“I knew that you knew it!”, discovering the Catalan Carnival at its finest!
Barcelona is an ideal destination at any time of the year: the weather is always warm and inviting and the colours of Gaudí’s architecture embrace you from the moment you get there. This is a story about the time of Carnival…
And that’s exactly what happened to the 26 eager participants who joined the latest event by AEGEE-Barcelona: the Carnival. The activity program was a surprise and no one knew what to expect until they arrived and got their booklets. But as anything made with ingredients like Carnival and the so-called Mediterranean way of life, the only outcome can be five unforgettable days!
The event started on February 7th with the traditional ice-breaking games and then the participants immediately had to dress up for the first time. It was time for our ‘opening ceremony’: the chic-choc party! Everybody was dressed in their smartest clothes, but with a ‘shock’ element: from wigs to XXL-sized sunglasses, quirky ties and even firefighter helmets. The fun had just begun and participants were soon aware what partying ‘til early in the morning means in Barcelona!
Getting to know the little secrets of Barcelona
What’s an event in Barcelona without visiting the most symbolic places in the city? The Gothic Quartier was invaded on Friday by thirty AEGEEans on their bikes, cycling through the city centre. Later on, after re-charging the batteries with some cava rosat (Catalan traditional sparkling wine), the participants got ready for the photo contest! Thegoal was to take a picture of themselves and local wearing pink in front of different monuments.
They also managed to visit important spots like Montjuïc and Park Güell, two places where one can enjoy the prettiest views of Barcelona’s skyline…
Carnival in Sitges, the cherry on the cake
The city of Sitges, 40km away from Barcelona, is the place where the biggest Carnival festivity of Catalonia takes place. Therefore, our AEGEEans put on their best costumes (male participants got dressed as nurses, and female participants as mechanicians!) and prepared to rock the party.
The city tour around this beautiful town on the seaside was followed by the crowded Carnival parade with floats and carriages and dancers as if it were Brazil. Even though the participants were supposed to leave just before midnight, when the last train departed, they stayed until the first train early in the morning!
On the ‘backstage’ of the event, we could check how the organisers from AEGEE-Barcelona coped with such a demanding activity program. This local has experienced some changes lately: lots of new, committed members have joined in recent months and this was their first event as organisers. Therefore, they had no choice but to learn by doing, but they also got loads of advice from the antenna’s ‘oldies’.
All in all, the Carnival experience in Barcelona turned out to be a successful, enriching experience. “We knew that you knew it!”, the organisers said. No mask could erase the smile on everyone’s faces!
Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona
Pictures provided by Dorottya Kocsis (AEGEE-Budapest) and Memduh Çinar (AEGEE-Antalya)