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Published: February 4th 2009
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Photo 1
The street was sooo big and really cool To Continue from the last post...
I can't remember exactly what I left off saying in my last post, but I'll do my best to not repeat anything. I do remember that I didn't talk about anything I actually DID in Barcelona, so hopefully I can remember everything we did so I can write it all here.
Park Guell
Park Guell, which was built in the early 1900's by Antoni Gaudi, is an amazing place to go, and I loved it so much. I will do my best to explain it, but it is sort of hard to describe, so hopefully the pictures I post can go along with what I'm trying to convey.
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On a side note, Antoni Gaudi is a very very famous architect that built many amazing buildings all over Barcelona. Many people consider him as the 'creator' of modern day Barcelona, mainly because his buildings were so unique and distinguishable, and because he made so many of them. Basically, during the early 1900's, Barcelona was completely rebuilt, which is why everything inside of it is so modern and clean looking. In any case, Barcelona would not be the same place without Gaudi, and to put
it the best way I can, all of his buildings look like something out of Dr. Suess. Look at my pictures and see for yourself!
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Anyway, Park Guell is a mixture between man-made monuments and nature, and the blend of both is what make the place so awesome. The man-made parts of the park are made with beautiful granite, tile, and stone, all in this crazy, yet peaceful, layout. The park is like nothing I've ever seen before, and I am really glad I went to see it. Right inside the gate to the park, you can see how strange the buildings and architecture are, and even before you step in, you can just tell from the outside that it is an astonishing place. The park is huge, by the way. It must be at least a mile in diameter, and someone could wander around the park all day and still have more to see by the time the sun goes down. Therefore, I'm sure I could definitely go back and see a lot more, and hopefully I will. Barcelona is definitely a place I want to go to again and see more of.
I can't really say anything
more about the park that would do it justice, so hopefully my pictures can explain what my words can't. It was raining when we went, and although it was still beautiful, I can't even imagine how much nicer it must be when it is warm and sunny out.
Even though it took us forever to get to and from the park, we were still able to see a couple of other 'touristy' places, like the Picasso Museum.
Picasso Museum
After Park Guell, we all decided to go to the Picasso Museum, which is a staple to see if you're in Barcelona. The museum itself was so much more amazing than I thought it would be, and I'm really glad I am old enough to enjoy things like this now! We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the museum, so I don't have any pictures to show, but even if I did, they would be pretty boring. All we did was walk through both the temporary and permanent collection, stopping to read the notes and descriptions. Sounds pretty boring, but I enjoyed it a lot.
Barcelona Cathedral
The Barcelona Cathedral is another work that was created by Antoni Gaudi,
Photo 4
The burrito I got! but was not finished before his death. It is still in process, using donations and tours through the inside of it to help fund the finishing. It was another one of Gaudi's amazing works: I'll let the pictures do the talking.
It's ALMOST always sunny in Barcelona...
Barcelona is known for having very little rainy or cloudy days, and for the three weeks leading up to our trip, Barcelona's weather was sunny, mid 60's, and just amazing. However, the ONE weekend we come, it rains! It rained all weekend, from the moment we got there to the day we left. It was terrible! I actually don't mind the rain that much, it just made things a bit more complicated when we wanted to walk around, or when we were trying to find something, etc. I thought the city was still beautiful even with the rain, so I really hope I get a chance to go back there when it is sunny.
Other Stuff
Since I talked about the major things I did while in Barcelona, now I'll just talk about the smaller, yet still fun, things I did while I was there.
To start off, I ate at
KFC! Hahah I bet everyone reading this is going crazy now, but don't go ballistic yet. I only got a small meal, and my friends and I mostly did it because we didn't want to spend a ton of money on dinner. Haha my frugal side kicked in and made me eat there. It was really good though- a lot of fast food restaurants in Europe are nothing like how they are in America. Aside from the menu differences, the food in these "restaurants" (that's what they are called in Europe) is not necessarily cheap, and is usually much better quality than fast food restaurants at home. The ingredients are fresher, cleaner, and just taste better. I'm still waiting to go to McDonald's while in Rome... I'll let you know how that turns out after I go.
The food in Barcelona is NOT as good as I would have hoped, but maybe we just ate at a mediocre restaurant. We got a very typical Spanish dish called Paella, and we got the seafood version of it, and I did not enjoy it at all. There was very little seafood in the dish (it was basically rice, seasoning, and fish flavoring),
and the 4 pieces that were in the dish were still in their shells. The girls we came with LOVED it a lot, but I guess it is not my cup of tea.
While walking up and down the streets of Barcelona, we found this huge market, and decided to go in since it looked great and we had heard great things about it. It was so freaking cool! They sold every type of food, but mostly vegetables, fruits, and breads: my three favorite things! I got some candy and some fruit, and the girls got fruit and smoothies. We also went there for breakfast the next day because we thought it was THAT good. I have pictures, and you'll all be able to see how cool and delicious everything looks.
Barcelona is really a very clean city. There is very little trash on the ground (in comparison to Rome, which is known for being very dirty). I think this is because Rome is so much older than Barcelona, and not to mention that the winds from the east come in and lay soot/dust all over Rome, which makes things much dirtier much quicker. I don't know exactly
how all that works, with the dust and soot, but I do know that the air is thicker here and things get dirtier quicker than in Barcelona.
I think I talked about everything I did in Barcelona so far, but if I remember anything, I will try to edit this post asap.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you are all living vicariously through me!
-Scottie
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Francesc
non-member comment
smart soot??
I found the post very funny but also very interesting how an american adolescent (I though you were quite younger) saw my city, except ... you asked an Italian, you did? "How is that Barcelona is a lot cleaner than Rome?" -> answer Nooo, it is not that they actually and for real clean the buildings outside (by law) and the streets often, noo, how it can be? our city is older (yeah, but the dirt is much recent in both cases, and then a great deal of buildings aren't as well) and the soot difference ... theatrical (italian) nonsense for making a good self image. Said that, I love Italy as well, and I am very glad you had a good time in BarTHelona :).