A Little Update
It's Monday. I'm laying in bed after my Marketing exam, eating fried rice (with chopsticks, of course, because owning silverware isn't exactly a thing for us) and wishing I could take a nap. I guess there are some things that will never change! However, there are a lot of things that HAVE changed since my last update:
Got wine drunk with our entire class (professor included) while in the ruins of an ancient Roman city.
Ate the tiniest pizza I have ever seen.
Had my first bakery experience (which is extremely overwhelming, to say the least).
Ate my body weight in gelato.
Experienced my first potatas bravas (which is literally the best thing ever, it's just like fancy french fries but the Spaniards LOVE THEM, which makes this place 100x better).**
Went to my first partially nude beach. (Which is pretty much any beach here)
Visited a new continent!!! (Shoutout to Toto for blessing the rains in Africa) [NOTE: this will be a post of its own]
** I will be doing an entire post on food one day, don't worry
Here's a look into what I've been up to these past 10 days:
Tarragona
Tarragona is a city about an hour outside of Barcelona. It has much of the original architecture still intact from ancient Roman times! Our school took a trip there to tour the city and have a wine tasting in an ESADE alum's restaurant. It was incredible to see the design and materials that people used to build back then. I'm pretty sure this was the oldest stuff I have ever seen. We got to walk the same streets and visit the same places that ancient Romans did! Some of the highlights from this trip were seeing the remains of the city's circus, where chariot races were held, and its amphitheater, where gladiator battles, public executions, and other events were held. In the middle of the city's amphitheater is the remains of a chapel, in the shape of a cross, that was built to remember the Christian martyrs that were publically executed. After walking around that morning, we ate lunch and had a wine tasting at a restaurant that was built into the existing walls of the old circus. The food was delicious, but it was so cool to see the ancient stones around us!
Check out the photos below to see me eating a croissant on the aqueduct, sitting in the seats of the amphitheater, and enjoying our wine tasting!
Sitges + Barcelona
Yes, I am still taking classes. Technically I'm taking four different two-week courses. School can last up to six hours some days, but that doesn't stop us from finding fun things to do! One of my favorite experiences was hiking to the top of Bunkers del Carmel, just a 20-minute bus ride from our residence. My friends and I brought a baguette, some cheese, and rose to go watch the sunset one day and it was AMAZING. You can see the entire city from these bunkers that were built during one of the World Wars. We realized on the way down that you don't actually have to hike to these bunkers, which would have been nice to know when we were carrying everything uphill for 30 minutes, but oh well. We also went to these "magic fountains" at Montjuic. Basically, it's a water and light show set to music. It was really cool to watch, but my favorite part was the huge museum behind it! There are a ton of waterfalls and fountains leading up to the main building, and it was amazing to see all of the fountains going and lights lit. Another cool thing we did was go to the beach in Sitges last Sunday. This was only an hour train ride away from us, and the weather was nice so we decided to pick up some food and head to the beach! Most of the beaches around us are at least partially nude beaches, so it was definitely something that took time to get used to. Our second cultural excursion for class was a tour of Casa Batllo, a famous house designed by Gaudi. This tour ended with cava and entertainment on the roof overlooking the city! Overall, this past week has been so crazy and busy, but also so fun!
And that's all I have for now! Finally time to siesta :)
xx
K
