London Pictures

Finally, I have taken the time to update my long-lost London pictures. They aren’t very good, which is probably why it took so long for me to post.

It has been a busy start to this school year and I hope to start working on my blog again during the breaks.

By the numbers

Here is about how much I spent for my trips to Barcelona and London.

Cost of study abroad

Tuition: $3,350

Deposit: $400

Currency Exchange: $500

The essentials: $30

Clothes shopping: $64, $25, $30, $63

Books: $9, $2, $8

Passport: $100

Passport photos: $8

Adapter: $20

London: Flight $80, Hostel$69, Tower of London $30, Food $40, Subway $10 (other expenses came from the euros we exchanged which is part of my currency exchange number from above).

Total: $4,838

I’m sure there were some expenses I did not account for, so it is safe to round up to $5,000 for the trips to Barcelona (18 days) and London (3 days).

So the next time you think you can’t afford a trip abroad, take a look at the numbers and save your money. Planning is very important if you want to have a good time and some extra money for the places you want to see and the things you wish to buy. I think that signing up for a study abroad program while you are in college is the best opportunity and most affordable way to travel abroad. Not only do you get to be in a new land but you will be given structured events that you must attend, which allows you to become more familiar with the culture. Being a tourist is fine, but being a student of the world is even better.

Home sweet home

I have been home for three days now and have recovered from my jet lag just in time for a new week. I bought a scrapbook yesterday and will be using some of my blog entries for it, as well as most of the pictures I have finally posted here on the blog. Check out the links to the right. I have photos for all the events except the Olympic Stadium. The videos can be found at the link provided at the Video page.

Be sure to check out my photos and videos! I’ll be posting more entries later in which I will reflect upon my trip.

June 17, 2009

Some of the archs at the Monastery of Monserrat. It is a beautiful place to visit.

Tuesday we went to the Monastery of Montserrat, which is located in one of the most beautiful parts of Spain. The mountains have a unique face of rocks that you can see from miles away when you are on the train. But other than location, the monastery itself is a beautiful site, especially inside the buildings. Inside the Basilica there is a lot of beautiful handiwork, everything from the ceiling to the floor has a texture and beauty that is a must see.

I didn’t take pictures inside the Basilica because it is still an active place of prayer. Like everything else in Catalonia, the Monastery of Montserrat also has a rich history that is unique. In 1811 the French attacked Catalonia during the War of Independence and the Monastery of Montserrat was destroyed. It was rebuilt in 1844 and became a beacon of Catalan culture during the Franco years. During the Franco years the statue of La Moreneta (the dark maiden), also known as the Virgin of Montserrat, was hidden in a nearby cave called Santa Cova (Holy Cave) in order to keep her safe from harm.

There is a lot to do at the monastery and a lot to see. You can take a funicular up to Sant Joan (the top of the mountain) and see an aerial view of the monastery as well as hike around to see a small town to one side of the paths and the cross on the mountain in the opposite direction. This was one of the things my small group chose to do and it was a beautiful site and even a relaxing walk.

You can also take the funicular down to Sant Cova and see the caves beneath the monastery. Unfortunately I did not get a chance to do this, but it gives me an excuse to come back in the future. There is also a museum with an optional audio tour guide. Overall, you should a lot yourself at least four hours to check out most of the sights at the Monastery of Montserrat. It is a good two hours or so outside of Barcelona via trains and we had to take two different trains, but it is worth the time.

One thing we discussed in class about the monastery is how touristy it was. It is supposed to be a place of worship and a lot of the people there were very disrespectful by taking pictures in the Basilica when they weren’t supposed to and running around like chickens with their heads cut off. This was kind of how Tibidabo was today. There were tons of kids and a lot of disrespect. I think the theme park showed just how different Americans are compared to Spaniards. There was no line etiquette and a lot of preteens were smoking cigarettes and engaging in public displays of affection. I think that the school year is coming to an end and that a lot of the districts take the kids to the various touristy places for pre-summer field trips. But I am not sure.

This is a view of Barcelona from the top of the mountain from Tibidabo.

Overall, Tibidabo was pretty fun. We got a lot of sun, had a great view of Barcelona from atop the mountain and enjoyed a couple of crazy rides. We did the rollercoaster first then this crazy ride that brings you up then drops you into a full swing. It was by far the scariest ride I have ever been on, mostly because I do not prefer free falling kind of rides. If I read the sign correctly, I think it was about 42 euros for a full day at Tibidabo. It was a good time but if there is always crowds of kids like today, then it is kind of rough to keep your sanity. I think that also being so close to leaving that some of us (especially me) are kind of tired of dealing with some of the social differences.

Our huge paella from Wednesday´s dinner.

We had an amazing dinner in which we had a paella, some pizzas and some of the best service to date. The restaurant was by the mall Maremagnum and is called El Chipiron. It is a slightly pricey place, but if you share the large portions it is totally worth it.

There are no more structured events for this trip. Thursday we will be going to the Hard Rock Café for a group dinner and I want to do some shopping for me and maybe some family at La Rambla. Friday we fly out so I will write my next post once I am back home in Colorado. Like I said in my past post, I would like to cover a few more topics and post more pictures once I am home, so I hope people continue to check my blog until the end of June.

If not, then thanks for reading! Hope you get a chance to visit Barcelona or London in the near future!

June 15, 2009

Here is one of the Flamenco dancers during one of the more uplifting moments in the performance. This was a fascinating show!

Flamenco is a very intense dance. You can tell that there is a lot of emotion behind each dance, and in a way, the show we watched seemed to have a story line behind it. The first dancer had a very stern, almost angry look in her eyes during her performance while a duet, two women, were very cheerful in a following performance. One of the male performers displayed a lot of passion as though he had lost someone he loved. Of course the music was in a different language so I couldn’t tell what they were saying, but you didn’t have to know the language to feel what the performers were feeling.

 The Flamenco show has been one of my favorite things to do, but then again there is so much to do in Barcelona that it’s hard to choose just one. The restaurant we watched the Flamenco at is called Tablao de Carmen and it is located in Poble Espanyol, a small village with various shops and restaurants. A lot of people assume that bull fighting is the most popular event to see in Spain, but in Catalonia it is not as popular. They still have bullfights, but I highly recommend that you put your money toward a Flamenco show. Through the grapevine I heard that the four course dinner and the show was about 100 euros a person, but I am not sure. The Flamenco show was part of our structured events that was planned by our professor and the money for it came from our tuition. But this show is a must see.

This is one of the first views of Poble Espanyol when you walk in. It is a cute little place to shop and dine.

Poble Espanyol is also a nice site to see. The architecture is gorgeous and the shops are pretty nice. There is a glass shop with relatively decent prices starting from 8 euros for small items and up to 200 euros for larger items. Weather permitting, it is a nice area to check out and it is only minutes away from the National Palace. What was nice for our group is that we wandered the streets of Poble Espanyol for about 45 minutes before our dinner and then watched the Flamenco show while eating dinner for well over an hour. Afterward we went down to the National Palace and watched the fountain again. I managed to get some photos of the fountain at night and I hope to get a mini video of the fountain Thursday.

Some things that I have learned during this trip is that public transportation is very important and that you can capture almost any moment regardless of how old your equipment is as long as you know how to use it properly. My camera has been a godsend once I learned it better, and now I can even capture some night shots without too much blurriness. But knowing how to get around is very important, too. Be sure to look into the metro, subway, tube or whatever the underground train system is called in the city you wish to visit because t will save you time and money. In Colorado we have the Light Rail, but because Denver is a medium size city and I have my own car I never have had to rely on the public transportation. But since I have been abroad I have been in a subway, on a bus, taken a taxi, train and even a boat. It’s amazing how resourceful you can be once you figure it all out.

Another great thing about the public transportation is the people you meet… sometimes. Today we went to Sitges for some beach time, while on the train a classmate and I engaged in a conversation with two women from Barcelona. With the little Spanish I know I was able to get an idea of what they were talking about. They initially asked us where we were from and we told them the U.S. They seemed to be very interested in us and were very excited about Obama being president. I know for sure that they said “me gusto Obama” (I like Obama) at least 10 times each. Then they were comparing Obama to Kennedy and started to talk about how Kennedy was assassinated. There was a lot of translation that I missed, but I think they were comparing Obama to Kennedy in the sense that he is a good president like Kennedy and that they hope Obama doesn’t get assassinated like Kennedy did. I found this interpretation to be interesting because I have heard Americans talk about this comparison as well. Then our conversation moved onto how many states there were in the U.S. and the lady didn’t want to believe us that there was only 50. She insisted there was more. But in the end it was one of my favorite experiences because we managed to have a 15 minute conversation even though both parties knew very little of the other party’s language.

Friday we head home, so only three more days of seeing Barcelona. Tuesday we will visit the Monserrat Monastery and Wednesday we get to go to Tibidabo, the amusement park on top of the mountain. Once I get home I will create pages on my blog for pictures of food, buildings, beaches, our apartment etc. I will also have a page with mini videos. They are not the best of quality, but they give you a better feel of what I got to see through my own eyes. I will also do a debriefing of readjusting into the American culture, what to consider when traveling in a group and what we discussed in our classes while in Barcelona. Hope everyone has enjoyed my trip from home as much as I have from here. Wish you all could have come!