Aventuras en Barcelona

English translation to follow below.

El fin de semana del 12-15 de febrero, viajé a Barcelona para explorar la ciudad y celebrar el Carnaval. Había una oferta muy buena de Spanair para volar desde Alicante a Barcelona directo por solo 25€ ida y vuelta. Ya que estaba muy acostumbrado a Ryanair (donde haces la facturación en Internet y puedes llegar al aeropuerto media hora antes de la salida) mí compañera, Nicole, y yo llegamos al aeropuerto cuando el mostrador de facturación se acababa de cerrar. Ya que Nicole no había podido facturar en Internet, no pudo pasar por la puerta de seguridad ni embarcar en el avión. La mujer de la taquilla de Spanair dijo que no podíamos hacer nada. Ya que solo 25 minutos quedaban, corrí a la puerta de embarque y después hablé con otra mujer de Spanair, Nicole pudo embarcar porque antes, yo había llamado a Spanair para verificar la reserva, ellos habían realizado la facturación. Por fin, llegamos a nuestro hotel en Barcelona a medianoche. Encontramos un bar que cocinó una pizza preparado para nosotros (todos los restaurantes ya habían cerrado) y tomamos una cerveza para olvidar todo.

El sábado, fuimos primero a la famosa Casa Batlló de Gaudí. ¡Era impresionante! Nunca había visto un edificio tan creativo.  Todas las habitaciones se habían diseñado de forma completamente única y con mucho detalle. La casa se había diseñado sin líneas rectas, porque en realidad, no hay líneas rectas en la naturaleza.  Además, cada habitación tenía luz natural. Luego, fuimos a mirar escaparates por la avenida principal de compras (Passeig de Gracia). Descubrimos una tienda muy interesante que se llamaba Nespresso que vendía expreso de mucha calidad en cápsulas de colores diferentes. Había una mesa con cafés de degustación donde tomamos un café gratis (Ahora he descubierto que hay una tienda de Nespresso se acaba de abrir en Alicante cerca del Corte Inglés). Poco después bajamos a la Plaza Catalunya y encontramos un restaurante japonés de buffet libre. La comida estaba muy rica, y sólo valió 13€. Para digerir la comida, dimos una vuelta por las Ramblas donde había mucha gente y tiendas de mascotas, flores, y libros. También había un mercado con muchas frutas y zumos exóticos, frescos, y llenos de colorido. Por la noche, fuimos a un desfile de Carnaval. A pesar de que estaba lloviendo, había mucha gente y los participantes tenían mucha energía y ánimo.

En nuestro último día en Barcelona, fuimos primero a la Catedral de la Sagrada Familia (otra obra maestra de Gaudí) para ir a misa. Después, no pudimos entrar por la parte principal porque había una cola de horas. Entonces, desayunamos y fuimos al Tibidabo, un parque de atracciones encima de una montaña donde pudimos mirar toda la ciudad. Más tarde, bajamos a la Plaza Catalunya otra vez para comer en una tasca y después, dimos otra vuelta por las Ramblas. Por la tarde, fuimos al puerto de Barcelona y fuimos de tiendas a un centro comercial allí.

El lunes, tuvimos que despertarnos a las 4 de la madrugada, y a las 8, llegamos en Alicante y fuimos a trabajar.

Barcelona es una ciudad muy antigua y muy impresionante. Me gusta mucho más que Madrid, y tengo que irme otra vez para ver más. La arquitectura, la cultura, la comida… ¡toda está muy bueno! ¡Qué suerte tuve que Nicole pudo ir después de todo!

In English:

On the weekend of February 12-15, I travelled to Barcelona to explore the city and celebrate Carnaval. There was an amazing offer from Spanair to fly directly from Alicante to Barcelona for just 25 euros (round trip). Since I was quite used to flying Ryanair where you check-in online and can arrive at the airport a half hour before the departure, Nicole and I arrived at the airport just as the check-in desk closed. Since Nicole wasn’t able to check-in online, she didn’t have a boarding card and couldn’t pass through security. The lady working at the Spanair ticket counter told us there was nothing we could do! Since only 25 minutes were left before departure I ran to the gate and after speaking with the staff there, Nicole was able to board since I had called a few hours before to confirm the reservation and Nicole was checked in over the phone. When we finally arrived at our hotel in Barcelona around midnight, we found a bar that cooked us a frozen pizza (since all the restaurants were already closed), and we drank a beer so as to forget what had happened earlier.

On Saturday, we first visited Gaudí’s Casa Batlló. It was incredible! Never before have I visited a building so creative! Every single room was uniquely designed and with great attention to even the smallest of details. The entire house was built without the presence of straight lines, since there are no straight lines in nature. Moreover, every room was designed to allow natural light to enter. Afterwards, we went window-shopping along the principal shopping avenue (Passeig de Gracia). We discovered an interesting store called Nespresso that sells their coffee in small, colourful capsules. There was a tasting station were we enjoyed a free shot of espresso (a Nespresso store recently opened up in Alicante and I now have my own machine :P). Next, stopped by Plaza Catalunya and found an all-you-can-eat Japenese buffet. The food was very good, and only cost 13€. To digest the food, we took a stroll down the Ramblas of Barcelona were there where many people selling pets, flowers, and books. There is also a colourful market were you can find fresh, exotic fruits and juices. At night we went to the Carnaval parade. Despite the fact that it was pouring rain, there were lots of spectators, and the participants had a lot of energy and spirit.

On our final day in the city, we visited Gaudí unfinished masterpiece, the Sagarada Familia Cathedral and heard mass in the newly renovated crypt. Unfortunately, we couldn’t enter the main part of the Cathedral since there was an hour-long line-up to get in! So instead, we had breakfast and went to Tibidabo, an amusment park located on top of one of Barcelona’s mountains from where you have an excellent view of the whole city. Afterwards, we returned to Plaza Catalunya for lunch in a tasca (tapas bar) and went for another walk along the Ramblas and waterfront.

On Monday, we had to wake up at 4 in the morning, and by 8, we had already arrived in Alicante and went to work.

Barcelona is a very old and impressive European city. I, in fact, enjoyed it more than Madrid and will have to return to see more! The architecture, the culture, and the food… everything is amazing! How luck we were that we were able to board the plane in Alicante!

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who voted for the EngSci Club Elections! It was a tight race for chair, I won by only 2 points!

Congratulations as well to Megan Lund, the new Vice-Chair, Henry Shi, the new Finance Director, Thariq Shihipar, the new Communications Director, and Peter Badea, the new Athletics Director.

You can look forward to an incredible and exciting year ahead with your new Exec Team!

Raphael Sammut is running for EngSci Club Chair!

If you haven’t heard already, I’m running for EngSci Club Chair next year!

View my Facebook group, comment on this post (ask me questions), and vote in the EngSci Club Elections this Friday in the Common Room (if you’re on PEY, you can vote by e-mail).
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Here’s what I’ve done:
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  • EngSci Class Rep (twice)
  • Former Director of Communications for the EngSci Club
  • UTEK/OEC/CEC Champion for Engineering Communications
  • EngSci Leadership Working Group
  • Head F!rosh Leader and F!rosh Week Chair for Leadership Development
  • Faculty Representative for the National Engineering Summit
  • TA for Praxis I & II

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Here’s what I bring to the table:
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  • Strong relationships with key university administrators, professors and option chairs from the Division of EngSci as well as the Faculty of Engineering.
  • Loads of experience running and planning club events
  • Excellent leadership and communication skills
  • Enthusiasm, Creativity, and Spirit!
  • Fresh Ideas (see below)

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Here’s what I will do for the EngSci Club next year:
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  • Set Office Hours for Exec Members to be available in the Club Office
  • New Events to enhance the student experience for EngScis
  • Scheduling to ensure the Pop Machine is always full
  • Better collaboration with EngSci Student Groups including NScientia, the Leadership Working Group, and NSight
  • Creating new opportunities for student input and involvement on club decisions

IN SHORT: A more active, more fun, and more accessible EngSci Club!

Here are my posters, which have already been posted in the EngSci student space:

Winter in Spain

2010-02-20 Granada 010.JPG
Raphael skiing in Sierra Nevada, Europe's southernmost ski resort, at an altitude of 3000 metres above sea level.

It’s sure been a while! Here’s what I’ve been busy doing over the past few weeks:

  • Spent Christmas and New Year’s with my family in Malta
  • Continuing to study Spanish (stay tuned for original Spanish content)
  • Weekend trip to Barcelona for Carnaval
  • Weekend trip to Granada to check out the city, eat tapas, and ski in Europe’s southernmost ski resort
  • More skiing fun in the Aragonese mountains near Teruel
  • Learned how to drive a manual car

The last item involved me getting stuck in a small town and having to reverse up a one-lane cobbled-stone street with a 15 degree pitch in front of an audience of smirking residents, touring my neighbourhood multiple times to find parking and eventually racing another car to a parking spot by reversing down a one-way street, and driving up a snowy mountain road in a car without snow tires or chains.

2010-02-14 Barcelona 012.JPG
Raphael on Mount Tibidabo, with the city of Barcelona spread out below.

This weekend I’m heading off to nearby mountains to do a biking-mountain climbing race, and next week I’ll be heading off to Amsterdam and Geneva (including a skiing stopover in the Swiss Alps, of course).

That’s my quick update, as usual, stay tuned for more details! Don’t forget to check out photos.raphsammut.ca for new pictures!