Barcelona

The first trip of the semester was to Barcelona, Spain. Andrew went to a sustainability conference at the beginning of the week and then the three of us attended ITMA, a machinery convention, at the end of the week. In between we had time to explore!

Barcelona

After getting settled into our hostel on the other side of the mountain, we went out to explore the city. We saw typical (beautiful) European buildings, cathedrals, and squares and some neat things specific to Barcelona. There is a hill called Montjuic that overlooks the entire city of Barcelona with great views and a great hike up all the stairs. On the other side of the hill is the Olympic stadium and more residential areas that Debbie and I got lost in. After finding our way out of the steep, winding streets, we sat down for a delicious lunch at an Italian restaurant where the owner was from Venice.

View from Montjuic

Since we were there the whole week, we decided to use one whole day to visit the beach. On the way we found a great local tapas restaurant and then hit the sand! Although I got a very limited amount of color, the day was so nice and peaceful and warm!! Compared to the weather in Denmark, this was paradise.

Deb at the beach

During the week we went to quite a few Gaudi buildings. Antoni Gaudi is a genius of an architect and completed most of his works in Barcelona. Several of his projects were unfinished at his death and are still being worked on today. One of these, and my favorite building we saw, is the Sagrada Familia which is an elaborate cathedral that is currently only 60% finished and is expected to be complete in 2026. I didn’t know before, but much of Gaudi’s design was inspired by and directly reflects nature. Tree trunks are strong so he used a similar column design to hold up the huge cathedral ceiling. The trunks eventually span out into branches and finally leaves that cover the ceiling. The columns are made of different types of stone and all of the windows will eventually be filled with stained glass. There are three façades representing the birth, death and resurrection of Christ. Each is decorated uniquely and the final façade of the resurrection scene will be the last aspect of the entire building to be constructed. Without seeing it for yourself, the building is very hard to describe.

Death Facade side

Columns inside

Trio at Sagrada Familia

Leading up to the altar

The other two Gaudi buildings we toured were La Pedrera and Casa Batllo. Both were families’ homes and a distinct contrast compared to surrounding buildings. Both had elaborately decorated chimneys and ventilation systems on the roofs that resulted in function and design. Bones, shells, plants and animals inspired Gaudi and you can see the components throughout all of his work. Needless to say, learning about Gaudi was probably my most favorite part of Barcelona.

Roof of Casa Batllo

Outside of Casa Batllo

Roof of La Pedrera

The main reason we chose Barcelona as a destination was the International Textile Machinery conference that was going on in mid-September. Professors from COT were attending the conference and it was a great opportunity for the Trio to represent students at the COT booth and be exposed to an enormous part of the industry. Huge machines and booths filled at least eight exhibition halls ranging between weaving, dyeing, sustainability, yarn and chemicals. Intertextile in Shanghai was great, but ITMA had such a heavy focus on machinery that it was completely different. It was nice to connect with the college and tons of alum throughout the show. We also sat in on a sustainability conference sponsored by Textile Exchange to hear what companies are doing and where they think the future of sustainability lies. The first night Andrew, Deb and I went to a festival and dinner with someone we met from Patagonia and his wife and had a great time seeing traditional Spanish festival dances. The two days ended with a very nice Spanish dinner with everyone from the college and some cava (sparkling Spanish wine).

Leaving ITMA

Hanging out with Ryan and Meridith

Note: Sangria accompanied almost every lunch and dinner meal. Yum.

Sangria!!