Things to know about Barcelona

Finding a flat in Barcelona was difficult for us. We were nervous about sending money to people we did not know and signing a lease for a place we had never seen before. Many people sent us links to hostels and sites for apartments. The one we felt most comfortable using was the Barcelona housing Service for Students (BHSS) website: www.bcn-housing-students.com. We looked at the addresses and prices to find the closest and least expensive flat we could find. We used mapquest to see how far away the flats were from the pharmacy building. There were some that were reasonably priced but we waited longer than we should have to sign up so we were stuck with a more expensive 3 bedroom apartment. The big upside to it is that it is about 15 minutes walking distance to the school. I sugest registering with the site as soon as you can and getting your personal code then actually applying for the flat you want in the 20 day period prior to arrival. After they approve your flat you will need to have a letter from the Univeristy of Barcelona saying that you are affiliated, a copy of your passport, as well as payment ready to fax to the school within 48 hours of the conformation. As long as you get these ready in advanced it should be no problem. Also be prepared to pay the full rent for the 3 months you are there as well as a 1 month deposit which will be used to pay for your utilities durring your stay. Any money that is not used up by the utilities will be returned to you.

When we arrived in Barcelona we simply grabbed a taxi from outside of the airport and told them to go to BHSS's address, which can be found on their webiste. After signing the lease the landlords gave us the keys and the address, along with a map. We got another cab to our apartment and went over everything inside with our landlords. The place is beautiful. It was even nicer than the pictures that they had on the website and there was hot water and the beds are actually quite comfortable.

One large challenge Renée and I had after we arrived in Barcelona was communication through the internet and telephone. Neither of us had a telephone that worked in Spain and our flat did not have internet.

The people in our lab were very helpful. They showed us where the public computers are in the school and they told us where we could get a phone that would work in spain. I had brought a hand held web browser hoping to use a free wiifi connection. I had assumed that one could use the wireless connections at the school or at any Starbucks. In order to use the wireless at the school one needs to be a student enrolled at the University of Barcelona. The starbucks here do not have wireless either. While we were wandering one night we found a coffee shop in Las Ramblas that had Wiifi but were unable to find it again when we went back.

Getting a telephone was very easy. On Diagonal ave (the main street in Barcelona) there is a store called Vodafone. Renée and I bought a phone with a prepaid sim card for about 29 euro. The cheapest way we found to call home was to buy an international phone card. There are pay phones everywhere in Barcelona that the cards can be used on. 6 euro gets you about 50 minutes of talk time to the United States. The only challenging part is finding a pay phone that is not on a busy street.

Getting around the city is very easy. There are trams, busses and the Metro that goes everywhere you would want to go. They are very clean and easy to use. I suggest getting a metro map when you can so that people can point out the good stops for you to explore. Maria Cristina or Palau Reial are the closest stops to the Pharmacy Building. There is a nice mall at the L´Illa tram stop on Diagonal that has a lot of things that you may need. The Corte de Ingles is also on Diagonal and throughout the city but contains more expensive stores that other smaller stores. There is an easy to reach beach at Vila Olímpica that is nice to visit. For a large turist area Catalunya or Liceu are good places to start.

Over all we are now getting to know the area around our flat very well. The area seems safe and we hope to go to a futból game soon. Especially since the FC Barcelona stadium is only a 5 minute walk from our apartment!