The "Trek and Buti" Experience

‘Trek and Buti’ was an event organized by some of our professors and students, whereby all the Bachelor students and professors went on a hike through a mountain outside of Barcelona, called Santa Creau d’Olorda.

You probably understand ‘trek’ but buti, maybe not.  It is a play on the word ‘butifarra’, a typical Catalan sausage.  It is really good, and it was basically what we ate at the end of the trek, or hike.  Everyone paid six Euros, enough to cover all the costs of the food and drinks, and it was completely worth it.

One of our professors walked the trail the weekend before to test it out and make sure we didn´t all get lost, although there was a group of students who got lost and showed up at the final destination two hours after everyone else.  

So, on our trek through Santa Creau d’Olorda we followed a particular trail that took us up the mountain through rough terrain and paths where trees were sometimes blocking the way, only making it more adventurous and memorable.  We took in the majestic landscape as we got higher and higher, stopping for many photo opportunities.  We were so far out of the city, it was a very nice break from the bustling city; the air smelled sweeter and fresh.  We were surrounded by nature, bountiful with flowers and trees.  

After walking for about two hours we reached the main picnic grounds where some of our professors were already there, barbequing the butifarra sausages  and cooking Catalan beans.  They had also brought beers, cranberry juice, soda, and had set up the tables with all the necessities like plates and forks.  One professor even brought a 5 litre jug of very nice wine to share with everyone.

Once we were all there, our Student Council president, Gabriel Fonseca, from Panama, gave us one of his motivational speeches thanking us for coming and basically giving us the ‘go’ to start eating.  We all sat together at the picnic tables eating and drinking.  Afterwards, some students had brought footballs and Frisbees, so they began playing some made-up games and most everyone participated, making it really funny and fun.  It was really neat seeing everyone together, outside the classroom and outside of the city.  

Around 16h we started going back, although many of us, me included, could have stayed there longer, as we were having so much fun.  Nevertheless we had to make it back before it started getting dark as the trails do not have lights!  It was a memorable and really fun excursion that I would love for us to do again.  Hopefully I will have the opportunity to write about more excursions like this one!