I have officially been here in Spain for one week! There has not been a moment of rest as I race to do everything on my Barcelona bucket list! The trip started off with a tour of La Sagrada Familia which was so interesting. We are lucky enough to have our apartment on Sardenya which is a block away from the amazing building, therefore we had passed it many times since arriving. I loved being able to go on the tour and learn more about the symbolism of each detail in the structure. Now every time I walk by the building I know much more about its significance to Spain.
From then on, we had a scavenger hunt around the popular areas of Barcelona to learn our way around. We learned where the market was on Las Ramblas and returned there Monday before heading to the bunkers for a picnic. It was quite the hike up which we did not realize but the view was worth it! I would suggest making the trek to anyone visiting Barcelona. After this, our group of girls took the next two days to focus on classes and get organized. As exciting as arriving in Spain was, it was time to focus on school. With quizzes and presentations coming up, it was important to get to work. However, we did visit cute cafes while we studied like Fargi Caffe.
Once the weekend came around, it was back to having fun! On Friday we had a day trip to Monserrat and the Freixenet vineyard. The instant we began driving up the Monserrat mountain, I knew the views would be spectacular. I had never seen anything like this mountain so it was a very unique experience. Once at the top, we got to walk around and even go on a short ten-minute hike to look around the area. I imagined what it would be like to be one of the boys who lived and attended school there and their life seemed so different from my own. I loved being able to experience something so unfamiliar and be a part of it even for a couple of hours.
Next, we took a quick bus ride to the Freixenet house where we learned about the history of the famous cava. I had never heard of this wine before, so it was super interesting to be able to see how it was made. A lot of work goes into making Freixenet that I would have never imagined, like turning the bottle little by little to get the unnecessary substances to travel to the top and be taken out. The overall setting was beautiful at the house and it was a fun experience to have with our group of students on this abroad trip.
The rest of the weekend was filled with lots of resting, beach trips, and yummy food. A break was much needed after such an eventful first week! I know we have many more activities planned that I can’t wait to write about in the future! Until next time.