Costa Brava was a lot of fun and involved a lot of beautiful weather and great people. It was through the IES program and so we were altogether a group of about 80 kids traveling together in 2 different buses.
The beginning of the trip didn't start off too well. We first went to this exile museum which turned out to be not too intriguing because the entire thing was in Catalan and the tour guides didn't explain any of it to us nor did they translate anything, so we just walked around and looked at the pictures.
We then were originally scheduled to go to Collioure, but apparently there had been a very heavy snowfall and the town had been shut down for a few days. Because of this, none of the shipments of food to the restaurants had been able to get through. Since we were supposed to go there to get food, the tour guides decided to reroute us to Parpignon. It was quite a dirty city, at least the part where we had been dropped off. None of the restaurants looked appetizing and there was dog poop all over the ground: I felt like I was walking through a land mine. We did end up going to this old church-cathedral thing that was located right where our buses were stopped. It was interesting, though after having seen so many of them, it didn't stick out in our memories as much.
The Dali museum in Figueres was definitely a highlight of the trip for me. Having been taking this art history class specifically on Picasso, Dali and Miro, it was nice to go somewhere where I knew the material and could understand how certain art pieces reflected different portions of his life.
Cadaques was our next stop. This is a beautiful beach town right close to the border between Spain and France. It had turned into a beautiful day and we were able to eat our meal outside and walk along the beach. My friend Lucy and I went up into the area with the houses (which were all white---very much like how I would imagine Greece is....so beautiful!) and explored around by the church, took pictures by another viewpoint, and took more pictures just of the streets because they were so antiquated and breathtaking.
We then walked to the other side of Cadaques to where Dali used to live. We didn't get to go into his actual house, but we spent more time along the water, snapped some photos and relaxed in the sunshine.
We then bussed to Girona and stayed the night there. It was an interesting city and has this huge river that goes right through it. The houses were very prettily colored and the people seemed friendlier than the ones in the big city of Barcelona.
The next day we went on a rather long tour around the city (five hours....lots of walking), and saw the cathedral, the Jewish quarters and had really good pizza at this restaurant in the town square.
We spent the night in Girona again, and then went to the city of Besalu, a very ancient, preserved city that is surrounded by a moat. It was pretty amazing, one of my favorite places I've been to in Europe, I think.
During my time there, I was constantly thinking, what would I be like if I had been raised here? Its entirely removed from the outside world: there's only one way to enter it and thats through the bridge where you can technically really walk over. To get your main groceries, I think you actually have to exit the town, but I can't be too sure. I noticed that people were very relaxed and laid-back there. They lived in their own world. It seemed as if no problems existed in Besalu. I would assume that I would be less materialistic--being from a city, I do admit that I tend to fall prey to desiring and wanting things such as clothes and useful technological gizmos and gadgets. But in Besalu? I feel like the lifestyle is totally different. It was almost like the lifestyle there was still set in the olden days. I would be a totally different person.
We headed back to Barcelona after visiting Besalu and I arrived back at my dorm a little after 8:00. It was a fun trip, though I think the trip to the Basque country was more fun. Costa Brava is beautiful, but I felt a little rushed through some of the places and it would have been nice to be able to stay in a hotel in Cadaques instead of Girona.
On with the description of the next trip.....!
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