It’s been a crazy few weeks: it’s so strange to think that I’m more than halfway done with my semester in Barcelona. Over the last month, I’ve had visitors from home come to Barcelona, traveled around Spain, and traveled more in Europe. When I think about how quickly the last two months have flown by, all I can do is make the most of the next six weeks!
In the middle of October, my parents came to Spain to visit and travel. They started in Barcelona and then made their way south. It was great having them in my city - it gave me an excuse to be a tourist and sightsee, and of course, eat at nice restaurants all the time. As I started the school week up again, they headed down to Madrid, Toledo, and Cordoba, and then I met them in Sevilla for the following weekend.
Barcelona is in Catalunya, a region of Spain that is famous for its nationalism. Instead of speaking Castellano Spanish, people here speak Catalan, a unique language that is like a mixture of Spanish and French. I’ve become used to seeing every sign in both Catalan and Castellano, hearing Catalan on the Metro, and seeing Catalan newspapers. For that reason, going to Sevilla was like culture shock: I didn’t know what to do when signs were just in one language - and when I understood it.
Sevilla is typical Spain - which I wasn’t expecting. They’re famous for Flamenco and bull fighting, tapas and paella. Coming from Barcelona, where natives more or less shun traditional Spanish activities, it was interesting to see this side of the country. In Sevilla, we went to the cathedral, the Alcazar palace, a traditional Flamenco show, and toured the Maestranza, the city’s famous bullring. We also spent a day in Granada, where La Alhambra - a 14th century Moorish castle - stands overlooking the entire city. Southern Spain was beautiful, but in a different way than Barcelona is. As with every weekend away, I was glad to get back “home.”
By the end of that week, fall break started - which meant a week off from classes and tons of traveling! I focused on two cities: Prague and Paris. They were very different from each other, but I loved them both. Prague is intimate; everything is cobblestone and hundreds of years old. The city is sectioned off into areas like Old Town, New Town, the Jewish Quarter and Lesser Town. I traveled to Terezin, a small town right outside Prague that was home to a concentration camp during World War II. Very creepy, but very interesting.
Paris, because it’s Paris, was equally beautiful. A friend from home is studying there, and my friend Emily met me there too, for a big reunion. We did all of the typical Paris things: the Louvre, going to the top of the Eiffel Tower (so scary!), seeing the Arc de Triomphe, walking the Champs Elysees. Emily, quite the WM English major, also designed a walking tour of Ernest Hemingway’s Parisian life, which included visiting some of his apartments and other notable Lost Generation hangouts (like Sylvia Beach’s Shakespeare and Company and the bar where Hemingway met F. Scott Fitzgerald)
It was again good to be back in Spain, but coming back from fall break made me realize that I only have a month and a half left here. I’m staying local with my travel from here on out - Figueres (also in Catalunya, where Salvador Dalí is from), Lisbon, and San Sebastian in Spain’s Basque Country. I’m just taking as much advantage of being “European” as I can. Until next time… ciao!