We have now been in Barcelona for a full week, and I really feel like I am starting to adapt. It has been really fun getting to see more and more of the culture here. We officially started classes; and while they are a lot of work and time-consuming, there are still plenty of opportunities to get to explore the area. Our group definitely did a lot of that as we went on multiple guided tours after classes.
After class on Tuesday, we were able to go to the FC Barcelona stadium and museum. The tour was very informational and displayed the passion that Catalonians have for the team. The team is so highly regarded and loved that people were buying grass from the field inside the stadium! It was also interesting to learn how the team plays a major role in politics here in Spain. Two days later, we had the opportunity to go on a tour of Casa Mil?. This is a building containing lots of apartments, but what makes it beautiful is its beautiful architecture which was designed by Gaud?. The roof of the building had amazing views of the city, including a view of Gaud?s Sagrada Familia. We walked through the touring part of the building and admired all of the designs and historic decorations. The whole time I was wondering what it would be like to live in one of the apartments of this historic building.
We only had classes Monday through Thursday, so on Friday we were able to explore Montserrat, which is a beautiful monastery set up on a mountainside. Our guide said that normally it is packed with people, but we had the unique opportunity of being some of the few people there that day. This allowed us the opportunity to see everything you could possibly want there. I got to see first-hand things I had learned about in books back in high school, such as the Virgin of Monserrat, which is a famous statue of Mary and Jesus. I remember admiring such things while learning about them, yet I could never imagine that I would get to see them in person, especially so up close! After this visit, we ate a nice lunch and then headed to the Freixenet headquarters in Sant Sadurn? d’Anoia. Freixenet is an international sparkling wine brand, and here we went down into caves underground to see thousands of bottles of wine fermenting, while learning all about how it is made. At the end of the tour, we were able to sit down in a beautiful garden and sample their products.
This week the main thing I learned was that you will never run out of things to do in Spain. Due to Covid, we are unable to travel outside of the country. At first, I was disappointed by this, but now I am grateful as this provides me with the opportunity to really optimize my time to learn everything I can about Spain. I have not ventured far out of Barcelona, but I am amazed at how much there still is to do. We have barely scratched the surface of the city, and I can?t wait to keep digging!