May 09, 2012

Trip 22: Barcelona, Spain

Trip date: March 9 - 12, 2012

Barcelona faces the Mediterranean Sea and is the capital of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain. It's a city full of life, full of beauty and full of art.

All in attendance: Kristen and Eric

I was originally going to leave Spain untouched this year. With so many mixtures of different cultures and cities, I thought Spain would be better suited for a longer visit in the future to do the country justice. Morocco is another country I was also saving for another year. Throw in a cheap easyjet flight from Basel and the temptation of warm weather in a city that's never boring and here I am eating up my words.

A cozy 71.90 CHF buys you a blissfull weekend in Barcelona. We arrived just before 8 pm on Friday out of the airport bus to Plaça d'Espanya. We took the metero to our hostel (AWA Happy Hostel, 15€/night) was located right on La Rambla.The hostel owner - who lives in the hostel as well introduced himself as "Gold" and the only way I can think to described him is as 'real G'. Cue: Vodka shots and true religion jeans.

That night we star gazed by the water and I saw a UFO (most likely) or low flying plane (potentially likely)


The next morning we woke up because it was unbarely hot in our room and then, after some excellent croissants and coffee, set out for a Gaudi awed day. We passed by the Casa Batllo (in my opinion, Gaudi's most recognizable building) and Casa Amatller, which were both right behind our hostel. Up the street was the wavy Casa Mila. The list goes on and on of how many Gaudi buildings are in Barcelona. Even with 3 days, we didn't even come close to seeing them all. Even the lampposts that dotted the streets were works of art here.

We went to try to find the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau but ended up at an actual hospital. At that point we were really close to Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, another one of Gaudi's designs and still to this day, being constructed. It is expensive to go in (even for students) but it's worth every eurocent since the whole construction is funded by these admissions and donations and the whole thing is breathtaking and stunning.




I don't know why they even pretend it's a church because it's not like anyone would be able to concentrate on a mass while their eyes were dancing around in every direction.

In the late afternoon, we went to Park Güell and shared some beers, cider and strawberries in a dreamy beautiful park. There was one busker here that performed what can only be described as "sweet love making" to his guitar as we overlooked a grand view of Barcelona city.


That night we catch a glimpse of the phallic Torre Agbar up close and got boozy of cheap gross wine on the beach. We took a wrong turn and found ourselves on a street full of prostitutes. We also got way so many offers to buy marijuana at certainly questionable quality.

The next day, we checked out of our gangster hostel and got a private accommodation at Ona Barcelona (19€/night) for our last night.

We then went to the old town/Gothic quarter of Barcelona. Flamenco is a dance usually associated with Spain but not in this region. Instead, it's the Sardana which is popular here. What's more is that it's performed for free in front of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia/Barcelona Cathedral. Inside the cathedral, I was pleasantly surprised to find a gaggle of geese! (Christmas dinner perhaps?)

The whole day was filled with wandering around the old town and drinking up the street art. There were some outdoor markets selling sensational oilves, candy, fruit and sensational everything. We ate lunch at Vegetalia and it was delicious.




We went to the Picasso Museum which is free on Sundays, yay! Then we went to Parc de la Ciutadella and there was more art and soul in this park than perhaps the entire country of Canada. Every type of niche of music, sport, free expression, play, fun, etc etc etc was in overflowing surplus in this park: a group of 40 people slack-lining, people beat boxing, giant bubble blowing, full bands jamming and family picnics and Sunday afternoon sunlight naps in between. It is in this park that I realized I will never be gifted enough to even consider living in Barcelona.



We walked along the water and saw the 1992 Olympic buildings. Highlights include the Fish sculpture by Frank Gehry.

Dinner that night were vegetarian tapas at Restaurente Sesamo. Highlights included beet and hazelnut gnocchi and a gin and tonic menu that include about 7 choices in gin and 7 choices in tonic. Afterwards, we wandered a bit and found this crazy amazing jazz group playing in a bar from the streets. The next thing we know, were inside and our eyes are transfixed. We weren't the only ones either - pretty soon there were people pressed against the window from the outside just to hear them play until the end.



Final day in Barcelona was the Monday and there were still so many things we couldn've done! We decided to go for a tour inside Casa Batllo. Expensive but beautiful - not as much as the Sagrada Família but it was nice to learn a thing or two about Gaudi.



We went to the Montjuïc park for great Barcelona views and high quality busker music on the steps in front of  the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. We also saw a strange communication tower. The German/Barcelona Pavilion was also there. Eric informed me that it was in fact a "modern" house built by Germans in the 1930s and was extremely avant guard for its time. The funny thing is is that thex were spot on with architectural trends and now, 80 years later, the building is not prominent but quite common place.



For lunch we ate at Restaurante Biocenter which had some crazy all you can eat salad bar (that had way more then just chopped vegetables) and then an entree, soup and dessert all for 10€. Cue: too full to walk properly. We then trudged inside the Barcelona market and had a peak around before one last wander around La Rambla and going home on questionable bus connections.


Things I learned:
  • To fall in love with Barcelona
  • This Jamón ibérico is extremely popular here.
    Full legs are mounted on these medieval like contraptions and small slice are just shaved away.
    you can also smell this fatty-salty-meaty food from down the block.
  • To love Gaudi archtiecture
  • That this hero of Barcelona died from getting hit by a tram (can you believe it?)
  • To understand the obsession of "Barcelona culture"
Things to do next time: