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Published: November 13th 2007
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With every place I see in Spain I just keep falling more and more in love with the country. Two weekends ago I went to Barcelona with the students in my program for four days. This cosmopolitan coastal city, with its superb seaside views, incredible architecture, and cultural scene has been my favorite Spanish city to date. We were blessed with benign weather the entire weekend, and from our hotel on Las Ramblas, the famous promenade in the heart of the city, we were able to walk just about anywhere.
We started the visit with a walk along the three parts of Las Ramblas: (1) Rambla dels Ocells (Boulevard of the Birds), which is filled with vendors of caged birds, (2) Rambla dels Flors (Boulevard of the Flowers), which is filled with bizarre street performers and, you guessed it, birds, and (3) Rambla de Santa Monica which houses dozens of portrait artists. This last stretch led to the threshold of Barcelona’s port, a boardwalk overlooking hundreds of beautiful white sailboats and yachts. I was genuinely captivated by the view, which only helped feed my obsession with all things schooner. We made our way along the port to the beach. I
ambled a bit by myself until I found a curious group of people playing a guitar, a cardboard box, and an oboe, and sharing a bottle of wine in the sand. This convivial group of nomads consisted of people from all over the world: Chile, Mexico, Germany, France, Spain, and with me, the United States. I took off my shoes and hung about a while, dancing and singing along with the catchy Spanish melodies and feverish pulse of the box.
That night we made our way through the Barri Gòtic, a maze of dark, twisting, medieval streets that houses the city’s political buildings and which is apparently the most complete Gothic quarter on the continent. After that we went for a stroll through the open-air market, gaping at the colorful displays of fruit, nuts, vegetables, fish, and meats. By this time I was feeling pretty hungry, so Breezy, Carolina and I walked to the seaside village of Barceloneta (Little Barcelona) where we enjoyed a bottle of red wine and sígalas (little lobsters) in the salty sea air. Revitalized, we wandered the streets until we found Port Olimpic, which is another coastal promenade filled with every type of club, bar,
and discoteca imaginable. Needless to say, we spent the rest of the night there. (At this point my camera started acting up, so unfortunately my photos are sparse from then on.)
The next morning we met up with the group to do a little Goudí sightseeing. We started on El Passeig de Grácia where we saw the illustrious Casa Milá, which looks like a set for The Little Mermaid with its wavy limestone facade and sheen of broken ceramics glistening in the sun. The next stop was La Sagrada Família, the unfinished church of the eccentric architect. Almost a century after his death, this incredible building has yet to be completed, but even so, it took my breath away. After that we climbed the rocky bluff of Montjuïc to see the sites of the 1992 Olympics. I was more impressed by this stadium than that of Athens but perhaps that’s because it is still used for the city’s famed soccer team Barce. We also saw the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya and a great bird’s-eye view of the city below. We ate lunch in Parc Güell amidst the 42 acres of magical landscape and whimsical works of Goudí and
then spent the afternoon shopping in the city. That night a group of us went out to a Jamboree, a jazz club in la Plaça Reial, where we danced to the funky blues harmonica of Mr. Hurricane.
The next morning I went to El Museu Picasso, which covers works from the artist’s most formative years, through his Blue Period, up to his variations on Velázquez’ Las Meninas. It was fascinating to view the correspondence between the events of his life and the drastic changes in his style. After that, we met up with Breezy’s high school friends, Sarah and Katie, who are studying in Barcelona this semester. We went out for coffee in the same café that Picasso used to go to with his buddies, saw the lavish concert hall El Palau de la Música Catalana designed by architect Lluís Domènech I Montaner, and saw a bit more of the city. We had crepes for lunch, mine with spinach, feta cheese, and honey, Breezy’s with salmon and dill, and Sarah and Katie’s with Nutella and strawberries. Mmmmm, delicious! Breezy and I walked around the city a bit in the afternoon and saw the Universitat de Barcelona, La Plaça Espanya,
and El Parc Joan Miró. We met up with Sarah and Katie again at their apartment for a glass of wine and then went out for tapas at a trendy little restaurant near where they live. The food was great, and it made for a lovely last night in Barcelona. As always, here’s the night’s menu dad:
• Sangria mixed with Anís
• Pan Toumaca (bread with olive oil, garlic and tomato pulp)
• Roasted eggplant, red pepper, and onion on bread
• Enichiladas
• Tortilla Española (Spanish omelet) with spinach and mushrooms
• Baked apple filled with walnuts and dried fruit
• Crema Catalana (like a Crème Brule)
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