The End of the Story is Never the End of the Story

Now on to the second half of my trip to Barcelona! The next day started out with a visit to the Picasso Museum. Picasso was born in Spain and lived in Barcelona for some time. Picasso loved Barcelona and  had described it as his true home when feeling nostalgic or a little depressed. It was cool to see his work in a city that he loved in his home country.  Furthermore, I was absolutely blown away by the immense skill he had as a teenager. He painted this painting below, Science and Charity, at just 16, the same age as I am now. I don't think many people know about these early paintings and how Picasso was a technical genius at such a young age. I really liked seeing the contrast between these realistic paintings from his youth (that look like they could hang in the Prado next to world-renowned masterpieces) and the abstract, cubist work we all know him for.

Science and Charity (1897) by Pablo Picasso
Photo Creds: http://www.wikiart.org/en/pablo-picasso/science-and-charity-1897

After seeing the realistic works from his youth, we progressed into his more typical cubist style. Picasso really liked Velázquez, and put his own spin on Velázquez's most famous painting Las Meninas (I talked about it in the post De Madrid al Cielo). This painting, Picasso's Las Meninas, was really cool to see after seeing the original by Velázquez in the Prado.

Las Meninas (1957) by Pablo Picasso
Photo Creds: http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Meninas_(Picasso)

After the Picasso Museum, we had some free time. A few friends and I decided to check out the St. Josep market on La Rambla, the most famous street in Barcelona. The market was super hot and busy, but I loved seeing all the colors of the fruit and smelling the spices from all the different stands. Its probably one of the most colorful places I went to in these past 5 weeks! We sampled some fruit, walked around, and ended up liking the market so much that we ended up returning the next day to eat a full lunch there. The fresh fruit smoothies were delicious as well!

After free time, we met up with the rest to go on a group visit to the Parc Güell, which was designed by Antonio Gaudí (Sagrada Familia) and constructed between 1900 and 1914. Like the Sagrada Familia, the park is really unique and definitely a must-see if you ever find yourself in Barcelona. The various bridges, walkways, buildings, and sculptures that are scattered amongst the landscape all have a truly distinct look to them. There's also a lot of colorful tile covering various structures, including the famous bench that winds around the main terrace.

View of Barcelona from the main terrace. 

On the tiled bench on the main terrace

After walking around the park for a bit, we were feeling pretty hot and tired, so a small group of us went back to rest at the hotel before our last free dinner. We ended up going to a cheap (but yummy) tapas bar right across the street from the hotel. On the day we went, everything on the menu was only 1 euro, so naturally our group of 7 decided to order 31 tapas! Although it was a ton of food, it was really good and we ate all of it in only 10 minutes. It was nothing fancy, but it was a perfect way to spend our last free night together! 

And its finally here: the last day of Spamp (Spain camp, coined by Kyle). We started the day with a visit to La Pedrera, a building designed by, surprise, Antonio Gaudí (he kind of runs Barcelona). The roof of the building is like a maze of different chimney tops and boasts great views of Barcelona.

Equipo + Gaudí chimney + bucket hats

After the visit to La Pedrera, I went on an optional tour of the Palau de la Música Catalana, a famous music hall in Barcelona. This building was not actually designed by Gaudí. Instead, it is a work by  LLueís Domènech i Montaner and was built between 1905 and 1908. It has incredible tile work, and the main chandelier doesn't have any light - its all stained glass. The majority of the light in the concert hall is natural, giving it a airy and colorful feel. I love the garden-like architecture. The Palau de la Música Catalana was especially cool for me because Manuel de Falla's El amor brujo was performed there, and I played a piece from this work (Ritual Fire Dance) at my piano recital this year.

Stained glass chandelier - 100% natural light!

After visiting the Palau de la Música, everyone met back at the hotel to get dressed up for one last group dinner. We went out to a fancy catalan restaurant to celebrate the experiences had and friendships during our five week adventure in Spain. 

El equipo takes the swanky restaurant

At 8 am the next morning, I parted ways with the group and went off with my parents as they all departed for their homes all around the world. Before leaving for Spain, my grandma gave me a little book called Lessons of a Turtle. Its has lessons about how to get the most out of the little things in life, and when I read it this last week it helped me to really think about how much I've appreciated this experience. The last page of the book has the following words: The end of the story is never the end of the story. During my five weeks here I've made some incredible friends and gone on fascinating adventures. To my teachers, thank you for showing me the incredible nuances of the Spanish language and culture. You've all helped me learn to navigate and love this country. To my host family, thank you so much for giving me a home and making me part of the family. I know I'll come back to visit!  To the equipo, thanks for an amazing summer. It wouldn't have been the same without all of you, and I hope to see you all again soon. Hasta pronto.

Equipo on 4th of July

Strut Like You Mean It

First Barcelona post is finally here! We arrived on the evening of Monday, July 21st, and stayed until the end of the program on Friday, July 25th.

First, we went on a tour of the old Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. The gothic style is pretty important in Barcelona. First, we visited the Barcelona Cathedral, which is very impressive and obviously very gothic. The actual building was finished in 1448, but the front facade was not built until the late 1800s (completed in 1913).

Front facade of the Barcelona Cathedral

From there, we continued to walk around the old neighborhood. As usual, I loved walking through the narrow streets and seeing people just going about their lives. One thing I noticed in the neighborhoods of Barcelona (and in Catalonia in general) is that a ton of people hang the Catalonian flag from their balconies. Its literally everywhere. This is worth noting because many people in the autonomous community want Catalonia to become its own independent country, so they like to show their catalan pride.

The flag of Catalonia hanging from a balcony

Continuing through the neighborhood, we continued to the Santa Maria del Mar, another church in the gothic neighborhood. It was built between 1329 and 1383, and during this period Catalonia had lots of maritime might. Its also a great example of the Catalan gothic style, with a more basic exterior facade than those of traditional gothic churches, and lots of space inside (Catalan gothic churches feel pretty airy and spacious inside).

Exterior of Santa Maria del Mar

Statue inside Santa Maria del Mar

After walking around the gothic neighborhood, we had the rest of the night free. My friends and I were pretty tired, so we ended up eating dinner at a Mexican restaurant near the neighborhood. Although I would have rather eaten at a Catalan restaurant, the fajitas I had were really good!

The next day, we started out with a bike tour of Barcelona, like the one we did in Madrid. It was really fun to get to know the city while getting a little exercise at the same time. We biked from parks to the beach to other landmarks via the tiny cobblestone streets that we all already know I love.

My biking group at the Cascada at the Parque de la Ciudadela

 After seeing the beach during the bike tour, my friends and I decided to pack a picnic and go after the bike tour. A group of around 10 kids piled into the market across the street from our hotel and bought a mountain of food - but only for 27 euros! Then we all taxied to the beach and enjoyed the sun and each other. Although the beach wasn't as pretty as the one in Calella (and a lot more crowded), it was really fun to see that aspect of Barcelona! Before the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, it was like the beach wasn't even there. It was surrounded by extremely poor neighborhoods and no one really went there. However, when Barcelona got the games, the city decided to revamp the beach front and turn it into a popular destination for tourists and residents alike. Seeing how busy it is now, it was hard for me to believe that before the Olympics nobody went there.

After our afternoon at the beach, it was time for the activity everyone was really looking forward to: the visit to the famous Sagrada Familia. Construction on the Sagrada Familia began in 1882, but it is still under contraction. It was designed by the world-famous architect Antonio Gaudí, who died in a tram accident in 1926, when the project was less than a quarter of the way finished. During the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s construction on the Sagrada Familia slowed down, but picked up again in the 1950s, and passed the midpoint in 2010. It is expected to be finished in 2026, 100 years after Gaudí's death. 

The design of the Sagrada Familia fascinates me. There is truly nothing like it anywhere else. In Europe, I have visited tons of churches from all different periods, and although they are all impressive and unique in their own ways, there are always other churches with the same general style. However, the Sagrada Familia seems to be in its own league in my opinion. The exterior reminds me a bit of the sand castles I used to make with dripped wet sand, which starts to show the element of nature present all throughout to church. 

The exterior of the Sagrada Familia

 The interior of the Sagrada Familia is probably favorite part. The ceilings are really high, creating really cool elements of air and space. The church has a ton of natural light streaming through bright, rainbow-colored stained glass windows. The ceilings also had a geometric feel to them, which give the church a bit of a modern feel while also reminding me of the geometry in the Muslim art that has influenced Spanish art during their occupation of the Iberian Peninsula.

That night, we went out for a group dinner at a Catalan restaurant, and then I walked home on one of the main streets in Barcelona. In order to not bombard people with one super long post about all of Barcelona, I've decided to split it up into two. I hope to post about the second half of my trip to Barcelona before I leave Spain (only two days left!). ¡Hasta entonces!
(PS: Kudos if you got the Cheetah Girls reference in the blog title - the second movie is about Barcelona so I couldn't resist)

Calella de Palafrugell

As of yesterday, the SYA Spain summer program has officially ended. We spent our last week on a trip in Catalonia. I didn't get a chance to blog about the trip while it was happening because I was super busy and the wifi was pretty weak in the hotels we stayed at. However, I don't think its right to leave out such an incredible week, so I'll be rolling out posts about my time on the Costa Brava and in Barcelona. I'll also write a bit on my experience showing my family around Barcelona, Zaragoza, and Madrid, as I am currently still in Zaragoza with them.

In the evening of Friday, July 19th, all the students, host families, and teachers got together at colegio for a final farewell party. There was a talent show, a viewing of the music video us students made to commemorate our time here, and gift giving. It was a great way for Spanish families and American students to get together and celebrate all the incredible things we'd learned and experienced during our time together. Here's a link to the video: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-dhs2s9Q8JxOFBxQkxiSEV3a3c/edit?usp=docslist_api

My host sister Carla, me, and my host mom Inma at the farewell event.

On Saturday, we took it easy by simply lounging around the house together in the morning, going to a pool with my American friends and their Spanish host siblings in the afternoon, and going out to eat together one last time in the evening. At 9:30 on Sunday morning, I said my last goodbyes and boarded the bus for the four-hour trip to Catalonia.

Our first stop in Catalonia was a beach town on the Costa Brava called Calella de Palafrugell, which is what the majority of this post will be about. We arrived in the afternoon with enough time to go to the beach before our excursion. The beach was absolutely gorgeous. The Mediterranean was crystal clear, and it was fun to swim out and see the seaweed and rocks underneath. There were also lots of rocks jutting out into the sea, so we often climbed out and then jumped off them to swim back to the beach.

A first look at Calella de Palafrugell and the sea from our hotel.

Just as we started to head back to the hotel that night, a rain storm started to blow in. Despite the wet weather, we boarded the bus and drove to a nearby pueblo called Púbol to visit the Castillo de Púbol. This castle was especially interesting because, although it does date back to around 1065, the interior is pretty modern. Why? It belonged to Gala, the lover of Salvador Dalí, the famous surrealist painter who lived in the nearby town of Cadaqués. The decoration inside the castle was pretty unique, as Dalí helped to decorate it. Gala is actually buried inside as well. Although it was cool to be in a place with such cool connections to both modern art and mideval history, we were all pretty cold, wet, and hungry during the tour.

Púbol in the rain

View from the castle

The rain stopped by the time we got back to Calella, so two friends and I went out and found a really cozy Catalan restaurant and enjoyed croquetas, calamares, and crema catalana (a sort of catalan creme brulee).

The next day, the weather was much better. We had free time all day until we had to get back on the bus to go to Barcelona in the evening. The majority of the students in the program decided to just relax on the beach and in the town. It was fun to just sit and enjoy the scenery and each others' company, as we were all pretty exhausted from our last week in Zaragoza. Before arriving at the beach, my 7 closest friends and I all invested in matching bucket hats. David had been rocking them all trip, so the rest of us decided to make bucket hats a things. Here's Sam, me, and Whitney modeling the ever so stylish bucket hat in Calella: 

After making this monumental purchase, we continued on to the sea! Here are some pictures of Calella and its beach:

After a few hours at the beach, we walked up into town for lunch, but of course we sat outside at a restaurant with a view of the beach!

After lunch we walked back to the hotel to get ready to leave for Barcelona. I really enjoyed our beach trip because it was nice to relax for two days after leaving our host families so we were rested for Barcelona. I'll be uploading a post or two about Barcelona sometime soon!

Ríos, Caballos, Bosques, y Montañas

With only 9 days left in the program, I can't believe my time in Spain is almost up! However, these last few days in Zaragoza have been pretty great. 

Although I think we did this before going to Madrid, I forgot to write about it then so I will write about it now. We went rafting once again, but this time just down the Río Ebro, which is the major river that runs through Zaragoza. Although it looks pretty dirty, we learned that the brown color is just from the natural sediment. It was really cool to go by La Basilica del Pilar and go under the Punte de Piedra, a giant, ancient bridge next to El Pilar.

 

 

On Monday, we had classes in the morning as usual. To our dismay, it seems as though the teachers have really ramped up the homework this week! In the afternoon, we ventured to a ranch on the (somewhat sketchy) outskirts of Zaragoza to ride horses. Although we only ended up going in slow, small circles over and over in the corral, we all had a good time together.

 

On Tuesday, we had our last all-day excursion from Zaragoza. This time, we went to the Pyrenees! Although the bus ride was rather long and hot, we had a great day. We started off at a high ropes course in a mountainside forest. Although it didn't necessarily have anything to do with the Spanish language or culture, it was really fun! 

 

Excuse the off-kilter helmet 😁

After maneuvering through tons of obstacles 20ish feet above the ground, we all took a break and rested in the shade at the course's bar. Although we were going to eat lunch soon after, everyone needed a cold soda or a little ice cream after the ropes course!

After piling on the bus for another stuffy half hour, we arrived at a dammed lake in the mountains, where we would spend the rest of our day. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous, and it was really nice to relax on the shore with my friends. There, we ate our picnics, napped in the sun, and "swam" in the lake. The swimming ended up being more like running in and out, because the lake was freezing, although  I was the first one in thanks to my experience from Lake Vermilion.

 

 After resting on the shore for an hour or so, it was time to kayak in the lake! I love kayaking, so I was super excited to do it in such a beautiful place.

Our last excursion from Zaragoza seemed more focused on having fun with friends instead of learning about Spanish lifestyles and cultures, which was a welcome change considering that we only have a little more than a week left together! Everyone appreciated relaxing amongst the beautiful mountains and forests of Los Pirineos while enjoying each others company. 

As I said above, we're down to the final countdown of my experience in Spain! On Sunday I will say goodbye to my host family and head to the autonomous community of Cataluña to visit the beach and Barcelona until the program ends next Friday. So, since we've almost made it through, thanks so much for reading my blog! Every time I log on and see the number of viewers (don't worry - all anonymous) I'm happy to know that I can share my experiences with my friends and family back home. Until next time, ¡que todo vaya bien!