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Trips & Activities
The several-day art history trip at the beginning of the semester is a distinctive feature of BCA Barcelona. During the first semester, the trip takes place in Leon, Astorga and Burgos, in the North of Spain. In the spring, the group goes to Andalucia, to the cities of Granada, Sevilla and Cordoba.
In addition, excursions organized by BCA have included day trips touring the medieval town of Besalu and the Olympic lake of Banyoles, visiting Cistersian monasteries in Tarragona, exploring the volcanic area of Gerona, cooking a traditional "calcotada" in a Catalan country house or visiting Picasso's museum in the land of his first cubist painting.
During the semester, as an integral part of classes, BCA organizes visits to relevant political or historical sites of the city. In the past, students have visited the History Museum of the City of Barcelona, the National Museum of Catalunya, the Miro Museum, Barcelona’s City Hall and the “Palau de la Generalitat” (the Catalan government headquarters), among others.
BCA Barcelona also organizes a semi-formal social gathering during the semester for its students and the University of Barcelona students who have studied in the US through BCA.
Student Experiences
BAC DE RODA
Student Name: Tracy Spicer, University of La Verne, Fall 2008
Organization: BAC DE RODA
Contact Information: If a student wants to join the gym, he/she should just ask the Bac de Roda front desk for assistance with membership. Bac de Roda is located at: Rambla Guipúscoa, 25, Barcelona 08018. Metro-wise, it's off Line 2 (L2) or linea morada (purple line) at the "Bac de Roda" stop. The closest connecting/linking metro is "CLOT" -- which connects the purple and red lines (or L2 and L1). The telephone number is 93-266-34-45. (http://www.bacderodasport.com)
Description: Bac de Roda offers a large fitness equipment room with treadmills, elliptical machines, weight machines, free weights, etc. There are also three fitness rooms located on the second floor with instructor-based classes available throughout the day. One of these three rooms is reserved for spinning, which was my favorite -- there were about 8 one-hour spinning classes offered every Monday through Saturday (four in the morning; four in the evening). The other two exercise rooms were used for various classes, such as yoga, aerobics, step, etc. There are also two pools -- one indoor and one outdoor -- and a large spa. I never used either pool, but from what I could tell, pool classes (i.e. water aerobics) were offered, in addition to lap swimming. For an additional fee, you could also use a Pilates room.
It's clean, well-equipped and has several classes to choose from. It's also another way to meet locals. In addition, it helps familiarize the student with a bit of Catalan. I would just warn students not to be alarmed by the Catalan -- all the gym classes are conducted in Spanish (Castellano) and all the workers speak both Catalan and Spanish. However, the gym application and some signage are in Catalan (but you can always ask for help in Castellano).
Complex Sporteiu de Guinardo
Student Name: Dan Peter Adams, Goshen College, Spring 2009
Organization: Complex Sporteiu de Guinardo
Contact Information: http://www.cemguinardo.es/cat/index.html
Description: We played soccer most of the times at Juan Miro park, near placa espanya. It was just a public park with courts that were open Saturdays. So we went down and played games with kids there. It was really relaxed. We played games to two goals then switched (but everyone did know how to play, it wasn't to learn how).
It was a great way to get out and meet Spaniards just to see how they act and respond. Mostly it was about the game though. Both soccer and the gym were ways to relax.
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