What a blast this past week has been. I spoke about Cadaques briefly in my last post, but I loved that day so much, and have been traveling a bit more this week, so I wanted to go more into depth. I love the amount of free time we get to explore and experience Spain. Last weekend, some buddies and I decided to take a day trip to the Costa Brava with no tour plan, train, bus, or flight tickets. We started the day off great, quick breakfast at the little coffee shop beneath us that we frequent and then we hustled over to the train station. In between consulting lackadaisical workers, glitches, quick jogs, and a lot of luck, we made the train to Figueres with one minute left. The train took us through the beautiful countryside where I saw houses and villages stuck in a past time. It was a side of Europe I had been expecting to run into outside of Barcelona. Once at Figueres, a taxi took us to Cadaques, and the ride there, although full of twists and turns, took us up and over a mountain that overlooked the dark blue Mediterranean Sea surrounding beautiful little cities on the Costa Brava. Upon our arrival, we did what we know best at this point on our trip and walked around. The small cobblestone roads led us to an extremely detailed cathedral that I have come to learn is central and essential to every Spanish city we have visited. From there we took a hike to the next peninsula over where the famous, eccentric artist Salvador Dali?s house was and where I learned that an Americano coffee is an espresso with equal or two-thirds parts hot water from buying coffee in a small shop on the shore. Gelato was the next necessary stop before setting up shop on the beach and taking in the sun and cool water. We took a ferry to Roses because it was closer to the train station and got an incredible view of the shoreline along the way. Our train ride and trip ended late in Barcelona with a glorious introduction to Five Guy?s. Easily one of my favorite day?s/adventures on the trip so far.
Classes this week were a blast. Learning more about the European Union, its history, and its tendencies. Professor Gundin leads an interesting lecture and is always asking us questions that get our gears turning. Presentations over architecture and culture gave us a little insight into what makes Catalonia so special. Doctor Panina is the goat and I have enjoyed getting to know International Business, and her, better through her teaching. We toured Fabrica Mortiz, a craft beer brewery in Barcelona, and it was so cool to learn about the intricacies of the process and the history of the company. And, like always, the reoccurring epic to find something good to eat each night was memorable.
This weekend, we took a quick trip to Mallorca, one of Spain?s Balearic Islands, and got the chance to celebrate. I was surprised to find that there was a very heavy German influence on the town, apparently, it has been a vacation destination for Germans for a long time. The beach was beautiful and is where we spent a lot of our time as a result of it. We went into Palma was awesome, it is a very cool city with a modern vibe to it. We found the staple cathedral here too. It was so big and surrounded by cannons which made me think that it was likely used as a fortress at some point too.
Two weeks flew by in a blink! I?m excited for what?s to come and will be working to make the most out of each day!