Author: Gabi Neuman

Location: Granada, Spain

If you read my last two blog posts you might remember me discussing the more “negative” aspects of studying abroad.  However, after this past weekend I’ve realized how good I actually have it here in Granada.  In a week my parents come for Semana Santa or Holy Week here in Spain. I’m still learning all sorts of things from this culture and the people.  I spent last weekend in Barcelona which was a nice escape from the 4 weeks of continuous rain we’ve had here in Granada (this much rain is a rarity but extremely helpful since southern Spain is currently experiencing a drought).

 

To give you a little background information on the city of Granada compared to Barcelona, Granada is home to about 235,000 people whereas the population of Barcelona is close to 4.6 million.  Just a tad bit bigger if you ask me.  While in Barcelona we visited La Sagrada Familia, a largely famous cathedral which Gaudi began in the 1800s and is still being constructed today.  The estimated year of completion is 2026 (supposedly), and it’s one of the most stunning pieces of architecture I’ve ever seen—the photos don’t do it justice.  Another of Gaudi’s famous works is Park Güell which we also were also lucky enough to visit.  If you’ve ever seen some of Gaudi’s architecture it has a very modern look, especially considering it was created by a man who was born in the 1800s (as you can see in the pictures).  We also were able to travel to Montserrat, a suburb of Barcelona where a monastery is built into the side of a mountain and can only be traveled to by cable car or mountain train.  All in all the views and architecture of the city are incredible.

Even though the city of Barcelona is absolutely breathtaking, the weather was perfect, there was great food (we even got a taste of American), and I enjoyed myself in every sense of the word, I know now that I wouldn’t trade living in Granada for any other city.  Because Barcelona is so big we took between 10 to 15 taxis, walked about an hour and a half back to our hostel on the outskirts of the city, took a very confusing metro/train ride to Montserrat, spent a decent sum of money on food because as a popular tourist city prices are automatically increased, and were spoken English to about everywhere we went (also due to the tourist aspect of the city).  You could also spend a whole semester in Barcelona and still not see everything.  These aren’t necessarily negative aspects about Barcelona, but it is very different from Granada.

Not to say that Granada is better than Barcelona by any means because it’s not, but I know that Granada is the perfect fit for me.  I can walk to class in 10 minutes or walk anywhere in the city in under 30 minutes without having to use taxis, I don’t have to spend an astronomical amount on food, clothes, or much of anything for that matter, Granada still has a very rich history and many places to discover, and the locals generally speak Spanish to me.  Not everything is perfect in Granada, but it’s pretty great and maybe it just took me leaving the city for a few days to realize that.