Catching up!

Well it’s been some time since I’ve written and that’s mostly due to my visitors. As I mentioned last time, Erica came to visit for 10 days. Not only was it amazing to see family, but I also got to explore Barcelona even more.

For my 21^st birthday (which isn’t until next month), Erica bought me a Montserrat and Cava tour with her and her friend Holly.  Montserrat is a mountain right outside of Barcelona with a famous monastery and beautiful hikes. The weather wasn’t the best – it rained for the first 3 days that Erica was in Barcelona – but it actually gave the trip to Montserrat a different feel since we were literally up in a cloud the entire time. We hiked up to La Creu, saw the famous boys choir sing, and visited the small art museum there. Afterwards we drove down to “cava valley” to visit a famous cava maker in Catalunya, Codorniu winery. We traveled 15 meters below ground to see the millions of bottles being stored and how cava today is made. We even got to take a tram through the older caves where they used to manually shift the bottles every so often so that they were properly fermented. Of course, at the end we got to taste test two types of cava and of course both were very delicious.

In front of La Creu

Long, long hallway of Cava!

That weekend Erica and Holly went to Ibiza while I went to Las Fallas in Valencia. Las Fallas is a very unique and exciting festival held every year in the south of Spain. Each community in Valencia builds these large fallas – large sculptures made of paper mache and cardboard that are painted elaborately -  in the center of a plaza or street corner for everyone to come see. At the end of the festival they light the falla on fire and burn it. The largest “crema” or burning is in the city center where fireworks go off at 1am. After the spectacular firework show, they burn the huge falla by lighting the attached fireworks. The sculpture was completely gated off at least several meters around all sides, but you could still feel the heat from the blazing fire. It was unlike anything I had seen before. Although the falla was amazingly beautiful, it was just as beautiful to see it burning and glowing in flames.

Una Falla

Fireworks

La Crema

When Erica and Holly returned they still had plenty left of Barcelona to see. I decided there was no better way to show them around the city than on a bike tour. Many people from my program had gone before and said they loved it, but I never went on one myself. Although we were all a little hesitant when we first got on the bikes, we eventually got the hang of it and enjoyed our ride through the city on a beautiful day. We rode along the beach and then all the way up to Sagrada Familia and back. Seeing the city in the beautiful weather made me fall in love with Barcelona all over again. I know that I will love this city even more as it starts to get nicer and nicer!



A Week of Visitors

This past week has truly been a wonderful one. Not only did I get a taste from home from my visitors, but I was also able to explore Barcelona just a little bit more!

Katie was the first to arrive last Friday from Madrid. One of the very first things we did was visit the beach since she doesn't get to see it often living in Madrid. Afterwards we walked around to get a feel for the city and wondered around the Gothic quarter and down Las Ramblas (a well-known pedestrian street with "human statues"). We went to La Boqueria, the famous fresh-food market off of Las Ramblas. There were many delicious things available like candied fruit and freshly squeezed fruit juices, but there were also many...interesting... things such as freshly killed "conejos", or rabbits. I guess that's what makes it a famous fresh-food market! The next day Katie and I took advantage of the beautiful day outside and explored La Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell. Although I have been in Barcelona for 2 months now, I had still yet to go inside the famous Gaudi church. Despite the admission fee (which is discounted if you have a student ID), the trip inside was well worth it. Although technically not a Cathedral (it recently was classified a basillica minor), it is undoubtedly as large as one. It was interesting to compare the church to the Barcelona Cathedral that I attend every Sunday for mass. It is much less ornate and detailed, but it is very beautiful in its own way, especially in its architecture. Afterwards we visited Parc Guell (another Gaudi masterpiece) at the top of the city. The combination between nature and architecture is truly a beautiful sight and the views of the city are stunning.

On Sunday Katie and I went to mass at the Cathedral and then walked around Barcelona some more until it was time for me to pick up Chris from the airport. Although he had to take 3 transfers to get here, everything went smoothly and he arrived in Barcelona safely. There was no time to waste when he got here becuase soon after he got here Katie had to catch her flight back to Madrid and we had to start preparing for Carnival in Sitges! Sitges is a beach town right outside of Barcelona and they hold a large Carnival celebration on Sunday night and Tuesday night. Everyone dresses up in costumes and it reminded me of Halloween on Franklin Street. We got home from Sitges around 6am the next morning!

On Monday Chris and I went to Parc Guell. Even though I had already been with Katie just two days before, I still had a great time. It really is a beautiful park and I recommend it to everyone who tells me they're coming to visit. It surprised me how low it was on lists in travel books because it provides such a great view of the city. That night we went to Cerveceria Catalana for dinner and Chris tried tapas for the first time! We got all of the traditional ones including patatas bravas, tortilla espanola, croquettas, and pan con tomate. The next day we visited the Sagrada Familia and then headed down towards the beach. We had lunch at this little hole in the wall called Xampeneria where you stand and order your food at the bar. We got a bottle of cava, burgers, and a plate of chorizo. It was absolutely delicious...and cheap! Afterwards we hung out at the beach until (unfortunately) I had to go to class.

Parc Guell with Chris



Wednesday was Chris' last day in Barcelona so we made sure to explore as much as we could of Barcelona. After walking around the Gothic quarter, we visited La Catedral and then headed to Las Ramblas and La Boqueria. After getting some fresh fruit juices from the market (yes, I'm obsessed and will take every visitor there just so I can get some fruit juice for myself) we headed to Montjuic. We took the teleferic cable cars up to the mountain and explored the Castle on top. Afterwards we headed to La Pedrera (Gaudi's Casa Mila house) and finally ended the day eating Chocolate con Churros at a little restaurant in Born. The next morning I had to take Chris to catch the bus for the airport at 5:30 and I was definitely sad to see him go, but I hope he had a good time while he was here.

Well my round of visitors isn't over just yet because Erica lands in Barcelona tomorrow! It's so nice to have reminders of home here in Barcelona. It is unbelievable that I have been here for 2 months now and that I only have 2 more left!

Until next time...

Mi Resolucion

After giving a presentation today to my Marketing Social class in Spanish (half exchange students, half Spanish students), I have decided to create a resolution for my study abroad experience - To speak better Spanish than I did when I came to Spain.

I'm sure that's a very "duhhhh" comment to read, but surprisingly, even in Spain I find it very easy to speak in English. At almost any restaurant you go to you can ask for an English translation. My roommates and I are all from UNC so we just naturally speak in English. Most of my friends are in the Erasmus exchange program and thus, speak English. Half of my classes at ESADE are in English and most ESADE students speak English... as you can tell, there is much more English here than one would expect... or at least than I expected. After fumbling over a few words in my presentation today, I realized for the first time that my Spanish has actually not improved much since I've been here.

There are however opportunities that I can take advantage of to better my Spanish. For one, half of my classes are in Spanish and have actual ESADE students in them, but most of the time I'm too shy about my Spanish to speak up in class. From now on I'm going to try to contribute at least one thing in each class and actively participate in my groups when we meet up to do our projects. I really need to immerse myself in the Spanish culture and hopefully with a little bit of confidence, I can do that.

My first boost of confidence came on the metro ride home from the university today. This group of old men (they were cute abuelos, not creepy tios) took the seats around me and joked around with each other about how old they are. They then argued with each other about who was younger and who was cuter and asked for my opinion. Besides making me laugh, it gave me the little opportunity I needed to speak some Spanish. I had to let them know of course that they all were handsome and I just couldn't choose :)

I only write this here so that I do keep my word. Hopefully I will not forget my resolution like most do when they make them on January 1st.

On a more exciting note, I have many visitors coming within the next couple of weeks! Katie comes from Madrid on Friday and stays until Sunday and as soon as she leaves, Chris comes! I am very, very excited to see them and show them around this wonderful city. I'll be sad when Chris leaves Thursday, but soon after that Erica comes for a week and a half. I am most excited for the Cava tour she is taking me on in Montserrat :)

Well I must get to bed now... 9-9 class tomorrow. Oh joy!