Erasmus Experience in Barcelona, Spain by Iulian

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Why did you choose to go to Barcelona, Spain?

I never planned to study in Spain. I wanted to go to Germany, but I was surprised to see that I could go to Barcelona and after checking the university (Universitat de Barcelona) in international ranking I decided to come here. It was the best university in the list.

How long is the scholarship? How much money do you receive to help you with living costs?

The scholarship is about 4 months long. I received 2. 000 euros. That can be enough if you don't want to live in style...

What is the student lifestyle like in Barcelona?

I really don't know... I studied Philosophy and the students from my faculty organize a lot of social events (meetings, discussions, sometimes protests). There is a lot of alternative culture at my faculty. But is not the same at other faculties of universities - like UPF. Some people go to class, then to the library. You have everything that you need to study at the university (free Wi-Fi, a place to eat, to relax, etc. ).

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Would you recommend the city and the University of Barcelona to other students?

It depends. Come here only if you understand that Catalonia is not Spain. Come here only if you want to pay for everything that you want to visit (a church, a park, a museum). You can also get free entrance sometimes, but it's kind of rare. I didn't consider the city so beautiful; I wasn't amazed by it. Come here if you like multiculturalism. You can find areas like El Raval where the majority of the population is from Asia (India, Pakistan, China, etc. ), the clothes hang from the balconies, the streets are dirty and have a certain smell. But are other certain areas of Barcelona where the architecture is more beautiful and the people living there are mostly catalan. Barcelona is truly a global city and you can find a mixture of old and new everywhere - that mixture is not always aesthetic.

What is the food like?

Don't know. I haven't tried local food. I've cooked my own Spanish omelette and it was good, but I don't trust the food that they serve in bars or restaurants - I've seen the back door of many of these places in the Gothic Quarter and I didn't liked what I saw. I haven't tried tapas, because they look like they stayed for hours/days on the plates before someone ordered them. One thing I have to say: the cuisine here is different and not so diverse. I mean, soup here is like a cream... which for people from the East Europe it's hard to understand. They don't have sour cream. Or other stuff. The bread is bad here. And made with plastic probably (I've kept a bread for a week in the bag and it was like new, it didn't get hard like natural bread. It was like rubber, really. The most scary thing that I've seen in my life. But get the just from the bakery - it will cost more. Another thing: I expected that the fruits and vegetables will have a better quality than in Romania - where I am from. I was terribly wrong: the tomatoes are terrible, at least those from Murcia. The bananas are almost always green. The oranges have no taste).

Did it cost you to find your accommodation in Barcelona?

No.

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How much does it cost to live in Barcelona?

You can find accommodation at about 200 euros per month with bills included, but you have to search some time for this kind of rooms. Usually, accommodation for a nice room is 250-300 euros. Before moving here, please keep in mind the following thing: most rooms in Barcelona for that price don't have exterior windows. But to an interior small patio, so in the room will always be dark. The walls are thin, which means that you can hear everything that happens in other rooms, apartments - including people having sex. Once, the apartment that I was living in started to smell of fish, because the women from the other apartment was cooking fish with her kitchen window open. If your neighbour has a baby then you are going to have a bad time. Sometimes you will hear fireworks - just for no reason. That can be fun for the first time, but after that, when you have other stuff to do, you just are not in mood for fireworks.

Is the language easy to get to grips with? Are there language courses available at the University?

Yes, the university provides Spanish and Catalan courses. If you are an English native, you can exchange your language for Spanish or Catalan lessons. People from Barcelona are only now just starting to understand that English is useful and that they should learn it (they still voice over the movies! ).

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What's the easiest or most economical way to travel to Barcelona from your city?

I don't really know the cheapest way to come to Barcelona, but I recommend cycling to travel around the city. But... I will not recommend using the local system - Bicing. For it, you have to pay an annual fee of 50 euros. You can use a public bike for 30 minutes and you have to leave it at a station in the city, but sometimes the station is full and you have to find another station to leave the bike. Someone searched a station for at least one hour! For 50 euros, I recommend you buy a second-hand bike. Here, there are a lot of bike lanes and the city is bike friendly. The fact that people like to steal bike parts is another story. Just get a bike chain.

Where would you recommend to go on a night out in Barcelona?

Barcelona is full of bars. If you want to be like everybody else, then you can go somewhere in La Rambla. My advice is to just explore and go to some places that you find on your way. You never know what an awesome place you can find on a place, hidden street. The prices range without any logical argument: I've had beers with 1 euro in Via Laietana and with 2. 50 euros in El Born. Or if it's in a turistic area then it's more expensive - and sometimes is not worth it.

What good cultural sites are there to visit?

Every cultural sites are good to visit - but it costs and sometimes you have to wait in line. For some places you can buy online tickets and just do it. In some places there is a limit of people that can visit in the same time. I recommend El Born Cultural Centre: it's free and you can see from above old areas of the city.

Is there any other advice that you could give to students going to Barcelona in the future?

Don't get your hopes high, Barcelona is not that awesome - maybe just in the summer. If you want something here, you have to pay for it. Keep in mind that there are not a lot of parks in the city, mostly outside of it. Between 13-16 some shops are closed for siesta (after 3 months here, I still haven't adjusted to this thing). The water is also terrible, so you'll have to spend money also for this. You can't buy alcohol from shops after 23:00. But the pakis sell beer for 1 euro on the streets... Come to Barcelona only if you are the kind of person who likes going to the beach a lot.

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