Adventures in Barcelona as a Local/Tourist

By Guest
21 January 2014

Ilana, a civil engineering major from the US, has been an intern on Connect-123’s Barcelona program since September. 

El drac

A few weeks ago I acted as a tour guide for my parents in Barcelona. I had been here for two and a half months and was surprised at how well I’d come to know a good portion of the city. At this point I have stopped considering myself a tourist, and started thinking of my situation here as temporary resident.

But I must say, it was a lot of fun to be a tourist again!

On the days I was not working, I took my parents to all sorts of attractions – everything anyone spending a week on Barcelona would want to see. When I had to work I gave them advice on when to see which places. I think we covered just about every major site in Barcelona – the Gaudi apartments, La Sagrada Familia, the Palau de la Musica Catalana, and so much more.

I had the most fun when we went to see sights that none of us had seen before. There were places I hadn’t heard of, like Torre Bellesguard, a Gaudi building way out in Sarria, and places I just hadn’t had the chance to visit, like Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, which requires a guided tour because it is presently under construction. I think the hospital was a favorite sight for all three of us during the week. It was definitely one of the best things I saw with my parents, especially being that it was new for me as well. The colors were just fantastic as was the whole layout of the place. Had we not had a guide explaining all of the uses for the buildings, it would have been difficult to believe a place so beautiful and elaborate was a hospital. And were it not for my parents’ visit, I probably never would have gone to what is now one of my favorite sights in Barcelona.

Hospital de la Santa Creu

At night, when we would go out for dinner I felt like a pro explaining the menu. These are things I hadn’t even realized I was becoming accustomed to while I was here. But with ease I could explain what tortilla española, or spatatas brava, or pan con tomate was.

It was amazing to me how much I could tell them about the city. Even small details, things I had probably read in guidebooks weeks ago or found while googling some site came to mind while I showed my parents around.

I am positive that quite a bit of my city knowledge has come as a result of the theme of my internship – making maps of Barcelona. The company for which I intern is based in a cowering space. The project that I have been assigned, and have thoroughly enjoyed is to create maps for the coworkings in the area. I have walked a good portion of the city collecting data on the points of interest surrounding each coworking. I can navigate this city much better than I would have been able to were it not for this internship.

All in all, my internship and my time here combined to make me a fairly adept tour guide for my parents, and proved to me how well I have come to know Barcelona during my temporary residence here.