Week 4: Beaches, Beats, and Bites in Ibiza

This week felt really short because I came back from Nice Monday night and left for Ibiza on Friday morning so I wasn’t in Barcelona long. Nonetheless, I enjoyed my time in BCN with my new classes, new friends, and catching up on myself during my downtime. I’ve also finally found the time to work out. I did one run along the beach which was really beautiful and I had so much fun. I did another run on Diagonal which is one of the main streets through Barcelona and it was a little more challenging dodging pedestrians and navigating around stop lights so I didn’t have to stop so much, but overall it still felt good to get some physical activity in. 

First Day of Classes! 

I guess this week starts the first OFFICIAL week of my study abroad program! I started class on Tuesday and they went super well. I scheduled my classes so that I only have them on Tuesdays and Thursdays but this does mean that those days are longggg. The classes that I’m taking are International Operations Management, España y Europa, El Arte en España, and Understanding Spain Through Art and History. Two of them are taught in English and two are taught in Spanish (you can probably tell which ones by the language that the title is in). All of my classes are only for study abroad students which is a little sad because I won’t be meeting any Barcelona locals, but I still am meeting people from study abroad programs outside of my own. I’m also trying to meet people from Spain through other friends and just out in public (don’t worry Mom, I won’t only be friends with Americans). 

A Weekend in Ibiza

As I’m sure you can all imagine, Ibiza takes a toll on you. Luckily my friend has a house in Ibiza that we stayed at which made things much more comforting and the overall trip very enjoyable. I found the architecture of the houses in Ibiza really cool! It reminded me of what you would see in Mikonos. Very white and simple. It was also really cool how some of the rooms at her house were accessed by going outside and then inside the room through a different door. My friend also knows many spots I would never have discovered had I been there without her. 

On our first day, we had lunch at a beautiful place called Cala Gracioneta. It is this gorgeous hidden spot on the beach. We went in the ocean after eating of course! The water was super salty and I also got a little bite from a fish on my foot which I didn’t know was a thing that I guess is common in Ibiza. I won’t lie, I totally freaked out at first. It was pricey but a great start to my trip to Ibiza. That night, we went to Hï Club where we were supposed to see David Guetta but he didn’t make it because all flights to Ibiza were cancelled! My two friends were also supposed to come to Ibiza with us but their flight also got canceled after they already flew to where their connection was. It was really devastating but I’m seeing them this upcoming weekend in Munich! But anyway, Hï was a blast. It is ranked the best club in the world which is really crazy. The bathroom has a DJ which is where we spent the bulk of our time and we met people who gave us all fun glasses which was probably the highlight of my night. 

The next day we slept for most of the day but we still made it out of the house for some shopping and dinner. We went to this cute town called Santa Gertrudis and there was a lot of really unique shops. I’ve noticed that whenever I go shopping while I’m on these weekend trips I channel my mom and just think about whether she would like my purchases. So, I bought a dress that I thought she would really like and I’m excited to wear it when my family and I go to Valencia! We also got dinner at a Meditteranean restaurant and all shared this appetizer with a bunch of different hummus-type dips which was absolutely delicious. I also got a lamb flatbread and was a little worried I wouldn’t like it when I ordered it but it turned out to be wonderful. We went to Pacha that night which was also a blast. Pacha is the oldest club in Ibiza so there were a lot of older people and I loved it. I thought they were all so cool for being older and still clubbing until 6 a.m. There were also dancers that were all dressed up very funky. There was one that kept coming into the crowd on stilts and for some reason, I was really scared of him. Every time he would get close to me I made my friends stand in between us. 

On Sunday we also slept in really late, but we made it to Ibiza Old Town. I was blown away by all of the stores around us. Ibiza has great shopping which I didn’t expect. We had a wonderful dinner where I had a vegetarian lasagna which I was also a little worried I wouldn’t like, but it ended up being perfect as well. Then we went to Tiki Taco and got margaritas to go and enjoyed them back at home while we played Uno, Spoons, and conversation until 4:30 a.m. about aliens, politics, you name it and we probably talked about it. 

On my last day, we chilled by the pool but there was one negative thing about Ibiza. There are so. many. bugs. Lots of mosquitos. I somehow made it home without a bite, but there were everywhere and it freaked us out. So our pool day didn’t last long and we resorted back to The Vampire Diaries (our night-out recovery tactic). 

Overall, this was a weekend that I will never forget. The group that I was with was immaculate (luckily I’m living with two of the girls I was with when we get back to San Diego) and I wouldn’t have spent a single minute that I was there differently. 

Week 4 was one for the books! I’m excited to see what Oktoberfest brings this upcoming weekend and to be reunited with my other San Diego best friends!