Oranges
April 4 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
“Look, Dani, the flowers.”
“Look, Babu, the oranges.”
“Look, Bae, the wall.”
“Look, honey, the fucking birds.”
“Look over there, shade.”
Dani sighed and shook his head over and over.
Babu greeted me with the biggest smile, a long kiss, and a tight hug. That was all I needed to forget about my headache and my rumbling stomach. And… I needed to poop.
We walked from district to district to get to the sunniest square, then sat down at a bar for vermouth at 11 a.m. 😌😥
“Oh no, my tummy,” I thought to myself, but when in Spain, I simply can’t complain.
We had 14 different dishes that day, and of course I got drunk.
I passed out at 11 p.m. 😭 after all the kisses. Poor Dani, he had to sleep early too.
A beautiful first day in Barcelona.Read more
A gay ray
April 5 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
We woke up quite early, and I found myself already running to Dani’s favorite churros spot for breakfast. The weather was a paid actor—so handsome. At that point, I realized how lucky I was to be in Spain at the start of spring without getting sick or soaked.
We then went to one of the most iconic parks in Barcelona, Parc de la Ciutadella. I loved all the greenery and details. I don’t remember much of the interior designs, but the cherry blossoms, dandelions in the garden beds, roses, palm trees, and those very characteristic plane trees—so many plants and flowers—completely filled my heart. We didn’t visit the greenhouse though; I’m scared of birds.
The beach in Barcelona was full of people—happy people. I gave Dani so many kisses and hugs, maybe too many, because sometimes it felt like he was trying to escape me (I thought Spanish men were… devoted!) 🤭
Even though I come from a sunny climate, three hours walking under the sun plus alcohol in the morning was enough for me. I needed to sit down and recharge. But no, Dani took me to a local restaurant nearby, right away, because we are kind of late!!!, about a 16-minute walk from the beach. We had to wait outside for our turn. It was a simple place, filled with the smell of seafood and older locals eating. I was literally the only Asian there, and the waiter was a little flirty with me 💁♂️.
“Looks promising,” I thought.
And yes, the food was amazing. I won’t get into cultural differences or shock—Spain and Vietnam are completely different, and everything felt new to me. No questions asked, I just kept eating, drinking, and following Dani’s instructions, he was the perfect tour guide. I wish he could've acted more of my boyfriend than a tour guide, but hey, he's trying to impressed me (which he completed)
Bodega La Peninsular — I’ll be back!
Later in the evening, we got lost inside Basílica de la Sagrada Família trying to find Daniel’s name in the stained glass windows. We ended up with sore necks and feeling dizzy, so I had a few pintxos and cervezas to recover.
We got back to the hotel, and I passed out again. I swear I could hear Dani’s frustrated voice in my dreams 🤣😭Read more
Familia
April 6 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
I dragged my suitcase along Gracia early in the morning, but got no look back from people in front of me, I guess they are just used to the sound, how disappointing!
A short flight landed us in Vitoria, where Dani grew up. Five people were waving at us at the airport—well, at Dani and his cousin, Immediately I felt lost in translation, thick accent I couldn’t figure out, it took me seconds to realize that every Spanish I learned is now useless. I was so nervous that I couldn’t remember my own appreciation speech I prepared for Dani's parents,
"gracias de invitacion para mi" I mumbled to Dani's dad!
Vale!
Vale is the only word that gives me strength, excitement, energy and motivation for my next adventure, because I understand nada when they speak their language, SMH I should’ve poured that wine money into the Spanish center in HCM instead! And yet, I’m still a wine snob.
Vitoria was, is yet my favorite city I stepped foot in!
Was it the landscape I saw through the plane window? Maybe
Was it the air? Maybe
Was it how family members are connected so soulfully tight, they treat each other like amigos? Yes.
I haven’t traveled enough to the 7 seas to do the math, but Dani's family is tight, they really do care for each other!
"Tu casa es la bonita"
Miguel took us to the city for Dani’s missing tickets to San Sebastian, something that required his papa 😌 but no questions asked! While Cheli stayed and prepared lunch for us all.
How awesome that he introduced me to txakoli and my first "Spanish Omelette" served in a local neighborhood! I cried inside, while they were catching up, I gazed out at the view and took it all in, so funny how I’m at where I am right now. Back to 10 years ago i met George who from Logrono, he talked about how awesome the Basque country is and Basque was my number #1 in the bucket list!
About 11:40am people started to get out to local bars, have coffee then alcoholic drinks with a bite of pintxo, life is quite relaxed here.
Hands down the best tortilla during my trip.
Back home with a half full tummy, a little tipsy on txakoli, a bottle of white wine opened and poof, a full glass appeared in my right hand, a piece of GOOD ham on my left pinchy, my mouth stuffed with bread, I swear I’m not an alcoholic!
Hector and Annie arrived for lunch, according to Dani, they are only in Vitoria because of me, I gagged!
Lunch was served in a rustic way, oven-baked herbed lamb, blood sausage, bread and more alcoholic drinks, 10/10
I smiled from ear to ear because I got the biggest chunk of protein, which I CAN NOT say no to, uhm tender and juicy! Cheli's homemade ... was quite impressive.
Not to waste my visa fee, Dani rushed me to the car and drove me to the almond point to start his tour guide side hustle. I remember nada, building after building, wall after wall, street after street, I’m dulled and zoned out, sorry Dani, I pretended to listen to you and didn’t want to interrupt but talking architecture to me is like speaking human to a cat! La la la la la la la
Awesome tour, Dani was the best at what he's doing, devoted, organized and a lots of "walky talky", in his defend, Vitoria's history was his root, he knows exactly where to go and what to do, all the rocky path is in his palm.
I chose a wrong pairs of shoes for his day.
The day closed with a lot of love.Read more
Road trip with la familia
April 7 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
The night before, Dani screamed out loud because there was one "giant" spider on the ceiling.
Today was beautiful.
Mikel drove us to the castle of Butron in Bilbao. Strangely, none of them had ever heard of it, as they should have. The thing is currently under renovation, and Dani didn’t seem impressed by it, neither did we. Except for the fairly nice weather, the whole castle-hunting trip took a wild turn into strawberry picking—that was fun.
Writing these lines, the flavor of the cinnamon rolls is appearing in the back of my throat. The saliva escaping under my tongue floods my whole mouth, I really miss that bun, one of the best.
Bilbao! It seems smaller than Victoria, but somehow the vibe is better. Maybe it’s just the few blocks we visited, or maybe the big museum is the main attraction. And there’s a big-ass spider for Dani to, erm, take it all in 🤣😥
I got hundreds of pictures taken by Dani from the museum that I’d probably never look back at. I should be the one taking pictures all the time ,in fact, I didn’t. It’s not that I was enjoying the present; I forgot. The food feels warmer than what I had in other cities in Spain. Still simply presented- pintxo and txakoli - but this time I had the chance to dig deeper into the culinary side. The flamed chorizo was unforgettable, moist yet chewy. The cod-stuffed pepper was delicious and well-seasoned. The slightly crushed olives were un poquito spicy 😌. The vermouth was exceptionally good, I had two in a row. Approved!
Was I hungry, or is that what it feels like when you and life are friends?
The day ended with a couple slices of bread and ham, and of course, a warm shower and lots of love.
Bilbao was cute. It was fast. Though it’s not just another city-it’s enough for leisure, yet humble enough to just be, slow. If Victoria was all about bread and txakoli, then Bilbao is a toast and white wine.Read more