Greetings to everyone, my name is Saatvik Gupta and I am a resident in Inèdit Barcelona’s accommodation in Rambla de Badal, Barcelona. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I am a citizen of India and I have been staying in Spain for almost 1 year and 2 months now.
A lot of well-wishers and everyone in general have been asking me various questions about Barcelona and many other parts of Catalonia and Spain in general, having to face another lockdown and the city going under a curfew during the night hours of 10pm to 6am. The state of the things and the current predicament we all are facing has given me inspiration to write another blog about my experience of coping up with the pandemic and lockdown part two.
The government of Catalonia has imposed certain restrictions which includes closure of bars, restaurants, fitness centres and cultural venues for an indefinite period but there is a lot of talk going on around that these restrictions shall last for 1 month more or less (EDIT: These days everything has already started to open progressively) . There have been several protests by the people against this decision but the government have been advised by health and safety professionals that it is in the best interest of everyone to stay at home for one more month in order to tackle the spread of virus. Personally, I think it’s a good decision taken by the government keeping in mind that Christmas is just round the corner and it would be a shame to have public places closed during the most cheerful and festive time of the year. Although, I have to admit that ever since the gyms have been shut down, I’m really finding it hard to cope up because earlier I used to start my day with a 3 hour session at the gym early in the morning which gave me a huge sense of satisfaction first thing in the morning and motivated me to take on all the challenges the day has in store for me.
Nevertheless, I have strengthened my resolve even more than before and have started body-weight training at home thanks to huge open spaces present in the patio of my Inedit’s accommodation. Moreover, Inedit makes sure that our accommodation is cleaned once every week and our cleaning lady Jeisy, makes sure that we have enough supplies of all cleaning and sanitary products available to us. Our maintenance guy, Alberto makes sure that everything is up to speed in our accommodation. Here is a picture of the workout I did with my roommate the other day.
Apart from the above-mentioned restrictions, everything is operating normally and a lot of people are out on the streets, wandering the city out on the weekends, not letting these surreal times get the better of them and when you see how highly optimistic, positive and energetic people are around you, it’s impossible to keep you spirit down.
On the weekdays, after completing my studies and work-related obligations, I sometimes go to the Park Industrial in Sants to sharpen my football skills and have a really nice time under the shade of the numerous trees and enjoy the greenery of the park. I also visit the park adjacent to Arenas near Plaça España where I practice some acrobatics which I started learning three months ago. Here is a snapshot of the place I train at.
On the weekends, I often go and visit all the places with exquisite scenic beauty around Barcelona which includes Mount Tibidabo, Bunkers de Carmel, Castle de Monjuic and La Barceloneta just to mention a few. No matter how many times you visit these places, every time is a completely different experience altogether and each destination has several routes leading to the summit so you can never run out of fresh and exciting adventures.
Last weekend on Saturday, I went to visit Castle de Monjuic along with my room-mate Otto and we had loads of fun. We prepared some lunch to carry along with us and had a mini picnic on the route leading to the castle. In the middle of the route we found a decent slope where we practiced some acrobatics and got ourselves some beautiful pictures in the process. Here is a picture of my attempted backflip…
On reaching the top of the mountain we saw the jaw dropping architecture and standstill beauty of the Castle de Monjuic. The Castle has huge historical relevance in the independence of Barcelona and Catalunya and was used for keeping an eye on the entire city and any perils emerging from the sea. The entire castle is surrounded by numerous cannons and that is where I got myself a picture of a lifetime.
On Sunday, we went to La Barceloneta to train on the beach. First, we thought about taking a bus or a metro to our destination but changed our mind and decided to run the entire route which is almost 5 km long. Sounds a lot right, but believe me when I say that running in a city like Barcelona while admiring the natural beauty is relaxing rather than anything else. After completing our workout, we went to take a dip into the icy cold water of the sea which is apparently good for your health and recovery. Here is a picture from that day…
At the end I would like to say that although the times are hard and tough, we should not let our resolve down and continuously keep on working towards improving ourselves. Soon the government of Catalunya will lift these restrictions, and everything will get back to normal and everyone would be able to enjoy the festivities just around the corner. My message to everyone right now would be to keep calm and tackle these adverse circumstances and instead of seeing it as a threat, we should think of it as an opportunity for self-development.
As a wise man once said “Tough times don’t last, but tough people do…”
Living coliving is more.
More than a room.
More than a shared apartment.
More than greeting your flatmates in the morning ...
To live coliving is to find the place where the colivers are like you and want the same as you.
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