Settling in Barcelona!

 Barcelona is a coastal city on the north-east of Spain & is the capital & largest city of the Catalonian community. This city has a population of 1.6 million and the suburban area has a population of 4.8 million.

After spending the last semester in Edinburgh and a month back in Ireland for Christmas while getting prepared for International Study period where I’d be travelling to Barcelona for the 2nd Semester at the end of January.

I arrived in Barcelona on the 24th January after a few hours of travelling from buses and getting on the wrong metro before looking at Google Maps telling me to go the other way down the line towards the Agora accommodation. Got off that metro in Mundet and saw the University as soon as I got off felt delighted, saw on the maps that the accommodation was across from the campus.

University Accommodation

I checked myself in and got myself comfortable after an early morning flight and a few hours of travelling to the metro stations from bus stops with 2 suitcases and a rucksack and stayed in the room for a few hours as I felt tired and felt like relaxing after the morning of travelling.

On the 25th January I went to the University for induction at around 10am where I was introduced to David Ibarra the International University Officer with the other international students and was given an overview of the college as well the rules and regulations towards the college.

After all that was done, we were split into groups for ice breaker games which I thought were a good way of getting to know who could be on the Culinary Arts. After the ice breaker games, I was given a briefing on the Culinary Course followed by a tour of the campus building.

After the induction, I went into the Catalunya City Centre and began exploring the centre including a stop for food in a Tapas bar which I never had before. I will admit was an amazing experience as I couldn’t travel to Spain without having Tapas at least once and for more of it to come during this semester.

Tapas

Once the Tapas was finished, I went travelling around sightseeing and had to get a few college essentials as well.

After all the sightseeing and as it was getting dark, I went back to the Metro and headed back to the accommodation.

Over the weekend before the semester starts, I went back to Catalunya as well as getting settled into the accommodation and is very convenient. As well as going on a City Bus tour around the main attractions and amazing architecture around the area. As well as some nice artwork on the various streets.

I am starting to get settled into Barcelona and looking forward to seeing to what the city has to offer and hopefully enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the time I had in Edinburgh.

Oscar Fitzgerald

Studying in Barcelona!

Outside the university

Welcome to my blog. My name is Bruno Silva. I’m in year 3 of the Bachelor (Honours) in Culinary Arts. On My second semester I’ll be studying abroad. I chose to study in Barcelona, Spain.

At first, I was nervous coming to Spain. I never been to Spain and with the Erasmus I got the chance to visit, live and study in Spain.

It was confusing at first, when I left the airport I didn’t know where to turn to, what transport to take or where to go. After a while I discovered where to go. The mobile phone is a great device when trying to locate the right transport.

Bento box - best Japanese food ever!

In all honesty, I didn’t know how to speak Spanish, I never learned how to. It was a bit of a challenge for me at the beginning. It didn’t help that the women that I rented a room from didn’t know any English. In a way I started to learn Spanish with her. I cheat a little by using my first language which is Portuguese. The languages are similar but different.

I arrived in Barcelona a few days early, I went a little bit of sightseeing and also went to learn a bit about the public transport here. I found out that the metro is the easiest and quickest mode of transport near me.

It was easy to locate the campus because the entrance is right outside the metro stop.

 

La Sagrada Familia

Well that will be it for my first blog entry, I can’t wait what I’ll be doing for this year and all the new dishes that I’ll learn while living in Barcelona.

Write again soon,

Bruno Silva

2 months in Ecully, France

Hello its Sarah again but this time I'm in France, specifically Ecully! This is for the study portion of my placement and i am studying in Institut Paul Bocuse. I sadly have nothing greatly interesting to report, being busy already with assignments. However I have met so many interesting people who are also in the Erasmus program from all over the world, from Indonesia, Malta, Italy, Vietnam, China, Switzerland, Mexico and America. Having such a wide range of cultures is something I didn’t expect as much, they have all thought me so much already, about ingredients I haven’t heard of, cooking methods and traditions.

I went on a little trip starting in Lyon, eating at different restaurants and mainly looking at the French architecture . Food in Lyon is very diverse yet still paying tribute to traditional French dishes. Next, I went to Paris obviously, being in Paris I wanted to embrace my sweet tooth trying all the different pastries and chocolates. Also having amazing architecture similar to Lyon but more glamourous. I had a great time in Paris but it is hugely crowed, there is people everywhere so I don’t think I will be returning anytime soon!

I’m having a great time in France, having settled in and learning a little French from those around meI'm doing much better than how things started. Next post will be more eventful I have a few things planned  for March!

Thanks for reading, Sarah :)