Barcelona
2006-11-20
Barcelona
My first choice to study abroad was Madrid, Spain. I have a good grasp on Spanish since I took it in middle and high school and then for a year at Baylor. I only came to Italy because I wanted to study abroad with Zena and she didn’t want to stay with a host family like the Spain program entails. I think it all worked out for the best. Although going to Barcelona made me rethink this decision and adore Spain. But then again, Florence is very distinct and it was worth it studying abroad with Zena!
Last week Dannee and Stephanie, two of my ZTA sorority sisters from Baylor, stayed in Florence for three nights while taking day trips to Rome, etc. Baylor has a Maastrict, Netherlands, program that has the students study for two intensive months and then travel for a month with a Eurail before flying home. They have been almost everywhere in western Europe. They loved Spain, but thought Barcelona was strange. I was not expecting much.
We took the ghetto Ryanair flight out of Pisa. You never know if you will land or not. Our hostel was on one of the main streets near all the shopping. We crashed from all the traveling that first night. The next day proved Barcelona without a doubt the most relaxing destination to which we traveled. We pretty much laid on the beach (it was hot!) The regional food is paella, a mixture of rice, seafood and a teriyaki-like sauce. We had paella in a restaurant on the way back from the beach along with sangria, the regional drink. The sangria was amazing and even Ashley, who usually despises anything alcohol, liked it.
The next day we went to the the Sagrada Familia. It is a chapel by Gaudi that has been under construction since 1883 and will not be completed until 2020. It is a very modern chapel, but we all really enjoyed it. It has 12 strange spires for the 12 disciples. Inside there is scaffolding everywhere since they are still constructing the part dedicated to Jesus and the Virgin Mary. It was an interesting church and the modern work done all over the chapel is represented all over Barcelona.
There really isn’t much to report about Barcelona, but it was wonderful. You can’t beat the beach mixed with sangria and shopping. We went to the Hard Rock, ate almost an entire ice cream cake in our hostel room and cracked up when Zena went crazy from the sugar rush. Barcelona had excellent store vendors. The souvenir shops felt like Mexico because you bartered for prices. The men would come whisper in your ear that only you had a special price for the item you were looking at. The only difference is that the men did not catcall like in Italy.
Walking back home from the train station in Florence was magical. It had been raining and although it was 2am we took in everything around us. It is a beautiful city. Even though it would have been great to put my Spanish into practice in Spain and the culture is very distinct, I think I would have regretted going to Spain when I visited Florence. Out of all the places I have visited only Florence has kept almost all of its heritage from Renaissance days. The buildings are the same and there are hardly any chains like in other European cities. I am glad it is its own world.
Barcelona
My first choice to study abroad was Madrid, Spain. I have a good grasp on Spanish since I took it in middle and high school and then for a year at Baylor. I only came to Italy because I wanted to study abroad with Zena and she didn’t want to stay with a host family like the Spain program entails. I think it all worked out for the best. Although going to Barcelona made me rethink this decision and adore Spain. But then again, Florence is very distinct and it was worth it studying abroad with Zena!
Last week Dannee and Stephanie, two of my ZTA sorority sisters from Baylor, stayed in Florence for three nights while taking day trips to Rome, etc. Baylor has a Maastrict, Netherlands, program that has the students study for two intensive months and then travel for a month with a Eurail before flying home. They have been almost everywhere in western Europe. They loved Spain, but thought Barcelona was strange. I was not expecting much.
We took the ghetto Ryanair flight out of Pisa. You never know if you will land or not. Our hostel was on one of the main streets near all the shopping. We crashed from all the traveling that first night. The next day proved Barcelona without a doubt the most relaxing destination to which we traveled. We pretty much laid on the beach (it was hot!) The regional food is paella, a mixture of rice, seafood and a teriyaki-like sauce. We had paella in a restaurant on the way back from the beach along with sangria, the regional drink. The sangria was amazing and even Ashley, who usually despises anything alcohol, liked it.
The next day we went to the the Sagrada Familia. It is a chapel by Gaudi that has been under construction since 1883 and will not be completed until 2020. It is a very modern chapel, but we all really enjoyed it. It has 12 strange spires for the 12 disciples. Inside there is scaffolding everywhere since they are still constructing the part dedicated to Jesus and the Virgin Mary. It was an interesting church and the modern work done all over the chapel is represented all over Barcelona.
There really isn’t much to report about Barcelona, but it was wonderful. You can’t beat the beach mixed with sangria and shopping. We went to the Hard Rock, ate almost an entire ice cream cake in our hostel room and cracked up when Zena went crazy from the sugar rush. Barcelona had excellent store vendors. The souvenir shops felt like Mexico because you bartered for prices. The men would come whisper in your ear that only you had a special price for the item you were looking at. The only difference is that the men did not catcall like in Italy.
Walking back home from the train station in Florence was magical. It had been raining and although it was 2am we took in everything around us. It is a beautiful city. Even though it would have been great to put my Spanish into practice in Spain and the culture is very distinct, I think I would have regretted going to Spain when I visited Florence. Out of all the places I have visited only Florence has kept almost all of its heritage from Renaissance days. The buildings are the same and there are hardly any chains like in other European cities. I am glad it is its own world.
Labels: Spain
posted by Alyssa at 11:48 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home