Not such a bad weekend after all!

So the weekend kind of started badly, but it ended up being a lot of fun and I got to see some great things!

I met a really great catalan guy named Jordi who has bringing me around to some awesome local secrets. On Saturday he brought me up in the mountains near the beach castelldefers. The view of the ocean was magnificent! In the middle of the mountains was a small town with a monastery similar to the ones in Tibet. Jordi spent last summer studying in China and traveling in Tibet so he was excited to show me it. The monastery was really beautiful and it was such a relaxing break from the city.

Saturday night my roommates and I went to the Harlem Jazz Club in Barri Gotic to see a Cuban group. The group was absolutely amazing!!!! They didn't come on until 11:00 and ended around 2:00 so it was still a late night but it was such a refreshing break from the discos and the music was really quite impressive.

Yesterday was a great day as well! Jordi and I met up with his friend, Dosta, and his friends girlfriend, Merrii in their hometown Vic.  There was a medieval fair going on so we walked around through all of the various stands selling meat, cheese, jewelry, and other crafts. The town was small and old, and much more of a traditional catalan town.

After the fair we took a drive further into the mountains (we could see the Pyrenees!) to a lake where Dosta practices wake-boarding (He was the European wake-boarding champion this year!). We had lunch right by the lake and then went to Dosta's mountain house to say a quick hello to his family. The scenery was absolutely incredible!!! It was by far one of the most relaxing days I've had here and I didn't want to leave.

I realized that living here if you never really get to know the local people you are only going to see the main tourist attractions. But there is so much beauty beyond what the tourists see! One of my goals coming here was to make friends with locals and I'm proud that I have been able to do so. My only regret is that I didn't separate myself more from Americans, but everything here is truly a learning experience!

Can an easy button please appear?

Today was a pretty rough day. A girl in my class and I had decided this week that we would go to San Sebastian for the weekend. We don't have classes next week and everyone else had planned giant trips. We both had been last minute in planning (and my pocket was getting a little empty), so we thought going somewhere inside of the country would be easier. San Sebastian is supposed to be beautiful. It is a city located in the Basque country situated right on the Atlantic Ocean. Its a summer vacation city but also a lovely town in the winter with incredible food! It was my second choice study abroad city and sometimes I wonder if I would have been happier there than here in such a big cosmopolitan city.

We decided to be adventurous and rent a car because it was much cheaper than taking a train or bus and we thought it'd be fun to stop along the way and take pictures of the mountains and the scenery. Emily is over 21 so she can rent a car in Spain and it worked out perfectly. However, when we finally made it to the rent a car place today (after standing in line for over an hour I might add) they wouldn't let us rent it due to the fact that neither of us had an international license. We spent 5 hours in between the airport and the train station trying to find other rent a car companies that would let us rent cars. Other companies would let us but their prices were just to high. We finally made it to the train station and found a bus that was leaving in 45 minutes. We were ecstatic. But we should have knocked on wood - the bus was sold out!!!!

Finally around 5 pm we decided to give up and return to our apartments. Hollywood's movies make traveling around Europe seem like a piece of cake. In Eurotrip they wake up and say "hmm lets go here," and then they go there no problem. I guess real life isn't that easy?

We still really wanna make it to San Sebastian so I think we are gonna focus on getting some of our finals work done this weekend and go next week on Tuesday instead. Hopefully we will be more prepared this time!

Thanksgiving in BCN!

Last night I had my very first thanksgiving without my family. Our apartment decided that even though we weren't in the U.S., we would still celebrate thanksgiving the right way. I went to the butcher last week to order a turkey since they don't usually sell turkey's on a daily basis at the meat places. Biljana cooked the turkey. I am so impressed because I never would have known how to do it. I cooked the mashed potatoes, Katherine the corn, Natalie the salad and the vegetable dish, Sara the pan con tomate and alioli, and Mariam the lemon pie! In addition, we had our friend Katie over for dinner and Reuben who is visiting us from Sevilla for the weekend. It was such a spectacular dinner. We had so much fun together and it made me feel much better about not being in the U.S. for the holidays.

Of course I did skype my family - my cameria is now working!! I got to see my Mom, my Dad, Stephen, Sophia, Brian, Uncle Joey, and Uncle Jimmy. I am so excited to have a big family dinner when I get back to the states :)

This week has been wonderful. The first few days were rainy which made things difficult. But Katherine and I didn't let the rain stop us. We went to all the major sites and explored the prettiest neighborhoods. I finally went inside the Sagrada Familia, which was absolutely fascinating. As Gaudi died before it was finished, they continue to build it following his plans. It is nowhere near finished and I really hope I can come back and see it once it is done.

On Wednesday we took a daytrip to Tarragona, a large town on the coast south of Barcelona. It was a beautiful day and I really enjoyed getting out of the hustle and bustle of Barcelona for a little while. We saw a bunch of Roman ruins, including a Roman ampitheater built in 100 BC. Incredible to walk on the stands knowing people sat in that very same spot 2000 years ago. It was really a perfect day because we saw a lot of sites but also were able to relax and enjoy the small town.

Today is Katherine's last day. I think we are going to explore some of her favorite parts of the city and of course go out all night since it is her last chance to dance in the disco's before returning to the U.S!

Katherine arrived to Barcelona!

Katherine arrived to Barcelona yesterday in one piece!! :) She will be visiting Spain and staying with me for a week. I am super excited to have her hear because it means I will explore Barcelona and do tourist-y things all over again.

Yesterday we went to see the FC Barcelona game at Camp Nou. It was amazing to be watching the game in the stadium and not on TV. After seeing Messi on tv so many times during the world cup last year I was ecstatic to see him in real life on the field. We had a great view of the game. Barcelona won (of course) 4-0. I'm happy to say I've finally been to an FC Barca game.

Today we will explore the barri gotic and la rambla. The sun is out and shining so I'm happy I'm not home in New England freezing my butt off.

Lovely weekend in Barcelona

It was wonderful to spend a weekend in Barcelona without the stress of traveling somewhere. Last weekend we were here in Barcelona as well but we had visitors so we were busy most of the weekend showing them around. This weekend I had the freedom to explore Barcelona a bit. I also made a promise to myself that I wouldn't go to any discos this weekend. I kept my promise and it was nice to feel alive during the day instead of tired from the night before.

Thursday night I went with my catalan friend Laura to a giant festival in the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. It is a party that lasts all day and all night with various concerts and events. I felt like I was in the U.S. again because people were insanely drunk (Sorry America but I associate binge drinking with U.S. colleges) The reason they are able to have such a big festival on campus is that there is a law in Spain that police can not enter universities. This is in order to protect the freedom of students and of their education. The president of UAB does not condone the festival but he has no power to stop it due to this law. I can't imagine something like that in the U.S. The police are everywhere during our big pig roast event at Richmond.

Friday I decided to walk around and explore our neighborhood, Gracia. I found so many cute streets with bars, cafes, and little shops that I never even knew existed. It really made me appreciate our neighborhood because it is more relaxed than the rest of Barcelona. It is also a lot more local so you truly feel as though you are part of a community. I somewhat regret the fact that I haven't spent more time in Gracia. I always go from our apartment to school or to the center of the city. But the truth is Gracia has enough to offer in itself and I think I'm going to start spending a lot more time in this neighborhood.

As Natalie, Torrie, and I did not want to go to a disco Friday night we decided to go to a little neighborhood called El Born to bar hop. We had heard there was good nightlife there for young people. The neighborhood was definitely alive and vibrant and we really enjoyed ourselves, except we felt as though we were somewhat on the younger side of the crowd. It seemed more of a place we would want to go to if we were working in Barcelona and in our mid 20's, but the night was fun nonetheless. The highlight of my night was when I got in a fight in spanish with the bus driver. My card wasn't working in the machine so she was trying to make me pay for the bus ride. Having had two drinks and being the stubborn girl that I am, I refused to pay and was forced to get off the bus a few stops early...

On Saturday I decided to go to the Museo Nacional de Arte de Catalunya.  I saw such a variety of works starting in the 13th century and leading right up to the 20th century. I was really impressed by the collection there and learned a lot about the history of spain and barcelona. Not gonna lie, I felt pretty cultured and intelligent after my trip to the museum. In the afternoon I met for the first time with my language partner, Alaitz. Alaitz is majoring in translation and is going to meet with me to help me practice my spanish. She gave me a lot of useful corrections when I was speaking and I hope that meeting with her will really improve my spanish since I don't speak spanish as much as I'd like in the apartment.

Saturday night I hosted my very first dinner party!! I made chicken cordon bleu with mashed potatoes, corn, and salad. Natalie and I invited Laura, Gerard, and Gerard's roommates over for the dinner. The food actually tasted great! I was really proud of myself and am now excited to have an apartment after college and cook for my friends without burning the house down :) After dinner we did a little bar hopping and after considering the thought of going to a disco we decided to come home and get some sleep. All in all it was a wonderful and relaxing weekend and I was very happy to spend time with my catalan friends.

Part 2: Sevilla

Wow, it took me almost a week to update the second part of my trip last weekend. We had visitors this weekend so we were quite busy!

Sevilla was a wonderful and beautiful spanish city. It had a much greater spanish feel to it than Barcelona. I love Barcelona but sometimes I wonder if I would have enjoyed studying somewhere like Sevilla more because I would have been immersed in the culture at a much greater level.

While in Sevilla we went on a free walking tour and saw most of the major sites of the city. We also had a chance to enter the Cathedral, which is the largest in the world, and the Alcazar, a famous muslim palace and set of gardens, which was absolutely beautiful.

We went to some amazing tapas bars. The portions were bigger and the prices were cheaper than in Barcelona so its fair to say we were quite satisfied. My favorite tapa of the weekend, which I ordered multiple times, was solomillo al whisky, a tapa of steak covered in a rich whisky sauce.

The first night we went out we went to a disco which had a live band playing spanish music. All of the locals were dancing a version of the "sevillanas," the famous flamenco-like dance of Andalucia. I was really impressed by so many young people dancing in such a traditional fashion and having so much fun with it. It seemed to be a much more special experience than the type of grinding we do at American parties.

All in all I really fell in love with Andalucia. Now that my parents are coming to visit Spain for Christmas we have decided to visit the south of spain for at least a few days! I am very excited to go back and experience the culture for another time.

Granada

Wow! I just got back from my holiday weekend trip to Granada and Sevilla and it was amazing! I'm going to break up the trip into two posts - one for Granada and one for Sevilla.

We arrived to our hostel in Granada around 10 am Friday morning and immediately saw on the chalkboard a free walking tour of the city schedule for 11 am. The walking tour was exactly what we needed. There were only five of us on the tour and our guide was super enthusiastic and willing to answer any questions. We walked mostly through the Albazin, the historic part of the city. It was quite a picturesque neighborhood with all small winding streets and white houses. As we walked further and further up the hill we got to see some amazing views of the Albazin as well as the old famous muslim palace the Alhambra.

I am in love with the hostel lifestyle. Everyone is super friendly and a lot of people are traveling around Europe alone and are eager to make new friends and find fun things to do and see. On our walking tour we made friends with two boys, one from Australia and one from Argentina. The boy from Australia is traveling around all of Europe for 6 months because he doesn't have to start work until then. He doesn't have his trip entirely planned out so he goes from place to place depending on how he feels and what he wants to see. Such a cool lifestlye!! I am hoping I can do this at some point after graduating and before starting a real career.

After our tour, we ate a delicious and relaxing lunch with the boys and walked to the gypsy neighborhood of Sacromonto where many of the houses are built into the caves along the hill. Next we walked along the Moroccan street which is close to our hostel. All of the stores on this street were full of spices, moroccan clothing, jewelry, and hookahs. I felt like I was back in Morocco! Friday night we went on a tapas "crawl" since in Granada with the purchase of a drink you get a free tapa. After tapas we attended a flamenco tableau. I had never attended a real flamenco show before and I was so impressed by both the musicians and the dancer. It was truly a lovely evening.

Saturday morning before leaving Granada Natalie and I went on a 3 hour guided tour of the Alhambra, the famous muslim palace and fortress that was built starting in the 11th century. Seeing the Alhambra was so interesting for me because after traveling to various places around Europe I have seen many old christian/roman cathedrals, castles, palaces, and so on. But never have I seen an old building with such muslim influence. The architecture is a lot different. The plaster on the walls is covered with incredible detail. The spanish muslims loved to use colorful tiles in all of their rooms as well as outdoor patios and terraces. The Alhambra was truly a relaxing and peaceful palace and I can see why spanish rulers (muslim and christian alike) wanted to stay there.

Sadly we had to leave Granada on Saturday to head to Sevilla but I was really content with the amount of history and culture we were able to see in such a short amount of time.

La vida internacional

Last night, my friend Joan and another upf student Marc prepared a traditional catalan dinner for some of us international students. The night was a lot of fun and the food was delicious! Marc's attempt at tortilla de patatas looked a little scary. But once I tried it it was actually quite good. Of course we topped the night off with cava y vino and even played a little bit of kings (I felt like I was back in the US!).

There were only 14 of us but all together we were from 8 different countries! Joan made us go around a say a short speech in each of our native languages and it was incredible to hear the different languages we could all speak. The countries represented were: Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Estonia, United States, and Korea. Its pretty incredible how small the world becomes when you start to travel. I really hope I keep many of these friends so that when I travel around in the future I will have people to visit!

Yes I have been to four continents.

This weekend I went to MOROCCO! What a wonderful experience on so many levels. Learned some arabic, ate some cuscus, bought some spices, rode a camel, woke up to the call to prayer. Cultural immersion at its best. Now I can officially say I have been to four continents (even if we really only saw the northern-most tip of Morocco, which happens to be the northern-most tip of Africa, but hey it still counts).

The trip was broken up into three days. First on Friday before heading to Morocco we spent a few hours in Gibraltar, the southern-most point of Spain which is actually a British territory. It was quite a strange mix of British and Spanish restaurants, currencies, and languages. Because we didn't want to pay for the extra tour in Gibralter, Natalie and I walked around with two other students on the trip (one guy from Germany and one girl from Italy). We quickly became close friends with them and they were so nice. They are studying in Sevilla, like most of the other students on the trip. After us four became friends we also got to know another girl from Sweden and another boy from the United States. Us 6 stuck together the entire trip and Natalie and I are going back to Sevilla to visit them during our break later in October!

Friday night we arrived in Morocco, but only in time for dinner and a short walk outside the hotel. It greatly surprised us to see that the only people outside at night were men. Women are expected to stay inside and rarely ever go out for food or drinks at night. It was quite the culture shock. It was also interesting through out the rest of the trip to see how much the women there cover up. This is definitely something we are not used to.

Saturday was most definitely the best day in terms of cultural immersion. In the morning we went to a small beautiful town called Chefchaouen. I was excited that there were not many other tourists because we were able to truly experience a local place. The people there appeared very friendly and excited to see us visiting their town. The houses were all touching one another and the streets were narrow. Occasionally we would walk by a door and see a family hanging out inside their house. It seemed that a community feel was more important than individual privacy. All of the houses were beautifully painted in blue (apparently blue keeps the mosquitos away and blue is also the official color of Chefchaouen). I honestly can see myself living in this town because it was just so beautiful and relaxing! We also had the opportunity to visit a cooperative where they make tapestry and scarves. I of course had to buy a scarf. After that we explored a little and saw some markets. They are all about bargaining in Morocco. Even the little boys we found on the street and asked to take a picture with us charged us one euro for the photo... I guess they start them off young.

We spent Saturday afternoon in the city of Tetuan. First we ate a traditional Moroccan lunch followed by mint tea (our new favorite drink!) This city was a lot bigger yet all of the streets were small and narrow just like in Chefchaouen. In most of the streets you couldn't fit a car so the majority of the citizens appeared to be walking everywhere. There were plenty of shops with a variety of things from food to electronics to clothing (Everything was of lesser value than what we are used to; many items they were selling looked used). It makes sense that they would have numerous small shops because people cannot drive through the streets and go long distances to shop. Again there was a feeling of community. Often we would see young people playing soccer in the streets or old men playing chess outside of their doorway.

Saturday night we ate a dinner which included cuscus while watching moroccan performers. The highlight of the show was the bellydancer who called up our friend from the US to perform with her. That night we went out to the club in the hotel for a little bit and ended up swimming in the pool before going to bed.

Sunday morning we woke up before our alarm to someone singing/chanting very loudly outside. We realized it was the morning call to prayer. Again, another huge culture shock. People there don't even need alarm clocks because the call to prayer is so loud. It was also impressive to see how dedicated they are to their religion.

Sunday we had to leave to go back to Sevilla. I spent the night there with my friend Mary who is studying there for the semester. Now I'm back in Spain and exhausted from the trip. But it was definitely worthwhile and I can't believe how much I was able to see in a matter of 3 days.

Paella... no pael(LA)

Today was paella day! A few weeks ago I made a spanish friend in my European economics class (which is in spanish by the way..) whose name is Gerard. He is from Cataluña and has been super helpful in getting me acquainted with the University and life here in general. Last weekend my friends from Richmond and I met up with Gerard and his friends for drinks. It was a lot of fun. Somewhere in the night he promised to invite us all over for a paella lunch one day. Since today is a spanish holiday and no one had to go to class, we decided it would be the best day to do it. In case you are unaware of what paella is, here is a definition that I copied from the internet: Paella is a cornerstone of traditional Spanish cuisine, originating in Valencia, although it is served all over the nation, especially on Sundays and holidays. Superficially, it resembles a risotto, since the dish is made with rice, meats, and vegetables cooked together in a large pan, also called apaella, or paellera in some regions of Spain. 


The paella was very delicious. It was a seafood version so it was filled with shrimp, squid, and mussels. I'm absolutely loving how fresh the seafood is here - it reminds me of home! We thought we would be there for maybe an hour or two but we forgot how much spanish people love to spend time after eating just talking with one another and enjoying themselves. We got there a little before 3 and didn't leave until 7! When we asked if they had anything they needed to do for the rest of the day they were confused. They said that they didn't have any classes and that they don't normally do their homework (something that seems to be commonplace here) so why not just sit around and relax. Leave it to us Americans - always trying to get to the next place and accomplish the next thing. It was a very relaxing afternoon and I'm glad we spent it with spaniards because it felt as though we were more apart of the lifestyle here.


A challenge that continues to cause us grief is the language barrier! I feel that I do not practice spanish enough. When I do practice my accent is horrible and I become embarrassed. We learned latinamerican spanish in the US so it is difficult to adapt to the Spain accent. Today when we tried speaking with the boys in spanish we would make many mistakes and sometimes had to turn to english. However, I'm happy that we at least made an effort to practice. The boys find humorous the way we pronounce double L's. We say words like paella and amarillo with the latinamerican accent. They say paella with more of an L like paelLa. We tried to mimic their pronunciation of these words and of course failed. Next time we are going to invite them over to our apartment for an American dinner of hamburgers and hotdogs and some good old beer pong. My goal is to be able to pronounce these words correctly by then... We'll see if that happens.

Life as a real adult

Studying abroad has taught me a lot about language, culture, and history. But at the same time I am also learning how to live alone (like a real adult... :)) and take care of myself. On Thursday I had to pay for utilities. I found myself leaving the apartment company's office thinking "next month I need to conserve so that utilities are not as high." What?! I sound like my mom and dad. They were always constantly telling me to turn off lights and take shorter showers. I guess now I finally understand.

Cooking meals every day in the apartment is getting difficult. I am running out of meal ideas! It seems as though I make some sort of chicken and vegetables every night. I think for this upcoming week I am going to pick a different recipe every night to make. If you have any good recipes feel free to send them to me!

A weekend escape from the hustle and bustle of the city

This weekend our program went on a trip to Costa Brava, a beautiful coast to the north of Barcelona where many people who are from city go during the summer or on the weekends to relax and escape.

We stayed one night in a town called L'Escala. The views of the ocean were amazing. The beaches here are so different from the ones I'm used to. They have many more big rocks and cliffs. There are plenty of houses on top of the cliffs with great views - when I become rich and famous (and I do plan to make that happen...) I hope to own one of them.

On Saturday we went to see the Greek and Roman ruins in L'Escala. The remains are of a port city which served as a center of trade around the time of Christ. It is beyond incredible to me that they are still standing. I can't really picture any of the buildings we have today lasting over 2000 years.

Saturday night we went to a small medieval town to eat dinner. I don't think I have been that full in a while. We were given piles and piles of traditional catalan food and even better endless bottles of wine!

Sunday we woke up early and traveled to the nearby Figueres to see the Dalí museum. This was yet another mind boggling experience. I had learned about Salvador Dalí in school countless times but I was not prepared for the craziness of this museum. The guy was clearly a genius. At first glance when walking the museum there is a painting of a woman staring out a window. When you take a step back you realize the pixels actually form a portrait of Abe Lincoln.

The weekend was a lot of fun. Now its time to get back to work :( My classes are not too bad but I just entered a macroeconomics class and its been taking me a while to get caught up since I missed the first three class periods. Its definitely a challenge taking classes at a school you are not used to and makes me appreciate Richmond a whole lot more. But at the same time I'd much rather be traveling around Europe instead of spending my nights in Boatwright Library!

Keeping busy in BCN!

Alright, so apologies for not updating my blog in over a week. Its quite a busy life here in Barcelona. I spent the last 3 days at the university here trying to add/drop classes. Definitely not as easy as in Richmond.  I really miss how efficient the US is sometimes.

A few shout outs. First happy birthday to my beautiful little sister Sophia! Hard to believe she is 10 years old already. I miss her so much!

Second, I want to say thank you to my friend Joan for continuously reading my blog! Joan is from Barcelona and studied at Pompeu Fabra. He is a pretty awesome guy :) He loves to show us around Barcelona and knows everything about the city!

This weekend was the famous festival in Barcelona called La Mercé. Friday night I went out to a club on the beach until 6 am so I was very tired all day saturday. I gathered enough energy to attend the gigantes parade - I'm not sure how else to describe it but it is a parade of giant human characters. Saturday night night I was able to see a La Mercé concert. It was a group from Sweden. Their songs were actually very good. Unfortunately it started to rain halfway through so I went home.

Sunday was a great day!! The best part of the day was seeing the human castles perform in Plaza St. Jaume. I have always seen pictures of the famous human towers in Spain but seeing them in person was absolutely incredible. Being so close to the towers made me realize just how challenging they are and the amount of strength, balance, and trust needed to build them. Here are a few photos:

After seeing the human towers Natalie, Bilyana, Joan and I grabbed lunch by the port. Then with other ERASMUS students we took a tour of Montjuic, a hill to the west of the city with incredible views. Natalie and I grabbed tapas and vino before heading to Correfoc, a parade of people dressed up as devils with dangerous firecrackers. You are supposed to wear flame-retardant clothing... whoops? We finished off  the night by racing to Plaza España just in time to see the closing fireworks!  It was a long day but definitely a fun-filled one.

I guess now it is time to buckle down and start doing work. My classes are all in spanish which makes homework more difficult. But it is a great challenge and I really hope to become fluent. This weekend will be a nice break from work. On Thursday there is a huge Pompeu Fabra party at a club on the beach. Then this weekend Richmond students in Barcelona will head to the beautiful Costa Brava. I should have plenty of pictures to post next time! :)

Weekend trip to Milán and Gaudi visit back in BCN

This weekend I took a break from Barcelona to venture off to Italy for the first time in my life. I knew some friends staying in Milán so I decided to crash there. It was a great time - I saw a bunch of students from Richmond who I haven't seen in a while. The Duomo was absolutely amazing and we got a chance to walk all the way up to the top (even though I am afraid of heights...) While in Milán I figured I had to buy at least something. The problem is my current wallet is not big enough to spend on top designers. I bought a shirt at Zara, does that count?...

When going out at night I was amazed at how how fashionable the boys in Milán are. Sorry American boys, but you guys just don't know how to dress. I'm definitely going to have to move to Europe after college to find my dream husband!!

We arrived back in Barcelona on Sunday night. Monday we joined the ERASMUS international student welcome week program in a tour of Park Guell, a beautiful park designed by the famous Gaudi. The park was filled with colored tiles everywhere. We felt like we were in a fantasy land. In addition the park is located at the top of a hill so the views of the city were incredible. Props to Gaudi!

Europe makes America look like a new-born

Its amazing how old Europe is. Today I had the chance to go on a tour of the historic part of the city with other international and european students. We were able to go into two cathedrals, both built around the 14th century. Walking into these buildings was incredible. It is amazing how high the ceilings are and the structures seem absolutely flawless regardless of their countless detail. It is impressive to think that in the 14th century these grand cathedrals were built by men who didn't have access to the modern machinery that we do today. I've never been that fascinated by architecture but coming here you can't help but be interested!

A few good things... and a few bad things...

Ok, so this week has been quite interesting! The start of the week went well. I've made a few spanish friends, which is pretty nice because they know the city much better than us and are full of recommendations. The girls who are coming to richmond next semester from Barcelona are super friendly and love spending time with us! On Wednesday we went up the Tibidabo mountain to have a drink at the top. The bar had amazing views of the city and the ocean. It was really relaxing and nice to spend time with them.

After Tibidabo we all went to an Irish Pub in the center of the city to watch the Barca-Milan futbol match! It was a lot of fun, except a little disappointing when Milan scored at the end to tie the game. There were a lot of Americans at the bar so we ended up meeting some other international students.

After leaving the bar my week turned sour. I went home that night I started to not feel well. It ended up that I had food poisoning and I had to go to the emergency room in the middle of the night. The experience was horrible. No one in the hospital spoke much english and I really had no idea what they were doing to me or what they thought my problem was. Thank god one of my spanish friends was able to drive me there. He also stayed there the whole night until I was able to leave which was super nice. I spent the entire day yesterday in bed. It was awful because I just wanted to be out and about exploring the city like all of the other international students.

I am feeling much better now and will be heading off to Milan for the weekend tomorrow!! I guess its just good that I got sick a few days ago and ot know. I'll be posting pictures of Milan as soon as I return :)

Sitges!

Yesterday we went to Sitges, a small coastal town to the south of barcelona. It was absolutely beautiful and reminded me so much of Nantucket!!! It is definitely one of those summer vacation towns that dies out in the winter. The streets were very tiny and cute with lots of color along the buildings and balconies.

I had the chance to lay out on the beach for a half hour or so and got to swim in the mediterranean for the first time! It was definitely a lot saltier than the Atlantic. It was very nice to be at a beach that is not right next to a giant city because the beaches in Barcelona can be dirty and crowded. 

We found out our class schedule for the next two weeks. We don't start official classes until september 21st so until then we are taking an intensive spanish class every day. My class is from 10-12:30 which I am very happy about as it will give me the opportunity to explore barcelona and its surroundings every afternoon. I think I'll probably be making a few afternoon trips to Sitges again because it was just so beautiful and reminded me of home :)

Monserrat adventure :)

Today we went to Monserrat, the famous monastery located on the top of a small mountain an hour outside of barcelona. It was absolutely an amazing experience. After the long train ride we ventured up to the monastery in gondolas. I am terrified of heights but thought it would be a good opportunity to conquer my fear of heights.

When we got to the top of the mountain we went straight to La Basilica and were lucky enough to catch a performance by the church's young boys choir. The church was beautifully decorated with much grandeur and detail. We went next to see the statue of the virgin mary which millions of people from catalonia make pilgrimage to every year. The line was very long but it was definitely worth doing as the virgin is the most famous part of Monserrat.

After exploring La Basilica we decided to go on a hike. It was a little bit more strenuous than we were expecting. But we are decided to be adventurers and continue on. The views were definitely worth it. 

It was a really great day and I'm looking forward to going on more day trips like this through out the semester.

Major Tourists. Time to be locals.

On Sunday Natalie and I decided to buy tickets for the hop on hop off barcelona bus. Major tourists, yes we know. So, for the past two days we spent our afternoons exploring the city by bus. My favorite stop was the Sagrada Familia. It is absolutely amazing and even more impressive than in pictures. I think I could spend hours sitting outside of the Sagrada Familia looking at it and still would miss some of its beautiful detail. I wanted to post photos but for some reason blogspot isn't letting me at the moment.

We also had a chance to walk a little bit around the barri gotic, the old part of the city which is made up of hundreds of small winding roads decorated in gothic architecture. Its amazing to think that almost all of the buildings were built before the 15th century. When you walk through these streets you feel like you are going back in time and are apart of a different era. I'm definitely going to spend a lot of time exploring these streets.

Goals for the next few weeks:

1. Speak more spanish
I would love to arrive back to the US fluent in spanish. The problem is that I've been hanging out with a lot of americans and we are constantly speaking english with one another. In addition, because this is a city of many different nationalities and plenty of tourists locals will often converse with you in english. I need to make it a priority to speak in only spanish with them and meet as many spanish speaking students as possible.

2. Stop planning each day
The way of life here is much different than at home. We are used to scheduling and planning our days. Each time I wake up in this city we usually have a plan of the places we want to see during the day and the bars/clubs we want to go to at night. But the reality is that they live differently here. During the day we see plenty of locals sipping coffee together in the park or strolling slowly along the streets. At night they seem to hop from bar to bar and sometimes even party on the road or in the plazas. It doesn't matter where they go necessarily but who they are with and if they are having fun or not. I think one day we need to just walk into the city without a plan and explore. I'm sure it would be worth it to see where we end up.

3. Cook better food.
Saturday night our spanish roommate invited some of her guy friends to come over and cook dinner for us. They made gazpacho, tomatoes with goat cheese, and chicken. It was delicious. Unfortunately, we don't have these kinds of resources every night. So far our specialties include pan tostado con tomate, yogurt, frozen food, and salad. I think we need to work on our spanish recipes!! Perhaps tonight we will look one up and attempt to make it. I'll let you know if we don't burn down the apartment....

Just a few photos of our apartment :)

Siesta?

Siesta is definitely the most awkward time of the day. Since we live in the less touristy part of the city businesses actually close for 2 to 3 hours in the middle of the day and the streets empty out pretty quickly. I'm not really sure what to do during these hours - I'm not tired and I just want to explore the city!! I think adapting to a new daily schedule is going to be the hardest part in my adjustment process.  But as soon as classes start I'm sure I'll be welcoming a daily afternoon nap with open arms!

First day in Barcelona!

After a long night and morning of traveling I finally made it to my apartment in Barcelona and spent my first night! Our apartment is super spacious (pictures will be up soon). My room still doesn't feel like home yet. We are going to buy sheets and bedding today so hopefully that will decorate the room up a little bit. Out of my bedroom window I have the perfect view of Gaudi's famous Sagrada Familia. Of course I also have a perfect view of a construction site and giant crane, but its still a nice view none the less.

After taking a quick nap, Natalie, Biljana (two of my housemates who are also from the University of Richmond), and I took a walking tour around our neighborhood with a lady who works at the University here. Our neighborhood is somewhat on the outskirts of the main city so it has a very charming and cute feel to it. Most of the streets are tiny and its easy to get lost among all of them - believe me, we already have.

I still haven't been in the main (historic) part of the city yet but am hoping to do that today. I am just excited to finally be here and can't wait to spend an entire semester in this beautiful city!