Friday May 18th

For our last full day in Barcelona, our group actually traveled by train about an hour away from Barcelona to the beach town of Tarragona. While many tourists visit the town to go to the beach, due to the overcast and slightly chilly weather, we visited Tarragona to see some of the many ancient Roman ruins in the small town. 

Roman Amphitheater

One such site was an amphitheater located a few hundred yards away from the ocean. Although the amphitheater is thousands of years old, it was amazing to see that so much of the Roman’s handiwork has withstood the test of time and still stands today. Following our tour of the amphitheater, we proceeded to walk to a short ways to a local museum. The museum housed many artifacts from the Roman times, but it was hard to learn more about the pieces and know their background because all the information was in Spanish. Because we could only look but not learn, we made our rounds through the museum fairly quickly. After the brief visit to the museum we again visited a site containing Roman ruins. This site looked as if it functioned as a fortress during the Roman times, being situated atop a hill with a large tower with panoramic views of the valley and ocean below. It was actually ironic to view this set of ruins because a large set of apartments were literally adjacent to the site, making for a contrasting view of old and new. Finished with our visit to the city, the group dispersed for lunch before departing for the next train ride back to Barcelona. Myself and a few others decided to try a small pizza restaurant. While the pizza was excellent, it was also interesting to speak with the owner who lived in Miami for a time. While Tarragona was limited in sites to visit, it was very interesting to see all the Roman construction still standing after such a long time.

Tarragona Beach

Once we returned to Barcelona, we were free to do as we pleased for the rest of the evening. One of my friends and I decided to walk down to the harbor and check out the sailboats and market one last time before departing the following morning. After relaxing at the harbor for a little while, our all the students in our group met up for a final group dinner in Barcelona. Remembering how much I enjoyed the Paella a few nights before, I again ordered the rice and seafood dish for my final meal in Barcelona. After a great dinner, we headed back to the hotel to rest up because we were due to wake up at 4 o’clock Saturday morning to depart for the airport. 

Looking back on my time in Barcelona, I greatly enjoyed my visit to Spain’s second largest city. The food was as good as promised, but the weather was actually slightly cooler than anticipated. We toured some amazing sites such as La Sagrada Familia and Park Guell, in addition to many other beautiful places. In contrast to our previous stop, London, the city felt less developed and poorer to be completely honest. However, Barcelona makes up for these weaknesses with its vibrant culture and iconic sights. I again felt very fortunate to have the opportunity to visit a foreign area and enjoyed my brief stay.