If you are thinking to go on a Erasmus+ in Barcelona this is the post for you. Because I’d like that you save some time in research and enjoy the city more, here are a few tips that may help you in your Erasmus+ experience.

1.) Short trips:

If you want to get away from the city buzz for the weekend, you can take advantage of train connections to different towns by the sea that are cheap as well. One of the ”must see” towns is Cadaques, which is beautiful and is just 3h away. There are a lot of smaller towns that are pretty and are 1h away from Barcelona. Some of them are: Roses, Palamós, Mataró, which are located in Costa Brava and are easily accessible by train. One of the must see cities is also Girona, which is located just 100km away from Barcelona.

2.) Food&drinks

If you want to try spanish/catalan food here are some must eats! I came across a few restaurants, that are worth trying them out. The first one is called Cornesa (bar de bocadas) and is located in the Plaza de Sant Jaume. They are one of the first restaurants in Barcelona to make ”bocadas”. The second restaurant is more of a bar than anything else. It’s a small bar in La Barceloneta called Leo and is one of  few traditional bars that are left. The bar has live music on saturdays (meaning random people playing) where people come to dance and sing flamenco songs. You can find some really good tapas and amazing vermouth. The third place I would recommend is called El Coral in Barceloneta. This is a restaurant that is known for its vermouth and tapas. It is a bit more touristic but still worth to see it and take a drink or two.

Fotografía de La Tasca del Corral, Barcelona

Since is my last year in the Academy of Arts (Alumni year) I decided to grab the opportunity to do Erasmus+ internship. I decided to go to Spain, Barcelona and to look for a studio/ small agency.

I found the agency Evil Love which on the first glance totally fit with what I was looking for in terms of style and projects. An open minded environment where I could grow professionally and where I can develop my skills further. I am really glad to say that the agency I choose made me a better professional and gave me a new perspective on what I want to do/focus more. I think that Erasmus+ is a perfect way to start your professional carer. It gives you a better idea in terms of what to expect in your first job. Overall I think is a great experience that helps you grow both professionally and personally.

Finally, I would like to thank the Erasmus+ programme and the International office of University of Nova Gorica for this opportunity and experience.

A few weeks after the Erasmus + contract had been signed by my University and me, I landed in one of the most popular summer-vacation-cities in Europe. Barcelona. Four months have never flown by so quickly. I spent my time taking walks by the Mediterranean Sea guessing which languages were spoken by people who were passing by, driving with metro to my favorite locations like the crowded parks in front of the Sagrada Familia, the outdoor library by the Glories Tower and to a small restaurant Montaditos, by the Placa de Catalunya, where me and my Slovenian coworker would occasionally enjoy Sangria. Since I had already known Italian language, I understood Spanish good enough. Me and my landlady had this kind of italian-spanish language exchange with some body mimicry involved to help us understand each other better. Quite a fun experience. I guess I also learned some words of Turkish since I had a roommate and coworkers from Turkey. In this time in Catalonia, as far as the events go, I went to the Summer Festival and Gracia Festival, joined the celebration of the National Day of Catalonia, traveled to Andorra, Montserrat, Tarragona and Tossa de Mar. I couldn’t wish for a better first, long term, experience abroad. Hopefully, the journey over the Slovenian hills has just begun.

During the summer, I went to northern Germany to work as an intern at the NGO AFG Spirit. I spent three months in a little village called Schipshorst, working and helping out the group with the daily administrative tasks.

AGF Spirit is an art collective, they manage a local festival and organize various cultural events in their village as well as abroad. They are a self-established group focusing on decentralized, alternative happenings. AGF Spirit works with all kinds of media: performance, film, site-specific installations and music.

Their attitude and line of work very much coincide with mine, so I am glad for the opportunity to work with them. I gained a lot of practical experiences, I learned about the obstacles and I learned how to overcome them. Beside the knowledge on the work front, it was very inspiring to be a part of the creative processes that ran in the background. The collective taught me some valuable lessons on aesthetics and politics of the contemporary cultural industry. Looking forward to further collaboration!

Summer of 2018, I got an opportunity for a two months internship under the Erasmus+ programme. As global environmental issues, animal liberation and veganism are mostly the core of my artistic expression, I wanted to use this opportunity to learn from an organisation working on these issues. Apart from that, I wanted to learn more about how film-making and activism can be aligned together.

I found and applied for internship at ProVeg Netherlands, a branch of leading international food awareness organisation working across four continents, with a mission of reducing the global consumption of animals by 50% by the year 2040. With a positive encouragement from the dean at School of Arts and support from the International office at the University of Nova Gorica, I started the internship on 13th August, 2018.

In the course of the internship, I helped with film/video-making services required by the organisation as well as worked on a 2 minutes long animation explanatory video titled “5 pros of being ProVeg”. This included pre-production, shooting and editing of the audio-visual materials. I gained hands-on experience by attaining the process while completing tasks appropriate for my skills. I also acquired working experience with the international voluntary organisation and gained knowledge on film production + animation process as well as activism through film. Overall, it was a great learning experience and I am looking forward to more opportunities as such in future.

Finally, I would like to thanks to Erasmus+ programme, International office and School of Arts of University of Nova Gorica for this opportunity and experience.

Sagar Gahatraj