¡Hola¡ It’s been awhile since you were here. In the last month, there has been so much that has happened. I finally found a cafe that I like called Amorino. They also have really good gelato. I stumbled upon a little shop called La Nostra Ciutat, which means “our city” in catalan. It is a shop full of many souvenir items that are made by locals. I went to Geneva at the end of January and visited the Patek Museum. I also traveled to France to see Mont Blanc and rode a cable car up the mountain. It was very intense and I loved it.

Throughout the month of February, I have explored more of Barcelona, including the La Nostra Ciutat store and the Amorino cafe. There is another cafe called Alsur Cafe, which is a brunch place. They have many bizarre combinations of food, like oreo pumpkin spice pancakes. The pancakes were amazing and they looked even better. It is definitely high on my list to revisit. There is a mountain here called Montjuic. On the mountain, there are botanical gardens and the Olympic stadium from the 1992 Summer Olympics. The stadium is now a museum and used for concerts. This month, the Jonas Brothers played there, but I did not get to go. The botanical gardens are huge and contain plants from all regions of Europe. I went to see a play in Spanish and was a little worried about understanding it, but at the theater it was very fun and easy to follow. I will definitely look for shows that play in English in the States at the end of the semester.

My program offers lots of excursions that I take advantage of. I have done two hikes, one in Montserrat and one in Collserola. Both of them were amazing, but my legs paid the consequences. I enjoyed seeing Barcelona from each of the peaks. I also have made some friends on IES trips. We go out and explore the city together. There are longer IES trips on the weekends, so we went to the South of France on Valentine’s Day weekend. We visited two wineries for tasting and tours, as well as an abbey. We learned how to analyze wine before drinking it by its smell, color and viscosity. So far, my experience abroad has been wonderful and I look forward to seeing what these last two months bring.

Hasta luego! Adéu