Well kids, the time has come. The University of Dreams program in Barcelona, not to mention one of the best summers of my life, came to a poignant but perfect close yesterday with a dressy farewell dinner of fideua y ensalada in Eixample, followed by drinks and dancing at various bars around the Plaça Urquinaona. We laughed, we cried, we told embarrassing stories from the summer. We laughed some more. The staff told us how proud they were of us and surprised us with a hilarious slideshow of photos from the summer, certificates, and University of Dreams t-shirts, which I am wearing as I type this. The idea of a reunion is already in talks. Vegas, anyone? I think we deserve it.

The End of My BCN Week Journey

I should also mention that last weekend, my office threw a big release party at the fabulous 7 Sins bar for the newest BCN Week, which was just as well, because it had been my last day of work there the previous Thursday, and I had only just finished all my listings write-ups, photo editing, and, most notably, the full page investigative report that I’d taken on all by my big girl self – complete with layout, photos, captions, and thoroughly-researched essay. I was floored when I saw it at the party, and even a little incredulous, because it was only days before that I’d busted my butt to get done on time and get it to Lena to send along to the publishers!

I was so impressed with the whole issue, really, and if it is nerdy to read a paper from cover to cover while at a dance party, then call me nerdy. That is one paper I am proud to be a part of, and I will continue reading it for as long as it is in publication! Actually, I’ve already agreed to keep contributing to BCN Week from a distance, and ¿quien sabe? Maybe my family there will be able to help me find a permanent job in Barcelona in the near future… I am foaming at the mouth thinking about that possibility.

Ugh, this city and this internship have spoiled me!

From now on, I don’t think I’ll be able to be separated from Barcelona, or my friends or “family” here, for long periods of time. Anyway. I’ll have you know that I eventually did put down the paper to cut the rug with everyone for a while. A while turned into several hours, and when we emerged from 7 Sins, the sun was up. You know, just another night in BCN, y’all. Keepin’ it real. Some folks in this town are always “keepin’ it real” in such a way, with or without the successful release of a new issue of their magazine, and they still do okay for themselves!

Last night was the farewell dinner of course, but since a few of the participants and I were still around this evening, we decided to go to the weekend fountain show at the Plaça Espanya in front of Montjuïc, which I’d somehow never been to in all my two months in Barcelona. I am not going to attempt to sully this dazzling experience with too many words, but I will say that it was the only way to end our summer here. Now, just enjoy the photos.

As for me, this is the end of a chapter, and right now I’m going to go dream about it in   anticipation of the one I’ll be starting tomorrow.

Adéu, Barcelona. Hasta muy pronto.

Kelly Doyle-Mace was a runner-up for the 2009 World Traveler Internship and chronicled her prize for the STA Travel Blog – a spot as a University of Dreams Intern at BCN Week in Barcelona, Spain.

The past two days in Barcelona were epic. It was the Festival de Sant Joan, and at our last University of Dreams seminar, we were warned about it, it is that epic. Tali told us that on Sant Joan, the only thing that happened was that people got drunk and played with fire, and that it was probably in our best interest to stay in the residence if we were prone to nocturnal troublemaking.

On the Beach During Sant Joan

Actually, after hearing that, I admit I felt a little apprehensive and started thinking about what movie I could watch or project I could work on in my room to hide from the danger. Eventually, though, after hearing  favorable opinions from others who had experienced Sant Joan in all its glory, I decided that I would probably regret it if I stayed in.

I didn’t have any definite plans until the night before Sant Joan, when I got an e-mail from a friend of a friend who lives in Barcelona and had found out through our mutual friend that I was living here too. His name is Brandon, and he invited me to come to a Sant Joan party at his girlfriend’s house. I responded immediately with a “yes.”

I got ready and left the residence around 11 p.m., because that is when you go out in Barcelona and especially on Sant Joan.

On my walk to the FGC station, I was literally surrounded on all sides by fireworks – in the distance, granted, but still quite loud and occasionally frightening. The words “Fourth of July on crack” came to mind.

Still, I braved the booms and hopped on the train, and before long I was buzzing the door of the girl I had never met who was the girlfriend of a boy I had never met but that knew my friend back in Georgia (this is the way the world works when you’re an “expat”). They let me in, and I was thrilled when I saw the mix of people and heard the great music.

There was coca, a bread that looks kind of like a Christmas fruitcake but tastes totally different; it’s tradition to eat it on Sant Joan, and oh boy, we ate it. Once we had consumed all the food and drink and gotten our fill of dancing, we made a grand exodus from the apartment to walk to the beach for the real festivities.

Basically, the Nit de Sant Joan is an originally pagan celebration of the arrival of the summer solstice, and the way it is celebrated, as Tali said, is by drinking a lot and playing with – and in – fire. The heat (no pun intended) of the Barcelona celebration takes place at the beach. There are beach bonfires built for children to jump over, there are fireworks, firecrackers, and lunatics running around barefooted through the sand with lighters.

Totally worth it as long as you don’t get burned, which thankfully, I did not!

Kelly Doyle-Mace was a runner-up for the 2009 World Traveler Internship and chronicled her prize for the STA Travel Blog – a spot as a University of Dreams Intern at BCN Week in Barcelona, Spain.

Uh, my internship is awesome. For the past 4 weeks, I have been photographing and writing my fanny off. Seriously, that is what I do! I get to be creative with my camera and learn about photo editing and publication design and attend cool events and concerts for free and write about music and art!

Streets of Barcelona

My job has me constantly in a photographic state of mind, and I really enjoy just wandering around with my camera hoping to come upon something worth snapping.

One of the places where I find I am the most snap-happy (and one of my favorite Barcelona neighborhoods in general) is Gràcia. I’ve been spending a lot more time there than usual as I was given the Gràcia distribution route, and to me it feels like an escape from Barcelona without having to leave Barcelona. Maybe it’s because of its location – outside the ciutat vella, cornered cozily between two of Antoni Gaudí’s most celebrated and wondrous architectural feats: the Park Güell to the north and the Sagrada Familia to the east, and within perfect proximity to the enormous and commercial Avinguda Diagonal, so you can be close to the action without feeling like you have to get right up in it.

Maybe it’s because Gràcia’s streets are mostly pedestrian, with touches of urban gardening and a general sense of harmony. The buildings are not terribly tall, most of them painted in vibrant pastels, and it seems on every other block there are squares with benches and young elm trees and café tables – fantastic spots to socialize, or to go to on sunny, breezy days with the intention of doing absolutely nada. There are so many miniature galleries, bars and concert rooms, some of them so small and hidden that you have to know someone to know how to find them. There are WiFi cafés, book shops and antique shops, and delicious, authentic eateries – Lebanese, Nepalese, Japanese, and of course Spanish and Catalan.

In August, there is a spectacularly  unique neighborhood festival, the festa major de Gràcia, that is not to be missed if you happen to be around during that time. Gràcia is all about individualism and cool. Everything around you makes you wish you were an artist, and if you are an artist, it makes you want to stop what you’re doing and paint your surroundings.

It’s but one of the many neighborhoods in Barcelona where you can go to awaken all of your senses, but I particularly enjoy it because of its cool.

Kelly Doyle-Mace was a runner-up for the 2009 World Traveler Internship and chronicled her prize for the STA Travel Blog – a spot as a University of Dreams Intern at BCN Week in Barcelona, Spain.

Lounging in Barcelona

The first thing I fell in love with was the architecture. Again with the paradox: there are the curvacious, degenerated and sooted stone edifices of the ciutat vella (most notably in the impossibly old Gothic Quarter), and then there are the sharp and startling jabs of modernism; the novel, often asymmetrical splashes of contemporary experimentation that give Barcelona its kooky edge. The funny thing is that all this architectural diversity is interspersed evenly. There is graffiti everywhere and I have to admit it is every bit as impressive as the buildings it defaces.

The smells – my God – I love every one of them. Even the bad smells, because they too serve as strong reminders of all the life in Barcelona. But the good ones are almost too good to be true: on this street the smell of a bakery or churreria; on the next, a chicken roasting in someone’s kitchen, its mouthwatering aroma flirting with the sweet scent of lime trees lining the street; half a block down, the cologne on the sharply-dressed businessman as he zips to the office; now a paella sizzling on a hotplate, its manifold flavors infusing one at a time; and finally, a whiff of the sea, carried in by a lovely breeze (there are so many lovely breezes in Mediterranean cities).

As you might imagine, everything tastes as good as it smells. I still don’t have a favorite tapa yet, though. I like everything I’ve tried. I would recommend you start with patatas bravas and some pink sauce to dip them in, and of course all the jamón you can eat. Fuet, chorizo, xistorra, butifarra, and sobrassada are all staples here, and I give them all an A+. Oh hell, and then there are the grilled calamars and the lightly fried bacalao (codfish). Don’t even get me started on the seafood. Just make sure that you wash anything you eat down with a good Spanish wine. Preferably a red Rioja. Am I making you jealous? I mean, I am making myself jealous.

Kelly Doyle-Mace was a runner-up for the 2009 World Traveler Internship and chronicled her prize for the STA Travel Blog – a spot as a University of Dreams Intern at BCN Week in Barcelona, Spain.