Bienvenidos to Barcelona!

To be honest, this first blog post probably would not have come so early if it wasn't for the constant "badgering" of my family. But finally, I'm sitting down to actually post something. I've officially been in Barcelona for 8 days and have already had a friend visit, completed 2 full days of classes, and believe it or not, held a conversation in Spanish. But I use the word "conversation" loosely. I've got the words "gracies" "lo siento" and "tu hables ingles" totally down.

The first night here I stayed at Hotel Gran Havana, in more or less the center of Barcelona. But I didn't really get to see much of the city until a few days later, after moving into the residencia and needing to get places on my own. The city is much harder to navigate then I was expecting, although the roads are in somewhat of a grid layout, there are many diagonals and side streets that can make a simple 20 minute walk to class a bit overwhelming. Yet slowly but surely, i'm figuring things out by trying to take the metro as little as possible.


During orientation we took a bus tour around the Olympic village in Barcelona, from the 1992 Summer Olympics. This is the amazing view I got to see from the top of the hill.

Some other places and sites I've been to so far are Gaudi's park (Parque Guell) and the Sagrada Familia. Both spectacular places to visit. The detailed architecture of the Sagrada Familia is magnificent, and I surprised myself by how interested I was in the history of Gaudi and of Spain in general. One of the classes I hope to take this semester is called "Past and Present in Barcelona" where I will learn all I need to know about the history of Barcelona, and how it has shaped the modern city.

This picture is inside Parque Guell. I not only got to see a beautiful view of the city, but all the interesting architecture and dazzling colors as well. Call me crazy, but I still think it looks like Whoville.



Anyway, that's about it for now. My program is taking us all on a day trip on Sunday to Tarragona, Spain which is about 1.5 hours south of Barcelona. This is where the Roman Ruins are right along the sea.


But that is still a week away, as for now I have Spanish class at 9:00am tomorrow so I should get some sleep, goodbye for now!