First Impressions

So I finally got to Barcelona Friday evening, after a long, long train ride all the way from home, but now I’m all settled in, I thought I’d update you on how my first proper day went and how my flat is. Or more accurately, how my first afternoon went, seeing as I slept most of the morning (oops). This might have had something to do with the fact that I didn’t get into the flat until about half past 10, after having got up at 5 in the morning to catch the train.

So after I’d got up, one of my new flatmates offered to show me around the city for the afternoon, which was great, especially as I needed some time to figure out the metro here, seeing as it’ll be my main mode of transport for the next few months.  I’d spent a bit of time prior to leaving looking at maps of the Barcelona metro system and trying to find the main stations that I’m going to need during my time here, like the one near my flat and the one near work. However, this mainly ended up with me even more confused than I was when I started and slowly beginning to think that I’d never find my way around. But, in reality, it’s a lot easier and before long, I’d started to get the hang of which stations connected to which lines, and which lines would get me where, so transport problems are sorted. After that, we just spent some time wandering around a few of the main attractions, like the beach and the Sagrada Familia, before heading home for the evening.

The flat I’m going to be living in for the next few months is really nice, as are the people I’m sharing with, although the time scales for some of the courses mean there’s a bit of a revolving door of flatmates at the moment, but it should settle down after this week. We’re not right in the centre of the city, which does mean that most of the main sights are about 20 minutes away by train, but it also means that it’s a lot quieter and that there are a lot of small local shops to use for food and anything else, especially fresh fruit and veg.  Also the transport links are really good, so even though we’re on the other side of the city from the beach, it only actually takes about 20 minutes on the train to get out to Barceloneta (the main beach) and even less time to get right into the beating heart of the city. So, all in all, first impressions are pretty good. Think I’m going to enjoy living here…