This blog entry will outline some of the day to day activities that you may find yourself doing if you were to do a year abroad in Spain and more specifically in Barcelona. I will be going through what a typical week would look like from Monday to Sunday. It is important to note that this was my personal experience and by no means was this everyone’s experience but it is an insight into the type of life you will be living compared to the life you may live in the UK.
Monday
A usual Monday for me would start at around 10AM as my lectures never started before 2:30PM which I found to be incredibly useful as it gave me and my friends time to do things in the morning and midday. I would get ready to leave my accommodation by having some pan con tomate which is just a tomato spread on some slices of bread which for many days was a highlight as it was a delicious way to start the day. After this I would look over any work that I needed to do for University for the week and try to complete as much of it as possible. The walk to University was also one of the highlights of everyday life as I chose to do this instead of catching public transport as the views, landmarks and weather were all far too good to be underground for. On the other hand most people chose to take the public transport which was also such a viable way to get to University as it was quick, efficient and also Air conditioned which at times felt like a necessity. Once the lectures were finished I would either go for a drink with my friends which unlike the UK would not be a pint as in Spain it is much more common to get a “Cana” which is just about 200ML but it was perfect as it meant that you would drink a bit less and also enjoy it more as the beer would still be cold by the time you had finished it. By the time I would get home it would be about 8PM and it would be time for dinner which would often be something completely different to what I would cook in the UK as the ingredients in the supermarkets were different such as fresher vegetables which meant that my cooking became a lot healthier and tastier !!
Tuesday
Similarly to Monday and most other days I would start the day around the same time but the only difference is that Tuesday was one of the days that the majority of the time I would have off along with thursday. As you can imagine this meant that me and my friends would often try to do something fun and exciting for the day that we may not do on some of the other days. Being in Barcelona meant that the beach was the first option the majority of the time which was one of my favourite activities. A beach day consisted of buying some beers from a “Supermercado” which were the equivalent of a newsagent and then buy a couple empanadas from the countless Argentine Empanada shops which may I add were all delicious and fairly priced and then we would go to the beach and spend all day on the sand and in the water until it was time to go home for dinner.
Wednesday
A typical Wednesday was quite busy as it was the day that I had the most lectures and lessons which meant that often I didn’t have time to hang out with friends and do a lot of activities. This does not mean however that it was a boring time as I would usually use this time to do something productive such as a grocery shop which was always something I looked forward to. This is because unlike the UK the process of this was a lot more fun since I went to multiple different stores which included the supermarket, the fruiteria and the bakery. This was the cheapest way to do the shopping as I could measure out exactly what I needed. Apart from this a wednesday would just consist of getting home doing some work, relaxing and hanging out with my flatmates.
Thursday
As thursday is one of the days in the week that I had free Me and my friends would often use this day to do a day trip or do an activity that we all wanted to do. Some of the highlights were Museums, different cities or towns and also the occasional hike up to Montserrat which was a mountain range about an hour away from Barcelona. I’m sure that many people that have been up there can agree that it is one of the best places to go if you are anywhere near as the views are beautiful, it is very accessible and also filled with history. If it wasn’t a hike it would most certainly be a day at the museum whether it was the picasso museum or the national art gallery as they were all cheap and there was always plenty to see. Something to keep note of is that on the first Sunday of every month most museums have free entry for everyone which is something that everyone should be taking advantage of as it can be a great way to learn about the history of Catalonia.
Friday
On the last day of the working week it was customary for us to celebrate. After all the lectures and lessons we would visit our favourite bar for a quick drink and some croquettes which were a local delicacy that should be on everyone’s list to try. Once this was done as it was a friday it was also normal for us to go out at night with a larger group of us or even with the erasmus groups as they offered free/cheap entry and drinks to many of the hotspots in the city such as Razzmatazz, Opium and shoko amongst others. Getting around the city at these late times was very easy as the trains and the buses were running practically all night on friday and saturday which made the city feel a lot more safe as it meant that there were always people getting back home on public transport.
Things to do in Barcelona
- Visit Montserrat.
- Visit Montjuic.
- Have a swim and a drink at the olympic swimming pool with views of all of Barcelona.
- Visit Tibidabo.
- Visit Park Guell.
- Join in with the countless parades and street festivals that happen all year round.
- Try as Many different restaurants as possible (especially tapas).
- Go to the various different Beaches in Barcelona.
- Visit the CosmoCaixa Science Museum.
- Go Watch a Barcelona FC game.
