Michael Harney
I'm studying abroad in Barcelona for the fall semester of 2011. Barcelona Mike
Travel Blog Posts
December 4th 2011
This weekend I went to Fatima and Lisbon with Ally, my friend from IES. Call me a pilgrim because I made a pilgrimmage to Fatima. Portugal was an interesting country to visit and I'm glad I had the opportunity to go there. My trip started in teh usual way: I woke up at 4 A.M. and took public transportation to the Barcelona airport. From Lisbon, Ally and I took a bus to Fatima to see the religious sites. Fatima was unlike any religious place I have visited because it was absolutely massive and the entire town of Fatima revolved around the religious history of the town. The buildings in Fatima were all painted white to resemble Heaven and purity. I haven't been to the Vatican in Rome but I've seen pictures of St. Peter's Square and ... read more
November 27th 2011
I ran a 10k race in Barcelona the day after my parents left the city. The race was called the Jean Bouin Race and its course went through really cool parts of the city. I got a cool shirt for running the race, which is part of the reason why I registered. The race started at the base of Montjuic and 10,000 people participated. I was in the last group at the start line because I didn't have a 10k race time to improve my starting group. I ran down Gran Via of Charles V, to the Arc of Triumph, along Port Veil, up Parallel, and finished at the base of Montjuic. It was a really fun race and I got to see a lot of Barcelona during the race. My final time was 45:23 and ... read more
November 27th 2011
After weeks of eagerly looking forward to my parent's visit to Barcelona, I finally got to spend a week with them in my city. My parent's visit to Barcelona came at the perfect time because they were here for Thanksgiving. Their visit was also important to me because they reminded me of how close I am to returning to the United States, and that I need to appreciate my final days in Barcelona. This blog covers a longer period of time than any other travel blog I have posted thus far so the style of this post will be a little different than my other posts. Saturday, November 19: I greeted my parents at the Barcelona airport on Saturday afternoon. I was very excited to see them walk through the baggage claim gates after not seeing ... read more
November 13th 2011
This weekend I returned to Andalucia to visit Seville (I visited the state of Andalucia one month ago when I went to Granada). Seville was an amazing Spanish city full of culture and great monuments. I arrived in Seville on Friday night and headed straight for "The Garden Hostel" to meet up with my friends. I was expecting to see my two friends Bianca and Bonnie there. I was shocked to see that there were probably around ten other IES Barcelona people at the hostel too. It was late in the evening when I arrived to the hostel so I decided to hang out at the hostel that night and have a tertulia with my friends. Saturday was filled with sightseeing in Seville. We decided to do the free walking tour of the city with our ... read more
November 8th 2011
This weekend I visited my foreign exchange sister from high school, Charlotte. Charlotte lived with my family and me for my senior year of high school in Massachusetts. She is from the French-speaking area of Belgium, Wallonia. It had been over two years since I had seen her and I was excited to meet her in Belgium. I had been looking forward to seeing her because I wanted to catch up on "the good old days" and meet her family. I met up with Charlotte at the Brussels airport on Friday morning. After reconnecting, we met her 15-year-old brother, Antoine in the main train station in Brussels. Antoine spoke French and was in his second year of English in high school. We were able to talk about basic things in English, such as our hobbies and ... read more
October 31st 2011
This weekend I went to San Sebastian with my friends Leslie and Ally. We took a night bus from Barcelona to San Sebastian and arrived in San Sebastian at 6:10 A.M. after driving over 7 hours. San Sebastian was a beautiful city with amazing views of the beach from the two hills in the bay: Mount Urgull and Mount Igueldo. When we arrived in San Sebastian we immediately made our way from the bus stop to the beach in the pitch black morning. We couldn't check into our hostel until noon so we decided to hang out on the beach and explore the city. We first walked to the river that empties into the Atlantic Ocean as daylight began to peer from behind the Pyrenees Mountains. Afterwards we hiked up Mount Urgull. We were amazed with ... read more
October 24th 2011
This weekend I visited Madrid with my roommate Christian. Madrid was an interesting city and there were many aspects that I appreciated about it. There was definitely a feeling of a strong government influence in Madrid since it is the capitol of Spain. I had a great weekend with Christian and his high school friends, except for the fact that my camera was dysfunctional this weekend. On Friday we arrived in Madrid early in the morning with a few hours of sleep under our belts. We met up with Christian's cousin and friend from high school, both of whom attend Boston College. We were able to talk about some Massachusetts topics on the trip which was unusual for me because I haven't talked to my high school friends about Massachusetts for a while. I also met ... read more
Don't Call My Name, Alhambra
Published: October 17th 2011Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Granada » Niguelas
October 16th 2011
This weekend I went to Granada to learn more about the history of Spain and to visit some friends studying in Granada. I travelled with my friend Dana Schrodder to southern Spain early on Friday morning. She was a great travel buddy because she was very knowledgeable in her Spanish history and was a walking encyclopedia during the tourist sites. When we boarded the plane for Granada, we were in disbelief to see that our plane was the David Guetta plane. David Guetta is a famous music artist known for his hip-hop songs. The plane was absolutely ridiculous; it featured the phrase “Ride Me, I’m Famous” on the outside of the plane, gold-colored seats, and red ambiance lighting along the windows stretching all the way down the plane. We turned to each other and laughed, wondering ... read more
October 9th 2011
This weekend the city of Barcelona was ecstatic for the international rave, Sensation. I first heard about Sensation during the spring quarter when I was at SCU. People told me that it was a rave that is celebrated in Amsterdam and that this would be the first time it would be held in Barcelona. I'm not into the rave scene by any means but when I heard that a lot of people from SCU were planning on going to Sensation, I decided I should go. Sensation has one requirement: everyone must wear white clothes. I wore my white shorts, a white undershirt, and a white button-down shirt to the show. Luckily, I didn't need to wear white shoes because I really didn't want to buy shoes that I would probably never wear again. Many people from ... read more
October 9th 2011
Pan con Tomate: Bread con tomate is bread with a tomato sauce spread. We have bread con tomate every night and it is one of the most delicious foods I have had here. The spread consists of: blended tomatoes, a little bit of water, salt, pepper, grounded garlic, and olive oil. Paella: Fry pork, chicken, and whatever meat you prefer with olive oil on a pan on the stove (medium setting). Add salt, pepper, garlic, and lemon juice. Stir Add regular white mushrooms Stir Add peas and basil Let it simmer for a while Add dry white rice Add orange food coloring Turn odwn the heat to low, fill the pan with water, turn up the heat. The rice will absorb all of the water. Add salt. Wait 15 minutes or until all of the water ... read more
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