Enjoying the high life in Barcelona!

A few months have passed by since I arrived in Barcelona. I have really begun to start enjoying life in Barcelona with the beautiful sunny & warm weather that we be lucky to get in the summer months of Ireland. Most of the time midweek is spent in the college while I normally like to travel around the city centre during the weekends & when I don’t have many assignments due for the following week. It didn’t take too long to get settled into Barcelona once I had an idea of the modules I was studying, the transport system when I want to travel as I am living on campus grounds which I am delighted with. I have a supermarket which I found convenient when I needed to buy a few essential items for the room. 

A few weeks have passed, and I’ve been informed that my family were travelling over to see me in Barcelona. Met them at the airport after their flight was delayed with bad weather back in Ireland. I brought them to the metro stations from the airport to the hotel we are staying at. The hotel itself is up the road from a metro station which they were delighted with. Brought them on the 2 bus tours around the city. Took them to the Marina & the Fresh Food Market which was their highlight and even took them to my university & was able to bring them into my accommodation which they loved as well as I am. The time flew by so fast that I even brought them to the airport before their return flight to Ireland. 

One of my favourite moments of Barcelona though has occurred when I went to a shopping centre along the Marina where I spotted a Ferrari and the staff asked if I wanted to drive one, I told them that I’ll get back to them on that and that was a few months ago. After a full week of assignments due & I felt like I earned the spin in the Ferrari. Finished College for that week and told them that I’ll drive one. Booked me in for 5pm so I had to wait around which I didn’t mind as I spent most of it just looking out to the sea before getting into a Ferrari F430. I couldn’t believe it; I couldn’t believe I was about to drive a 4.3L V8 Ferrari along the Barceloneta Beach for 20 minutes. Had an instructor with me as I have also never driven on the right-hand side before. Once I got on the road, I felt like I was on a motoring show driving around and it was one of the best experiences I had since arriving in Barcelona. It was a truly remarkable experience and one that I will never forget!

While I spend the weekends going out and about when I don’t have many assignments due, I would also spend a bit of time in the social area at my accommodation where I usually play some of the games offered in the accommodation which are usually a bit of fun as it had been a great way of getting to know the other students that are living there as well. 

I can’t write about the study in Barcelona without mentioning some of the culinary modules I’m studying, well mainly World Cuisine as that’s the practical module. This module is about cooking popular dishes from different countries around the world. This is a group-based class where we’re split into 3 small groups and each week one student out of the groups is a head chef similar to a previous module that I completed in 2nd Year back home. As I finish up this last blog entry, I have to say this year abroad was an amazing experience that I got to do. From doing work placement in Edinburgh to studying in Barcelona, they have both been amazing experiences in their own ways. Here’s to finishing up in Barcelona & to get ready for the exams. 

Oscar Fitzgerald