Cataluña!

In my last post I wrote about going to Segovia, which unfortunately didn’t happen, as it was very rainy and the weather would have made for a miserable time. Instead, I spent had a large lunch with my family, and then had a little Galentine’s celebration with some friends at a charming café. We had extended family over for lunch that lasted for nearly three hours! I’m usually banished from helping out with the cooking, but my host mom let me lend a hand with lunch that day, so I chopped garlic and tomatoes, and then watched my host dad slice ham. This sounds like a pretty menial thing, but let me tell you that it was fascinating. The pata negra ham that we ate was of the highest quality, and he showed me how to cut it using a specialized knife. Once all the food was ready, we sat down to eat. There were about 8 courses of ham, cheese, bread, stuffed bell peppers, prawns, shrimp salad, soup, pork stew, turron (a traditional Madrid dessert, similar to fudge), strawberries and whipped cream, and a glass of Bailey’s I was stuffed. My host brother also offered me a shot of absinthe, to which I gratefully declined. In addition to eating of course, the lunch was filled with lots of conversation, mostly pertaining to light topics such as U.S. immigration reform, climate change, gun control, and the upcoming U.S. election. After 3 hours of intensive conversation, I feel like my Spanish massively improved.

This past weekend the whole group headed north to Cataluña, where I spent 10 days in the summer of 2012! It was great returning, especially having gathered some perspective on Spanish politics. Catalans, those who reside in Cataluña have an enormous amount of pride, and many are fighting for independence from Spain. Everywhere you look you see flags for independence, and many people refuse to speak in Castellano (the language that most Americans know as typical Spanish).

After arriving in Barcelona on the high-speed AVE train on Friday morning, we took a quick bus tour around the city, and then had free time to eat the lunches that our families had packed. I ate my bocadillo de chorizo along the beach, and it was absolutely perfect. I feel like I could have spent the whole day walking along the beach and staring out into the blue Mediterranean. Unfortunately, we had to eventually put back on our shoes and head to our hotel, where we got settled before going out again to the Picasso Museum. Walking through the Gothic Quarter brought back a lot of memories of my time in Barcelona four years ago, and I remembered chasing after strangers in these streets, asking to take their picture. The Picasso museum was fascinating; I especially loved seeing the early “conventional” style paintings that he did as a child and early teen, before moving outside the box. Paco told us one day that while a lot of people say “I could’ve done that” regarding art, it doesn’t matter, because they didn’t—some art is more about innovation than ability. We finished the day at with a paella feast at a restaurant on the water. Delicious!

The next day started bright and early, as we were heading to the nearby province of Girona, which is perhaps most known for being the home of the Dali museum. I went to this museum on my last trip, but loved going again and hearing the backstories behind the art pieces. I think this museum may be my favorite so far, probably because it’s frankly just so strange. After a few hours at the museum, everyone piled back into the bus and we made our way to the beautiful seaside town of Cadaqués.  Cadaqués was another town that I visited during my last trip, and I was looking forward to the drive almost as much as the town itself. While it is not recommend for those who get easily carsick, the drive is absolutely gorgeous. Getting to Cadaqués requires driving through the mountains, on narrow winding roads that provide the most incredible view. Once we arrived, it was just as idyllic as I remembered. The cool weather (though much warmer than Madrid’s) didn’t stop us from sticking our feet in the water, and the whitewashed buildings reminded me that we are indeed in the Mediterranean. After wandering around a bit on our own, a few friends and I ate at a restaurant facing the water for a sunny and leisurely lunch. Salad, pizza, chocolate mousse and sangria—what more could a girl ask for? Before we left, we took a quick detour up to a viewpoint to enjoy the beautiful visa and some traditional pastries from Cadaqués that Paco bought. Full, happy, and a little pink in the cheeks from the sun (just a little, Mom!), we rode back to Barcelona and freshened up at the hotel, before heading back out for dinner. Dinner was at a restaurant in one of the main plaza’s, and I ordered lamb that was more tender than I was aware lamb could be, with one of my favorite desserts, lemon sorbet, and the whole table enjoyed cava, Barcelona’s traditional drink. Later that night I went to a bar with a very speakeasy vibe, but couldn’t go too crazy, as we had another big day ahead of us!

Our first stop of the day on Sunday morning was Park Guell. If you look up images of Barcelona, Park Guell is probably one of first images to come up. It’s a gorgeous park, on a hill at the edge of the city designed by Gaudí, and its most notable element is a long bench that wraps around a portion of the park. The bench is made out of a colorful mosaic of recycled materials, and looks over the city, giving a stunning view. We went pretty early in the morning, which meant that it wasn’t too crowded, but also meant that it was extremely sunny, providing some less than stellar lighting. Oh well, I’d rather too much sun than rain. After Park Guell we headed to La Sagrada Familia, another famous Barcelona Landmark. Known for being perpetually under construction (it was started in the 1880s, and is scheduled to finish by 2025), it’s a cathedral with a gorgeous exterior and while I visited it in 2012, we weren’t able to go inside. I’m so glad that I could this trip, because it is absolutely stunning inside. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve seen a lot of gothic style cathedrals lately, so this contrasted so intensely, but I was incredibly stricken with La Sagrada Familia. Check out the panorama I took! We had free time for several more hours, which I spent with some friends eating lunch (a sandwich I packed and assembled at the hotel’s breakfast buffet…can you tell that I’m a product of my parents?) along the steps of the Barcelona Cathedral, watching a group do Barcelona’s traditional dance in a plaza, eating gelato, and stalking Mark Zuckerberg. Not exactly stalking, but still, we saw Mark Zuckerberg! After passing him on the street (we later found out he was in town for a tech conference), my friends and I proceeded to make a hairpin turn and follow him for a couple blocks (with absolutely no goal in mind) and take stealthy pictures of his back.

Now I’m back in Madrid, specifically at the Mosaic Institute, where I take classes. I’ve been doing pretty well at the “abroad” part of studying abroad, and right now I’m procrastinating the “studying” part. Granted, my workload is significantly less than it is when I’m at school in the States, and everything I learn here in class helps me understand Madrid and the overall country much better. We have midterms next week, which shocks me because I can't believe it's actually the middle of the semester. My internship continues to go well, and I’m making a lot of international friends, which I love! We have a lot of events and activities that provide for great opportunities to get to know each other. Tomorrow there’s a taco get together, so I have no doubt that that will be enjoyable.