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Published: April 20th 2007
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Third Trip: Spain, Italy & France So here I am in Madrid trying to recover from the fact that my parents had to go back to Canada today. I didn´t get out of bed all morning and then didn´t feel like following my plans so I just went to the botanical gardens and enjoyed the sights and smells.... and thought about Barcelona.
We stayed in a large apartment in Barceloneta, which is the old "port" district... but now it´s mostly delicious seafood restaurants and loads of beaches that reminded me of South Beach in Florida. The weather was perfect the whole time we were there, and my parents declared that this always happens for them on holidays!
I was a bit frustrated at first, because getting used to their travel style took some time. We woke up late, then took 2 or more hours to get ready, then took lots of drink and tapas breaks during the day. I found it quite easygoing, but we were still exhausted by the end of the day and I guess it was nice not to rush myself while seeing a new place.
On the other hand, travelling with them was so amazing. I really love my parents and I
My Dad Ponders La Sagrada Familia
"Hhmm, it looks a bit like melting chocolate..." felt like we got along on a whole new level, like we were friends and they were just a couple who have somehow been together for almost 30 years... they were no longer god-like as my parents, but just regular people with lives and strengths and weaknesses and we were friends. I loved it.
We hit almost all of the major sites in Barcelona, but my absolute favourites were the Gaudi pieces. Antoni Gaudi is a Moderniste architect from Catalunya who worked in the early 20th century. His name inspired the word "gaudy" and if you want to imagine his architecture, just think life-size 3D Salvador Dali or imagine what it would be like to go to Disneyland on shrooms. One of his pieces, the Parc Guell, actually has mushrooms on top of the buildings. And Gaudi designed them to be mushrooms. I said to my dad over lunch in the Parc Guell as I looked at these mushrooms, "I´d like to know what was going through his head...." and my Dad replied, "I read on the sign that he put those mushrooms on the buildings on purpose". So there you go. From the bookshop in La Sagrada Familia
(Gaudi´s unfinished masterpiece, which he camped out in for some time, and is a gothic-style moderniste church) I got a poster of the "Avenue of Discord", which has buildings designed by many different moderniste architects... but of course the wackiest piece is by Gaudi. The photo reminds me of a photograph, I think it´s by Douglas Coupland (someone please correct me if I´m wrong!) and it has the line of buildings along the block of hastings just east of Victory Square. It will look great in my Hamburg room!
We did other stuff too, not just Gaudi (haha). On our second night there, we ate at a fabulous restaurant called "Agua". It was right on the beach but we had quite an adventure getting there! Whenever we asked directions everyone said, "It´s just here, not far!" but it ended up being about a 20 minute walk from the first set of directions and a 5 minute walk from the second set. We finally found it and the food was DELICIOUS, and obviously the view wasn´t bad either! On the way back we strolled along the beach and put our feet in the Mediterranean (it was cold) and yelled at
Inside La Sagrada Familia
Designed to look like you're in a grove of trees. my mom not to go too deep! She´s so small, we worry about her!
One night, my Dad and I tried to enjoy the nightlife, but first we couldn´t decide which place to go to, and then we couldn´t find a cab to take us into the district we´d decided to wander around.... so by the time we walked there, the bars were all closing and we just had time for a quick beer in a plaza off of La Rambla. I felt a bit awkward with him because I didn´t feel like we blended in, but then I realized... when do I ever blend in? Most of the time I take pains to stick out. Plus, he´s my Dad and I think he´s cool, so other people can getouttahere.
On my Dad´s birthday, we went for a really fantastic Flamenco performance in this "village" called Pueblo Espanyol, which is a recreation of the architecture of the different provinces in Spain... kind of kitschy but it makes sense if you´re only going to see Barcelona and not the rest of Spain. Anyways, the Flamenco was just FANTASTIC. My favourite dancer was a young guy, not older than 25,
with curly hair. I´ve never seen a male flamenco dancer before (at least I can´t remember) but this man just blew us all away. My dad called him "the Bull" and he smiled at me on the way out after the show, haha! Before that, we spent the day touring round the Miro museum on Montjuic and then the Picasso Museum near the old district. The Picasso museum was really great, espescially their collection of his early works as well as his blue period, both of which he was in Barcelona for. It was really interesting to see his development as an artist.
We also spent a day along La Rambla, a long wide pedestrian streets with all sorts of performers and market-y things. It was cute, but busy and very touristy, and afterwards we headed to the Barri Gothic (the old part of town) to see the cathedral La Peu and the old Synagogue, and wander the narrow windy streets a bit.
The trip ended too soon for my tastes, but my mother demanded a few days relaxing on the beach so after seeing Parc Guell in the morning we headed off to Sitges, a little beach
Lunch on Avinguda de Gaudi
with La Sagrada Familia (and cranes) in back! resort town about 30 minutes from Barcelona by train. So at least the vacation wasn´t over yet!
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