Long weekend

Christmas is upon us and children are looking forward to two whole weeks of no school. They will spend time with their families, open presents and eat lots and lots of sweets. However in Catalonia, December starts with a holiday weekend, with not one but two extra days off!

Whenever there is a holiday weekend the family always like to make the most of things and go to different places. My host brother Alex plays water polo and his team was having a match in a nearby town called Olot. Marta, my host mother and Ines, my host grandmother drove there and cheered Alex on as he played against the local team. Raffle tickets were sold during the event and this was for the annual charity called La Marató (The Marathon), which raises money to advance medical research for diseases. Every year it’s a different disease and this year it’s for diabetes and obesity.

After the match, Marta, Ines and I drove around the area, where I was treated to spectacular mountain views. Mountains here are a lot higher than in Scotland and a number of towns have been built upon extinct volcanoes. We stopped at a small town called Besalú, which has been around since the 12^th century. It has a gate similar to those you see in fairytale castles, on top of which is the nativity scene with Mary and Joseph looking over their newborn son Jesus. There were a few odd moments with a huge chair stuck in an alleyway and two chairs attached vertically to a stone wall (as you do), but it gave this little town much charm. The centre of the town was of course decorated with wonderful Christmas lights – I took some photos, but unfortunately they didn’t turn out so well (you see them in the last blog post). We then returned home, satisfied that we took the scenic route.

On Sunday, the family and I headed to Barcelona. We visited the Christmas markets and it was so hard to move around as there were a lot of people! I was in fear of being squished. Not to fear though as we moved to a less busy part of the city and headed to the Museu Blau (Blue Museum). This is a museum of natural sciences and it had some really cool exhibits about the earth, some stuffed animals (which I find really creepy) and there were exhibits about nutrition and what we should do to keep healthy. It was an interesting way to spend a Sunday afternoon and it was free too (some museums are free on Sundays after 3pm). We made our way across the street from the museum, enjoying some cold drinks before heading back to the centre of the town. A few hours later, we were on our way back home.

On Monday afternoon I was out with Marta and Ines again as went went to a charming, picturesque town called Espinelves. It was filled with Christmas stalls and I bought a lovely little ornament called a Caga Tió. This is a special tradition in the Catalan region of Spain where the Tió is fed sweets or fruit and on Christmas Eve, the children hit it with a stick and then the gifts come out of the other end.  My one is just  an ornament, but it is sitting proudly on the table in my home. On Tuesday it was just a relaxing day, before returning to the madness of school!

Now I am back in Scotland for Christmas and enjoying some well deserved time off! Here are some photos below of the long weekend a few weeks ago: 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

So I haven't even started Christmas shopping yet nor will it be long until I'm home for Christmas, but here in Catalonia, Spain the decorations are up and everywhere seems to be in the festive spirit. Here are some photos of Christmas lights I've seen while in the country:

Barcelona

Besalú

Sorry for the bluriness of this photo - they're Santas hanging from the balcony! 

A fun weekend in Barcelona

Since arriving in this country I have met another Scottish girl on the same programme called Shona. She is from Balloch, near Loch Lomond. We agreed to meet up and spend a weekend together in Barcelona. We became very excited for this weekend as it was my first time staying in the city and properly exploring it. In one of my previous posts I went on a school trip there.

My good friend and colleague Judit drove me to the train station in Cardedeu and from there I embarked to Barcelona El Clot Aragó, via Granollers Central where Shona got on the train. We were so deep in conversation that we almost missed our stop! But we quickly got off and soon armed with a map and smartphones we found our hostel.

After checking in, paying and all that jazz we made our way to our rooms and we met two Italian girls sharing with us. I hadn't had anything to eat since lunchtime and my stomach was rumbling, so then Shona and I left to find food. We headed on the metro straight to Placa Catalunya and La Rambla in the city centre.

Decisions are hard, especially when it comes to food. We looked at several restaurants and while deciding on where to eat we somehow got lost. It lead us to some dark and dodgy looking streets, but we asked a man advertising his restaurant how to get back to La Rambla. He managed to direct us in the right way and then we ended up in the first restaurant looked at. An hour later with our tummies full and satisfied we made our way back to the metro, but not before we stopped to talk to a Cornish lady who had a gorgeous Border collie named Lulu. Before we got on the metro, we looked up and saw some rather questionable looking Christmas lights). Soon we were back at the hostel, straight to our beds ready for a full on day of city sightseeing.

Saturday started off at La Sagrada Familia, where I was awestruck with its magnificent beauty. It has been 100 years in the making and is expected to be completed in 2026. Our breakfast consisted of a chocolate croissant and I purchased a bottle of water as the weather was slightly warmer than I expected! I was seriously worrying that I would get badly burned (no worries though as my body was covered more than the average tourist). Next was another visit to the centre of town where I met another teaching assistant called Kirstie (we shared a room at the induction) and then met another one called Katy. We had cups of coffee and walked around the shops. One of the sights we saw was the Arc de Triomf which is similar to the one in Paris and also Marble Arch in London. It was built in 1888 for the Barcelona World Fair. After some sightseeing Kirstie had to go back home and the rest of us made our way to the cinema, where we met some more teaching assistants and headed in to see The Hunger Games Mockingjay: Part 2. Being a fan of the books, I found the films were excellent, however in the last film I felt it didn't do the book justice. The final scene I was a bit disappointed in but (spoiler) when Katniss and Peeta are in the field with their children you could hear the whole cinema awwing and oohing that the two main characters finally got together. I was sad that the series had ended, but then it makes me excited that I'll soon be able to watch all of them on DVD. After the film we headed back into the city centre and went to a restaurant which served delicious and cheap meals. Afterwards the others went to find a bar while Shona and I went back to our hostel and got some well deserved sleep.

Sunday morning started off with a visit to Hillsong Barcelona. The service was in Spanish, but the night before a teaching assistant called Maurisha came to the restaurant and she spoke the language, so was able to translate the message for us. The songs were both in Spanish and English. It was great to have a church atmosphere again, even if I didn't understand the language in which the message was spoken. However, worship is the same everywhere - no matter what language it's spoken or the country it's in. After church, we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant where I had delicious noodle soup and lemon chicken. It was then time to say goodbye to Barcelona as I headed on the express train back to Girona and back to the family's house.

I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend in Barcelona, despite coming back absolutely exhausted! I can't wait to go back! Soon I will be updating the blog about Spanish/Catalan Christmas traditions, until then enjoy the photos posted below:

La Sagrada Familia 

Christmas tree on La Rambla

Arc de Triomf

Colourful fountain in Placa Catalunya

Gaudi House

Outside the Urbany Hostel

Hillsong Barcelona