maybe it's not that bad. What do you think? So far brown is my favorite.

PS I'm going back to school tomorrow and I'm horrified by the prospect of it all. At least Fashion's Night Out is only two days away, but why did it have to be on the same day as the VMAs? I really want to watch One Direction and Green Day perform, but there's no way I'm going to miss FNO!

Spain: Day 7 Part 2

Playing: Boys Don't Cry-The Cure
Reading: Elle September 2012

Since Madrid was exceptionally hot, almost as hot as Southern California in August, I found myself sharing lots of gelato with my brother, Ted. At Heladerias Italiano, which was practically right next door to the Hotel Atlantico that I stayed at, we shared two scoops of Frambuesa y Mora (Raspberry and Blackberry). The blackberry was definitely better than the raspberry. For me, the raspberry was a tad too sweet after the first few bites. The service wasn't very friendly at all, so I would suggest going to another place instead.

We pretty much just sat in our hotel room for awhile, since it was so hot outside and we saw practically everything the tour books and hotel recommended. I sat inside and worked on my summer assignments, but for dinner, we decided to go to the world famous, Sobrino de Botin, which is the oldest restaurant in the world and Hemingway even wrote about. Once again, my brother and I shared some food, but this time it was the Garlic Soup with Egg. Overall, it wasn't all that great. It had the texture of soggy bread and tasted mostly like bacon with no discernible garlic taste to it. I would definitely skip on this.

Of course, if you visit, you have to try what they're famous for, right? So it was pretty obvious that I had to try the Roast Suckling Pig. For me, I found it pretty bland and disappointing, but my dad and brother loved it, so who knows. I found the skin to be chewy to the point of being inedible, while the meat was dry and the potatoes had no flavor. Even though this is a world famous restaurant, I wouldn't recommend it to you, since the prices are unbelievably high for pork and the all the food I ordered was very average, if not below average.

After dinner, we just walked around and came across the Mercado de San Miguel, which was absolutely lovely. I loved how it housed tons of placed to get hors d'oeuvres and main entrees too. It looked very trendy and it seemed like everyone was getting small bites from all the places. Prince Charles and Camilla were there, according to a yogurt place that claimed they had eaten there. I definitely wish I had eaten here at least once, since everything looked so good.

Both Barcelona and Madrid seemed to have had a large gay population. In Barcelona, I stumbled across a Gay Pride Festival on my first day and in Madrid, they had tons of rainbow themed food. It was fun to see all of this, since I don't see a lot of this, where I live. Plus, all the rainbow colors were fun to look at. I was tempted to buy one of these to see if each color was a different flavor...

In Spain, my family and I walked around a lot, looking at things with no real plans. It was nice though at night to see all these college age kids running around because most of the other places I've visited catered to families and not the party scene. At night, I liked to go up to the top floor of my hotel, the Hotel Atlantico, just to look around. Everything just looked so pretty from up above.