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Published: March 12th 2011
Spent a good couple days here in Barcelona. The thing that initially caught me off guard here was seeing everything in Catalan. At first I thought the Spanish part of my brain was on the fritz, then realizing it looked partially French, had to take me a moment to remember this area has it's own 'official' language that looks Spanish-ish but is not (Catalan). Some of the things are comprehendable if you understand Spanish, but not knowing French, I'm not sure if it resembles French (other than being another Romance Language).. But people do speak Spanish here. It took some getting used to the "accent" here- I had little difficulty in Central/South America, but here it is a bit more lispy and flowing... It's hard to explain unless you hear it.
So, took a flight from London to Girona-Barcelona airport (actually 100km from Barcelona) where it took me over 5 minutes to buy a bus ticket for €12 because the ticket sales woman was very rude, answering a half of one of my questions at a time, ignoring me for a bit, then saying "hello" like she hadn't seen me standing there talking to her before. Then i was off
Arc de Triomf
First thing I saw once in Barcelonato explore!
Day one: Barri Gótic
The Gothic Quarter. First had a wander up
La Rambla a (mostly) pedestrian strip of cafes, restaurants, overly-priced souvenir kiosks, and several performers entertaining in the streets for a few Euros- for example people dressed up, painted up, footballers doing tricks, etc.. Then off to the traffic-free plazas where
Barcelona's Cathedral stands tall- but undergoing some construction outside. The building looks centuries old, but apparently not build until late 1800's, based on 15th century design. The inside, like most cathedrals, was pretty ornate, tall decorative ceilings, various temples/shrines/rooms/alters (however you call them) dedicated to saints or religious scenes. Even a crypt below the prayer room. Outside, I strolled along the remains of the Roman Walls to a plaza where about 3 dozen teenagers were doing the macarana dance.
In the plaza outside the cathedral was a very animated man who did a rather long show for the public, which was entertaining and pretty funny. To sum it up, he had 4 men from the audience hold up a pole which he climbed and flipped around on. All the while cracking jokes and letting children participate. Most of the afternoon i
Statue
Outside of La Rambla wandered the surrounding medieval plazas, looking at remains of Roman ruins, enjoying the magnificent architecture, and people-watching.
Plaça Catalunya was really pretty; people were feeding the hoards of pigeons by hand and behind that atrocity was a beautiful garden-fountain area with statues and a water fountain on the other side.
Day two: La Sagrada Famiía
So far, this has been my favourite thing to see (yes, i know it's only been 2 days!).
La Sagrada Familía is a MASSIVE building, over 150 years being built and won't be completed for another 20-30 years! Costs about €15 but well worth it! Still under construction, so some things were difficult to see past scaffolding and it was very noisy inside, but regardless, had such a divine and sacred feel to it.. The designer, Antoni Gaudí, was a very interesting character with an incredible vision for detail and design.. I could go on for days about how spectacular this site was, but very quickly: impressive ceiling mosaics, 3 different stones used to make different length columns for different uses, gigantic stained glass windows (added more recently), ginormous statues and carvings decorating the outside, huge areas upstairs for over
Flower Man
Entertaining on La Rambla.. i don't know if he actually smelt as good as he looks he would.. 1.000 choir singers.. etc etc.. And the geometry he used in corners and different areas was mind-boggling that such a large building could be supported! Everything he did was for some grandiose purpose and everything such intricate detail and symbolize something else. You could stare at the outer walls for days and find something you missed before every time.
Then, to an interesting museum in the basement of a funeral home on a street with several other funeral homes/services, mausoleum decoration shops, and the like.
Museo de Carrozas Fúnebres is very different- displays of various hearses and horse carriages for coffins, and objects used during funerals. I learned the white carriages were used for children while the black for adults. The carriages were "pulled" by fake (but realistic-looking) horses and boys.
And i was very excited to discover the Spain-equivalent of Ramen noodles! A cheap, quick meal, and it's cheap! 😊 cheap meals make for a happy traveller..
Day 3: Park Güell
Wandered a few hours through an interestingly designed garden with paths and foreign-looking (to me) plants. At first i was in nature, pretty much alone, checking out plants, caterpillars, and listening to birds,
Bronze Cowboy
Another La Rambla entertainer when suddenly i found the main attraction and the crowd of tourists! I don't really know how to explain what it is exactly and do it justice- it was almost like stone-built bridges, but under the 'bridges' was very cavernous, but with pillars and stone seats. Also construction causing a bit of an eye-sore, but ignoring that still a lovely sight to admire. Watched these two women playing a harp-type-table instrument for some time- they played to music on an ipod but added their music to it, tapping the strings with wooden spoons and strumming with picks (2 points to anyone who can name this instrument!) Then to the
Casa-Museu Gaudí, the house of the famous architect, complete with some of his self-designed furniture, as interesting and unique as the buildings he designed!
The last bit of Park Güell was
Pabellones Güell, which Lonely Planet (the one item I never leave without!) describes pretty accurately as having two Hansel and Gretel-style houses, now used as souvenir shops. Across that, up some stairs between mosaic-art walls, is an iguana-type reptile covered in mosaic tiles, which was constantly occupied with people posing for pictures, i was amazed to have gotten a
picture of it at all! Up the stairs, a few musicians trying to make some extra money (but not as impressive to me as the 'table-harp' women!) and into an open area with many columns, and incredible ceiling of mosaic design, all white, but with circular pattern pictures scattered systematically on the ceiling. The ceiling also dipped inwards in parts, thus adding to the incredible and well-thought out design of Mr Gaudí!
Off to Girona!
Wasn't too pleased i was 'forcing' myself to leave early to get to Girona, but it had to be done! Nor was i that thrilled at my lack-of-planning as i paid for transport unnecessarily, since i had gone Girona-->Barcelona-->Girona, now i am discovering I have to return to Barcelona for transport to my next destination! Ah, the life of sporadic travel! So, until next time, when I am in Girona once again!
^Út Í Óvissuna^
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Gramma
non-member comment
Pictures are beautiful--love the cathedrals & Museums. But where do you stay as you wander? I know Spain has very few hostels available. And are you getting enough to eat and drink? Gramma's on the 'worry train'--Fred goes in for heart surgery on Tuesday. I don't want anything to happen to you! Love and kisses; and say a prayer for us as we always have you in our prayers. Gramma