Every weekend, the University of Valladolid has Saturday trips planned. However, the students also have the option of taking a weekend trip to any city they would like to visit. One great benefit of being in Spain is that they have a very good public transportation system and traveling between cities is very affordable. On our second weekend here, everyone in our group decided to take a trip to Barcelona. To get to Barcelona from Valladolid, you can fly, take a train, or take a bus.
The bus was the cheapest way to get there, so everyone bought tickets for the overnight bus on Thursday night and arrived in Barcelona on Friday morning. I helped them search for their travel options, but then I didn't help them buy their tickets. So each one had to go to the bus station and speak to them in Spanish to order their tickets!
I also helped them book student hostels. One of the other benefits of traveling in Europe is that you can find very good deals on comfortable and safe places to sleep. One group booked a room of 4, and then the others booked two rooms of 8. It ended up being only about 20 euros per person per night. Hostels are a great way to travel cheap, and also a great way to meet new people and make new friends. Here is a picture of some of the students in their hostel getting ready to go out for the night.
One of the highlights of Barcelona are the buildings designed by Antoni Gaudi. As soon as everyone got to the hostel, they checked in and then all went to see Gaudi's most famous building, The Sagrada Familia.
Gaudi spent about the last 20 years of his life building the Sagrada Familia. He died in 1912, before it was finished. To this day, it still isn't finished.
Another one of Gaudi's famous buildings is La Pedrera (The Quarry). It was built in the early 1900's as a combined apartment and office block. It is known as La Pedrera because of it's uneven, grey-stone facade.
The next popular Gaudi building is Casa Battló. At one time, it was a private apartment house designed for a wealthy family. The roof of this house represents Sant Jordi (St George) and the dragon.
After you pass Casa Battlo, if you keep walking towards the sea, you end up walking down Las Ramblas. Las Ramblas is one of the most famous streets in all of Spain. It is always very lively and filled with shops, restaurants, and street performers.
While exploring the city. Some of the students went to Barcelona's zoo.
Then others went to Barcelona's soccer stadium. Soccer is Spain's most popular sport. Barcelona has a very good soccer team, and there is a huge rivalry between Barcelona and Madrid's teams.
And you can't go to Barcelona without going to the Mediterranean Sea!
On one of the nights there, the whole group went out to dinner. They had a lot of stories to tell about their experiences eating-out. Let's just say the customer service in Spain is not the same as it is in the US...