On the morning of Tuesday 24th April at 1am, our TY group made our way to Dublin Airport. Excitement filled the air as we were setting off to Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain for a fun filled 3 days. We had a few hours of a stopover in Dublin Airport and used this time to settle ourselves, get some food and charge our devices. At 6:15am we flew out of Dublin Airport and were on our way through the sky to our adventure. I would like to say the flight was exciting, however I would be lying as I fell asleep for most of it. When we landed, we collected our bags, made our way through customs, changed and met our guide, Jess. She brought us to many magnificent places such as CosmoCaixo Science Museum, La Sagrada Familia Cathedral (began being built in 1885 and expected to be finished by 2026) and MountJuic (a Spanish palace on a mountain. We took a cablecar to reach it) After our sightseeing, we returned to our hotel to be fed and freshened up before a game of bowling. Food-wise dinner was ok. I had some pizza, chips and a bread-roll. Bowling was a great laugh. I must say I surprised myself as I was awful at first but then got a bit better and ended up passing out Ruth to come third. We then returned to the hotel to retire to bed after a long day.
On the second day, we all got up and went down for breakfast. Well we all should've gotten up for breakfast. I however, slept in and woke up late (surprise surprise) We went to the Gaudi museum that morning. Antoni Gaudi was born in Reus in 1852 and was a very famous architect in his day. He is the reason that Barcelona is blessed with much beautiful architecture and is the mastermind behind La Sagrada Familia, which we saw on Tuesday. After the museum, we were given some free time to walk around and explore. After this, we went to Port Aventura theme park. This meant hours of fun. Ruth, Rose and I went on many rides such as Drago Khan, a waltzer-like ride, another rollercoaster and a dinosaur 4D car chase ride. After hours of fun, we returned to the hotel and got to choose whether we wanted to go to the beach or the pool. I chose the pool as I wanted to see what it was like and was too tired to walk down to the beach. After the pool, we got our dinner and we were given free time to walk the streets of Salou. Salou is very pretty at night and there is a lot of things to see. I bought a couple of presents for home from the street shops and went to McDonalds for an iced mocha. Probably not the best idea as i ended up extremely hyper on the way back to the hotel and it took me ages to sleep that night.
On the last day, we traveled to Tarragona and saw the Roman Ampitheatre. We were then let free to explore Tarragona. Seeing the markets was a bit of deja vu for me as I had been to Madrid when I was younger and would spend hours at a time exploring the markets there with my cousins. After a couple hours, and getting lost in the process we regrouped and made our way to Camp Nou Stadium, the home of Barcelona FC. There was much to see here and I admit I had a bit of a moment when I saw Messi's boots and trophies. It was interesting to see the dugouts and the stadium itself. I would've loved to buy a jersey while I was there, however we had a flight to catch and I didn't have time. We regrouped and made our way to the Maremagnum Shopping Centre for a swift and I mean SWIFT shopping trip. Never have I shopped and eaten as quick in my life. But then again my mother is a shopaholic so that may explain that. We then made our way to the airport and so ended our trip.
Overall, I believe this was the highlight of the year, or at least one of them. I believe I grew closer to a lot of people on this trip. I also faced my fear of heights on a rollercoaster and cable cars. The heat was amazing and I came home with somewhat of a colour. I learned a lot about architecture on this trip and about Spanish/Catalonian culture.
On the second day, we all got up and went down for breakfast. Well we all should've gotten up for breakfast. I however, slept in and woke up late (surprise surprise) We went to the Gaudi museum that morning. Antoni Gaudi was born in Reus in 1852 and was a very famous architect in his day. He is the reason that Barcelona is blessed with much beautiful architecture and is the mastermind behind La Sagrada Familia, which we saw on Tuesday. After the museum, we were given some free time to walk around and explore. After this, we went to Port Aventura theme park. This meant hours of fun. Ruth, Rose and I went on many rides such as Drago Khan, a waltzer-like ride, another rollercoaster and a dinosaur 4D car chase ride. After hours of fun, we returned to the hotel and got to choose whether we wanted to go to the beach or the pool. I chose the pool as I wanted to see what it was like and was too tired to walk down to the beach. After the pool, we got our dinner and we were given free time to walk the streets of Salou. Salou is very pretty at night and there is a lot of things to see. I bought a couple of presents for home from the street shops and went to McDonalds for an iced mocha. Probably not the best idea as i ended up extremely hyper on the way back to the hotel and it took me ages to sleep that night.
On the last day, we traveled to Tarragona and saw the Roman Ampitheatre. We were then let free to explore Tarragona. Seeing the markets was a bit of deja vu for me as I had been to Madrid when I was younger and would spend hours at a time exploring the markets there with my cousins. After a couple hours, and getting lost in the process we regrouped and made our way to Camp Nou Stadium, the home of Barcelona FC. There was much to see here and I admit I had a bit of a moment when I saw Messi's boots and trophies. It was interesting to see the dugouts and the stadium itself. I would've loved to buy a jersey while I was there, however we had a flight to catch and I didn't have time. We regrouped and made our way to the Maremagnum Shopping Centre for a swift and I mean SWIFT shopping trip. Never have I shopped and eaten as quick in my life. But then again my mother is a shopaholic so that may explain that. We then made our way to the airport and so ended our trip.
Overall, I believe this was the highlight of the year, or at least one of them. I believe I grew closer to a lot of people on this trip. I also faced my fear of heights on a rollercoaster and cable cars. The heat was amazing and I came home with somewhat of a colour. I learned a lot about architecture on this trip and about Spanish/Catalonian culture.