1st FIRST

Welcome to Barcelona! This is my first time in Europe, and I love it. So far I haven't traveled outside of Spain, but there is so much here! As harry said, Barcelona is full of distractions. It's a beautiful city with so much to offer: Architecture, Food, Nightlife, Culture, and more. Finally I feel comfortable with the city... I know parts of it well, yet I still feel like there's so much here that I still haven't uncovered. Barcelona is the densest city in Europe, which is obvious in terms of people walking down Las Ramblas, but the density is also seen on an urban level from Mont Juic. The top of Mont Juic is a short walk from RESA (our dorms) and while in the park, it's easy to lose all sense of the urban density. It is a quiet, green, peaceful mountain that you'd never expect to find within a dense city, yet the view from the top reveals all of Barcelona; a huge city packed within the valley of surrounding hills. I've come to like both sides of the city, the hustle and bustle of the urban environment but at same time, the open spaces, plazas, and parks integrated within the city.

We took our class study travel trip to Madrid, Escorial, Toledo, San Sebastian, and Bilbao last week, and for the first time I called Barcelona home. It was a great trip, but by the end of that week, I was definitely ready to get back to BCN.