Week 7: My Roses, Bud, and Thorn of the Week

Another wonderful week for the books! I spent a lot of time with my friends in Barcelona and my family arrived on Thursday! I decided that this week I want to format my post by stating my rose, bud, and thorn of the week. This is an activity that I do with my friends sometimes. The rose is the highlight of my week, the bud is something that I’m looking forward to, and the thorn is something bad that happened this week. However, I can’t pick just one rose so I’m going to change “rose, bud, and thorn” into “roses, bud, and thorn.”

Roses

The first rose of my week is the sangria night that my friends hosted on Tuesday. It was quite the presentation that they created. Believe it or not, they’re boys. Honestly, I’d never had any guy friends create something so aesthetically pleasing and I think that’s why this night was such a highlight for me. But aside from the presentation, it was great getting the group together, playing some games, and just enjoying some tasty sangria! 

The next rose of my week was on Thursday when my roommates, brother, and I went to a restaurant called Negro y Rojo. The week before, we met someone at Born Street Food who works at this restaurant as the bartender and told us we could get free drinks. We were expecting a lowkey sushi spot but it turned out to be a fancy and popping place! He ended up being our server and we got an amazing deal on dinner! Plus, the restaurant turned into a club and we got to stay and enjoy that for a while. I think what made this so special is how my expectations were so low so I was very pleasantly surprised with how the night ended up going. Also, my brother was with us which made the night even more special! 

My last rose was going to Valencia with my family for the weekend! The whole trip was absolutely wonderful but my favorite part was probably the first day. We went on a factory tour for the furniture company, Punt, which was really cool. Later in the night, the man who gave us the tour, the CEO of the company, and the global saleswoman took us out to dinner at Vaqueta and showed us around Valencia which was totally amazing! They ordered everything for the table, showing us the traditional Valencia foods and drinks. It was really cool comparing the foods in Barcelona to the foods in Valencia. The most intriguing difference to me was how in Valencia they mix in the sauce for the patatas bravas and in Barcelona the sauce sits on top. The next day in Valencia, we shopped around and got some yummy paella then went to the restaurant, Raro, for my dad’s birthday dinner which had the most amazing food. It was definitely my favorite meal in Valencia. On Sunday, we went to Panorama for lunch which has a breathtaking view of the beach and marina, and then Sam and I jetskied! We then walked to the Museum of Science and walked all through Turia Park which ended with a fun market with lots of jewelry and food vendors. Also, it was fashion week in Valencia so we got to see a few fashion shows right in our hotel lobby. That reminds me, the hotel that we stayed at, Only YOU, was by far my favorite hotel experience ever. It had a club downstairs, all of the fashion shows were there, fantastic service, and the rooms were also so comfortable and spacious. Overall, I had an absolutely perfect experience in Valencia with my family. 

Bud

Something that I’m looking forward to is visiting my friend from home, Acadia, and my friend that I met on vacation years ago but lives in England, Isla, in London this coming weekend! I’ve been to London before but it was a while ago so I’m excited to see what London has to offer, especially now that I’m older and a more experienced traveler. 

Thorn

Honestly, this week was really amazing and it’s hard for me to choose something that was negative. On Wednesday though, I was supposed to go out with my roommates and some new friends but two of them canceled on us last minute, then when we were at the bar my stomach started to hurt and I had to go home when they all went to the club. Although I was somewhat resistant to going in the first place, I was upset I couldn’t get closer to our new friends. But in the end, I probably needed the rest. 

Although I sort of cheated with my “roses, bud, and thorn,” I hope I was able to paint a picture of how I spent my time in Barcelona and Valencia this week.

Chlo and Behold the world through my eyes. Thanks for being a part of the journey.