Week 3: French Riviera Getaway with Sun, Sea, and Style
Another week in Barcelona and it couldn’t have gone better.
On Wednesday I got a chance to go to the Carmel Bunkers where you can see the entire city of Barcelona. They were created during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s and are now a place to visit for beautiful views. Trying to spot my apartment from the top of the mountain was a fun activity. I’m really happy I got to see them, although everyone had to leave by sundown so I didn’t get to stay long. I guess I’ll just have to go back!
Finishing the Intensive Language Program
I finished my Intensive Language Program last week as well! To finish off the class I gave a presentation in Spanish about the Catalonia-Spain relationship which was interesting to learn about. It seems that the party that wants independence and the party that doesn’t have come to the conclusion that both need each other and it is time for Spain to be united so that it can continue to flourish. I also gave a presentation in Catalan about myself (because we only really learned the basics within the two-week period) but it was really fun and my friends and I continue to say “Molt bé” to almost anything.
With the ILP program, I also got to see Casa Batlló again. This time I did listen in Spanish as I said I was going to. When visiting for the second time, I took it in a bit more. The staircase is definitely my favorite part of the whole house. There is a sort of ombré to the tiles making them darker at the top and lighter at the bottom. This has something to do with the light reflection as it comes through the house.
I Visited Nice!
Nice was absolutely beautiful. The first day we rented beach chairs and got lunch at the beach club “Ruhl Plage” where we enjoyed the sun for a while. We shopped around a bit, got a nice dinner, and then went to the High Club. We actually got invited to the VIP section which was super fun! There was also the World Championship Ironman Competition taking place in Nice this weekend so we got to meet a few competitors and learn about the training that it takes to complete an Ironman.
During day two we went to Antibes and swam around Billionaires Bay. The views were amazing with lots of sailboats, clear water, and beautiful rocky scenery. The water was super salty which made it easy to float around. We didn’t have any towels so we had to spend most of our time in the water so this was pretty ideal. Walking around the Old Town of Antibes was also super fun. There were a lot of unique stores. There was also a little outdoor shopping center with just pottery so that was fun to look at. I always love looking at dishes and have always said that I will have all unique plates and cups in my house, no plain white dishes.
On the last day of our trip, we went to Monaco which was of course fabulous. It amazes me how tiny that country is but it’s also so perfect. We did a mini train tour through the city and we learned that there is a police officer for every 60 people and there are hidden cameras everywhere so it’s not only beautiful but super safe! I loved walking around there, seeing the F1 track, and all of the stores. It is probably the fanciest place I will ever go to.
Coming Up
Real classes start this week and I am taking two classes in English and two taught in Spanish. I’m excited to meet people outside of my program!