Jacob is spending his fall semester at the University Autonoma de Barcelona. Here he shares some photos of his explorations.
One day after having a field trip in the wonderful MNAC museum I decided to do a little exploring on my own. I followed a road behind the museum and happened to see a pair of escalators going even further up the hill. As soon as I reached the top of the first escalator I saw a statue of an Olympian holding the Olympic torch. It was then I realized I had wandered up to where the 1992 world Olympics were held.
I kept venturing up the hill and walked through an open gate where I reached a very spacious and open park/square/plaza. (I’m not sure what it’s called) This was the first time I could really relate something from Barcelona to my home state of Wyoming, because of the wide open spaces and incredible views. There were only a few other people in this entire huge area. It felt like I had the whole place to myself and it was the first time I realized that not all places in the big city are crowded. It was an important moment for me as I was still adjusting to the city life, and trying understand what it was about. Time just seemed to stand still up there, and I felt a deep sense of serenity knowing that if I needed a breather from the rush of the big city I had a place to fall back on.
Since then I have found several other incredible spots where I can escape to, but I will never have that initial feeling when I first came here and realized how diverse and open some parts big cities can really be. This was an eye opener for someone who has never spent more than a week in a city with over 60,000 people before my experience abroad. (I have a couple other photos I could send of this place!)
