Hope swimmers over the years have excelled at venues throughout the United States. This summer the Flying Dutch and Flying Dutchmen teams had an opportunity to test waters afar with a trip to Spain. Coach John Patnott and 22 members of the teams travelled to Barcelona, site of the 1992 Summer Olympics, for a week of training, competition, community service and sightseeing. Team members wrote the following journal:

Posted Thursday, June 18
From Whitney Wilson, Tessa Talsma, Tommy Knecht, and Clayton Sommers
Today, in the town Barcelona, after we explored the Olympic facilities, we explored the town a bit more. We began our 45 min excursion to find the proper eating arena. We went to at least 4 restaurants before finally making up our minds. We ended up eating at a sandwich shop that turned out to be very satisfying. Afterwards, we walked around to small tourist gift shops. We all ended up buying several items. Then, we walked over Holland’s farmers market of Barcelona. The market was pure chaos. There were rows and rows of candy, fruit and vegetables, meat and fish. As our free time was coming to an end, we encountered live statues along Las Rambles that did some performing for the public. They were quite a sight to see! Then, it was time to get back on the bus and drive back into Calella.

From Claire Piester, Matt Ray, Christina Vogelzang and Brandon King
Barcelona – The city so nice we visited twice! Today we decided to tackle the capital of Cataloña in small groups. Our group decided to explore Las Ramblas and enjoy a lunch in one of the many small restaurants that cover the area. It was quite a crazy experience. The group was swept into the sea of people that were enjoying the kiosks, human statues and storefronts. While avoiding pickpockets, we took in the diversity of the atmosphere. Spanish to our left, French to our right and others all over, we certainly were not the only tourists. Las Ramblas is a shopper’s delight and a sightseeing feast.

The Olympic tour was also quite impressive. Our sneak peak into the Palau Sant Jordi (the indoor facility and home to the legendary Dream Team’s 1992 dominance) and our visit to the museum were a time machine back to the 1992 Olympics, where Barcelona was turned from humble Spanish city to modern metropolis. Seeing how much the Olympics impacted the Spaniards made our group truly appreciate the significance of the Games as more than just sports.

One more day to go! As another 22-hour trip is on the horizon, we will soak up all we can as we compete against some local club teams. I’m sure our “taper” this week will prepare us to swim our best!

From Kelsey Pierson, Alicia Tuuk, Kate Williams, Mitch Ruch, Jeff Shade
After we visited the Olympic Museum in Barcelona, we were craving American food, so we made a quick stop at Burger King. The Whopper is the same and very popular here in Spain. We continued down Las Rambles searching for souvenirs for our family and friends. We were successful at bargaining with the shop keepers and we were entertained by the many unique street performers. We ended the visit to Barcelona with some delicious gelato.

From Matt Smith and Ariel Humphry
In keeping with our exploration of Barcelona, we tried to stay within the bounds of traditional Spanish culture. We once again enjoyed copious helpings of paella, which was as much if not more delightful than before, and ended our tour by perusing El Corte Inglés. El Corte Inglés is the massive, catchall department store of Spain, much like Macy’s of the United States. We rode the escalators up to the very top (more flights than we can remember), and saw the Spanish shopping methods. El Corte Inglés carried upscale brand names that were familiar to us in the United States along with merchandise of Spanish origin. The experience was most interesting because El Corte Inglés is a true department store, which is something you really don’t see anymore in the United States.

We took our lunchtime meal at Edelmann, a tapas and paella bar and restaurant a few blocks off of Las Ramblas. There we shared a skillet of seafood and meat paella as well as vegetable paella, along with a pitcher of sangria. Paella really forces you to eat outside of your comfort zone, since it includes still-shelled shrimp and mussels along with other unique types of seafood. In both cases, thought, the rice, vegetables, and meat are cooked perfectly and the result is delicious.

From John and Phyllis Patnott
On our first trip to Barcelona on Sunday, we were not able to see the Cathedral de Barcelona, so after a quick lunch that was our first stop. In 343 A.D. during the Roman Empire a basilica was built at the site of the current cathedral. In 985 the basilica was destroyed by the Moors. It was replaced by a Roman cathedral, built between 1046 and 1058. A Roman chapel, the Capella de Santa Llucia, was added between 1257 and 1268. The church is 93m/305ft long and 40m wide. The octagonal clock towers reach a height of more than 50m. They were built between 1386 and 1393. The spire of the central tower reaches a height of 70m or 230ft.The interior consists of one wide nave with 28 side chapels. The crypt contains the sarcophagus of Santa Eulalia. The cathedral also has a beautifully carved choir. A lift in the northeast of the cathedral brings you to the top of the roof of the cathedral. The view from this vantage point was amazing!

Unfortunately, none of my photos turned out. But it is amazing to see what craftsmen were able to accomplish with only crude tools (by our standards).

Tomorrow is our last day in Spain. This has been an excellent experience. We finish the trip with a swim meet tomorrow evening against a club team in Sant Adria, Spain.

Posted Wednesday, June 17
From Ryan Nelis, Matt Ray, and Matt Smith
As we found out today, Spain’s beauty extends much further than Calella and Barcelona. We visited the towns of Besalú and Girona. We were amazed with how timeless these towns could be. The churches and buildings that we visited have been around for hundreds or thousands of years, much different than many of the places that we are accustomed to in the United States. The Cathedral de Girona was the highlight of our journey today. The Cathedral, built in 1312, housed some of the most impressive artwork that we have seen. Throughout the Cathedral we saw artwork from the 10th century up through 18th century. It was quite impressive to be part of history, as the Cathedral has been constantly evolving and being renovated since its original construction. It was interesting to see how everything in the church was rooted in the symbolism of the Catholic Church. The blending of different time periods was quite evident in the different pieces. Overall, we were amazed by the Cathedral de Girona, and this tour will stick out in our minds as a highlight of our time in Spain.

Our travels to different cities in Cataluña displayed the difference in cultures between the hustle and bustle of America, compared to the laid back “Sunday afternoon” attitude of Spain. It was refreshing to see that people still enjoy stopping and simply taking in the beautiful surroundings.

We have loved the workouts the coach has given to us, (on opposite day). We have been training with the Czech National team, as well as some other teams from Europe. The blending of cultures has made for a very interesting atmosphere at the pool. However, we think that the opportunity to train in a beautiful area, and outside (something rarely offered in Michigan), has helped us appreciate an amazing experience even more.

Posted Tuesday, June 16
From Aria Kieft and Ann Frisella
My favorite parts of today’s visit to Montserrat were the time that we spent at the top of the mountain. I was surprised and enchanted by the gracefulness of the rock formations; they were rounder and more graceful than they had looked at a distance. The views were spectacular and the breeze felt amazing after the stuffy funicular ride. The other part that I enjoyed was the basilica, the large chapel of the monastery. The inside of the building was interesting but it was so crowded that it was hard to enjoy. The courtyard outside of the basilica, on the other hand, was full of gorgeous Spanish sunlight and cool refreshing shadows. -Aria

Wrought-iron details framed statuettes depicting scenes from ancient times, parables from the Bible. They were constant reminders of the purpose the trail served as we made our way up the mountainside. These paths leading away from the basilica served the purpose of reflection—from the wandering tourists like us to those who have come many times before to walk alone in their personal reverence. The basilica was overwhelming. I’ve attempted a simple yet worthy description several times just now and have failed to capture its beauty. The sheer number of people was mind-blowing and the thought kept occurring to me that our visit took place mid-week meaning that the weekends would be even more crowded. Without a doubt many professional photographers would be consumed by jealousy over the aesthetics. -Ann

We agree that the beauty of the area was stunning and we’ve been having a fantastic time. The next few days will no doubt go by too quickly but we plan to enjoy every minute of them! -Aria & Ann

From Coach Patnott: Everyone keeps forgetting to say how much they are enjoying the workouts! Hmmm, I wonder what that means. Maybe I should make them harder. Today there were teams from Sweden and Scotland in the pool with us.

Posted Monday, June 15
From Christina Vogelzang and Claire Piester
Today was another beautiful day in Calella, Barcelona. We started the day with breakfast at 7 a.m. Immediately following, we walked over to one of the community parks in Calella to help improve the park. We were greeted by the mayor of Calella, Josep Maria Juhé i Mas, and he worked along side of us all morning. He was so pleased to have help with cleaning up the park that he invited us to a welcome party on Wednesday evening. The tasks varied from cleaning out gutters, to picking up garbage and working with cement in the playground.

The language barrier was a bit of a struggle at first, but we did our best to stay positive and find different ways to work through it. We have a few people that know some Spanish and that helped greatly, while others were trying to use hand signals to get their point across. We were at the park from eight until noon and were very warm and exhausted when we left, but were pleased that we could help the community. Our tour guide, Veronica, asked us why we wanted to do community service because it is not common for tourists. She, too, worked with us all morning. Also, members of the community came up to us while we were working and asked us various questions because they were interested in what we were doing. One man even took a picture with us and proceeded to ask if we needed anything; that made us feel that the local people really appreciate us.

The rest of the afternoon we had free time in which all the athletes went to the beach together. We swam in the Mediterranean Sea, soaked up the rays and enjoyed our time together.

At 5:30 we met to walk over to the amazing 50-meter outdoor pool located right next to our hotel. Our practice lasted just short of two hours and we were happy we weren’t alone in the pool. There were a few other teams practicing from various different countries. It was great to have the experience of swimming outdoors and we look forward to more practices to come. [From the coach: we’ll see how much they enjoy the practices :)]

Sunday, June 14
From James Richardson, Jessie Parsons and Kate Williams
On our first full day in Spain, we began with a church service in the morning. We walked to the church, and found a small open-air market selling different kinds of meats, cheeses, and breads just outside the church doors. The church was a beautiful old Cathedral built in 1747.

The service was done in many languages at the same time; we heard German, English, Catalan, Spanish, Dutch, Polish, and Latin. It was a Catholic mass, which is typical for the region, and there was an opportunity to take communion. It was exciting and interesting to be a part of a service that incorporated so many nationalities worshipping the same God.

After church, we took the bus into Barcelona itself. We first took an hour-long bus tour around the Barcelona area, where we briefly stopped by the Olympic stadium, as well as at a popular sightseeing destination to view Barcelona from above. We saw the modern part of the city, including Gaudi’s massive unfinished Cathedral the Sagrada Familia, and learned a basic overview of the rest of the city. Construction began on the Sagrada Familia in 1882 and is expected to be completed in 2026. It has been completely paid for through donations. Google it, you will be amazed.

Next, we got off the bus and walked through the old quarter, which included a gothic cathedral dating from the 13th Century and Roman columns from the original Roman settlement. We were then given a few hours to explore the city on our own in small groups; in general we explored Las Ramblas and sampled the local cuisine. We finished the day with a quick swim in the Mediterranean Sea, just a block from our hotel, before dinner.

The lifestyle in Spain is much different from the United States. For instance, public transportation is much more popular, and as a result traffic congestion is surprisingly minimal even at the center of Spain’s second-largest city. The food here consists primarily of seafood, and the local Paella dish, which is usually a bowl of rice, assorted vegetables, and seafood like mussels, scallops, shrimp, and squid is particularly good. It has been difficult to distinguish Spanish culture from the influence of the tourist trade, but we look forward to seeing more of the local lifestyle in the upcoming week.

Saturday, June 13 - From Coach John Patnott
We made it. Just 22 hours from Holland to Calella. Very few problems along the way. One lost passport, but found. He left it on the plane when we debarked in Barcelona. Fortunately he was able to get back to the plane before it left. Two lost swimmers in Barcelona, briefly, they went to the wrong baggage claim area, so we had a talk about sticking together "again" and following the group. Calella is a tourist town, but looks nice and the accomodations are good with a 10-lane 50-meter pool. Our tour manager is very nice and helpful. Rooms are small but nice. Food was good tonight.