Last week in Barcelona!

My favorite statue simply because it made Brandon so uncomfortable:

FC Barcelona vs. Santos 8:0

Random pictures from this past week:

Last day with the ladies before they all leave. Fun thing was on our last dinner here in Barcelona instead of having local cuisine we had Thai food of all things. Regardless, the food was great and it was nice having something a little different.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last day of class

Last day of classes. UAB had a wonderful classes. Met some great people and learned a lot in one month. Spanish proficiency after one month here is much more than a whole year back home. I can understand a lot more even though I am not able to speak as much.

 Wonderful Spanish professor

 

Paris

Paris is a beautiful city. Lucked out with the weather and was able to see all the major landmarks. Eiffel Tower of course was on top of the list along with the Louvre, Notre Dame, and Arc de Triomphe. Oh and of course all the pushing and shoving at the Louvre to the Mona Lisa!

Montserrat and Freixenet Cava Cellars

Did a day trip to Montserrat and on our way we stopped at Freixenet Cava Cellars. This family owned business started 150 years ago in a small town in Catalan and today it is considered one the best sparkling wine producers in the world.

Montserrat

The sanctuary of the Virgin Mary of Montserrat, has its historical origins in the hermitage of Santa Maria, which Count Guifré el Pelós gave to the Monastery of Ripoll in the year 888.
Today, Montserrat has been modernised to continue attending to the needs to pilgrims one thousand years after it was originally founded.

The peak of the mountain is 1,236 meters high, we went about 980 meters I believe.

 

 

 

Montserrat is home to one of the oldest boys’ choirs in Europe. Documents testify to the existence of a religious and music school in Montserrat as far back as the 14th century. The dedication and commitment of these kids cannot be expressed in words.

 

 

 

 

 

Sagrada Familia

Visited Sagrada Familia today with other students in my class, my professor and our tour guide. Sagrada Familia is a Roman Catholic Church here in Barcelona designed by the famous architect Gaudi. Unfortunately, the entire church could not be finished by him, less than a quarter of the structure was complete before his death in 1926. Gaudi is buried inside the church which I was not aware of till today. The construction of the church continues till today and the projected completion is 2026. The detail in this church is not only impressive but almost unbelievable.

Had a Tapas workshop and learned how to make some popular Spanish dishes. Officially realized how much olive oil goes into every food item here. Other common ingredients include cheese and mayonnaise (which actually I learned early this week came from Menorca). Also a lot of bread and meat with everything!



Went to Menorca for the weekend. It is one of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean which is part of Spain. Nice visit, less crowded than Barcelona but it was extremely hot. It was helpful however to be right by the beach the ocean breeze in the evenings was wonderful.

 Today we had a Castellers Workshop Castellers are human towers. Catalan tradition and it originated in the 19th century. It was amazing to see this today especially seeing a huge group of people trying to create this tower. There were little kids on the highest levels (going up 7-9 levels high). Don't have exact words to explain this therefore, a better explanation would be the video below.