My journey...the (uncut) experience & learning!

I would like to share my journey from Mumbai, India to Cartagena, Spain. This has been a journey worth sharing and will always remain an unforgettable one.

I would like to divide my this journey in three parts for my readers who will be walking through my journey as they will read over this.

1. Before landing Spain!
2. While in Spain!!
3. After flying back from Spain!!!

1. Before landing Spain!

So, my journey began like this...

I, a 24 year old girl(now) was pursuing my two years course of post graduation diploma in management with specialization in marketing from Thakur Institute of Management Studies (TIMSR), Mumbai, India; with all love and passion to learn marketing & grow. I was learning a lot during this period; academically as well as other aspects of life.

In this 2 years course period, I completed my 1 year with good satisfaction and to my surprise, on the basis of academic & overall performance, my institute choose 13 students for Erasmus+ KA-107 mobility program with Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT), out of them, I was, one of the fortunate. Soon, after a selection process from UPCT, me from Marketing specialization and one more girl from Finance specialization got selected. We, of course were the fortunate ones to get selected for Erasmus program from TIMSR-Mumbai, India to UPCT-Cartagena, Spain! (Rejoice)

We were glad to share this news with our parents who were double happy & proud than us. This was surely an amazing experience!!! Our parents stood by us and backed us to take a decision towards this huge opportunity. And sooner, I found myself doing all processes like applying for Visa, booking tickets, etc... And trust me, this process too was exciting because I was filled with all those butterflies within me, like- ‘how it would be’, ‘will I be able to manage it myself’, ‘how about food there’, ‘can’t miss on this opportunity’, etc. I was floating in all of this emotions within me, but also focusing on not letting go on this opportunity by Erasmus.

Not to forget, in this process, my pillars of strength were my mom, my dad, my institute and my professor; who stood by me throughout. Sooner got an official invitation via mail from UPCT- Cartagena, Spain regarding our 3 months mobility in their University by Erasmus+ KA-107; this was like a green signal to my dream turning to an opportunity. Then I, along with my friend & my professor (who was going to accompany us to Cartagena, Spain for helping us settle in a new place), started with all procedures, that is- applied for Visa, booked tickets, made list of things to carry for our convenience there and other shopping. This proved to be most exciting & a tedious job for us! (laughing) But yes, learned a lot in this process as I was going to travel to a new place, all of my own (without parents-for first time, for such a far & long stay travel).

23rd September’18, early morning by 02:00am flight I took off from Mumbai, India for unleashing many new experiences & to learn out of them. My flight to Madrid was via Paris. So now, it was time for a GET...SET....GO.....

2. While in Spain!!

So finally on 24thSeptember’18, I landed in Madrid at around 5:30pm; this was my first ever experience in Spain. I was like a small kid, who is surprised by seeing all the new places, things & people around; with my eyes wide open after landing (even after long hours of journey!), looking around...just as a kid looks around when experiencing something new and inexperienced.

Here on, I along with my friend and professor, got in cab from Madrid airport (around 6:00pm) to move to our destination-Cartagena(6 hours journey), but the driver assured us to take in 5 hours 30 minutes (laughs). But dear readers, we also have buses for Cartagena from Madrid, which is much cheaper than cabs, that is in 50 Euros per person. We had to hire car because of too much luggage with us as me and my friend were going to stay in Cartagena for 3 months; this cab hire costed us 300 Euros!! That is 100 Euros each person! Since we didn’t had much experience and too many luggage, we had to bear double the cost to reach Cartagena.

The cab driver dropped us at doorstep of our hotel-which was in the heart of city centre in Cartagena. Our professor had some contacts with some Indian students studying there in UPCT, Cartagena itself; out of them, one helped us get in hotel reservation, the moment we reach there. Really thankful of him to help us reserve the hotel for us, as we reached around 11:00/11:30pm there. The hotel manager helped us with our luggage to take it to our rooms; that was another good experience of Cartagena, Spain, since I landed there instead of our language being a barrier to communicate! Sooner we had our dinner in nearby restaurant(Cotton Grill) in city centre itself. Though I was so tired by the journey, I was still amused to see a complete different world and was just saying myself within...I will be living my 3 months of life here (happy & excited).

The first morning in Cartagena was a bright day. We went to UPCT to meet the dean, professor and international-relation person. The University had its own beauty and history; the architectural structure of building is rich in heritage as the University has not much changed the interiors to maintain its value & richness. Then we completed our meeting and agreement formalities; dean and professors warmly invited us & helped us guide on modules to select for our study there. Next day we went on to Bank to get our account opened there as we had went through Erasmus funding program, Erasmus would put in money to our account opened there.

We then began our house hunting process in Cartagena, as we cannot stay in a hotel for long! We were in a hotel that costed us approximately 30Euros per day. We saw for apartments with our friend there who had also helped us with this hotel. He was staying with an Indian family there and so he got to know about another Indian family who were looking to rent out a room in their apartment; so I and my friend got in touch with that Indian lady-who was really sweet and helpful; soon we finalised on that apartment for our stay in Cartagena and that day itself our professor was returning back to India; which was a nostalgic moment for me, kind of same feeling that I had while I was leaving from India and saying bye to mom & dad. But sooner the aunt in whose apartment we were staying became a good support for us there & the friend we made; we had found a small family there.

I, was then exploring the city, its people, its culture and everything looked so beautiful. Also by then I had began with my lectures. I found out on grocery stores there like- Carrefour, Mercadona, Supermercado, Dia, etc. wherein we found our daily grocery items. Everything was fresh here. I could sooner some clothes shopping too from ZARA and other outlets. ZARA clothes range were cheaper in Spain compared to India; ZARA being a local brand of Spain;  that is, suppose a dress costs 20 Euros in Spain, the same will cost around 40 Euros in India. Also shopped in Spain's one of the popular and widely spread across mall-El Corte Ingles! Coming from India,  though; initially communicating was a little barrier, but sooner we found on ways for it. I could now speak some basics, numerical in Spanish, use Google translator in some cases; and so I was able to pass by three months smoothly.

I also liked the learning culture of Spain. We were thought by most of the modules as by making comparison between Spain & India; which gave me clear understanding of a subject. Each module is thought over a week and professors have been very understanding and helping; even if they were from Spanish background, they made us understand the subject in English.

Also, I was learning Spanish language in University as an additional add on to grow myself, to know another beautiful language and to be able to understand the local there. The best part was our Spanish professor, who made this unknown language so much interesting by her amazing teaching techniques. The experience of learning this new language was best because of the Spanish professor who was young by mind and a very positive, energetic soul.

Sooner, while doing my studies there (as per the schedule given by institute), we had an 2 weeks gap between two modules in the beginning of November. We decided to tour around in Spain in that 10 days with us. The best part of this tour was nothing was pre-planned; we en route our next destination while reaching/ being/ exploring one. So this tour was with the one who came along with me from India on this Erasmus program; also our newly made friends in Cartagena. After we landed & toured one city, from there we would make our stay arrangements of next destination from: Hostelworld site/app. We would be looking out for buses/ trains/flights availability and price from: GoEuro app. Also, we knew about: Ryanair site/app that helps us with cheapest flight options.

a)     Valencia

My first place of visit from Cartagena was Valencia; this city had its own brightness and good positive vibes. We got our bus ticket(ALSA) from Cartagena via GoEuro app to Valencia for some 20-30Euros. It takes about 4 to 4 and half hours to reach Valencia from Cartagena. We got in bus at around 5:00am and reached Valencia around 9:30am. It’s said that many well to do people of Spain love residing in Valencia-it’s one of the beautiful places; a good combination of nature and city life. It’s a place of joy for all & I truly loved the place. I travelled around Valencia for a day and witnessed this beautiful city; our common place to munch around would be Subway apart from trying the local delicacies there. And next morning, I along with my friends, headed for Valencia bus station to move to our next exciting destination- Barcelona! We had already booked our bus seat(ALSA-from GoEuro) & hostel room(from Hostelworld) the previous night; bus (Valencia to Barcelona-a 4 to 5 hours journey) costed around 30Euros each.

b)     Barcelona

So now I was in the busy land of beautiful art and architecture-Barcelona; it reminded me of Mumbai, India somewhere, by seeing the busy streets (laughs). Barcelona, as expected, has been a very happening city. I stayed here for 2 days with my friends in our hostel room. We loved roaming around this city. We went to Sagrada Familia-to witness the large unfinished Roman Catholic church. Its history attracted me to visit this incredible place. There were many other tourists too, who had come here. I was thrilled to see this magnificent architecture!

We then travelled around the city; found one Indian restaurant-had our dinner there and back to hostel room. Next day we walked up to visit the most famous-Park Guell! To visit inside, we have to book ticket for the same. There are ticket counters available; here, per person ticket was around 9 to 10 Euros; whereas we can get same ticket for approx. 7 Euros, if done online. So, we decided to make online booking of our tickets to visit in here. This looked like one beautiful wonderland to me. The colourful small ceramic used wisely was most important eye catchy part of this park.

Then we went to one of the famous shopping street in Barcelona- La Rambla. I had heard of this populous street, so had to visit there. This seemed to be one stop shopping place for a shopping lover like me! I went in store to shop and could see many locals and equally many tourists around who had come here on this street to take most out of it. Now, it was time for dinner; and we found our way to an Indian restaurant close-by! (laughs) Enjoyed Indian flavours after long-12-15 Euros for one meal plate & then took cab back to hostel room. We went in our room, planned out our next destination-booked hostel room & bus for us-ticket per person costed some 8-10 Euros; next morning we moved to Barcelona bus station to en-route to Zaragoza which was approximately a 2 hour journey.

c)     Zaragoza

Here I was...in Zaragoza now! Because I was travelling in the month of November-winter season; the moment we stepped out of Zaragoza bus station to get in cab to reach our hostel, it was breezy out there, so much that we thought we would fly off if stood there for long (laughs)! We reached our hostel room-got fresh-moved out to have food (saw Kebab restaurant there, and went in); had pizza there for approximately 7 Euros per pizza. Travelled around the city for a day and enjoyed this beautiful place to the most. And decided our next destination that is bus & hostel room was booked. From Zaragoza to San Sebastian, bus costed us 20 Euros approximately; making us reach there in 3 and half hours. We had local Spanish breakfast (that is my all time favourite-Churros-a Spanish dish); travelled around this beautiful city. Visited Nike outlet to shop there and later went in to Wok 7 Chopsticks restaurant in the mall there itself and then moved to the bus station.

d)     San Sebastian

So now I was here...perfectly known as “a resort town”- San Sebastian! Everything appeared beautiful here. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. This place looked unreal...mesmerizing...a dream place to me! I couldn’t take my eyes off from the beauty of this place. I enjoyed the bus trip the most while coming to and going from San Sebastian. We walked down to see the beautiful beach there and moved around this beautiful city. I saw this beautiful San Sebastian Cathedral. It looked magnificent in middle of this beautiful city; that has beautiful combination of Spain and France-being at the border of this two beautiful countries. The weather during that period was also pleasant which made everything more beautiful and memorable! Here on, we then decided on our next destination. This was Bilbao. Looked out for bus and hostel there. ALSA bus from San Sebastian to Bilbao is a 1 hour 30 minutes journey-costed us around 7 Euros.

e)     Bilbao

Evening around 7:00pm we reached our next destination city-Bilbao. This city is amazing because of the work done around the city; it’s a beautiful result of contemporary & modern work done. We checked in our hostel room, and rested for the night and next morning were set to explore the city! Walked on the bridge and church of Saint Anthony; such a beautiful scenic view this was! Witnessed one of the known- iconic Guggenheim museum. This was, as thought and heard of! Iconic!! That larger-than-life puppy statue outside was heart-touching. And how can I miss on witnessing the real football stadium after being in Bilbao...and Spain to be precise!!! We walked down to Athletic Club; the football club since long time. There we got a very sporting and knowledgeable lady guide, who took us inside on a stadium-tour. I felt like actually seeing a football player’s life. In India, cricket is a big sport-similar craze for football was seen in Spain. This stadium has memorable glorious story of its own to cherish on.  We then had food and planned our next destination-Madrid; booked our bus and hostel room for Madrid. ALSA bus from Bilbao to Madrid is a 4 hour 30 minutes journey-costed us around 30 Euros.

f)     Madrid

Finally we were at the last destination of our trip, the heart of Spain, the capital of this beautiful country-Madrid. This was another busy city apart from Barcelona in Spain that reminded me of cities of India-like Mumbai & Delhi. This appeared at a shopping hub for the most. Here, we toured in the city, went in to a park nearby. Shopped in malls of the city. There we saw Calla de Alcala, Plaza Mayor and Royal Palace and Almudena Cathedral. This history unfolds such a beauty for any local to be proud of, and any tourist to amaze on. This city totally appeared as heart of Spain with such vibrant history and innovation. Here on we took a final bus to our place of stay in Spain-Cartagena. This costed us around 35 Euros.

Though tired physically after so much travelling; heart and mind was fresh and joyful as it had registered all memories of this trip within, to cherish throughout ahead in life! We had this wonderful trip in Spain to some of its beautiful places-In 10 days, had a mini tour within Spain to 8 destinations. This has been undoubtedly the best of my experiences. We spent approximately 400Euros in this trip; which is way best deal for us if we plan this trip otherwise! I was at cloud 9thafter this trip!!

And we were back to Cartagena, took rest for 2 days and then I was back to classroom with a fresh mind to learn new thing. Attended some great guest sessions by industry people. We were taken for Wine-industry visit and were explained the process were interestingly and so days passed by and our modules got done. We were fortunate enough to see  the Christmas in Spain; and on 26thDecember’17, we had our flight back to Mumbai from Madrid, which goes via Paris. This day my heart was heavy to leave this beautiful city and country.

3. After flying back from Spain!!!

Treasured this beautiful journey experience in my heart for a lifetime now. Remembering those days still bring joy and smile on my face.

Sooner, I had to get back to my normal life here in Mumbai, India. Appeared for our exams, applied for job, got selected in one of the known Ad agency and thus life moved great. There is immense to learn, explore and grow if you become associated with Erasmus program. I can happily & proudly say that Erasmus program has benefited me in growing a lot; more in terms of personality.

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