BURRcelona

I am currently writing now from the 4 square walls of mattress in our quaint, cozy hotel room in Paris!! We took an easyJet flight from Barcelona to Charles de Gaulle airport, so I didn’t have the long train ride that has proven so conducive to blog-update-writing inbetween stops on our journey.

Barcelona was just as amazing as I remembered it from our weekend trip there earlier in August, but as could be expected considering the dynamic and exciting nature of every city here in Europe, each new visit presents a completely different view and experience. This time was no exception! We saw parts of the city that I had no idea existed, even after having visited once before, and I learned so much more about different aspects of Barcelona’s rich history, culture, and sights. At the same time, it was really fun to be able to show my parents the parts of the city that I did have the opportunity to see the first time around, and to show them my favorite elements or point out significant places from our weekend spent there. It was so interesting to see how pictures that I took and shared with them via email came to life and took on an entirely new context when they were able to see the same things, views, or sights with their own eyes!

We arrived via train on Tuesday afternoon, and the hotel we stayed at was an eclectic mix of charm, character, and chaotic design. The walls were essentially carpeted in this interesting floral design, which they tried (and failed) to match with the ceiling, the floors, and the odd bins in all the hallways. Not to mention the fact that our room was almost entirely decked out in pink, ruffles, and flowers and complete with a “control panel” of remotes and switches for the lights, the shades, the TV, the fan, and the air conditioning. Our tour book that recommended the hotel described it pretty accurately as a place where “too many good ideas” collided with astonishing force. But, it was located right on La Rambla, a very central and important part of the city, with a little balcony overlooking the busy street, a big common room both in the front and in the back for enjoying their 24-hour buffet (not to mention free wine and beer, also 24 hours) and a large outdoor patio.

The "Control Panel" - complete with lights, fan, window shades, air conditioning, and even a holder for your cell phone

We instantly took advantage of the free food for lunch, and then headed out on a guided walking tour, also courtesy of the Rick Steves guide book, of the Gothic Quarters, or Barrio Gótic, in Barcelona. Exhibit A of my new perspective on a repeat visit: the first time around, we only knew Barrio Gótic as the singular plaza and streets lined with really fun dance clubs and bars to go out in. Not a terrible perspective at all, and indisputably a great time, but who knew there were huge, historic, and incredibly important cathedrals, museums, and government buildings tucked away in the small winding streets? We used the map and guided tour as kindof a treasure hunt, and walked through the neighborhood discovering beautiful buildings, houses, cathedrals and churches in the beautiful and impressive gothic style (mom: “isn’t it all just kindof…depressing? Wasn’t there any joy or happiness in this era?” Apparently not.), and even ancient Roman pillars and ruins. It was a beautiful tour on a perfect day, and a great introduction into the city!

This first taste was the perfect example of how, at the end, I came to the conclusion that the entire city of Barcelona was a little bit like the design of our hotel. So many different, unique, and distinct facets to the city that even though individually they are all amazing, if you try to see all of them in such a short period of time it’s a bit on the overwhelming side, and you start to wonder how one place can house so many different characters. The Gothic Quarters are nestled in right between La Rambla and Plaza Catalunya, and if you didn’t know which streets to turn down, you would only be greeted with the extremely blaring commercial and modern facades that greet you on the main drags, not even knowing that this incredible historic gem was only a few streets away.

For the thousandth time since my parents have been here visiting and touring Spain, they remarked how walking through the streets of Barcelona felt like being in Disneyland, and I definitely agree. Each building has so much character, so much detail put into every little element of its design, that it’s difficult to believe it’s all actually real! We started in Plaza de Catalunya, and saw everything from small old church plazas that the rest of the city was eventually built around, tower remains from old Roman walls that protected the city in ancient times (when it was originally named "Barcino"), the Deacon's House, the Cathedral de Barcelona, the Plaza Sant Felip Neri which houses an old church (Gaudí himself was a member) that still is marked with shrapnel damage from the Spanish Civil War, the Plaza de Sant Jaume and the two incredibly impressive government buildings that face each other across the square, the Palau de la Generalitat (headquarters of the Catalan government) and the Ajuntament, or Barcelona City Hall (the place of city government for over 2,000 years!) We left the Gothic Quarter and walked down towards Barceloneta (the fishing and beach districts) and the marina, a place where we spent a good deal of time on my first visit here, and still one of my favorite places in Barcelona. We walked down the promenade bordering the marina and the ocean, all the way back to the Christopher Columbus monument and up La Rambla back to the hostel. Not to shabby for day one!

Mom and Dad in front of the Christopher Columbus monument ( or rather Cristobol Colón, really, who changes a name like that?)

With Mom on Barceloneta, the marina promenade

The City Hall Building

The Barcelona Gothic Cathedral

The 2 Towers guarding the Gothic Quarter

In Plaza de Catalunya

Because we only were able to spend a day and a half in Barcelona, we decided to give one of those big, double-decker, “I AM A TOURIST” hop-on-hop-off tour buses a shot – and I’m really glad we did! Although I still am a firm proponent of walking around and discovering parts of cities yourself, when you’re faced with a tight schedule and so much to see, it’s really a pretty good alternative. I thought this was especially true for Barcelona, because it seems to me that the sights are a lot more spread out than, for example, in Madrid.

We took the bus to various tourist sights throughout the entire day, some of the highlights (among many others!) being La Sagrada Familia (Gaudi’s most famous masterpiece) Parc Guell (another one of my favorites from earlier this summer), for a picnic lunch and playing around the statues, the football stadium (the largest in Europe, seating over 100,000 people), the fancier neighborhoods of the city, the Museum of Catalan Art and surrounding churches, gardens, and fountains, the Barceloneta area, and a new favorite – the Olympic grounds and stadiums from when Barcelona hosted the 1992 summer Olympics! We got to see the stadium where they held the track and field events and the opening ceremonies, the Olympic plaza, the enormous monument where the flame was burning, the swimming and diving facilities, and much more!

On the tour bus!

La Sagrada Familia (still under construction - quite the ongoing project!)

Thrones at Park Guell

View from the Art Museum on the top of a mountain 

The Olympic Stadium!

The Olympic Flame

Although we felt a little fumigated towards the end from sitting on the top deck in traffic for so many hours, it was an amazing way to be able to see so many different parts of such an eclectic and exciting place with so much to offer, and to really appreciate the diversity, variety, history, and transformations that have come to characterize the city today. And, especially after this, I am fully convinced that I could visit or live in a city like so many of the incredible ones that I have already visited, or plan to visit, for a million days and still never see everything there is to see.

We ended the evening at our favorite place to eat from our August weekend in Barcelona, Fishop, where you get to pick out your own seafood from the display of fresh fish they caught earlier that day, and ask for recommendations on how to prepare it! A few grilled sea bass and a delicious lobster pasta dish later, we headed back to the hotel and enjoyed sitting out on the back patio before tackling the daunting task of rearranging all of our belongings to fit in accordance with the regulations of the budget airlines we were to take the next morning. Not an easy thing to do.

The fresh fish selection at Fishop

Thursday morning, we got up early and managed to squeeze in one last tourist attraction in Barcelona – the St. Josep Market that I loved so much from my last trip! It is the most impressive market you will ever see, with everything in it from bakers to butchers (some of the most disturbing displays of meats and animal parts ever) to fishermen with the day’s catch to restaurant-style bars to dessert stands to fruit and vegetables the likes of which you have never seen before and everything inbetween, and it was also one of my favorite experiences from the first trip so another thing that I am glad I got to share with them this time around.

Beautiful fresh fruit and vegetable display at the Mercado

We rounded up our bags and braved the bus to the airport, hopping on our easyJet flight (another great, very European-travel-experience for them to witness) and headed finally out of Spain and on to France! I can’t believe I am officially out of that country, for now, that is, and we have already had a week’s worth of travels and adventures!

We’ve been brushing up (and by that I mean desperately trying to learn a few measly words to survive) on our French and have been singing songs from Beauty and the Beast in preparation for Paris. After all of the wonderful things I have heard about this city, I have no doubts that it is going to be yet another incredible and unbelievable experience!!