Barcelona to Bangkok!!

Sah wat dee from Bangkok!!!
I arrived from Barcelona on Wednesday. It is so strange to lose an entire day flying...If you ever have the opportunity, please fly Thai Airways! Definitely one of the best flying experiences of my life. I got beef curry with rice and veggies for dinner and it was spicy AND delicious. I got hot towels 3 times, had red wine, beer, juice coffee, a middle of night sandwich AND a really excellent breakfast. We flew over Pakistan and India--I just saw HUGE mountains and clouds; so gorgeous...so unreal to be flying half way around the world in just 12 hours. I sat next to a Spanish opthamologist who kept telling me to enjoy my youth and travel (aprovecha la juventud--say it aloud, WAY better in spanish). I love her?
Random thoughts:
1. Why is Spanish farmland not in squares and circles like the US? Flying over it on my way back to Barcelona, I truly enjoyed how patchwork and fluid the lines were, but it seems curves would be harder to groom/harvest etc.
2. Highlights of my last weekend in Barcelona:
- Weather!!!! It was warm-ish while the SUN, yes I said SUN, was up during the daylight hours. I'd give it at least 21 C.
- Staying with an old synchro friend, Ellen, who I'd lost touch with for 4 nights. She's been in Spain 6 years and is marrying a Spaniard in Sept!!! yay!! It was so generous for her to host me!!! She lived right in the Centro and it was great catching up with her over coffee and Maria biscuits.
- Gaudi's Sagrada Familia. Finally. I went in and was lightly underwhelmed. The towers were amazing, but really it smelled like saw dust and was an active constructive site inside. I expected more church. It was also expensive to enter and once in, if you wanted to climb the tower, you had to pay more:( boo. Otherwise, it was highly impressive and a symbol of the culmination of my Spanish degree/education:)
-Spanish red wine. There are no words.
- Watching drugs getting exchanged publicly. This isn't really a "high", per se, however. Hm, please reflect.
-Renting bikes!!!! Took a self tour of Parc Montjuic. Saw the 1992 Olympic stadium and fields, drank coffee in the sun, got very lost/almost got onto the B-10 freeway, literally..., saw a very different cemetary that was very eerie and zen at the same time--all stacked graves. I'll post pictures soon, and ultimately got to "the best restaurant in BCN" only to find it closed on Sundays:(
-Got to have one last glory dinner with Emily Sousa. yay!!!
-Cooking dinner with Mayu on my last night. Homemade paella with noodles instead of rice and my mom's spaghetti sauce. It was great. Made me feel home:)

now...ASIA!!!!
I met up with Travel Buddy, Alex Rajan (if you feel like hearing his perspective on our journey www.AlexinAsia09.blogspot.com) on Tuesday! I am so thankful for his company, granted I think he's already sick of listening to me talk:) The first day I was fairly destroyed by lack of sleep/ Bcn-Mad-bangkok....I got to the hostel, showered and took an "hour" nap. poor form Rettberg. 3 hours later...I woke up and felt human. I went to a HUGE mall, per my brother's suggestion (by Skytrain at that!) and ate DELICIOUS thai food. I felt that the Asian diet would cause me to lose weight...hm. Reasons why this is false:
1. food is REALLY affordable here. My first day I ate brown rice with green chicken curry (almost too spicy for me=heaven) and chicken with chilis and basil=60 baht. This is under $2. In Europe a cafe=espresso was more....
2. I LOVE Thai food, passionately.
3. Beer is also very cheap here. So far I've sampled 3 national beers. Chang wins. I'll keep you posted.
4. I just tasted my first street food. DELICIOUS and only 25 baht for a HUGE plate. uh oh.
(alex is reading as I type--CREEPY, he claims "it was not a HUGE plate." please note, he may have an eating disorder, he claims to never be hungry. who is this boy? why does he travel if not to eat?)
Ok, so yesterday Alex and I took river taxis and tuk-tuks. I will soon post photos. I have tasted a LOT of diesel. mmm!!! I might be lying about the mmm.
What else? went to a night bizaar last night and accidentally spent money. Alex bought some SWEET fidora-ish hats and I got a shirt that is the softest cotten ever. Today we attempted a 7am-6pm bike tour and failed miserably at public transport and ultimately did a big walking tour of Chinatown and found some Monk bowl village. Then we went to the reclining buddha=AWESOME and the Royal Palace. pictures to come.
Ok, tomorrow we start our 2 week trek up north. I cannot wait!!! I think I may want to move to Bangkok more than Spain...anyone want to come with me? Hope you're all safe!
Love,
Lauren