Bustling Barcelona

April 30 - May 3, 2015

It's been about 18 months since Tom and I made our last international trip. So many things to look forward to, and so many things to dread. For example,  there are the joys of non-subzero temperatures, and prosciutto and cheese for breakfast every morning (manchengo, in Spain!!). New sights and new food. But there is jetlag...  Always so much jetlag! The memory of the gritty eyeballs and pounding headache never quite fades after each long-haul flight we take. And the inevitable awkwardness of only speaking English. Hola! Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco. Gracias. Buenos dias. There. I have exhausted my Spanish vocabulary. It's embarassingly terrible!

Tom and I have spent the last two days exploring Barcelona.  On Day 1 (according to my Fitbit), we walked over 27000 steps, which included going up 100 flights of stairs,  for a total of about 18.6km. Day 2 was over 20000 steps, which equates to about 14km of walking. As an aside, Fitbit friends-- you know who you are. I am going to destroy your stepcounts in these next few weeks! On the plus side, all the activity has helped a lot with the jetlag.  We have fallen asleep quite easily,  despite our bed time being 4pm at home (Update, that was a lie. I could NOT fall asleep last night). 

 

Cathedral of Barcelona

On Friday, our first full day in Barcelona, we made our way into the Barri Gotic (Old Gothic-style City). We were a bit confused as to why all the shops appeared to be closed. We had heard that Spaniards enjoyed siestas... But this was at about 11am, so that didn't really make since. We soon discovered that May 1st is a National Holiday in Spain-- Labour Day.  So many of the attractions we were interested in  seeing (museums, etc.) were closed. In fact, the Barcelona History Museum is only closed four days a year,  and yesterday happened to be one of those days. Go figure! This was not a huge problem,  we were still able to keep ourselves entertained and covered a lot of ground.

Spanish patisserie.

After our morning in Barri Gotic, we then headed to the water front. We strolled down Rambles de Mar (the slowest ramble you can imagine with throngs of tourists and locals) to a large mall. At the time we didn't know it was a large mall-- and when we realized what it was, we turned around and left... Only to be stalled by a giant sailboat (we had to wait until the bridge had retracted for the boat to pass).

Next, we headed to Placa Espanya, which had seemed very lively the night before when our shuttle from the airport had driven past. It seemed less so in the afternoon, but we trekked our way across Placa Espanya towards to the National Art Museum (it was also closed), for some spectacular views of the city.

View from National Art Museum steps.

The National Art Museum is located on Parc de Montjuic, which is a giant hill in the city topped by a castle, Castell de Monjtuic. We were pretty sure the castle would be closed too, but we hiked our way to the top. We were able to make our way through a few gardens... But (you guessed it), some were closed. How do you close a garden, you ask? You padlock the chainlink gate! That's how! We also spent 15 minutes trying to track down a public WC... But guess whaaaaaat? It was CLOSED.

Hanging flowers in a Montjuic garden.

Surprisingly, Castell de Montjuic WAS OPEN. But as a peruse my photos, I realize we didn't really get any good shots of the actual castle. BUT, there were some great views of the Barcelona port. The idea of shipping is foreign to a prairie landlubber like myself, so I was fascinated with all the activity below. It looked like organized chaos.

Barcelona shipping port.

Our second day in Barcelona seemed to be mostly dedicated to checking out works by Gaudi. We saw a great many houses and buildings, like La Pedrera, below.

 

We also spent several hours in the Barcelona History museum. The sub-basement encapsulates the archaeological remains of the Roman buildings and streets. There are still remains from builds that were used to cure fish, dye cloth and launder clothing, and giant vats for making wine. Some of the indigo blue dye still remains in the rock of the laundering pools.

Our last stop of the day, was of course, to see the Sagrada Familia.

 Sagrada Familia.

What a place.

The construction of the basilica began in 1882, and the projected finish is somewhere in 2026. The building is somehow both beautiful and hideous at the same time! It truly is a piece of art, yet it looks like the stone is melting right off it-- especially the Nativity Facade.

The Passion Facade.

As you may have inferred from the name, the Passion Facade depicts scenes from Jesus' last days, leading up to his crucifixion. The statues are serious, square-- in some cases, a bit menacing.

The Nativity Facade.

The Nativity Facade depicts scenes from Jesus' conception and birth. It contains angels, doves and cherubs and other hopeful symbols in stark contrast with the Passion Facade.

Inside Sagrada Familia.

Stained glass windows.

I was most surprised with the inside of the basilica. Given how tall and looming the structure is from the outside, I was expecting it to be dark on the inside. I could not have been more wrong. Oh, the light! So much light. Panel after panel of luminescent stained glass and reflecting surfaces. It was brilliant inside.

I don't know if Tom and I will ever be fans of Gaudi's style, but we can certainly respect his hard work!

We concluded our stay in Barcelona by stuffing ourselves with seafood paella. Is someone going to throw an egg at me if I tell you the truth? I don't really like paella. I WANT to like it, but I feel very indifferent to it. Nonetheless, we enjoyed fish soup, and melon wrapped in iberico jamon (Spanish proscuitto). Food is good, especially when enjoyed in good company.

Next stop, San Sebastian.