Week three in Spain, woohoo!!! This past week we had our last days of class which was very exciting for me. I had been working extremely hard and was reasonably nervous for the final assignments. One of the classes was pretty tough so the final was difficult, but in the end it worked out fine and I got to learn a lot about Europe!
On Monday afternoon we walked around Park Guell which was very cool for me because one of our presentations was about its architecture and Gaudi. Going to the park was highly recommended to me by other people who had visited Barcelona, so it had been on my list of things to see for a while. It was a beautiful day outside and fun to be with everyone from our study abroad to walk through the park.
Tuesday was spent studying and preparing for our final on Wednesday, so nothing too interesting happened that day.
Wednesday I celebrated being done with our final exam by going to get dinner with some of the girls on this trip. We went to a pasta place that was off las rambles and was super yummy. There were lots of street performers, including ones who could do flips and stack up on top of each other, as well as a guy who could juggle fire. It was dinner and a show! I loved to be able to relax and visit with friends at the restaurant.
Thursday was the official last day of class. One of the girls I’m living with had their parents visiting Barcelona, so they invited us to go eat tapas on their hotel’s rooftop restaurant. It was very nice catching up with them and hearing about their experience in Barcelona. I always forget that we aren’t just on a vacation here, we are actually living here which does make a difference. Barcelona is our home for five weeks so the things we’ve learned about their culture are from a locals perspective, not just someone briefly passing through.
Friday morning we had a tour of the port which was very informational. I hadn’t been on a boat since coming to Spain so I loved when they took us on the water to see all the sections of the port. It was a beautiful sunny day so that made the event much more enjoyable. That afternoon we boarded a train to Valencia!
I absolutely loved the train! Riding along the coast and being able to look out my window to see amazing beaches with lots of activity was so entertaining. That had to be one of my favorite things to do on this trip was taking the train just because of how easy it was and how much prettier the views were.
The first night in Valencia we went to eat dinner and walked around trying to find a place to sit and drink wine. Valencia is very relaxed compared to Barcelona and the people don’t seem to care that we are not locals. Our hotel is in the Arts and Sciences district so the architecture on this side of town is amazing. We went to the Aquarium during the day on Saturday which was so cool even though we were the only twenty-year-olds there and the rest were families with young children. I’ve enjoyed walking around and shopping, trying the Agua de Valencia, and looking at all the magnificent buildings very much. Valencia has been my favorite destination within Spain by far.