Many of my most recent posts have centered on the incredible people I’ve met here in Barcelona. Forming new relationships with the local people is an amazing experience — one I have continued to cultivate. However, today I want to share a little more about the city itself. I have been living in Barcelona for just over two months, and I’ve had the opportunity to explore some really cool places.

Studying abroad offers students an opportunity to extensively travel throughout Europe. Every weekend, groups of students take off for various European destinations. Whether it’s skydiving in Interlaken, Switzerland or exploring the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, students brilliantly take advantage of the ease of travel in Europe. Yet there is a peculiar foreign destination just outside of Europe that is gaining immense popularity with study abroad students: Morocco, Africa.

The last, and longest, stop of the ten day trip was Berlin – and it was incredible. Before getting there I didn’t really know what to expect from Berlin, since I had only really associated it with the Berlin wall. But it ended up being so much more awesome than I could have imagined! Of course we saw the typical sights: we visited the Berlin wall, went under the Brandenburg gate, spent a morning at Checkpoint Charlie, and the list goes on. But, during our free hours I was also able to go a bit off of the beaten path.

Between German Intensive and the start of our actual classes we got to enjoy a wonderful 10 day long break. Though a lot of people chose to pursue their own travels, I decided to join the trip that IES had organized, which ended up being a fantastic decision. I met a lot of great people and we had so much fun!

Never in a million years did I expect that my first time would be in Milan.

I could probably write a novel about my experiences and impressions of my time in Spain. For such a short trip, I feel like I was able to experience so much of the culture. I can't believe how many beautiful things I saw and cool things I did. From the magic fountain display in Barcelona to biking around Valencia. From the little boats in the pond in Madrid to the beautiful mountains of Grenada. Fireworks, flamenco dancers, parades, and all of the amazing landscpaes in between. I'm astounded by all of it.

Only two more weeks until I hop on a plane bound for Japan!