Barcelona

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The ferry ride to Barcelona was pretty interesting. As I walked towards the pier I saw the “ferry” I would be boarding. It looked more like a cruise ship. As I continued toward the ship I passed a girl who was carrying quite a bit of luggage. She asked for help carrying it, and I grabbed one of her suitcases. She had booked a junior room for this ferry ride, and, after hitting it off, we went to eat dinner in the cafeteria after dropping off her luggage in her room. Her name was Ana, and she was from Barcelona. She was working in Rome for 2 years, but her job was relocating her to Paris. Ana spoke 5 different languages, but when I told her everywhere I had been, she conceded that I had been to more countries in Europe than she had. The ferry ride was from 10:15 pm until 6:30 pm the next day. I was wondering where/how I would be able to sleep during the ride. However, Ana’s room had 4 beds in it, which may be occupied by 4 different people. It didn’t seem anyone else was going to be in Ana’s room, and she offered me a bed there if no one else came. Of course I took her up on that right away, and had a good night’s sleep in a bed. I didn’t have time to explore the alternative, but I think it would have been lying on the deck floor on top of my backpack. Thank you, Ana! The next day I explored the “ferry”. It had a little bit of everything. The top deck featured a small pool next to a bar. A club on the other end opened at night. The next floor down had shops, a casino, a cafeteria, a daycare, and a restaurant. Most of the other floors were occupied by rooms and vehicles, but there was also a spa, a gym, and a hospital. I walked around the top deck almost in disbelief that the only thing I could see was ocean water. There was absolutely no land in sight, which was a little uncomfortable. It was a hot day, and everyone was out at the pool. Music was playing and some people were dancing. As we neared Barcelona I could see the faint outline of tall buildings amidst a faded horizon. As we drew closer I could see the Columbus Monument. Once again, I helped Ana with her things until her friends arrived to pick her up. The first things I encountered were Ones and the Columbus Monument. Ones was an interesting formation of loops made of metal wire, which are meant to symbolize ocean waves. A statue of Columbus sits atop a large column in the circle next to the Wave Monument. There, Columbus points to something, however, it is somewhat of a mystery.

Now it was about 1 hour before the game. Which game? The Game. The final match of the World Cup between Spain and Holland. I had two goals in mind: find my hostel and drop off my things, then go to the watch party, wherever it may be. The walk to the hostel wasn’t too bad, and after checking in I immediately asked where to go to watch the game. The lady at the desk sent me to Espanya Square. As I came up from the metro, I was expecting to see a square full of bars and restaurants to watch the game. Instead, I saw a square completely packed with people. Every road in and out was blocked. A road leading from the square to a museum about a half-mile away was completely flooded with people watching the game on 2 big screens setup outside. People were climbing on monuments and light poles to get a better view of the game. I could see tents selling beer and snacks in the distance closer to the screens. I worked my way through the crowd, which was not easy, until I felt I was close enough to see the action. As you may know it was a scoreless game during regulation time. There were a couple big scares as Holland made breakaways toward the goal. However, right at the end of overtime, Spain scored a goal, and the crowd went absolutely wild! People were screaming, fireworks and flares were set off, and even the fountain in front of the museum started dancing. It wasn’t too much longer before the crowd erupted again as time ran out, sealing Spain’s victory. People were singing, dancing, playing instruments, fighting, yes some fights broke out. As I was walking back to the hostel I didn’t see anyone inside a bar or restaurant. Everyone was outside waving their flags. Every car on the road was honking its horn repeatedly, and most of them with flags hanging out the window. People were dancing in and out of the street, completely oblivious to the traffic. I heard more fireworks going off and saw more flares being lit. Every street was packed between the square and the hostel. Police were out in full force, but pretty much just to watch the chaos.

The next morning I started by trying to figure out where to explore the first day. I found a flyer on the wall for a bus tour, which included a map with 3 possible routes. I took the map, and went on the largest route… on foot. My first stop was in front of 2 artistically decorated buildings, that I would later discover were designed by a man named Gaudi. These buildings had facades full of curves and colorful mosaics. I kept following the path until I reached the industrial park. This park had a large fountain surrounded by tall, thick light posts. From there I followed the path back to Espanya Square, which looked very different from the previous night. A large fountain sits in the middle of the square. Two towers stand on either side of the road that leads to the museum. From the top of the museum steps I had a great view of Barcelona. Around behind the museum were the Olympic Arenas. A tower stands beside the arenas called the Torre de Calatrava. I’m at a loss for how to describe this one, however, I’ll try. It has a large base, that gradually thins as it escalates, then curves horizontally around a pin, suspended in the center of the curve. Further along the path are gondola stations. The gondolas go from the top of this hill out to the beach or to another hilltop just south. I walked down along the hillside to the shore, where I walked toward the beach. The main public beach stretched for at least a mile along the coast east of the Columbus Monument. The tall buildings of the city led right up to the beach. A break wall consisting of large concrete cubes randomly strewn could be seen about a 50 yards into the ocean. That evening I ate a bowl of seafood paella at La Botiga. It was very interesting, but very good. It was a dish of rice with sauce and spice, and had oysters, clams, shrimps, and a prawn on top. The shrimps and the prawn came completely whole. For dessert I had la Crema Catalana, the Catalonian version of Crème Brulee. It was very good also.

I found a walking tour to take the next day, which led me around the Gothic Quarter of the center city. The tour guide explained a little about Catalonian history first. Catalonia is still the name of the region in northern Spain. It was once its own country, and Barcelona is the capital. The official language of Catalonia, including Barcelona, is not Spanish, but Catalan. The Catalonian flag is still flown in front of many buildings and hung from many balconies. During the party after the World Cup victory, as many Catalonian flags could be seen as Spanish flags. Some of the Catalonian people still believe that they should be their own country, much like Quebec in Canada, and Texas. Francisco Franco, the ruler of Spain, conquered Catalonia with the help of Mussolini and Hitler, who wanted to test their weapons before WWII. Francisco did not give Catalonia representation, and subjected them to socialism for the next 40 years. After Francisco died, his successor was much more democratic, and gave Catalonia representation and equal democratic rights in one of the smoothest revolutions ever. Our first stop was in the square with a large Gothic Cathedral. A picture of Francisco was on display out in front, and was decorated in graffiti making him look like devil. On our way to the Cathedral of Saint Eulalia, we stopped by a shrine to the same. She was martyred in the times of Roman rule for believing in Christ. To show her of her wrong, the Romans stripped this 13-year-old girl in public. Some say miraculously, it began snowing, and the snow covered her body once again. With people starting to believe that God was saving her, the Romans had to do something. So they did what any rational, well-adjusted person would do, and they killed her... Today she is known as a Saint, the co-patron Saint of Barcelona, and her remains are still in the Cathedral. We went to the old Red Light district, where Pablo Picasso first stayed when he came to Barcelona. This was cleared out, however, just before the Olympics. Actually, a lot changed in Barcelona with the Olympics. There was apparently no beach or any palm trees before. All the palm trees were imported, and all the sand for the beach was imported. Every year sand from the ocean floor is redistributed up on the beach. We also came to a square called George Orwell Square. It was renamed to George Orwell after he wrote a book praising Catalonian tradition and culture. A sign that says, “George Orwell Square” ironically has another sign underneath that says, “Under 24-hour surveillance”. During the tour I met Nicole, a woman from Rochester who had just finished school in Montreal. She was traveling alone as well, but had just started her journey. I went with her and some more people from the tour to a ham and champagne place. It looked like they were selling out of a garage, but the ham was excellent, and the champagne as well. The champagne was only .90 EUR per glass.

I went to the beach the next day for a swim. Walking along the beach was probably the most interesting part. Many of the women found tops totally optional. Since no one was with me, I brought a minimal amount of things with me in a plastic bag, and partially buried it in the sand. I swam out to the break wall where I could see people hanging out there. I didn’t have to swim very much, because the ocean floor was very shallow almost all the way out. As I attempted to climb the wall I decided it definitely wasn’t meant to be climbed. The cubes sat at irregular angles, making it hard to climb or keep balance once on top. As I walked along the break wall I noticed some people fishing, some laying out, and some enjoying illicit substances. After the beach, I met Nicole for some more sightseeing. First, we saw Barcelona’s version of the Arc de Triomf. This was different than the others I had seen. It was brick red with a dome-like structure on each side. Next, we went to the Parc de la Ciutadella, where we saw a fountain by Gaudi. The fountain was pretty large, had a bright golden statue on top, and other concrete statues below. Unlike other fountains I’ve seen, this one had a very earthy feel to it. The water was dark green from moss growing inside the fountain, and the front of the lower statues had been blackened. I don’t know if this was on purpose, but I found it delightfully unique. We passed the Parliament Building nearby, and saw a nice sunset in the distance. After wondering around some more we found a restaurant to eat some paella. We talked more about traveling. She had many questions for me about the places I had been, and I was happy to give her my opinions and advice. It is strange to think that only 4 months ago I had never been to the eastern hemisphere, and now I am advising on it.

Before parting, Nicole told me I should go to the Parc Guell to see some more of Gaudi’s designs. So the next morning I woke early to check it out. The park was large, but the main features were in a smaller area. Two houses made of concrete sat in front. The many curves made them look almost cartoonish. Colorful mosaic covered the walls and roof. They were apparently the inspiration for the gingerbread houses of Hansel and Gretel, and after seeing them I could not disagree. A staircase led to a stage of pillars. More colorful mosaic adorned the features, which seemed to be Gaudi’s trademark. The pillars held up another platform, that, when on top of it, you could see the city of Barcelona and the ocean behind it. Outside of these central features were pathways decorated with stone pillars. These pillars were made of large stone, which made them somewhat mosaic in themselves. I noticed a couple were more precisely pieced together than others, and resembled statues of people. After exploring, I left to catch my bus to Valencia.

Barcelona is a very large, interesting, and crazy city. There is a lot of character there, and much more to see than I had time for. I enjoyed finally getting to try some of my Spanish. I started out pretty rough, and most people would speak English back to me after attempting to form a short statement. I persisted though, and eventually got people to speak Spanish back to me, at which point I had no idea what they were saying. The last day I managed to buy a bus ticket and food at the bus station all in Spanish. I understood only very little of what was being said to me, and managed to get by more because I already had a vague idea of what they were going to tell me anyway. I will be in Spain for almost two more weeks, however, and I hope I can continue to get better. Some of the places I am going do not speak English at all, and that should be a real test. Most of Barcelona does speak English, however, and so perhaps it was a good transition city. From the beach, to the hills, to the big city, Barcelona has a lot to offer. However, I will never forget being right there when Spain won the World Cup.

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Photos

"Ferry"
Top deck with the pool

Espanya Square
During the World Cup final match.

Barcelona
View from the hill top.

"Gingerbread" Houses
In the Parc Guell, by Gaudi

Barcelona Sunset
From the Parc de la Ciutadella

Comments

[David Miller]

I to have a fear of open water, i think it is a mid-western thing. I bet being in Spain when they won the world cup was on of the coolest things that will ever happen to you in your life, that is awesome!!!!