Travelog for: Ape Apina

Mmmm!!! It's a very comfortable trip!!! Uhh?? What's happening?

A-Close the envelope!!! My feet get cold!!


A-Uh?


A-Hello!! My name is Ape Apina!!!


Z-My name is Zero!!! I will be your host!!!! Nice to meet you!!!


T-And I'm TezTez, nice to meet you too!!!


Z-Do you know what, Ape Apina??? You helped me to get a part of one of my lifemission!!! You're my second host!!!


Mommy!!!!! I'm in Barcelona, Spain!!! You can see I arrived well and safe Here, Zero is the host and I helped him to get a part of one of his lifemissions as being his second host!!! This is a great arrival!!!
We spend the afternoon talking about our trips and our things. I told Zero and TezTez my days in Disney
Don't worry about me, mommy, I think I will be fine here ^^

Miss you!!! But I'm happy!!!
Ape Apina

Hi mommy!!! How are you?
Zero sais that I could not have come at a better time This weekend is “Sant Joan”, here people celebrate the night of 23rd to 24th going to the beach, throwing fireworks and lighting bonfires. It’s also tradition to bake and eat “coques”, a kind of cake, and that is what we’re going to do, by ourselves!!!! Look how we do it
We need a natural yoghurt to start.


We put the yoghurt in a bowl and clean the pot to use to measure the other ingredients.


We add 3 eggs and a measure of sunflower oil and we mix them with the electric mixer.





Now we add 2 measures of flour, 1 yeast packet, 2 measures of sugar, 1 measure of cocoa and a bit of salt and mix them well.







We put the mix in a baking tin and we bake it in the oven at 180ºC during 40-45 min.


Ooohhh!!! It has broken a little when we remove it from the baking tin… But it seems yummy!!!

Mom!!! I will bake again!! Well, TezTez and Zero too. This one will be a present for Zero's mommy's dad and it will be a "coca de llardons" (crackling pancake).
We need a sheet of puff-paste, we stend it a bit and make it bigger. Then, we cut it in two.



We will use the big part as the base and we have to prick it with a fork.


Now we add the crackles. Oohh, mommy!!! I wanted to eat some, but Zero didn't let me!!!



We add sugar…


…cover it with the other part… (a very important thing because it has to cover all and well!!)


... prick with the fork again…


… and paint it with egg.


Now we add more sugar and some pine-nut. Bake in the oven at 200ºC during 10-15min. Et voilà!!!



Wiii!! I think this is a success!!! And we did it ourselves too!!!
Do you like it, mommy??

Hi mommy!
Maybe you wonder what are we doing. We’re doing some crafts, but it’s a secret!!! I can’t tell you, you will know later

Hello mommy!!!
Today we will celebrate “Sant Joan”!! We don’t go to the beach, but we will celebrate it at Zero’s mommy’s boyfriend.
We have to take the train.


A-Ooohh!! It’s dark outside!!
Z-Yes, we can’t see anything!!!!


It’s time for dinner!!! We have pizzas, chips, something to drink, our “coca”… and while we are eating, we will do a film marathon. We will watch “Spiderman 1, 2 and 3”.


-¡Guys! ¡¡The film starts!!
Z-Wait!!! We have to prepare ourselves!!!
Tachán!!!!


Surprise mommy!!!! You wondered what we did this morning? This is the answer!!!! We did disguises from the characters of the movie!!!!
I’m Peter Parker, Zero is the spider that bites me and then I become Spiderman (TezTez)!!!!


Z-Now we are ready!!
T-The movie can start!!!




When the first movie ended, we go to a square near home to throw some fireworks!!! Mommy, do you know there are some fireworks for kids? That fireworks were wich we threw!!!!




And we threw one firework each one!


After that, we came back home to watch the other movies.
Mommy, this weekend is so funny!!! Did you had a funny weekend too? I hope so!!!
Miss youu!!!!!

Z-Good morning boys!!!!
A-Hi!
Z-I forgot to register you in my guest registration notebook!!! Can you come for a minute?


T- I arrived first. Write: TezTez from Austria
Z-You check in on 11th June 2012
T-Yes.
A-And Ape Apina, from Finland, arrived on 20th June 2012
Z-Ok!


Z-You can share the room!!!! You don’t mind, do you?
T&A-Nooooo!!!! This will be funnier!!!!

Mommy!!!
What a surprise!!! Today I got a part of one of my life missions!!!!
Zero teach me how to say “banana” in spanish and catalan!!!
TezTez was there too and he learnt too

Z-Doing a summary, we can find two kinds of bananas: American bananas and Canarian bananas. The difference between both is the way how it mature. American bananas are not so sweet, so people use it to cook. Canarian bananas are sweeter and are better for desserts.


Z-So, American bananas or bananas, have the same name in spanish and in catalan (the language that people talks in Barcelona and the rest of Catalonia). But with Canarian bananas (from Canary Islands), the name change: in spanish is “plátano” and in catalan is “plàtan”.



Thank you Zero!!!

Hi mommy!!!!
Today I had another surprise!!!!
We did a fruit salad (“macedonia” in spanish/catalan) and we ate it for an afternoon lunch. Where is the surprise? Maybe you’re wondering… The surprise is: the fruit salad was made with banana!!!!!! So… I got another part of one of my life missions!!!


First we get the juice of the oranges


And then, we add different fruits.



I wanted to add the banana



Bon appetit!!!


Wiiii!!!!

Hello mommy!!!
This weekend was raining!!! After a week with high temperature on Sunday started to rain and didn’t stop until Monday!! And we went to Gavà because it was the annual local festival, but it was cancelled

But today the sun came out again and we did an “spooky” itinerary!!! We visited some places where something paranormal succeeded and Zero told us about them. This is the map:


Our itinerary is “La Rambla maleïda” (The damned Rambla), so we took the train to the city center, where all started.


In the train, we read about the places we went to visit.


This is Plaça Catalunya, the city center (although it’s not the geological center). But it’s a comercial knot where some important streets born.


La Rambla is one of those important streets and is where our itinerary starts. Do you know that this street was a simple torrent until XIX?


In this part of the street was the old gate of “Sant Sever” with its towers called “Canaletes”, wich gave the name to the most famous fountain of the city, “La font de Canaletes”. TezTez and Zero where here few days ago (they told me that this the fountain where people celebrates when Barça wins an important match), but I didn’t, and, moreover, Zero didn’t tell the spooky story


People say that, in the middle of XIX, there was a “Ghost of Canaletes” who walked around the area. One night, nobody knows why, talked to some girls that were taking water from the fountain with their jugs and they were so terrified that they spent some days in bed. People decided to face the ghost, but it disappeared.
Maybe the ghost was a victim of that enchanted waters because, according to an old tradition, who drink water of this fountain fall in love with the city and never can’t depart.
In the base of the fountain there’s a plaque where is written: “If you drink water of this ‘font de Canaletes’ you will be a Barcelona lover forever and don’t mind how far you go because you will always come back”.


And this is the moment when I fell in love with this beautiful city!!!


Then we went to “Carrer Estruc”. “Estruc” comes from “astruc” that at the same time comes from “astròleg” (astrologer) and also was the name of an herb used in medicine. In this street there’s a plaque that explains this and also explains that this street had the name “Astruc Sacanera” at the beginning of XV and there was where “Pedra Escurçonera” (a natural herb, a cure against rage and pricking) was sold. At number 22 of this street is the exactly place where it was sold.




We continued until “Portal de l’Àngel”. In the place where is situated this fountain (it seems like “Font de Canaletes”) there was a well where lived a hell being. Maybe this being wasn’t so mischievous… In the middle of XIX, an stranger stole the keys of the city, but he wasn’t able to leave the city because the access points were closed. Thirsty and unknowing the story about that well, he wanted to drink some water, but two pale hands come out from the well and asphyxiated him. The day after, his body and the keys were found next to the well and this was enough to verify that a phantom lived there.


We went to the church of Santa Anna. There, at the beginning of XX, two students attend a died mate which had a long beard that obsess one of that students which bet with his friend that he was capable to pull out three hairs of that beard. When he pulled out one, the corpse moved a little. Then, he pulled out another one and the corpse moved again. But when the student pulled out the third hair, the corpse woke up, opened the eyes, took a chandelier and threw it to the student who ran away. The clerk of the church keep that chandelier as a proof, but we didn’t see that because the church was closed


Our next stop was in “Carrer de Bertrellans”. In this street was situated the first coffin manufacturer. The marketing of the coffins consist in a card with the name and the address of the manufacturer and a note that said that any client complained about the quality of their coffins. People says that a corpse who was a “client” of the manufacturer of this street, was so uncomfortable in his coffin that woke up and go to the next room where the manufacturer was working and said to him: “Your coffins aren’t worth anything!! What an uncomfortable short time!”. The manufacturer was faint-hearted and since then nobody dares to say that any client complained.


We continued our way and we found an interesting thing. Maybe it’s an spooky place but it isn’t in our itinerary. This is the sepulchral roman way discovered during the construction of a building in 1954.


We arrived again at La Rambla and at number 107 we found “el palau de la Virreina” (the palace of Vicequeen). This palace was built on XVIII and is where Vicequeen lived before to become a tormented soul. I will explain you later…


We went straight on and arrived at “Mercat de la Boqueria”, a very known market where people sell everything. If they don’t sell it, it’s because doesn’t exist! There’s a shop where insects are sold to eat!!! But it was closed


This wonderful place keeps an spooky story too. This market was built over the ruins of “convent dels Carmelites Descalços de Sant Josep” (Discalced Carmelite of Saint Joseph Convent). On 15th July, 1835, the friars decided to not celebrate the vigil. The day after, while the friars slept, some voices were singing psalms and woke them up. They run to the church and were able to see some skeletons with monastic customs celebrating the vigil. They followed the skeletons to the cemetery and saw how they went inside their graves. Ten days later the convent was burned. People say that on 15th July you can listen some voices during the night inside the market.


This is “el Pla de la Boqueria”. Today is decorated by Joan Miró, a very known painter, but some centuries ago, was the place where dead animals, tripes, intestines… were sold, things that were related with satanism.


Our next stop was “el Liceu”, an opera theatre. Its story is sooo long, but Zero did a summary. This theatre was built over the ruins of “convent dels Trinitaris Descalços de la Bona Nova”, a burned convent, on 1844 and on 4th april 1847 was opened for the first time. On 1852 there was celebrated the Carnival but a friar shout that they were dancing over sacred land and predicted that it will be burned. This was a reality on 9th april 1861. An old man said that if the liceum was built again, will be burned again, because it was a damned place. Six months later, the liceum was re-built, with water tanks on the roof for if in the future there’s another fire. But one day a very strong storm started and flooded the theatre. The liceum was finally built but on 7th november 1893, two Orsini bombs were thrown in the theatre but only one exploded. This doesn’t end here. On 8th April 1945, the roof fell, luckily there wasn’t people inside. And on 31st january 1994, a worker was repairing the firewall with a soldering iron and there was two workers with fire-extinguishers but a little spark got the curtain and all the theatre burned again. Since then, nothing has happened, but who knows…


We are coming to the end of our itinerary. We went to “Carrer Arc del Teatre”. In this street you can see on 24th june, during the night, the spirit of Herod’s daughters dancing, but without heads!! They are sentenced for Saint John the Baptist’s decapitation to dance for the eternity.


And finally, “la plaça Reial” (Royal Square). Do you remember that I told you about Vicequeen? She was Maria Francesca Fiveller i Bru and she got to marriage of convenience with the nephew of Viceroy of Perú. But he left her alone at the altar and the Viceroy, an old and womaniser man, got marriage with her. Three years later she was widowed. And after her death, her spirit walks around this square, but nobody knows why. We couldn’t see her.


Well, this has ended!! What a funny walk!!! It was long, but scary and interesting!! I hope you like it, mommyt! Wish you were here with me!
I love you!! Bye!!!

Hi again mommy!!! Our walk hasn’t ended yet!!
Before to take the train we saw some interesting places too Look at this photos!!

In this hotel there's a plaque that says that Frederic Chopin stayed here when he was in Barcelona with his wife, but in this hotel stayed many others important figures too as Einstein or Buffalo Bill.


This little street takes you to “Museu de Cera” (Wax museum).


Can you see Superman and C3PO at the top of the building?


Oohh!!! This man wants to commit suicide!!! Uff!! It’s just a wax sculpture… 


And this man let us to take a photo with him. His always sitting here taking a sunbath


That man who’s on the top of that column is Cristóbal Colón, who discovered America in 1492. He’s pointing towards América.


And here you can see a special building. It’s known as “La Casa dels paraigües” (The house of umbrellas) because it was, long time ago, a shop where they sold umbrellas (and fans) but its real name is Casa Bruno Cuadros. Can you see the chinese dragon on the right?


And the last monument we saw before take the train was this. It’s a monument to Francesc Macià who was President of Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia) and who proclaimed the Catalan Republic on april 14th, 1931.


And that’s all mommy, now is time to come back home, we have walked a lot!
I love you mommy!!! Bye!!!

Hi mom!! How are you?
Today we visited Vilafranca del Penedés, but Zero’s mommy forgot the batteries of the cam, so we didn’t take any photo She says we can call her “idiot” but I’m not capable…
So, as I can’t show you nothing about Vilafranca, I will explain something about this city: Vilafranca del Penedés is very known for its wine. Actually, this city is one of the most important wine-growing centers in Spain. It has big wine warehouses and some of its brands of wine are very famous.
From Vilafranca , the church of Santa Maria is a very precious monument too and is gothic in style.
Maybe we return some day, but I don’t know when.
Bye mommy!!! I love youu!!!

Hi mommy!
Do you know what? We visited many places in Catalonia in only an afternoon!!!! “How can it be?” maybe you’re wondering… because we went to Torrelles de Llobregat and we visited “Catalunya en miniatura” (Catalonia in the shape of miniature), it’s a park where are models of famous or important buildings of Catalunya or by Antoni Gaudí (the most important architect)
I will show you some of this buildings or places:

Estació de tren de Mataró (Train station in Mataró)


Esglèsia de Sant Jaume de Frontanyà (Church of Saint James in Frontanyà)


In the left Museu-Arxiu Folklòric de Sant Pere de Ripoll (Museum-Folkoric Archives of Saint Peter in Ripoll) and in the right Monestir de Santa Maria de Ripoll (Monastery of Saint Mary in Ripoll).


Catedral de Santa Maria de Girona (Cathedral of Saint Mary in Girona)


Torre Galatea, Museu Dalí (Galatea tower, Dalí Museum)


El Capricho de Gaudí (in Comillas, Cantabria, Spain)


Parc Güell by Gaudí (Güell Park)


Temple de la Sagrada Familia de Gaudí (Temple of Sacred Family by Gaudí)


Casa Milà-La Pedrera  de Gaudí (Milà Home-The Pedrera by Gaudí) and on the right, Casa Batlló (Batlló Home by Gaudí too)


Tibidabo (Church and amusement park)


Estadi del Futbol Club Barcelona (Futbol Club Barcelona Stadium)


Estudis TV3 (TV3 television studio, the autonomous channel in Catalonia)


Aeroport de El Prat de Llobregat (the airport in El Prat de Llobregat)


Colón with Les Rambles (we visited it some days ago )


And the last photo, here we are taking a rest in Plaça Sant Jaume (Saint James Square), in the right there’s l’Ajuntament (the City Council) and in front you can see Els Castellers (people climb up a tower) and its part of Intangible Cultural Heritage for UNESCO.


I suppose it’s more beautiful to see the real buildings but it’s too difficult to do it. Maybe one day we both, you and I, can visit all this places. Would you like to visit them with me, mommy?
I miss you!!
Byeee!!!

Hi mommy!! How are you??
I’m so happy because today we did a very interesting thing. Do you remember, when I went to Catalunya en miniatura, that I’ve said that I would like to visit the real buildings? So, today we visited the REAL Sagrada Familia!!! Yes!!! Look at this photos mom!!!
Furthermore, Zero explained us about this building

Z-This is Sagrada Familia, an expiatory temple that means that this building it has been built from donations. You have to know that this temple is under construction, because it’s not finished yet!! Gaudí started to work on it but he died before the end of the construction. After this, many architects have continued the work. But you will see the differences…

Z-This is the original part by Gaudí. I think it’s so beautiful with a lot of details. Its “Façana Naixement” (Nativity Façade) and explains with its sculptures the nativity of Jesus. It’s full of life (the same nativity and vegetals and animals).


Z- And his is the new part, “Façana de la Passió” (Passion Façade) by Josep Maria Subirachs. It represents the Via Crucis, reflecting the desolation, the pain and the death of Jesuschrist and it’s made withouth details and with austere materials.



Wooww!!!! I loved this visit!!! But I know that this would be better if you were here with me Wich part do you like, mom? I can’t decide. We can discuss this when I get home.
Ah!! And if you want to know more about Sagrada familia you can look here: http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/sf-eng/index.php

Byee mom!!!

Mommy!!!!!!!!!!
What a surprise!!!!!! A big surprise!!!
Today has arrived your travelling notebook!!! I am so happy that it arrived while I’m staying here!!! I was almost crying because I miss you a lot and seeing your notebook brings me your image to my memory, but I hide my emotions because I was ashamed to share them :$
Here you can see me quietly while we open the envelope, but I have to confess I was very nervous.


We read the instructions carefully…


…¡and we started our work quickly!



I can’t show you what I did on your notebook, mommy, because it’s a surprise for you, I hope you like it!!!!

Hi again mommy!
TezTez had an idea, so he asked Zero:
T-Zero, can I pssst pssst pssssst psssst?


Z-Of course!!!!
A-We can search some photos on the computer
T-Good idea, Ape Apina!!!!!

So, we searched some photos