Barcelona!: San Sebastian

So, Karen, Uri’s girlfriend, is a production assistant for a director out of Barcelona. She’s worked with him on some small, independent movies and television clips over the past couple of years. Their most recent project/gig, has been for a bank that is located in the Basque country of Spain (the north western coast of Spain containing Bilboa and San Sebastian). They were looking for a few extras to complete the cast for a commercial and advertisement campaign. Karen asked if we would be interested in auditioning for it. We said, “Hell Yah!” and sent her pictures of us. Of course this was more difficult for me because, unlike John, I don’t have a SINGLE professional picture taken of me. I found a couple on Facebook that would suffice and I sent them her way. Within 2 hours, she had emailed our pictures to the client and they agreed that we fit the part. We were stoked!! Not only did this mean that we would be traveling to beautiful San Sebastian for a weekend, but it also meant that we were going to get paid!!! I couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t but three weeks ago that we were in the states hating life, and now we’re in Barcelona about to shoot a commercial in San Sebastian and making BANK! This trip has been too good to be true.

Friday

Since Uri and Karen are both out of town this weekend, they lent John and I their gym cards so we could go use it when they were gone. We got up in the morning, super sore because we had a freaking walk marathon the night before, so working out was not an option for me. I mean, seriously, my Achilles tendons were so tight that if someone were to flick them, I’m pretty sure they would snap and coil up inside my calf. So…we decided we would take full advantage of the other features of the gym. Like the roof top sun bathing area, sauna, pool, and spa area. This place is absolutely unreal. The spa area is so hard to describe. Imagine an oasis of different pools and spas with dimmed light, white tile, and fountains everywhere. Soothing massage-like music, and rainfall showers. Basically what you hope heaven will be like. After laying out for about an hour, John and I head downstairs to the heaven room. We rinse off in the showers with ice cold water to prepare ourselves for the “wet” sauna. We stayed in the sauna for about 15 minutes and it was soooo relaxing. I think I sweat out 2 weeks worth of mega impurities I had stored up. It was wonderful. I felt an instant energy boost. After sauna-ing? for about 15 minutes, we get out and head to the lukewarm pool to get our body temperature back to normal. We then went to the hot tub to cap off one of the most amazing physical experience of my life. We showered, then headed back to our place. John was going to work the pub crawl, and I was going to hang out with the girls Friday night and go to a vintage fashion show. When I was getting ready in the bathroom, Marta, our new roommate and landlord, went nuts on me and bitched me out in Spanish for spending too much time in the bathroom. I continue to say, “No comprendo, No comprendo, No hablo Espanol” but clearly she isn’t grasping that concept. She’s an absolute psychopath. She must yell at me every day for the weirdest shit ever, and never says a word to John! She’s like an OCD person on steroids who escaped from the mental institute. She secretly stashes medicine everywhere in her apartment. Either she’s on drugs, or is a hypochondriac. She’s really starting to freak me out. After I got dressed, I met up with Karen at her apartment around 10. Karen, Ana, and I head out around 12 to make it to the show. I didn’t buy anything, but it was a really cool experience and it was great to do a girls night out. We leave the vintage fashion show and head to a bar. The girls first wanted to try a bar called “Obama.” Hilarious. It’s an English pub that had been there way before Obama was in office, but they said it was really good so we tried it out! We walk in and it’s packed. As I looked around I saw normal American/English people and then was abruptly scared out of my mind when I walked past a statue of President Obama sitting on a bench next to a real person. Totally thought it was a human until I was point-blank with the Ronald McDonald creepy ass smile of Obama. Obviously, this was an addition to the bar after he came into office. We U-turned after unsuccessfully finding a seat and headed to Gracia where we knew we would be able to find a table. We get to this hole in the wall bar and all get a drink. I got a Caipirinha, a traditional Brazilian drink, prepared with cachaca. It was de-li-cious. After some chatting, Pepe left the “guy’s night” of poker to come join us. We leave about 2 and I head home. John and I would be waking up early to prepare for our San Sebastian adventure!!!!

Ana, Karen’s sister, told me that John and I should be ready close to 1 to get to her apartment so we could leave for Bilboa. I get John up and we are ready to head there around 12:30. I call Ana and confirm the time, but she says she’ll need another hour. John and I decide to go to the little Italian restaurant that’s right next door to our new apartment for some lunch. We’ve made friends with all of the workers there (who are all Italian and always hungover), but they are so freaking expensive! John and I had two baby waters and two (delicious) Margarita pizzas for about 20 euros. Um….no thank you! So we leave and I get a call from Ana saying it will be closer to 3 when we leave, so John and I bring our packs that were super heavy because they contained lots of wardrobe options, and walk about 30 minutes down Travessera de Gracia to Ana’s apartment. We get there where we meet her roommate and Karen’s friend Guillermo, and his partner Inaki(pronounced Inyaki). They are both super nice and can speak English very well, so I knew it was going to be a good drive to Bilboa. (Seriously am I the only non-bi-lingual person alive?!..ugh) We were exhausted but ready to get on the road. We all pile into the Audi station wagon and start the adventure! So, we’re about 2 hours in, and I’m doing pretty well. Guillermo is going about 160 km/hr, which equals a little over 100 mph, so we were making great time. I was getting thrashed all over the backseat, and my left butt cheek was starting to fall asleep, but the quicker the better in my eyes. John and I video blog a little bit on the way down, trying to capture the beautiful Rioja wine vineyards and gorgeous mountainside of Bilboa. It’s impossible to describe how beautiful everything was. We finally arrive around 10pm, and get checked into our hotel. John and I were super stoked to finally NOT have to share a bed and the fact that we would get a good nights’ sleep without the sound of sledgehammers bashing our faces in. Once we settle in we meet up with Karen for Pintxos (pronounced peen-chos) which are like tapas, but native to Northern Spain. There are several different platters displayed on the top of the bar, each showing off a certain Pintxo. They’re basically slices of sourdough bread with different kinds of toppings. You take as many as you want and pay at the end. They do it based on the honor code, which totally would not happen in the U.S. I really enjoyed it though, because it gives you a chance to try several types of foods and you have a fun time doing it. You don’t risk ordering a meal and hating it. If you like a certain Pintxos, then you can just keep ordering! John and I did not eat very well that day, and scarfed down about 6 pintxos each. I felt so unbelievably full, but I don’t have a stop button on my mouth once I start going. We slowly made it back to the hotel and Karen gave us our assignment for the following day. I would need to be there at 8am to get my hair, makeup, and wardrobe done because I was going to be in a photoshoot prior to the commercial filming…….umm…excuse me? Absolutely insane. I’ve never done anything like that before in my life!! John and I hit the hay. We were so tired and I needed to get my butt up at 7am so I could shower and look ish-presentable. I slept like a baby. I don’t think my sheets even came slightly undone. After showering and getting ready, John and I head down to the free breakfast that is included with our free room. We went to TOWN on some food. They had everything from fruit to pastries to meat to cereal….the works. After downing some delicious food (but not too much…didn’t want my belly to look bloated on film…lord knows I don’t need an extra 10 pounds put on me in addition to the 10 pounds the camera adds) John and I secretively, but not so secretively smuggled about 15 boxes of cereal in our bags. The cereal in Spain is so freaking expensive and we were told we might not get lunch that day, so we had to prepare! We head out the door and head to the car to meet our film destinies. We all pile out of the car at this elevated park that’s outside of a building. It’s a beautiful day and they were starting the commercial in this location. After standing around for a little bit, Karen tells me to go see the wardrobe girl. She dresses me in total mom clothes and I instantly feel like I’ve been aged about 15 years. I head over to these 3 short Spanish looking men who look me up and down in approval, speaking back and forth with each other. I could only assume that they were photographers, wardrobe assistants, or the directors of photography. I get the green light then am sent over to the makeup lady to get my face put on. Lord have mercy make me look good please…my face was suffering from the long drive yesterday. She makes me look nice, but for some reason does not touch my hair at all! I was shocked. I only had blown it dry and it was mad frizzy. I was sure that she would want to get her hands on my cobweb of a head, but she walked away as if I had just had it professionally done or something. Nuts. Oh well, maybe they have a low budget or something. Right after I get my makeup done, a beautiful (taller than me) blonde, Swedish looking woman and even taller and bigger man come up to me with an adorable little girl. This was my costar, or should I say, daughter for the shoot…little Magdelena (or Maggie for short). She was blonde, super beautiful, and had crystal blue eyes that could look straight through you. I instantly thought that this girl was destined for stardom. Her mom was super sweet and super Eastern European, and tried to introduce Maggie to me. Luckily her mom speaks both English and Spanish, so she was able to translate. Maggie was scared to death of me, and buried her face in her mom’s chest. I was like, “oh boy, gonna be a longgg day.” After about 5 minutes pass, Maggie is grabbing my hand, trying to tickle me, and opens up super fast. I was thrilled, especially since she was supposed to be my daughter. Would have sucked if she hated me. So we goof around a little bit and I try to make buds with her in hopes of increasing our chances of bonding. We were then told to head to the studio where I was going to have my shoot. John came with me, and we were escorted by the little girl’s family to the studio. On the ride I find out that they are originally from Montenegro, but came to Bilboa because the husband played in the NBA for years (knows Dirk Nowitzki!) and was traded to a team that was located there. They were awesome people. We get to the studio, and meet the photographers who start to set up for the shoot. I would be standing on an all white background while holding the little girl on my back (like a piggyback ride). We were to imagine that we were walking through a park and were super happy/loving life. Ok, sounded easy enough. WRONG. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing!! I had never in my life been professionally photographed, and I was starting to have a mini panic attack inside. You can imagine how difficult it would be to have a little girl strapped to your back who you had to keep interested/involved, while trying to hold your pose, smile big and natural, and etc. etc. I have a new found respect for models now. First roll, the photographer does not look happy. He tries to explain to me what to do, and how to fix my oh so unnatural smile. I take mental notes and start round #2. Again, wasn’t working, wasn’t clicking. I felt so awkward and couldn’t figure out how to be relaxed with about 5 or 6 people watching me. John was sweet enough to not watch me, because I think he knew it would freak me out. Then the photographer takes the second reel out, puts it on his computer and looks at it more closely. It really helped me to see myself and what exactly I looked like. I was able to see what he was talking about and change it for the next roll. It kind of reminded me of when I would watch game film of myself after a volleyball tournament so I could see how to fix what I was doing wrong. I get back to my spot and start to unwind, relax and take some decent pictures. I tell myself to think of something funny (luckily the photographer looked like a cartoon character, so it made it a little bit easier) and to just go with it. Finally! Eureka! We get a good roll, and the photographer puts it in his computer to take a looksy. He selects a few and talks super fast in Spanish to his assistants. I asked him if it was better, and he responded, “infinitely better!” I huge sigh of relief came over me as I realized I wasn’t a complete and utter failure. Then, all of the sudden the photographer wanted to try a couple of different poses. It must have been going well, because we were only supposed to do one pose. We try one where she is on my shoulders and laying her head on top of mine, and then another pose where she is facing me with her legs around my hips. The photographer’s smile went from non-existent to exuberant happiness in about an hour. When he looked at the final roll of film, he kept picking out one, turning around to me and saying, “this girl!....” I was SO happy that not only I didn’t screw up, but that he was actually super pleased with what I did! Who knows, maybe this will be in my future (haha, jk). After we completed the shoot, we needed to head to San Sebastian to the location of the commercial. We had a couple of hours to kill though, so the photographer and his 2 assistants offered to take John and I to lunch. We said, “umm…yes please!” and hopped in their car to head to the city for some grub. They took us to their favorite Chinese food restaurant, where we had an array of rices, wontons, and beef/chicken dishes. It was delicious. Who would have thought 3 weeks ago, that John and I would be in Bilboa, Spain, shooting a commercial for a bank, and eating lunch at a Chinese restaurant with 3 Spanish photographers. Unbelievable. These men were very interesting, and Lucho, who was the photographer who shot me, was the only one who could speak English. It was great though, because John and I were able to practice our Spanish more. When we’re around our friends in Barcelona, we never get to because they all speak Catalan. So, after lunch, Lucho was kind enough to drive John and I around Bilboa for a mini car tour before we had to head to San Sebastian. It was about an hour long drive, and I sat in the back seat smushed between John and a little Spanish man. Awesome. It was cool though because John and I just gazed out the window at the monstrous homes and listened to Lucho’s favorite artist, Phil Collins. Bilboa is one of the most expensive places to live in the world, and the homes…scratch that….mansions, were gargantuan! They looked like castles and made me wonder what exactly all of those people do for a living. We finally arrive in San Sebastian. If possible it is even more beautiful from Bilboa. The coast has crystal clear water, white beaches, and the city is incredibly clean and nice. We stroll up to the hotel that we’re going to stay for the night called, “Vaga Barcelona Hotel” We didn’t go in, just parked and headed straight to the location of the commercial. It was taking place in a beautiful park on a hill overlooking the beautiful “Concha” beach. John and I were in absolute awe. We weren’t sure what we were exactly going to be doing for the commercial, so Karen just told us we could walk around and hang out until we were needed. John and I took the opportunity and walked along the beach to take in the amazing sites. There is a cobblestone walkway that curves around the beach to a point. At the point there is this incredible piece of art called, “The Wind Comb.” It basically encompasses 3 or 4 different elements that are supposed to represent Mother Nature. It was very moving and inspirational. After we took a mini tour of the shore, we grabbed an ice cream and headed back to the shoot to make sure that we weren’t going to be late. They were still on the first scene, so we knew we still had some time to kill. We waited on a bench that overlooked the beautiful coast and talked/read/and discussed what the ultimate “bucket list” would be. When we got a phone call from Karen we knew it was our turn to film. We were starting to lose daylight, so the crew was eager to get the last shot before we ran out of time. The commercial was going to end with John and I in the same frame. He was sitting on a bench in the background with a woman and a baby, while I walked towards the camera with Maggie on my back and smiled into the camera. It was very weird for me because there were so many people watching, including curious bystanders. I had to walk for about 50 feet towards the camera and smile the entire way, like I was so excited and happy to be in the park with my child. I felt like I was doing a marathon because the moment we finished a take, I immediately ran back to my starting position and had to do it again. Daylight was running out, so I was getting a workout! I was really proud of myself though…I honestly didn’t feel nervous at all! Maybe I would be able to do this whole acting thing after all. The sun finally falls over the horizon and the shoot is over. The director and crew seem to be pleased with everything and John and I were pleased too! We barely had to do anything and were getting paid to do it! I could get used to this. We headed back to the hotel, exhausted, but had to quickly freshen up for dinner because it was nearly 10pm. We met everyone downstairs and headed to dinner with the crew to a traditional restaurant in the Basque country. It looked like an old French house that was painted white and had huge, stained wooden beams that were connecting everything together. We walk inside, and sit at a very long table fit for about 20 people. It was interesting because there were mini loafs of French bread next to each plate. Of course, John and I go to town on the bread right when we sit down. The waitress then brought this bottle of some kind of liquor(Cidra?—similar to apple cider but with alcohol) and set it down in front of us. It was a traditional drink of the Basque country, kind of an Apple sparkling champagne-type. You’re supposed to pour it into each person’s glass from a high point so that it creates the bubbling effect. It was funny because it was splashing all over the place, but was absolutely delicious. The group orders for the entire table. We were basically going to try several different dishes and would share them all…family-style. We started with delicious clams in a garlic butter sauce, calamari and caramelized onions, and a simple salad with olive oil and onions. Then we moved onto the next course. It was some sort of huge ass flounder-looking fish on a plate. At first, I was thinking, “oh no, won’t be able to eat that!” but then I told myself, “Just try it, you’ll regret it if you don’t.” So, I sucked it up and gave it a go. I LOVED IT. I found out we call it Sole in America; it was delectable. John described it as the filet mignon of fish: very tender, good quality meat. Then they brought out the biggest piece of steak I have ever seen in my life. Literally. It’s like they had taken an entire leg and thrown it on a plate. It kind of reminded me of that steak John Candy ate in the movie The Great Outdoors. John was already salivating, and I was a bit skeptical because it was SO rare. I’m not holding anything back on this trip, so I picked up a piece and sunk my teeth into it. Divine. So tender and fantastic. The inside was blood red but the outside was crispy. They seasoned it to perfection with olive oil and sea salt then grilled it. The meal was amazing, getting capped off with cannoli-like dessert and wine. John had an ice cream sundae with raisins that was amazing. It’s like this trip is progressively becoming more and more of a fairy tale. The crew paid for everything! After dinner we head out to a bar to have a couple of drinks. John and I stayed until the cloud of smoke made me feel like I poured hot sauce in my eyes, then we headed back to the hotel. The next morning John and I take advantage of the magnificent breakfast and get our bags packed to head back to Barcelona. We hang out in San Sebastian until about 5pm, visit an open air museum, then decide to hit the road. We were all pretty beat, and Ana and the guys had work the next day. After a long and brutal car ride we make it home and pass out. San Sebastian….unreal.

Check Out Our Commercial Here! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LiRYJ10ceQ

We made Pepe American Style Pancakes!

On the beach...typical day for us

Pastry shops haunt me everywhere I go!!

A secret local Tapas place called "La Champoneria" 2 euro sandwiches and .80 champagne! Delicious and super packed.

The beautiful post office...yah I don't remember seeing beautiful painted ceilings in the last post office I went to in the states.

You start to lose your mind a little bit on the Metro.

Definitely look like a normal Spanish person...right?

Hospital Sant Pau--half a block from our apartment!

We love grabbing some fruit from the random fruit stands all over Barcelona...delicious!

At the photo shoot in Bilboa

Lucho--the cartoon character photographer

Looking at what I did wrong haha

John, me, and the photography team at the Chinese restaurant.

In the background is a cable car that hovers over the water and transports cars from one side to the other.

One of the enormous homes/castles we saw in Bilboa.

Our hotel in San Sebastian

Just steps away from where we shot the commercial

Doesn't even look real does it?!

Haha, John tried to get a picture of a woman showering topless, but this kid walked right in front of him. Hilarious! Maybe it's a sign from God John.