Guess who’s coming to dinner?

In October, students in the Executive MBA program crossed the world for a week of international study. The big trip is a new compulsory elective that takes students to one of Smith’s international business school partners.

For its inaugural run, students could choose to visit ESADE Business School in Barcelona or the National University of Singapore. Due to pandemic restrictions, students were set to attend class virtually this year. But luckily, travel to ESADE got the green light just in time.

On their trip, the EMBA students travelled back and forth between ESADE’s two campuses for classes on geopolitics and the European Union. In their downtime, they took part in a scavenger hunt around the city, a Spanish cooking class and a winery tour.

They also had a special Smith tour guide: Professor Ricard Gil!

Gil, who teaches managerial economics in the EMBA, grew up in Barcelona and just happened to be in town while on a sabbatical. He treated the students to a tour of the Gothic Quarter and trendy neighbourhood of El Born, followed by dinner at one of his favourite restaurants: Set Portes in the district of Ciutat Vella. “This restaurant is a classic that’s been open since 1836 and showed students what old spaces looked like back in the day,” he says, noting that, if you’re ever passing by, you should try the house paella, one of the restaurant’s specialties.