I have now been studying abroad in Alicante for seven weeks, and time feels like it’s flying by. With my program, I got to travel to Valencia for a day. We visited the Valencia Cathedral, a museum of abstract art, the central market and the Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias. We even got to see a medieval gate that used to be one of the only entranceways into the previously walled-in city. The city had so much historical and modern art, making it a perfect day-trip destination.

Many of the students in my program decided to go on to Barcelona for the rest of the weekend. My main motivation in doing this was to go see FC Barcelona play against Real Madrid in the Camp Nou. While the rest of Barcelona was great, getting to see my favorite team play in one of the biggest rivalries in world football was unparalleled (unfortunately I was caught up in the moment and only took videos of the stadium, not pictures). The atmosphere that is created in that stadium will give you goosebumps.

Weeks later, my program took a weekend trip to a lesser-known city in Spain: Cuenca. Perched up on top of a mountain, this historic city allowed me to see the amazing landscape Spain has to offer. Cuenca is surrounded by forest-covered mountains, nature trails, rock climbing areas, unique rock formations and more. The older part of the city is high up on a cliff, overlooking the more day-to-day, residential part. This older part is filled with shops, museums and a great cathedral (which we came to learn is very new because the old cathedral burned down). It turns out that the area was named a World Heritage Site in the 1990s, attesting to the greatness this city had to offer. After visiting the old town, we went to our hotel and had a meal in the fancy restaurant that overlooked the entire city from the top floor. For dinner, I had a three-course meal with chicken paella, ragu with beef and potatoes, wine and an ice cream-covered brownie for dessert. The food paired with the views made Cuenca one of my favorite spots in Spain.