Barcelona: Gaudi and Night Life

In the middle of our large break after having visited Paris and before London we visited the incredible city of Barcelona. Coming from Paris and expecting fall weather my cohorts and I dressed in our warmer clothes: jeans, jackets, etc. Little did we know, Barcelona late in the month of October is actually more akin to Siena during August! We got off the plane greeted by beautiful balmy 80 degree weather, and promptly changed to better fit the hot Catalonian sun. After taking the bus into the city and finding the hostel, Nora, Sara, Phil, Lauren, and I went out to explore the city. We stopped at a small tapas place, a specialty of Barcelona, and got our first taste of the much talked about sangria of Spain, a wine and fruit mixture which you could almost swear was just fruit juice. After a little recuperation, we met up that night with Nora’s friend in Barcelona Michaela, who took us to another delicious tapas bar and then on to Apolo’s a nightclub famous for its “Nasty Mondays”. We arrived at the club around one and we danced until around five, when the metro opened and headed back to our waiting beds. After our big first night, we slowly gathered ourselves the next afternoon to go and see the sites of Barcelona. First on the list was the Sagrada Familia church, a giant Catholic church in the heart of the city designed by the famous Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. Stepping inside the church was like entering another world composed of twirling spirals and vibrant colors all vaulting upward taking ones breathe away. After seeing one Gaudi masterpiece we decided to trek across the city to visit another of his masterpieces the Park Güell. Park Güell was Gaudi’s attempt at creating a residential park for Barcelona’s more affluent citizens but was a commercial failure. What remains are a handful of the houses that he did complete and the beautiful public walkways, sculptures, and terraces all done in his unique style. After trekking once more across the city back to our hostel we prepared for our second night in the crazy town. We started out the night, after dinner, with a visit to a local bar which had a special on sangria. A couple hours later, we left the bar to journey to a club near the center of the city where we found ourselves dancing again. That next morning we decided to head to the beach for a bit of relaxation. We laid out on the beach for hours, I personally got a massage from an older Asian woman and found my dip in the water both rejuvenating and surreal for the last days of October! Going into our final night of Barcelona, with Sara leaving early the next morning and Phil and Lauren opting for much needed rest, Nora and I decided to go out for one last hurrah. We did as we had for the previous two nights and generally had a good time. As we all left the next day at differing times, we reflected on the great times we had in this party city while looking forward to the next city we would visit… London.

Mike Babineau, UVA

Two Girls in Prague

   CET gives us a much-needed weeklong break after our midterms, which we all realized had to be planned promptly before October came around. While we all agreed that Paris was our first stop in our 10-day vacation, I thought that I needed to visit the previous Soviet bloc. Thankfully, I wasn’t the only person that wanted to venture off to Eastern Europe. Charlotte told me that she had to good friends studying in Prague and that we should spend 3 days with them. We didn’t think about it twice, and just bought our tickets. This impromptu trip to the Czech Republic turned out to be one of the highlights of our whole week off. After we were bombarded by museums (mostly museum lines) in Paris, we arrived in Prague wanting to just experience the city. Getting there close to the evening on Monday, I have to say that we were lucky enough to be introduced to the city in its night beauty. Surprisingly, Charlotte’s friends were also in CET, which we both took as a good sign to the days that were to come. Since they are also responsible CET students, they had to leave us alone as they had class until 9 pm. They recommended a couple of restaurants, and after walking around a bit; Charlotte and I decided to go to a Café Louvre (since we were still feeling Parisian) To say that Prague is cheap is an understatement, specially when you come out of a weekend in Paris. We ate a three-course meal and had four drinks for less than 25 euro each. Obviously we felt like millionaires. The food was amazing and the chocolate cake we had for dessert was the perfect reward we needed after running around Paris in order to make our flight.  After dinner, Charlotte’s friends, Max and Julianne, took us around the town and we decided to call it an early night so we could see as much of the city as possible the next day. We had another amazing and cheap meal for breakfast and headed straight to Old Town. The Nordic architecture that you see in Prague is nothing that we were used to seeing in Italy. The towers all looked like old castle pieces that you would imagine in fairytales. One big recommendation to anyone that goes to Old Town is that it is necessary to go up the Clock Tower. There you have an amazing panoramic view of Prague, where you can see literally the whole city.  

One of the many beautiful views from the tower

I really could not take enough pictures from this view. After we spent a significant time in Old Town, we met up for lunch with Max in the Beer Museum of Prague where we tried the true specialty that the Czechs have for beer. The five small samplers, with a side of chicken bites to nibble on gave us the energy to keep exploring the city. We walked towards the Charles’ Bridge and found ourselves once again with a stunning view of the river as the sun was starting to go down.

The river and the Prague castle in the background

We walked through the bridge at the most amazing time of the day, as the sun was setting on one side and tourist were starting to disperse. We decided to take in the moment and listen to a street band while we just looked around at the view and the bridge vendors. I think at that point we were completely sold on this city. We walked through the bridge and towards the John Lennon Wall, which is a wall full of graffiti and many John Lennon images. It’s a beautiful sight to see such a creative and modern space amongst the old city architecture.  

Just channeling her inner muse at the wall

Our day was done after the wall and even though we experienced the city greatly for just being there one day, there was so much more to be seen. We ate once again a great but also cheap dinner and very early in the morning I was headed to Spain. After we came back from the break, I kept telling Charlotte that I wished that we would have stayed longer in Prague and she definitely agreed with me. We asked people before we went to the city why they loved it and they never gave us a specific answer. Now we can say that we understand what they were saying. If anyone asks me why I love Prague, I would say that I just do. This is one of the most recommended places that I would give any college student coming abroad to Europe. (Shout out to CET kids in Prague, especially Max and Julianne, thanks for taking care of us!)

Paola Croce, UVA