quick update--Madrid, Pamplona, Toledo

Hey yall, unfortunately I don´t have time for a full post with pictures and everything. I finished up my studies in Barcelona. The class ended with a whimper, as our teacher is pregnant and got sick and was unable to teach the last classes, so we just took a quiz then our exam. On the whole, my time in Barcelona was really fun, but it felt more like 4 weeks of extended tourism with some Spanish classes thrown in, rather than a true study abroad. I didn´t really meet any locals, but that´s ok. My Spanish did improve, and I had a great time taking in one of the greatest cities in the world.

We (me, my brother, and some friends from the spanish program) left Barcelona and headed to Madrid. Our first day there, we mostly recovered, but also did some walking through the city center, which is very cool. Then, we went to Pamplona, for the San Fermin Festival, which includes the running of the bulls. Charlie and I both ran with the bulls, which was great. It was over before we knew it, and we were never within 6 feet of any of the bulls, so I didn´t feel like I was ever in danger. The whole festival was a lot of fun, a great party.ç

Yesterday we went to Toledo, which is a medieval city outside of Madrid. Very neat city. Pictures soon, hopefully (at least a facebook album link).

Tomorrow we are going to a 4 day music festival, FIB http://fiberfib.com/
It should be a ton of fun. Afterwards, we are flying to Switzerland, then off to Berlin, then to the low countries.

Hopefully after my hikes I have some energy left to make some sweet detailed posts, but no commitment or anything!

Blues bands in castles and magical fountains and picturesque beachtowns, oh my!

Featured this week: more sights! Above, the "magical fountain," a beautiful lights/fountain display that changes with classical music every Thursday and Saturday night. The real life equivalent of music visualizers. Awesome. 

We also finally visited la Sagrada Familia, the church that Gaudi designed. Parts of it were tacky (for example, "Sanctus Sanctus Sanctus Sanctus" on the bell towers of one of the facades), but on the whole, I was supremely impressed by the building. My favorite part was the facade with the stations of the cross done in a sort of cubist sculptural style. Very powerful. The interior was also breathtaking:

 

We also visited the MNAC, the national museum of Catalan art. They had some very cool stuff, including the piece above with two zombie-looking smiling corpses.

Saturday Charlie and I went to Sitges, a beautiful beach community, and Saturday night, we went to a huge free music festival at Montjuic, where we listened to a blues band in a castle, among other things. They sounded remarkably American.

Seeing sights in Barcelona

Things in Barcelona have continued to be awesome. We did a bunch of sightseeing around Barcelona last week: Parc Guell, FC Barcelona football stadium, Montjuic, Montserrat (pictured above), Barrio Gotico, plus went to the beach and went out at night. Oh, and today is my birthday: 23, or the second anniversary of my 21st birthday, as my friend Jen likes to say. Pictures and tales of adventures below the jump. If you want to see a lot of photos, check out my album on facebook. I believe I've set it to be public, but comment below if it's not. Right now it is pretty incomplete, but more should be loaded soon. 

The good times continue

It's been a great week, with visits to Parc Guell (by Gaudi), Montjuic, the soccer stadium, and the beach. Tonight is St. John's festival, a huge summer solstice celebration. Tomorrow we have off, so I may just have a chance to post some photos.

Visit to Rupit

Yesterday we visited the medieval village (now tourist village) of Rupit, which is two hours north of Barcelona by Bus. The city was pretty cool, but the huge cliffs surrounding it were even cooler. 

We spent about half an hour walking around the city, and then we headed out for a long (but not super strenuous) hike. Pictures after the jump.

What a night!

We don't have Friday classes, so last night we went out to take in some nightlife right by the sea. I didn't take my camera, but the girls did (as usual), so I have taken the liberty of snagging a few of their photos from facebook. 

There's a string of bars/clubs/discos by the beach. The first place we went into had very expensive drinks and lots of dudes in their 30s wearing sports coats, so we left and chilled on the beach for a while. Lots of guys walk around selling beers for 1 Euro each, so we bought a few and just chilled for a while. The moon was full, the temperature was 68 degrees, and it was paradise. 

Eventually, we found a few pretty cool places (lasers included for free). We had some fun times dancing, then we went and chilled on the beach for a little while longer, then caught the metro when it reopened at 5 (late night, yes indeed), caught the sunrise, then slept hard. Tomorrow, we're going on a little field trip out to the village of Rupit. Apparently we'll get to do some hiking and eat some good food.

Hello, Barcelona!

Well, I've now been in Barcelona since Tuesday, and it has been a blast so far. The wifi (pronounced "wee-fee") is now set up in our house, and now I have an adaptor for my computer charger, so expect more posts now!

We're in a homestay with a lovely grandmother widow who loves to talk and can really cook. Charlie and I have a room to ourselves, with our own private balcony, from which the photo above was taken. We're taking class at the IES center in the city center. Our class is pretty good, and our teacher seems like she'll be great over the next month.

Two days ago we went on a tour of "modernisme," the Art Nouveau architectural movement in Barcelona from around the turn of the 20th century. Pictures after the break