Menu
Students visit mountains, market, view protest
Editor's note: Second-year students have gone on an educational trip to Barcelona, Spain. Cottey College Public Information Officer Steve Reed is sharing the experience with the Nevada Daily Mail's readers in daily accounts, in the form of letters back home. Here's what happened on Day 4:
Bon dia, Mama!
It's hard to believe that this is already Thursday morning.
Today our entire group is being bused to Montserrat, an historic monastery in the mountains outside of Barcelona. We were gathered onto three buses for the trip and each bus had one of our EF tour guides as well as a local Barcelona guide. Luis was the EF guide on our bus, and as I predicted, he is very happy this morning after the futbol victory last night. You can't get the smile off of his face today.
The slogan of Barcelona's team is "More than just a club" and there is quite a bit of history to explain that. In 1936, Francisco Franco began the civil war in Spain with the help of the Nazis. By 1939, he won and established himself as dictator. His goal was to unify the various regions of the country into one homogenous Spain. He immediately outlawed the Catalan language and would execute those speaking the language or flying the Catalan flag, a yellow shield with four red stripes. The futbol club incorporated a crest, and changed the colors from red and yellow to red and blue, but there are still four stripes, the logo of Catalan.
For people in Barcelona, the futbol club was the only way they could express their nationalism until Franco died in 1974. So for them, it really is "more than just a club."
It was a lovely ride to Montserrat (it means serrated mountains), and we could get a really nice view of the skyline and sea as we headed away from the city and into the country. Did I mention that more than 4 million people live in Barcelona? You can imagine the contrast as we left the city for wide open spaces.
The mountains are beautiful, but aren't like the Rockies with their jagged peaks. These peaks are tall, narrow, and rounded. Although it's quite hilly, the peaks stand in somewhat isolation. Perfect place for a monastery if you're wanting to be left alone.
As we got off of the buses, we saw tables set up offering some of the wares the monks make for sale there. One can buy honey, goat cheese with rosemary, and sheep cheese. They were all pretty good, but I'm not sure they're legal to get through customs. I decided not to begin a career as a cheese smuggler.
The village -- I guess that might be the best word for it -- is lovely. There is a large basilica there, too; but it doesn't open until noon to the public. Fortunately, our buses were not scheduled to leave until 12:30, so I did get a quick look inside. It is beautiful. They are also famous for a black Madonna that the monks found in cave there a long time ago. The line to see that was so long, I knew I would not get to see it. I went to the gift shop and bought a couple of postcards.
When we returned to the city, I tagged along with Michael Richardson and some students to the Boqueria, the large outdoor covered market where one can buy everything from fresh bread to seafood, to candy, to sheep's heads. Michael says that sheep's head soup is a delicacy in many places. I'll take his word for it.
What was a delicacy was this little créperie we found. Even better, the owner spoke English very well. Michael had a crepe with sopresada (a type of sausage), goat cheese and honey. I ordered a crepe with Serrano ham and emmenthal cheese. We had our crepes cut in half and each traded one half with the other. So good! Afterwards, Michael and I were enjoying a glass of wine at a cafe when a huge protest march formed literally right in front of us. The waiter didn't speak very good English, but he said it was to protest the cut in pensions. We thought it might have something to do with International Women's Day as well. We couldn't read the banners but there were several organizations marching. The coolest part was they had a drum line! All protests should come with a drum line.
Michael and I walked along the street and took photos. (I felt like such a paparazzi!) and went on our way to find tapas, the light dinner-type foods famous in Spain. It's good to travel with a chef, Mama, he knows by looking at a menu if it's a good place to eat. We ordered five small plates of assorted tapas and ate every bit of it. It was muy bien! My favorite was the patatas bravas (brave potatoes) with red and white sauce.
We were walking back through St. James Place where the state and city government headquarters are located, and the whole protest parade was crowded in there. Riot police were lined up in front of the buildings in case anything else should happen. I told Michael that if anything started up, I was making a run for it. Fortunately, it was just drumming and chanting.
Well, another day full of exploring, eating, and excitement. It seems like there is a new experience around every corner. More modules tomorrow, so I should get some rest.
Your loving son,
Steve