Tag Archives: Spain

From my Sevillian home to yours

Hi all!

Whether you’re a newcomer to this blog, a member of my family, or a friend, I thank you for joining me on the first of many installments to this Geoblog. You’ve caught me during a week of frantic packing, obsessively translating everything that I read from English to Spanish, and convincing myself that this trip is actually happening. My thoughts here are more scattered than I would have liked, but hopefully they will give you a taste of this crazy, overwhelming experience that I am about to have. (Maybe I’m just crazy. But you can decide for yourself.)

For those who don’t know me, my name is Anna Lombardo and I study English at Penn State University, where I am also pursuing a minor in business. This spring I will be participating in a CIEE study abroad program called International Business and Culture, in Seville, Spain, where I will be taking business classes as well as some yet undecided culture courses. I chose this program for a few different reasons. First, and most importantly, it will be warm. If you go to Penn State or ever went to Penn State, you know that the winter (we all know I mean November through April) is abhorrent. Abhorrent: that is the best word I can think of to describe the bitterly cold and snow-heavy months during which the majority of Penn State classes take place. I like to tell people that I am never emotionally prepared for the upcoming cold season and it is always true. So I anticipate that a semester in the south of Spain will be an emotional healing of sorts.

While I am not joking about the alluring warmth of Seville, there are other factors that had a greater influence on my decision to study there than just the climate. For one thing, it will give me the opportunity to make some real progress on my business minor. I also hope it will allow me to become close to fluent in Spanish, despite my three-year hiatus from the language (regretfully, I have not taken Spanish classes since high school). And, of course, I could not pass up the opportunity to spend four months in one of the most gorgeous and culturally rich cities in the world. I’m happy to be able to share all of the wonderful experiences I have over there with you, my readers.

All of the awesome things that come with this trip are, unfortunately, accompanied by some sad realities. In the last day or so I’ve teared up occasionally thinking about some of the things I’ll be missing while I’m away: my family, my friends. (Those are the big ones.) I won’t get to be with my sister the night of her senior prom; I won’t get to celebrate my 21st birthday with my friends. For those of you considering studying abroad someday, I hate to put a damper on the experience before I’ve even left. It is very difficult to put yourself in a situation that you know will probably be amazing but is unfamiliar and uncomfortable at first. I hope, by the end of this blog, I will be reporting to you that my time in Spain was well worth the initial discomfort.

I am, despite the melancholy character of the previous paragraph, actually looking forward to going to Seville. Among some of the highlights I hope to write about: staying with a Sevillian family and eating most of my meals with them; taking a 4-day trip to Morocco; and for all of my food lovers out there, tapas (basically Spanish snacks to the MAX). You won’t want to miss it, so check back soon (once my jetlag has dissipated)!

Location: King of Prussia, Pennsylvania

And away we go.

Hi, guys! My name is Elizabeth Coddington (everyone calls me Liddy) and I am beyond excited to be studying abroad in Barcelona for Spring 2015! I’m a junior public relations major working towards a Spanish minor. I’m hoping that spending four months in Spain will improve my language skills. I am a food enthusiast and I plan on posting pictures of all the delicious things that I eat, so brace yourselves. Cheese and wine galore, people!

This blog is going to be updated weekly, maybe more depending on what exactly happens along the way. I’m in the IES Barcelona Liberal Arts and Business program, which I will be happy to provide as much information on as needed. If anyone has any questions for me, feel free to reach out to me over social media, email, or leave a comment below!

I leave for Barcelona in 4 days and as excited as I am to go, my mind will not stop racing. I visited the city during spring break of my senior year and I can remember standing at the port and thinking that I definitely had to go back at some point in my life.

Studying abroad is the biggest thing I’ve done in my 20 years and I cannot believe that it’s happening so soon, which is apparent by the emptiness of my suitcase. At this point I have not started packing, thought about packing or done anything to even prepare for the pre-packing. But I’m starting tomorrow… I swear. And with every item that I check off my list I know that more and more excitement will begin to replace the anxiety that I feel.

Just a little rundown of what’s going through my mind:

How many shoes can I bring?
What do the dorms look like?
I hope the other students don’t make fun of my Spanish too much.
Everyone says not to overpack but how can I not…
What if I run out of breath when trying to blow up my inflatable headrest on the plane? (I’m serious.)
What if I get stopped at customs and they just don’t let me go at all?
- Side note: My student visa somehow says my name is Elizabeth Laureen. With two E’s. It is not. It is Elizabeth Lauren. The Spanish Consulate said all should be fine so, ya know, nothing I can really do about that.
How am I going to visit all of the places that I want to go?
So many photo opps.
So many crêpes.

That’s just a little sample. I think you get the idea. If you’re reading my post at this point I assume that you are interested in studying abroad in Barcelona (great choice) and you want to know about the “true student experience.” I can promise you that I will be as candid as possible and write everything that I think you need to know. It’s going to be an amazing time and I can’t wait until I have updates for you all.

Despite all the stress and anxiety that comes with pre departure… it’s Europe. It’s Spain. It’s BARCELONA. It’s going to be amazing. Oh, and I’m traveling with my best friend Lauren and I can assure you that reading this blog will be extremely entertaining. There will be pictures, embarrassing stories, videos… I’ll have it all. So, cheers to an amazing semester abroad.

¡Hola, Barca!

So after my first week in Barcelona, there is really only one thing I can say: WOW!

Everything here is so breathtaking! I like to think of it as New York with less people, less cars, and more beautiful buildings.

Look at this:

So far I’ve learned that the city has a very long and rich history, and belongs to the region of Catalonia. This region speaks both Spanish and Catalan, so many street signs and restaurant menus are in Catalan, and are a bit difficult to understand.

The center where my classes will be is located in the main plaza of the city, Placa Catalunya, which is always packed with locals and tourists alike. Around the Placa, there are many places to eat and shop, so I will definitely be doing some exploring over the next few months!

Placa Catalunya is also the beginning of La Rambla, which is a street in Barcelona popular for the many small stores that sell a large variety of things. I love Las Ramblas the most because of the architectural style. They are winding and narrow side streets that cars don’t drive down, but are always packed with people.

Here’s a picture of my first visit down las ramblas (as you can see, I’m having a horrible time):

Basically, the area is quaint and beautiful. All of the cafes have outside seating, and are perfect for sitting down and enjoying a nice caf� con leche. A lot of the stores sell clothing but there are many specialty stores as well. Further down la rambla is La Boqueria, which is a HUGE market where you can buy fresh flowers, produce, meat, seafood, and spices, whatever your heart desires! This market is not for the weak stomached though, many of the stands have slabs of meat and whole animal parts just hanging from the ceiling or chilling in the coolers. Needless to say, as a forensic science major I thought it was kinda cool, but I can’t say the same for the other students that were with me.

My favorite place so far that I’ve visited has been Park Guell, which is a public park that was designed by Gaudi, a famous architect from Barcelona. The park itself is absolutely stunning, and covered in mosaics, which beautifully sculpted walkways. We hiked up the mountain and were able to see a breathtaking view of the city. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the park:

Here are some things that I found strange about Spain so far:

Their “hot chocolate” is very thick and rich, and is definitely not drinkable (but it’s definitely edible!). I would compare it closely to a rich, hot chocolate pudding. Anyway it is delicious!
The ham here is much different, and looks more like prosciutto. It’s very salty, and I wasn’t a big fan of it. Also they are very fond of this ham and have giant severed pig legs hanging in the windows of almost every grocery store. They also use this giant pig leg to illustrate the ham flavor on the bags of ham flavored Lays potato chips (which by the way, taste eerily of ham.
The food here is different but also very similar. You can’t find very many crackers or snack foods like in the US and microwaves meals are next to impossible to find. Most people buy fresh produce and actually cook meals. Wow.
Dinner isn’t served until usually 9 or 10PM, so I’m usually starving by the time it gets here. Well, until I get used to the different meal times anyway.
People here have no specific walking pattern and do what they want. They walk in whichever direction they prefer, which is usually a zig-zagging pattern so they can get to where they need to be. It’s not hard to walk this way when you’re by yourself but trying to keep a group together, like at orientation, is nearly impossible.
The euro sucks. You buy something and you’re like oh, only 30 euros for these shoes! That’s like $30! Nope. It’s actually $42.
EVERYTHING IS SO EXPENSIVE!!!!!! Apart from the euro having a higher value, lunch usually costs me about 11 euro a DAY! Ugh. I need to start packing lunches.

I’ve probably written way too much so I’m going to stop, but I will continue my euro hatred rant next week!

Hasta la proxima! J <3

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Thoughts, Hopes and Expectations for Seville 2012

Hi all! I’m a junior majoring in psychology and minoring in Spanish and applied linguistics. I hail from The Steel City – Pittsburgh PA – which is a wonderful place to grow up and live, but I have always loved to travel and learn about other cultures, so I’m really looking forward to this long awaited semester abroad!

I love all things natural, artistic, creative, and genuine, so I’m very much looking forward to seeing the artwork, museums and architecture in Andalusia. However, there’s still a lot I have to think about and organize before I take off:

With 3 weeks of term papers, classes, and finals left in the semester, and an entire month of traveling to see family over winter break before I leave, it hardly feels like my trip to Spain is the next thing on my list of plans, but it’s sure getting close! I haven’t booked my flights yet, but I plan to get there a day or so before our orientation in Seville, so that I can get acquainted with the city and make sure I’m in all the right places at the right times!

I’ve been getting lots of advice and safety tips from past and present Spanish professors, teachers and friends, so hopefully I’ll at least be somewhat prepared. I was adopted from Russia when I was 3 years old, and have always had an knack for languages and people of other cultures, so though I’ve lived in America most of my life, I like to think I have a pretty diverse worldview. I’ve taken courses in Spanish, Russian, and Hebrew, and learned bits of French, Arabic, and Portuguese from friends who live in the countries where they’re spoken. I’ve traveled quite a bit (mostly to Caribbean Islands and Central American countries on family vacations, Israel a few times, and to Europe on vacation and a volunteer trip), and have a lot of friends from other countries who I met in college and high school, working at sleep away camp, and elsewhere. I’ve also taught English as a Second Language (my minor), and connected to a lot of international students through that. My experiences with all these people and places have made me as much a “global citizen” as I probably could be at this point, and I hope to expand on and change my definition of this concept throughout my time in Europe.

I don’t know what exactly is in store, but I’m getting excited for the change of pace and culture that Spain will be. What I expect to see when I get to Spain is traditional Moorish and Spanish architecture, people of all different European and North African descent, a lot of cute, classy little bars, caf�s, and restaurants, and clubs 🙂 I’m really looking forward to experiencing all of the different aspects of culture – from food and going out, to casual discourse, class schedules and academic expectations. I think people will be friendly, but am aware I have to watch my back, because as in many places, security can be a concern -especially in times of economic unrest like there have been in the past couple of years. I know to take advantage of resources and opportunities (including people!), but not to be overly trusting. I love meeting new people, traveling with, and learning from them, so if all goes well I’ll have a lot of locals and friends to rely on and show me around. These are all things I got a lot of practice with last summer when I spent two months traveling in Israel, but expect to be different everywhere I go.

I’m hoping that in Europe people are accommodating to the frugal an conservationist lifestyle that I’d like to live. I recently saw a special about all of the cyclists in Copenhagen, it seemed like such a great example to be setting for the world!! I hope I have the opportunity to rent or buy a cheap bike to use if my commutes to and from classes and elsewhere necessitate it. I also hope I’ll be able to maintain a pretty healthy lifestyle – aside from not eating red meat, I tend to avoid fried foods and keep a pretty low-fat diet, and apparently the temptation of tapas (little Spanish snacks that are often fried – according to my sister, who has also traveled a lot and been to Spain) will challenge that effort.

That’s all I can think of for now, there’s lots to come – even before I set off for Europe – but I’ll save it for when I have more information about my trip! I’ll post links, photos and videos of everything about my travels as I go, there will be a lot to keep up with, but I’ll do my best to keep it up to date!

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy following my studies and adventures abroad 🙂

Location: State College, PA

Hedgemazes and Sitges Carnival

The first two weeks of March had its ups and downs.

The week was relatively warm, so one day I grabbed a drink similar to a “Yoo-Hoo”, sat on a bench in a park, and read my psychology book for a while in the sun. I think I’ll have to start doing this more often, especially with the way my psychology grade looks right now…

My nights that week were all very exciting. One night, I went with a group of people to an indie rock bar in a neighborhood in Barcelona that is known for its welcoming and original bar scene full of locals. While some people studying here stray away from this area for that exact reason, my friends and I embrace it. Each time we have bar-hopped there, we met interesting people and got great prices on drinks. Anyways, the indie bar was interesting, but the band was really bad. I like indie music, but this band only sang Spanish indie songs that were just awful. They also performed one of the worst covers of The Cure’s “Boys Don’t Cry” that I have ever heard. Another night, we went to another live music club in a different area of the city. This place was a lot more classy and calm. We bought a bottle of wine for the concert and it came in an ice bucket and a waiter to pour it for us. I felt so special. The musician was an Argentine guitarist who was excellent. He played for about 2 full hours and kept us entertained the whole time. One of his songs was exceptional, and I tried to find it on youtube, but my search was fruitless. One of the other nights we went to one of the most fun bars I have ever been to. It is a giant warehouse that is full of tables (Hofbrahaus style), foosball, and pool tables. At this bar you can order “towers” of beer. It is a giant container of beer that comes with its own tap. There are students from all over the world at this bar, and it always makes for a good time.

On Saturday afternoon, my friend Emily and I ventured to a beautiful garden/park on the northern city limits. Parc Laberint is a garden with a confusing hedgemaze, a pond, a waterfall, many statues, and an extensive romantic garden which was extremely peaceful. I couldn’t help but feel I was in the Tri-wizard Tournament from the Harry Potter series. At the entrance to the parc, there was even a giant trophy-like cup that was similar to what I imagined the Tri-Wizard cup to look like. I had a blast walking around the gardens and taking pictures. It was exhausting though, so I took a nap next to a hermit hut that reminded me of the Shire. After the nap, we stopped to get a small bite to eat. Next to the food stand was a playground. Of course I had to go play on it! Spanish playgrounds are so much cooler than American ones! Maybe is the safety rules and restrictions that are set up in the States. As a 21 year old, I had so much fun playing on the playground; I would have been overwhelmed with excitement if I went there as a child. I am definitely going to back to the park to take more pictures because unfortunately I don’t have any to share. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

Sunday I hopped on a train to the city of Sitges, which is a small city about 45 minutes south of Barcelona. Travis, Eric, and I were going to Sitges for our second Carnaval fiesta. I knew it was going to be an interesting night; Carnival and the fact that Sitges is the homosexual capital of Spain is a dangerous combination. I had bought a cheap mask and a glittery hat, but I wasn’t dressing up as anything too fancy. Travis painted his whole face silver and wore a batman mask. It looked awesome. We got there and explored the city a little bit. We walked down to the beach and watched the sunset from the seaside church. It was really beautiful with green palm trees and golden beaches and the blue sea. After dinner we found a place to watch the parade. After witnessing the elaborate floats and costumes of Nice’s Carnival parade, I guess you could say I was a little bit spoiled. The parade was good, but it was not as extravagant or as fun as Nice. There were less clothes on the people in the parade, though. It was still a good time

After the parade, the streets were absolutely crazy. It was like one giant club, people were everywhere and loud music was blaring from every bar. To make a long story short, when we left one of the bars, I know I had my camera on a string around my wrist because I was spinning it. Then, as we meandered through the crowd while we looked for the train station, I went to take a picture of something and noticed my camera was gone. I have no idea how it disappeared, but I assume somebody cut the string without me realizing it. So of course I was pretty distraught. I had taken over 150 pictures throughout the day, some of which were very funny.

Not to mention I would now have to buy a new camera in Europe which mean shelling out more cash than I already was. (Good thing I had a 1,000 dollar bill!) Then we realized we had no idea where the train station was. So I had just lost my camera and now we were lost in a foreign city. At least we weren’t alone. We ran into others who were lost as well. Eventually we could see the train station, but could not get to it because the police had blocked all the roads and bridges leading to the station except for one road. It took us a half hour to get on that road and get in line for the train. This was the 5:30 am train back to Barcelona and hundreds of people packed into the train like sardines after a long night of celebrating Carnival. It was a long, exhausting trip back. I didn’t get back to my homestay until almost 8 am. That afternoon, I dreamed that I still had my camera. It was brutal.

I had two field trips to museums in Barcelona the following week. On Wednesday March 9^th, I went to the “Sun Factory” with my Sustainability class. It is an interesting building near the beach that used to be home to the gas company. Since the gas company moved into a much bigger, better, and more beautiful building, the old building has become a museum dedicated to explaining ways to be more sustainable, and in particular how to fully utilize the sun. It was interesting, but a little bit boring. The following day I went to the Olympic Museum with my Sport and Society class. I really enjoyed this museum. It had thousands of artifacts from the 1992 Olympics that were held in Barcelona. They had memorabilia from sports I had never even heard of before!

The weekend had terrible weather. I think it rained every day. I stayed in Barcelona and relaxed. Eric and I bought an “Articket”. It is an entrance ticket to 7 museums in Barcelona, including “La Pedrera” and the Picasso Museum. It cost 21 euros, which comes out to only 3 euros per museum! We visited MACBA, which is the Museum of Contemporary Art. I’m not a fan of contemporary art, but I keep going to art museums hoping one of them will change my mind. We went on a tour (in English) hoping to understand some of the works of “art” in the museum, but to be honest it just confused me more. I simply don’t see the complexities in some of the mundane and simplistic paintings and sculptures. Some works of art were interesting, but most just made absolutely no sense and seemed to require no artistic skill whatsoever. That night, Penn State basketball played Michigan State in the Big Ten semi-final game. I had met a whole group of MSU students earlier in the week who were in Barcelona for the weekend. They convinced the owner of an English pub to play the game. It was me vs. 21 Michigan State fans. I cheered on our Nittany Lions to a victory! I should congratulate the team for making the NCAA tournament for the first time in a while. Unfortunately, I was not able to see the game vs Temple because it coincided with football (soccer) games, so the football games took precedence in all of the bars. Sunday night we found a small bar to watch the FC Barcelona game in. Watching the games with locals is so intense and their passion is contagious. I can’t wait to go to a Bar�a game on April 10^th! It is going to be unbelievable. First I need to buy a Messi jersey!

So if you were wondering why I don’t have many pictures from the two weeks covered in this entry, it is because somebody else somewhere is looking through the pictures on my camera. I eventually did buy a new camera, which is actually better than the one that was stolen. It cost a lot of money, but I had to buy one to document the craziness that was Las Fallas. I will be posting an entry about Las Fallas and another about my trip to Ireland as soon as I have time.

Hasta luego!

~Sean

Location: Sitges, Spain

Barcelona

Ciao Tutti,

A week or so ago, my ISC (Italian Student Companion), Silvio, had about ten of his friends over for dinner. I am happy to report that I was actually able to carry a conversation with them and understand the general ideas of what they were talking to each other about. We even played the Italian version of the game, Mafia. This was quite a challenge, but a great and fun experience!

Changing topics completely, last weekend I went to Barcelona. I arrived late on a Thursday night and took a train from the airport into the city center. By the time I got into the city center, the metro had stopped running (after midnight) so I had to take a taxi to my hostel. My hostel had a 91% review on HostelWorld.com, but I was immensely disappointed. I did not realize that the hostel only had a common bathroom in the hallway of every floor. I am so used to staying in hostels that have a bathroom in each room that this took a bit of getting used to.

On Friday, I took a free walking tour to see the architecture of one of Barcelona’s most famous architects – Gaudi. His buildings made me feel like I was in Whoville and a world of Dr. Seuss, but they were really cool from the outside. It cost upwards of 18 euros to go in, so I decided that the views from the outside were good enough for me. We also saw a church that he designed over around 85 years ago that is still being built. It is a very complex church and they say it will not be done for at least another 25-30 years! That one complex building!

One of the houses Gaudi desgined

Another one of the houses Gaudi desgined

One of the three facades of Gaudi’s church – the Sagrada Famiglia. Only two are finished. This is the Nativity Facade.

The Passion Facade. The Glory Facade just started construction.

After my walking tour, I took a hop on-hop off bus tour to see all of Barcelona. Barcelona is such a spread out city that the bus company had two different lines. It took me 6 hours to complete both lines, but I was happy I did it.

On Saturday, it poured the whole day. By this point, I had become a pro on navigating Barcelona’s metro and decided to go to the Picasso Museum. The Picasso Museum was a homage to Picasso’s older, lesser known works. All I knew about Picasso before this was that he painted “Scream,” but was very intrigued by his life story. He moved around a lot and changed his artistic style about once or twice a year.

After the Picasso Museum, I decided to go to a restaurant to have typical Catalonian food – tapas. They are basically a bunch of small samples, so you order two or three and try a bit of everything. I had ham & cheese croquets and something very similar to sesame chicken. It was really, really good.

Then, even though it was raining, I embarked on my voyage to find Barceloneta Beach. By this point my map was useless because it was raining so hard, so I decided to follow the signs to the beach – big mistake. I wound up 3 kilometers out of my way and had to backtrack to see it. I was happy when I finally got there, though. It looked like a scene out of 2012, the waves were about four feet high (pretty high for the Mediterranean Sea and I saw the cliché surfboarder walking away from the sea. It was a beautiful beach, though.

The Beach

After this, I decided to walk and catch a metro back to my hostel. After an hour rest, I went to the only bar in Barcelona that was showing the Penn State v. Michigan State game for the Big Ten Semifinals. I think I managed to find the only empty bar in Barcelona, but a combination of a Penn State win and some nostalgic food like quesadillas and chicken tenders was enough to make my day.

Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day. I loved it! I woke up early in the morning to walk the “La Rambla”, a very famous tourist promenade where artists and cafes line the streets. I decided to grab a seat and order “Churros and Chocolate” and people watch. They were so good.

La Rambla

Chocolate & Churros

After that, I took another walking tour of Barcelona. This one was a tour of Barcelona’s historical center. It was beautiful and reminded me a lot of Rome. I gained some insight into the history of Barcelona that was absolutely fascinating like the fact that Barcelona used to be occupied by the Romans when it was a walled city (hence why it reminded me of historical Rome). Also, I learned that the people of Barcelona actually consider themselves to be Catalonian, not Spanish. They speak Catalonian and Spanish and are constantly protesting the Spanish government for their independence. I also got to see where the King of Catalonia greeted Christopher Columbus after discovering the New World. The final piece of trivia I learned was that Barcelona could have built the Eifel Tower instead of Paris, but the government thought it was too weird looking and built an arch instead – big mistake!

The steps that Christopher Columbus was welcomed back on

After the walking tour, I took the metro to Park Gϋell – another one of Gaudi’s projects. It was declared a World Heritage Site a few years ago, so I figured a trip to Barcelona would not be complete without seeing it. Getting there was a difficult task. After taking the metro, it was a kilometer walk to a series of eight escalators to take you to the top of a mountain. At the top of this mountain, you had to walk down hill about a half of a kilometer to get to the park. By this point, I was exhausted. It was so worth it, though. I saw the longest bench I have ever seen and a bunch of other cool looking houses, sculptures, and architecture!

View from the Park

I think Dr. Seuss used to live here…..

An overhang at the park.

The other park entrance.

On my way back to the hostel to grab my bag, I found a Dunkin Coffee (they don’t call them Dunkin Donuts over there) and splurged on the biggest ice coffee I have ever had. In Italy, I can only get an espresso – they really do not have American coffee. It was probably the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had (probably because I haven’t had one in so long). I topped it off with a ham & cheese panini and a chocolate frosted donut with sprinkles – the icing on the cake.

After grabbing my bag at my hostel, I went to the airport and came back to Rome. In my next blog post (very soon, probably later today), I’ll bring you up to date with everything I did this week and weekend, post a few pictures from the past month, and post the bucket list I made of things I need to do while I’m in Rome.

Ciao,

Mike

Location: Barcelona, Spain

BARCELONA

Hei Alle! I’m SO behind on blogging so I’m trying to do two entries this week! Here we go…

I was really surprised when I found out that I was going to have a winter holiday from school during my time in Trondheim. It was at the end of February (21st-25th) and there are no national holidays during that time. I guess the school just thought the students deserve a break at this point in the semester. Sounds like a good deal!

Anyway, one of my best friends from college, Ally, is also majoring in social studies education and is doing her student teaching in the Dept EDUC: Utrecht student teaching program in the Netherlands. We soon realized upon our arrivals in Europe that we had the same winter holiday so we decided to meet up someplace warm. Even though I have traveled quite a bit I had never been to Spain and neither had Ally. We decided to go to the place we had heard the most about: Barcelona. We booked our flights about 3 weeks after we arrived in our respective cities and planned on meeting up.

Time flew by and before I knew it the winter holiday had arrived. Unfortunately Ally and I had some miscommunication and I thought that we were on the same flight from Amsterdam to Barcelona (I had to travel Trondheim-Amsterdam-Barcelona) so I was FREAKING OUT when I didn’t see her at the gate. I didn’t have my computer with me so I bought internet time at a computer in Schiphol and found out that she was on a different flight and would meet me at the airport. Thankfully both of our flights were on time and we met up safely in the Barcelona airport. It was SO AMAZING to see Ally! It felt really good to have someone who is not only one of your best friends, but also someone who is going through a similar experience (student teaching abroad). We took the Aerobus into Barcelona and arrived at our hostel (HelloBCN) around 8pm.

I’ve stayed in a few hostels in Europe and I would really recommend it. If you’ve lived in a dorm they you kind of know what it is like. HelloBCN had a great location (close to one of the main attractions in Barcelona, Las Ramblas) and was safe and clean. The staff was really kind and helpful AND it included free breakfast! Woo!

On our first full day in Barcelona Ally and I decided to take a free walking tour of the city. You can find free walking tours in many major European cities and, again, I would definitely do it. These tours are usually given by young English-speaking transplants and the tours are geared towards young people. The tour guides are paid by tips so if you do a walking tour remember to bring some change. We had a great tour guide who really took us all over and didn’t try to bore us with facts. The tour was mostly of the Gothic Quarter but it also helped us get our bearings in the city. It was really great.

The next day Ally and I got up early to go to the Sagrada Familia. Ally really likes art history and I just love looking at pretty stuff so we were both pretty excited. We traveled by metro (which, although is not necessary, is very navigable and reliable), so when we arrived from the underground to the church we both literally gasped. It was the most beautiful structure I’ve ever seen. We got on line (we were about 15 minutes early) and pretty much got right in as soon as the church opened. We “splurged” on the audio tour with our entrance pass (a whopping 13 Euro…which seems like nothing when you live in Norway!) and it was SO worth it. I feel like I appreciated the little details in the church so much more because I knew more about them. The Sagrada Familia was probably the most beautiful building I have ever been in and is currently my favorite place on Earth. Gaudi really outdid himself. It is so intricate and the details are so deliberate and well thought out. I could really devote an entire post to the Sagrada Familia but I’ll try and edit and only put up my favorite pictures:

After the Sagrada Familia Ally and I decided that it was Gaudi Day and we ventured to find Parc Guell, a park designed by Gaudi. I feel like Dr. Seuss must have lived there. It kind of looked like the buildings were topped with ice cream that was melting in the sun…really difficult to explain. The mosaic work was insane. SO COOL.

The next day Ally and I went to the pier and beach! It was so incredible to feel such warmth (almost 70F!!) in the middle of winter…especially when you’re coming from Norway. It was great just to sit and relax. We also found a beautiful park that had orange trees! All of the oranges in Norway come from Spain so it was cool to see them.

On our last day we went to Montjuic. This is a beautiful mountain in the middle of the city that is home to the Olympic stadium from the ’92 summer games. There are also lost of beautiful parks to explore. Ally and I pretty much went on our own version of a photo safari. It was probably the warmest and clearest day we had on our trip so we both got some excellent shots. I feel like many people don’t go up to Montjuic because it wasn’t too crowded when we were there but I would highly recommend it. Its a great place to explore and get a little lost. I also loved the Olympic park but I also am a bit of an Olympic super-fan. =) We also went back to the park entrance at Placa Espanya later that night to see the fountain show. It was a great way to end our week in Barca.

It was really hard to say goodbye to Ally and Barcelona but it was also good to get back to Norway. Even though this trip was quite expensive (thanks for the graduation present, Mom and Dad!) it really was worth it. I would definitely recommend visiting Barcelona to anyone studying abroad in Europe! Until next time…

Location: Edgar B Schieldropsvei 42-18 7033 Trondheim Norway

Rome as a Tourist

Ciao Tutti,

I am currently on a plane to Barcelona, Spain & can’t wait to get there! I’ve heard great things about it and many people have told me that it cannot be described in words. We will see if I can do that in my next blog post, but I wanted to update you on what I’ve been up to over the past week.

I spent all of last weekend doing “Rome as a Tourist” and got a lot accomplished. I downloaded a few audio tours from Rick Steves on iTunes for free. I put them on my iPod and listened to them as I navigated some of Rome’s most famous attractions.

On Saturday, I went to Vatican City – namely St. Peters Square and St. Peters Basilica. I was there when I was 12, but was completely taken aback by the grandeur of the Basilica. I walked inside and felt like I was an ant compared to everything else. The church itself was huge – 400 meters long, but what struck me even more was the size of the sculptures inside of it. The statues that were “babies” were taller than 6 feet! Everything about the church was amazing, my jaw hung open the whole time I was inside! Rick Steves even joked about the size of St. Peters Basilica by saying that birds don’t even realize they’re inside when they fly around. I may not understand anything about art, but I could definitely appreciate the beauty of everything inside of St. Peters. It was certainly a great experience!

After St. Peters I went to the Trevi Fountain and did the typical tourist stuff. After taking what seemed like 100 pictures, I ventured down the steps to throw a coin in the fountain. They say that if you put your back to the fountain and throw a coin over your shoulder you are guaranteed to return to Rome one day. I did it when I was 12 and now I’m studying there. Coincidence? I think not. After I finished with the Trevi Fountain, everything was closed so I headed back to my apartment to rest up for Sunday.

On Sunday, my first stop was the Pantheon – another building that made my jaw drop. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but once you get inside your eyes immediately gravitate to the huge hole in the ceiling. It is amazing that the Romans built it almost 2000 years ago without any machinery. I had another audio tour by Rick Steves for this which was nice as I was able to gain insight into the history of the building. It was once a place to worship Pagan gods, but was converted to a Catholic church after Catholicism became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Another fun fact I learned is that Victor Emmanuale (the person who united Italy & the first king of Italy) and his son have their tombs inside the Pantheon. It is also Rapheal’s final resting place.

After the Pantheon, I went to a place called the Capuchin Crypt. It was an eerie place. Located beneath a church, it is the bones of 300 Friars arranged in a way that makes it a work of art. It was very, very weird. At the end of the crypt, there was a sign that said “What you are now, we once were. What we are now, you will be.”

My final stop was the Spanish Steps. I honestly have no idea why they are famous, but felt like I had to at least climb them once as a student in Rome – what a workout! I was exhausted when I got to the top and dreaded going down. Now, I can check that of of my bucket list.

I decided to get organized on Sunday night and make a list of everything I want to do before I leave Rome in May. Now I have a list of things to do over a page long – I will post it when I get back to Rome.

I had a relatively normal week of classes. We went on a field study for my architecture class to see a piazza designed by Michelangelo. My time in Rome has definitely taught me to look at art in a different way. I’m beginning to appreciate the small details of everything.

In Italian, we had to give two oral presentations. The first was during a field study around Roma Storico (Historical Rome) where we had to present two different places of interest. Afterwards, our teacher rewarded us by buying the class Ciocolato Caldo (thick hot chocolate) – it was amazing! Our second presentation was on anything we wanted. My group talked about a film we saw the first week of class, La Finestra di Fronte. It went pretty well – we think.

Before I conclude my blog, I would like to reflect on something I have noticed from a lot of Italian people – specifically older ones. They are highly critical of their country and their people in general. My Italian teacher said the quality of life in Spain is much higher than in Italy because Italians are never organized and nothing ever gets done. Coming from America where I bleed red, white, and blue, I am not used to this type of criticism from people about their home country. I personally love Italy and would love to work over here at some point in the future – I have only been here for 6 weeks though.

I will update soon about my experiences in Barcelona as well as a few pictures from my “Rome as a Tourist” weekend.

Ciao, Mike

Location: Rome, Italy

Living in Gaudi’s World

Continuing my travels through Western Europe, 5 friends and I traveled to Barcelona for some fun in the sun last weekend. Escaping cold and dreary Milan, we left Thursday night and spent 3 nights and 2 days in this warm, beautiful Spanish city.

Other than the warm and beautiful weather, the first thing you notice upon arriving in Barcelona is its unique blending of cultures, architecture, and languages. Located on the Iberian Peninsula and having been under control of the Moors, the Spanish Monarchy, and the authoritarian regime of General Franco, this city has noticeable Arab, European, and totalitarian influences. Divided into districts, with the most famous and picturesque one being the Gothic District, Barcelona visually displays its eventful and storied past to each visitor.

The second thing that is immediately evident is the vast influence that Antoni Gaudi had on the layout, design, and architecture of the city. Known for his very different and interesting building designs, his influence on Barcelona is so profound that entire tours devoted solely to his works in the city are available. Obsessed with angles, curves, and unique geometrical shapes such as hyperboloids and paraboloids, his works in the city include the famous Sangrada Famila, Park Guell, Casa Mila, and Casa Calvet.

On Friday, our first day in the city, we awoke to a bright and sunny 60 degree day. I have to say that I was a bit jealous of the IES: Barcelona students since I was able to wear nothing but a t-shirt all day. We started our day by walking down Las Ramblas, the street in Barcelona famous for its shops and markets. We took this street down to the harbor and walked around on the beach before eating lunch. After lunch, we walked to the northern part of the city to the famous Sangrada Familia.

Having seen a multitude of pictures and drawings of this iconic cathedral, I had a good understanding of its general design, but just like the Duomo in Milan, you can’t truly appreciate neither the beauty nor the intricacy of its design without seeing it in person. Although I was a bit disappointed that it was currently under construction, it was still an awesome sight. Even though the architecture and unique design of the outside of this church would be enough to make it a must-see monument in Barcelona and all of Europe, its interior design was even more breathtaking. Containing endless series of columns, hundreds of stained glass windows, and brilliantly designed holes in the ceiling that light the entire structure, this cathedral was incredible. After visiting this site, the high regard that the entire city has for Gaudi was quite understandable

On Saturday, I awoke early in the morning so that I could see as much of the city as possible before nightfall. During the morning I walked around the Gothic district and visited the Cathedral, the Basilica de Santa Maria de la Mar, and numerous small shops in the area. After lunch, my friends and I visited another Gaudi creation, Park Guell. While this beautiful park at first looks like it was designed by Dr. Seuss, due to the weird shape of every staircase, bench, and plaza, as well as buildings that appear to have frosted roofs, as you walk through this place you begin to understand the brilliance of its creation. Without straight edge or corner in sight, Gaudi created a unique haven overlooking the city that causes each visitor to question their view of the world. This park is also located on a giant hill that provides an incredible overlook of Barcelona.

After Park Guell, we decided to visit the western part of the city and make our way up to Montjuic, an impressive plateau with an ancient castle that provides another beautiful view of the city. On our way to this site, we passed the beautiful building of the National Museum of Catalan Art, an old retired bullfighting ring, the Olympic Stadium from the 1992 Summer Games, and several cool parks. 20 minutes on the metro, 30 minutes walking, and a 12 euro gondola later, we finally reached Montjuic. While the view was not as impressive as the one at Park Guell, it was still very interesting to see this historic fortress and the skyline of Barcelona once again.

Overall, I had a great time in Barcelona. It is a great choice for anyone looking to spend a short or extended weekend in a warm place and see some history. The unique past of Barcelona and its division into districts makes it a great place to experience traditional Spain as well as the more modern aspects the country. I would recommend this city to anyone traveling to or in Europe.

Interesting Notes:

1.) Most people in Barcelona speak English, but the actual native language is not Spanish, but a dialect called Catalan. While it is similar in structure to Spanish, the accent is different and some words are changed (i.e. road = Carre and not Calle)

2.) Restaurants don’t open until 9 P.M. at the earliest.

3.) Tapas, Spanish appetizers offered at nearly every restaurant, are entirely overrated and not nearly as good as the Italian “aperitivo.”

Travel Tips:

1.) Stay at Hostel 1 Barcelona. The staff is incredibly helpful, the atmosphere is fun, it is very clean, and it includes a full kitchen and hot showers.

2.) Be sure to visit the Gothic District. It is a really cool area with authentic Spanish crafts, shops, and cafes.

3.) There is almost no need to pay for a taxi or use the metro (except for getting to Park Guell or Montjuic) since almost the entire historical portion of town is located near the water.

Location: Barcelona, Spain

A Little Bit of Catalan Culture

Well I forgot to mention another thing that was included in the Super Bowl deal we got at the bar – food poisoning. Yes, I got food poisoning, my roommate got food poisoning, and rumor has it nearly 30 other students from IES missed class due to food poisoning last Tuesday, all of whom were with me at the bar. I guess “unlimited wings” were just too good to be true. I knew the chicken didn´t look too appetizing, I should have known it was going to make me sick. But the food poisoning struck hard and fast; after only one full day of lying in bed, physically incapable of moving, I was fine the next day. Aside from a bad cough which I have been battling for the past two weeks, everything is A-OK.

On another negative note, the school work here is starting to pick up. I find it very difficult to do work here, simply because I have no motivation. I keep thinking of all of the other interesting things I could be doing instead of sitting in my room doing homework. There are parks, museums, beaches, and bars that I could be exploring instead of reading 50 pages about Freud’s stages of psychosexual development. I had my first midterm already and I have 3 more to come in the next week. I should probably start preparing.

On Friday night, my roommate and I decided to venture into “La Garrafa de los Beatles” which roughly translates to “The Beatles Pub”. I’m not the biggest Beatles fan, but I was excited to see a live band playing Beatles music and see some old memorabilia from the glory days of rock n roll. As soon as we walked into the bar, we knew it was going to be a disappointing experience. A Barcelona Guide Book told us to get to the bar early because it is a small bar and reaches capacity very quickly. We arrived around 10:30 to find the bar nearly empty. There was a live band playing 60’s and 70’s music, but they were not playing Beatles songs and the songs they did play were sung in very bad English. The beers were very expensive, and the whole atmosphere was awkward. After a while, more people showed up and we struck up a conversation with the bartender who told us that the Beatles cover band that the bar is known for would be going on the stage at 1:00 am. I walked around the bar looking at the different memorabilia and I wanted to take pictures, but I felt really uncomfortable doing it, so I kept the pictures to a minimum. We decided not to wait 2 and a half hours to see the performance, but they perform every night so we figured we could go back on another night. When we left the bar, we were the only people under 35 in the whole place.

I made my second trip to Montjuïc on Saturday. It was just as thrilling as the first time, only I did not get to catch the sunset from the castle/fort. I went with a group of friends to the castle, to the Olympic Stadium, to Palau Nacional, and around Plaça Espanya. I saw the same sights I did the first time I visited this beautiful part of Barcelona, but I did more things. For example, I climbed up the Communication Tower in the Olymic Park, which was really cool actually. For lunch in Castell de Montjuïc (Montjuïc Castle), I got one of the worst pizzas and one of the worst glasses of sangria I have ever had. After walking around the Olympic Park for a while, we headed down to Palau Nacional, which is a palace that houses the National Art Museum of Catalonia. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to visit the museum, but the palace and the views are breathtaking. At the base of Palau Nacional, right near the Magic Fountains that run lighted fountain shows every night, there is a world-wide mobile telephone conference. This conference/convention is huge! I would really like to sneak in and see the newest technologies in cell phones, and maybe even get some free stuff while I’m at it.

After a siesta and dinner, I was too exhausted to a nightclub, so I decided to find a cool, local bar. My internet search eventually landed me at a site called worldsbestbars.com. There, travelers talk about their experiences at local bars and which ones they would recommend. The travelers talked of a bar conveniently located right off of Las Ramblas that has the best cocktails in Barcelona. The name of the bar was Boadas Bar, and it is said that it was Hemmingway’s favorite bar to visit while he was in Barcelona. The bar was incredible small, but it was very intimate. Nearly every person in the bar was a local or a traveler (a.k.a there were no American students there, which was a relief) and they were all over 40. The bartenders wore tuxedos and were professional drink makers. The site recommended a mojito, so that’s what I ordered. It was hands-down the best cocktail I have had since turning 21 in July, even if it was a little bit on the expensive side. To me, it is so much more interesting exploring local bars such as The Beatles Pub and Boadas Bar than venturing to a different club every night, which is what a lot of the American students do. The nightlife here is one-of-a-kind, but all of the clubs are more-or-less the same. Each bar here has its own personality, its own atmosphere, and its own collection of original drinks.

Sunday was an extremely cultural day for me. I went to one of the Plazas in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona for the Festival de Santa Eulalia. It is a Catalan holiday for the children of Barcelona showcasing Catalan culture. The plaza was packed with people, mostly locals, and around the outer sides of the plaza stood giant figures called gegants which towered over everyone. Catalan music started playing and the gegants would march through the crowd into the center of the plaza where they shared a surprisingly graceful (considering their size) dance. The dancing giant figures were really well made and very cool. I wanted to operate one and dance around the plaza! After the gegants left the plaza, the castellers entered. I talked about the castellers in one of my earlier posts–they are the teams who build human towers. Each area’s team of castellers entered the plaza with a walking tower of 1 column of 4 people. They call this a “1 de 4”. After all the teams entered, they began building more complex and difficult towers. It was truly amazing to see in person. The strength, concentration, and teamwork of each person in the tower really demonstrate the pride and dedication to one’s culture. The top of each tower is a child, usually around 4 or 5! Don’t worry though, they wear a specially designed helmet to protect them, and the people below them, from falls. It was spectacular watching one team build a tower of 4 columns of people stacked 7 people high, and then build a single column in the middle of those four. It’s a lot harder to explain than it should be, maybe I should just let the pictures do the talking. As you can tell from the pictures, it was a beautiful winter day in Barcelona: 60˚F and sunny.

In my Spanish film class, we started watching some of Pedro Almodóvar’s early films. Without getting into too much detail, I’ll just say that his films are definitely original, shocking, and hysterical. I would compare the content his early work to some of John Waters’ movies. I am much more interested in the class now that we are talking about film history instead of the history surrounding the film. To me, it is much more interesting to compare the movies in Spain in the 80’s to the movies of today than to talk about subtle satirical symbols of the Franco regime in Spanish movies of the 70s.

Monday was St. Valentine’s Day, or as they call it here Día de los Enamorades. For a city with as much “public displays of affection” as Barcelona, I was a little bit disappointed with the amount of love in the air. One of my teachers told me that people in Barcelona see St. Valentine’s Day as too commercial, which is probably true. In fact, the only stores in Barcelona that were advertising Valentine’s Day were the lingerie stores, which isn’t surprising. I was lucky enough to receive Valentine’s Day cards from my mom and my girlfriend, but it kind of made me miss home. Apparently there is another day to show affection in Barcelona, Día de St. Jordi (St. George’s Day) on April 23^rd. On this day, the women give men a book, and the men give the women a rose: “a rose for a love and a book forever”. Apparently, Barcelona is an exciting place to be on this day and Las Ramblas is full of street performers, “sardana” dancers, and a 24 hour marathon of a public reading of Don Quixote. Unfortunately, this is during my Spring Break, and if I ever get around to planning a trip, I will not be in Barcelona to celebrate St. George’s Day.

Last night, finished the book I had been reading for the last week or so, Stephen King’s The Green Mile. I had seen the movie, but never read the book. I thought the movie was great, but the book was so much better. It was a little bit slow starting off, but by the end I literally couldn’t put it down. I highly recommend it. I wanted to finish it last night so I could start a new novel during my trip to the French Riviera.

My trip to the French Riviera this weekend was almost canceled. I received an e-mail on Monday from the travel company informing me that a group of people bailed on the trip and they did not have enough people to run the trip. I was pretty upset by this news because I had been looking forward to seeing a new part of the world all week. Luckily on Tuesday, the travel company sent another e-mail confirming that the trip was still happening. 8 people must have signed up at the last minute. Muchas gracias to those 8 people. So, in a few short hours, I will be on a bus headed to Nice, France. I can’t wait! Maybe I’ll even hit the jackpot at the Monte Carlo Casino…

Hasta Luego,

Sean

Location: Barcelona, Spain

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Tag Archives: Spain

From my Sevillian home to yours

And away we go.

¡Hola, Barca!

Thoughts, Hopes and Expectations for Seville 2012

Hedgemazes and Sitges Carnival

Barcelona

BARCELONA

Rome as a Tourist

Living in Gaudi’s World

A Little Bit of Catalan Culture