Sevilla vs. Espanya

As I said in my last post, I spent most of this weekend in Barcelona. After Saturday, a friend (Logan) who is visiting, and I went back on Sunday to see a futbol match: Espanyol vs Sevilla. It was a good game actually even though we thought that Espanyol would get killed. Coming into the game, Sevilla was 3rd and Espanyol was last in the league out of 20 teams. The game ended up 2-0 in favour of Sevilla but it was scoreless until the last ten minutes.

Espanyol plays in the Olympic Stadium that was built for the 1992 Olympics held in Barcelona. It was such a big place. Amazing too. It has the capacity to hold 55,000 people.

It was really neat. I enjoyed it. Logan had booked us tickets in the visitors section. We thought it'd be fun to sit there. But sitting in the visitors section at a hockey game is nothing compared to sitting in the visitors section at a futbol match. People are allowed into the stadium only at the entrance of their section. So we walked around looking for our section. As other lines to get in were long, ours was very short. We thought that was a great thing as we were already running a little late. But the minute we walked through the door, we were greeted by an army of law enforcement officers, complete with face shields, batons and other weapons in case a riot were to break loose. First thing I thought: This is not what I signed up for! We ended up not being able to find our correct seats (thank goodness!) and sat where everyone cheered for the home team. I didn't mind this in the least! We were looking around after for where we were supposed to sit and the visitors section is completely cornered off. Has two empty sections on each side of it along with a net so that things can't be thrown, from the inside out and from the outside in. I was pretty happy that we weren't sitting there. I expected it to be like sitting in the visitors section of a hockey game. However, I have yet to be at a hockey game where there is that many police to make sure things don't get out of control!

This is a picture that I can't take credit for. I was looking up the stadium on Google and came across this picture. In the foreground of the picture, you see the MNAC (the museum that I visited the day before) and in the background is the Barcelona Olympic Stadium. We had no idea they were so close to each other.

This is in the back of the stadium.

The view from the very top row of the stadium (not our seats).

The stands. It wasn't even that busy. Espanyol isn't the main team that plays there and they aren't doing very well in their league. FC Barcelona would pack these stands. They are #1 in the league. I would love to go and see a game of theirs while I'm here too.


This is the main entrance opening into the Olympic Stadium.

This is the view from our seats. We weren't really this far away. The camera doesn't do it justice.

The front of the Olympic Stadium.

The Olympic torch.

Another main entrance to the Olympic Stadium.
And another main entrance to the Olympic Stadium.

Until next time...

My Epic Night in Barcelona

I spent most of this weekend in Barcelona and I only have one word to describe it: amazing! On Saturday morning, the Universitat de Vic had organized a small tour of the city. It's so big that we couldn't possibly see everything in one day but we saw some pretty neat things. (I plan to be back almost every weekend so I'm positive I will see almost all Barcelona has to offer by the time that I have to come home). We visited the MNAC (Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya), walked to the Heart of the City, Placa Catalunya. From there we carried on down La Ramblas, a street that leads down to the Mediterranean Sea, and continued on to see one of the Gaudi museums. Towards the end of the day we stopped at the Cathedral and toured the Gothic quarter of Barcelona.

This is a picture of Gaudi's casa (house) in Barcelona. We didn't get to go inside (it is expensive, 15 Euro) but the outside was amazing like this. Not a straight line anywhere except on some of the windows. He designed and constructed it himself. There are other places in Barcelona that have some of his work, including the actual Gaudi museum.

This is a picture from inside the MNAC. One of the ceilings. When we went to the museum I didn't think I'd take the interest that I did. I found all the paintings really interesting. there were a number of different sections. We were only there for 1.5 hours and only saw two exhibits. My favorite was the modern art section. They had an exhibit on Picasso which was really neat. We weren't allowed to take pictures though but I swear I saw them! There is another museum in Barcelona that is dedicated to Picasso so I think I might go and check that out one weekend.

This is a picture that a friend took from inside the museum. Kind of hard to explain what's going on here, but the structure I'm looking through resembles a building and it's been painted on the inside. It was interesting because the man that painted this is the same man that painted the Cathedral in Vic that I posted pictures of: Joesph Lluis Sert. I was told that his work is also displayed in Paris and New York, among other places. This is from the Gothic Quarter in Barcelona. I'm not sure why this walkway is so famous but everywhere you go, you can see this image on paintings, drawings, postcards and anything else touristy you can think of. This is a picture from on just outside the MNAC. It sits on top of a hill that looks over the City of Barcelona. You are only seeing a part of Barcelona. It seems like it goes on forever to both the left and right of the picture. It was quite a hike up there though. There was even escalators put in because the walk was so long.

This is the bottom of the hill that starts up to the MNAC. There is some big mobile convention going on soon. Not sure what that is all about but it certainly made it very busy around the museum.
After the tour, a group of us decided to stay in Barcelona for a while. We headed down to the beach and took a few pictures. This is the last picture I took before my camera died for the night. It was really surreal to look out onto the Mediterranean Sea. Didn't quite feel like I was in Barcelona but I've had that feeling for a while. I have a friend visiting me right now and she studies in Finland and I asked her how she felt about it. She said the feeling never really goes away. I think that's a good thing. I would hate to take advantage of this opportunity. If i continue to have this feeling, I think the experience will mean that much more to me for years to come.

When it started to get dark and close to dinnertime, we went to a mercado (grocery store) and picked up some sandwiches and wine (there aren't any liquor stores here, they're part of the grocery stores) and took it down to the beach. It was starting to get cold and windy so we came up with the smart idea to have a bonfire on the beach. Best idea ever! It was nice and toasty warm. We wandered up and down the beach looking for wood and had a few good laughs along the way. Stories that I'm sure will come out at a couple of parties (I will refrain from writing it on the Internet for the world to see).

The day and night was so fun that it almost distracted us from the fact that it was Valentine's Day. It was late when we all realized that it turned out to be a success in a different way than what we had thought it would be. There is only one word that could describe our day: Epic. It won't ever be forgotten.

Until next time...

Viajes, Amigos y Trabajo (travels, friends and work)

So after a few rough days of self pity and thinking, "What am I doing here?!" I'm finally back on the right track. I've moved and settled into my new flat, as you've already seen the pictures. I've done my first load of laundry, cooked my first meal, sat on the balcony with a drink and friends for the first time and I've loved every minute of it. My whole philosophy on life is completely changing while I'm here. I went from getting here and being super excited, then kind of feeling low when everything sank in but now I'm back to loving it. During my self-pity moments, I questioned if traveling was what I really wanted to do in life and if I loved it as much as I said I did. So far, and I know it's early, I do!

I'm starting to realize that traveling and living abroad is an amazing experience. We have watched videos on Spain in our language class and it gives me butterflys to think that I can see these places! I'm living in this country for five months and I intend to make the best of every minute of it! I'm starting to realize I have some really great friends to see everything with who are just as excited to travel as I am.

Being here and learning the language and seeing what is offered makes me want to work internationally when I'm done (my new mindset). Now, more than ever, this is the path that I hope I will be lucky enough to take. I want to learn new languages, learn new customs and meet new people.

The language barrier is really fascinating to me. Most of the exchange students come from different countries so with some of us, language differences are very much a part of our life here. Like I said before, I thought that most people speak English but as it turns out, not the case! I have a friend who is from France. He speaks only French and Spanish, no English! It's the hardest, and sometimes funniest thing, trying to have a conversation where we actually end up understanding each other. Half the time, if I've asked "¿Que?" (what?) too many times, I just nod my head, smile and say "sí" (yes) or "vale" (ok). Then I go and ask another friend what he said. So I'm still learning but it's difficult getting over the language barrier with others. But it's also kind of fun. Lots of hand gestures and animation. We would probably be pretty entertaining to watch.

I've met most of the exchange students and from what I can tell, seems like a pretty good group of people; lots of fun! My flatmates and I have sat down and talked about traditions and customs in our own countries and it's really muy interesante (very interesting) (I wish there were a better word to describe it but I lack coming up with one right now) to listen to them speak. I have a German flatmate and I've heard her talk on Skype. Wow! So interesting to listen to. I definitely admire people who can speak more languages than their native tounge! I've met people here that speak sometimes three or four different languages! I don't know how they would keep them all straight. One girl I met can speak five, almost six. I couldn't even imagine trying to learn six languages!

The other night, the Erasmus students - Erasmus is what the European exchange program is called - went out to a bar/pub called the "City Arms." It was a good time and the bar was doing this new thing where you get your drink and then you flip a coin to decide whether you pay for it or not. I don't think any place I've ever been to in Alberta would even try that tactic! I was one for two. Not bad.

All in all, I'm meeting some absolutely amazing people here that I continue to admire and respect. I can only hope that I remain friends with all of them!

Writing this may sound really corny but it's only because this is my new revelation and I'm really excited as I write this. Being international is where I want to be.

Until next time...

Adéu

mi casa

Well, I finally have a permanent home for the next cinco meses (five months)! I am really excited about that. It's nice to stop living out of a suitcase! I've taken pictures and will show you mi casa (my home).

This is the living/dining room of my flat. There is a fireplace behind the chairs too. And you can't see it very well but the painting above the fireplace is actually painted by a local painter and it's of the only bridge in Vic. It divides the city into Vic 1 and Vic 2. I can tell you more about the bridge and it's purpose when I blog about my city tour the other day. It will come soon I promise.
This is our laundry room. It consists of a single washer and a sink. The window that you see on the left leads to our dryer...

This is our state-of-the-art drying system! Hang your clothes on the line with clothes pins and let them dry. Luckily, there is a roof over top the hollow center of our building (which you can see below) so that if it rains, the clothes don't get wet again. How convenient hey. I wasn't too sure what to think when I saw this.

This is the top of our "dryer." If you look in the very top of the picture, you can see that we share our dryer with every other tenant in the building. We were wondering what happens if something falls to the bottom because we didn't see a door. Guess we will find out soon enough!

This is a picture of our kitchen. We heard that the people that lived here before us, other exchange students, didn't clean this place at all, so we all got our hands dirty and cleaned the kitchen. Oh boy did we find some interesting stuff! The most interesting was probably the bugs that we still continue to find. Our landlord doesn't speak a word of English so whenever we have something wrong, we need to find either a Catalan or fluent Spanish translator to talk to him on our behalf. It's definitely a pain.


Another picture of our kitchen. Shows the table that we don't eat at unless we are having a snack because there is only two chairs. To the left is a fridge that is very very small compared to those that we have back home! I thought the fridge that I had in residence was too small for four people's food but when I saw this, I have no idea how five of us are going to put all our food in there. So far my roommates shop for food everyday, but only buying the things they need for one meal. This is our living room. Nothing special. The balcony is in the background.

The bathroom that I share with one of the girls from Poland. Shower and bath are to the left.
This is another shot of my bedroom, side opposite of the window.
This is my bedroom! The biggest one in the flat. It looks like a double bed but if you can see down the middle, there is a rift. This bed is actually two single mattresses put together to make a double. I'm not complaining at all! But on of the mattresses sits higher than the other so it's still like I'm sleeping in a single. Oh well though. Behind you can see my desk and the window. I took these pictures at night so you wouldn't be able to see anything out the window anyway. I have posted other pictures that were taken during the day and you can see the view from the room.
This is the view from the balcony/my room because they both are on the same side of the flat. We are on the fourth floor. The street you see in the middle of the page takes you to Placa Major, a very famous plaza in Osona, a region of the province of Catalonia. Vic is the capital of Osona.
This is a view from my bedroom. This is the train station that takes you to Barcelona. Also can be seen from the balcony. This rode could be considered one that goes from one end of Vic to the other. Very busy too! Watch out crossing this street!
This is another picture from my bedroom window. You can see more buildings of Vic and in the background, the mountains. Vic sits about an hour from the coast and an hour from the mountains. So on any given day, you could go swimming in the Mediterranean Sea or go skiing in the Pyranee's Mountains.

That just about does it for my flat. I didn't take pictures of hallways or anything but our flat is really big! Could skateboard down the halls!

Until next time...

Catedral de Sant Pere

Today, I went in search of the Cathedral that I had heard about. After winding my way through streets, I found it and it was amazing. It is called the Catedral de Sant Pere de Vic, in otherwords, the Catedral de Vic. Construction started on it in 1230 but the structure wasn't completed until 1600. In 1851, an earthquake was cause for renovations in the beginning of the 20th centure by Antoni Gaudi.

A side view of the Cathedral.

From the front. And this is only the upper half. I couldn't get back far enough to get the whole frong because there was another building there.

Once inside, it was breathtaking. I think I took about 140 pictures! This is a picture from the front altars centerpiece. It was a design of Gaudi's in the renovation. It sits in the main room with murals painted all over the walls. Off to the sides are little rooms. I have pictures of all of them but I will probably just post a few of them for your sake :) Some didn't turn out all that great because the lighting wasn't very good.

One of the side rooms.
Pews of the main Cathedral.

The pillars in the main Cathedral. The ceilings were so high!

Another picture of the pillars. This picture shows the height of the ceilings better.

Confession...

Picture from another side room.

On most of the exhibits, there are plaques that explain what, or who, is being depicted. I haven't quite figured out if there are actual bodies in some of the tombs or not. Here's an example of what I mean.

And this is his tomb (I think).

Here is a picture of the walls with murals on them. The architecture and design of this building in incredible. For the time period in which it was built, I find the architecture amazing. You can't see it great, but just about the mural, there are names that encircle the building. You can see Marcus and Thomas here (just below the window)

I paid 2 Euros to go see more of the Cathedral and found a room downstairs. I'm not sure what it was used for. I would love to be able to understand the brochures and pamphlets that I picked up. It would probably make a lot more sense to me in what I was seeing. My plan is to make a Spanish or Catalan friend who can translate everything for me :) We'll see if that happens or not.

This is the centerpiece that was hanging in the room downstairs.

After the underground room, I went on a mission to discover the courtyard (I actually didn't go on a mission. I knew the word "where" in Spanish and pointed to a picture and someone showed me the way). It led me to the courtyard but between the two spots, there were a few other rooms. One of them had these artifacts and clothing in them. It was really cool to see. It would have been even neater to understand who wore them and what time era.

Then after that room, I found my way to the courtyard. It was simple and all that was in the middle was this monument of a man (I don't know his name). It stood about 20 feet high though and was surrounded by patches of grass and trees.

The courtyard was enclosed like this all the way around. This is a picture looking onto the other side. The statue of the man was in the center.

Stained glass window.

Another statue of the man. This shows how big it was.

This is what the halls all the way around looked like.

A full view of the hall. I loved the ceilings.


And so that mostly concludes my trip to the Catedral de Sant Pere. There are lots more pictures but seeing as this blog took me about 1.5 hours to put together, I think this shall do for now.

In other news, I went and met my new landlord today! What a cute old man. He loved the fact that I was from Canada. His wife loves Canada so they went on a holiday there four years ago. He loved it! I'm glad we have something in common! Anyway, I can move in on Tuesday. I'm really excited about that.

Not sure if I mentioned it before but I start my Spanish and Catalan language intensive courses on Monday. That should be fun, considering how well I did in Spanish last term! Hopefully I will improve when I'm surrounded by it all day. The other Erasmus students (European exchange students) have assured me that my Spanish will drastically improve so that gives me some hope. After eight mornings and afternoons of that, the international office is taking us on a day trip to Barcelona on Friday.

I'm also looking forward to a friend visiting me from Finland on Thursday. On Saturday, we are going to see a futbol (soccer) match! That should be exciting. I have never seen a European futball match. I hear they can be pretty wild though! I know that futbol is more popular here than hockey is in Canada so I can't wait to experience that first hand!

Before I went to the Cathedral this morning, I stopped by Placa Mayor where they hold a market every Tuesday and Saturday morning. I expected it to be similar to a farmers' market back home and it kind of was and kind of wasn't. There was produce and local hand made crafts there, yes, but there was also clothes that you would find in stores. I was completely taken aback at how many vendors sold socks and underwear and bras. They were hanging on ropes and fluttering in the wind like flags. Quite funny. And the people! This market must attract all of Vic! It was packed! And I saw the biggest bread there I've ever seen before! This picture doesn't do it justice but I'm telling you, it was HUGE!

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well at home.

Until next time...

Adeau