One week into living in Barcelona, and I truly believe I could live here forever! In one week, using the metro has become second nature, reading a menu in Spanish has become normal, and my feet have grown accustomed to walking around 6 miles every day. Living in the city has its benefits and disadvantages, but the advantages far outweigh anything bad I could say about it. The public transportation in Barcelona has been so fun to navigate and use in everyday life. During the day, my roommates and I use the metro or bus to get anywhere we need to go. At night, we prefer to use a taxi and it has definitely been a learning curve figuring out how to find and hail an available one! Most of the time, my roommates and I have chosen to walk anytime we can. We have enjoyed exploring different parts of the city and finding hidden gems on our walks to everyday locations. Through this exploration, we have realized different things we prefer about living in Barcelona. When it comes to buying groceries, we prefer a farmers? market for our meats and cheeses, and we like to go to the grocery for our pantry items. We have already found our go-to stores for both of those things! When it comes to shopping, we prefer the small boutiques behind our house rather than the department stores on Passeig de Gracias. In our apartment, it has already become apparent the daily chores that each of us prefers and that has become part of our routine! There is so much that we have already learned about living in Barcelona, and I am excited to continue learning new things.
This past weekend, I got the opportunity to take two day trips on Friday and Saturday. The first day trip was to Monserrat and Freixenet and the second trip was to Cadaques. On Friday, we took a bus ride to Monserrat and I was immediately floored by the breathtaking views. My camera was not even able to capture the beauty, so I simply took moments to be still and take in everything I was seeing! Some students in the program took a short hike up a hill and the view at the top was stunning. After some exploring, we got to tour the beautiful monastery. Throughout the tour, I was in awe of the detail and beauty of everything. While I was sitting in the pew admiring everything, I had a moment when everything hit me and I got a little teary-eyed. That beautiful monastery was built for a God who deserved every beautiful and precious detail of it, and I was so appreciative to get to simply sit in that place. After Monserrat, we toured Freixenet and were able to enjoy some cava at the end of our tour. It was an awesome experience I will never forget.
On Saturday, we went to Cadaques with some other people in our program. We got to swim in the Mediterranean Sea, tan on the beaches of Cadaques, and explore the cobblestone streets surrounded by white buildings with blue shutters. Cadaques was the most beautiful place I have ever visited and I am so grateful that I was able to see it!
My first week in Spain has been a dream and I can?t wait to see what the next 4 weeks have to offer!