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Published: October 13th 2009
Barcelona
From afar and aboveBarcelona is another great European city! It is a, seemingly, more controlled cityscape environment than Paris as it offers larger vehicles, less frantic traffic, and fewer people. Pedestrians and vehicles actually respect and abide by the traffic and pedestrian lights...unlike in Paris. Our first experience with Barcelona was taking an hour to figure out how to use the phone at the airport as we tried to contact the person we were renting an apartment from.
Our first day we took the subway towards the waterfront and walked the beach and around the water. We lucked upon the Red Bull World Championship Air Races taking place. Apparently, 1 million people come into town to see these. It was busy! But fun...and we tasted probably some of the best ice cream we have ever had!
I am sorry...but I have to talk about the weather. I understand that it is getting to winter in Canada and any day now it could be snowing and -25...and I am not trying to be mean...but if that were to happen today in Canada...there would more than a 50 degree difference between Spain and Canada. It is spectatcular here! I am sure it is not
like this all the time but I sure like the picture being painted for us now! Still concerned that
Barcelona, the city, houses approximately 1.5 million people...about 3.5 million in the greater Barcelona area. There are many great sites to see here, not the least of which is the Mediterannean Sea! It just seems that having the water as part of the experience makes it that much more special. We had a great day at the beach, and we could have gone everyday (that would have made the kids happy) but there was a lot of rubber on the bottom of our sandals to burn! However the kids first love is water and even with normal surf, the kids were able to body surf on the waves that rolled in.
Barcelona seems to be a hard working city... Ingrid, a Sherbrooke high school friend of Nadine's whom she has not seen for 20+ years and lives here, works at a perfume company (Prada, Nina Ricci, etc) and her normal day is starting work at 8:30 and finishing at 7:00 PM. This day includes a two hour midday break they call lunch. When questioned why the midday break was
Cool Busking!
some very talented artists created sand sculptures like these on the tourist boardwalk to encourage donations...some had fires burning in them, and others had running water so long, we discovered that lunch is the big meal of the day in Spain! People have large lunches and light dinners. Can your imagine your day with these hours? Ingrid has two busy children and both Nadine and I wondered how she manages with all of the kids activities after work? The kids pretty well manage that themselves, with the help of the guardian (babysitter). I did point out to Alex, Gabriel, and Nicolas that both of Ingrid's kids were doing their homework and music practicing without being told by anyone. Maybe it does work to leave them, to their own devices. I know it would reduce the amount of my grey hair! The kids school hours are equally as long and goes from 8:30 - 5:30 PM. So during the week the schedule for them is pretty well set...on weekends they get to escape to a weekend home they have 1.5 hours outside of Barcelona (which we will be staying at for a couple of weeks).
I do find the business hours here rather interesting. A typical day for a business to consumer operation would be 9:00 - 1:30, closed until 3:30, and then open again until
Beach Playtoys
climbing to the top...Nadine cannot watch! 9:00 PM. Many businesses follow these type of hours…Consequently, dinner typically takes place around 8:30 - 9:00 PM (It's a good thing it is a light meal.) Very interesting!
Pretty well everyone in Barcelona, speaks at least two languages...Spanish and Catalan are pretty much required. Catalunya is a province of Spain that I liken to Quebec. Catalan is spoken in this province like french is spoken in Quebec, with Spanish being the secondary choice. Spanish and Catalan are very different languages as well.
It is intimidating, for me anyway, to enter into a country where you do not know one word (okay cervaza is one, but that does not get you too far). At least in france, I have some background in the language, however not Spanish, and definately not Catalan. I learned 'hola' and 'gracias' quickly. Nadine is reaching back into her past to use some Spaniosh she learned and Gabriel is taking it at school...so we are managing.
Both Paris and Barcelona have architecture we will never see in North America (I think anyway). On the primary thru streets, which is most streets, the first floor of the typically 5-8 storey apartment buildings is reserved
Mediterranean Beach
...in the heart of Barcelona...gorgeous! for business and the apartments begin on the 2nd floor. I have seen a wide variety of businesses occupy this first floor including retail clothiers, electronics, convenience stores, hair salons, bakeries, butchers, automobile and motorcycle dealerships. But it is not just retail that takes up these lower spacees…I have also seen some light industrial businesses like auto repair, furniture maker, and even a window manufacturer take up space below the apartments. In North America, some of these businesses would need to be situated in light industrial parks. In Medicine Hat, the bar would have to be out of earshot of any residential area and provide parking for its capacity X 5 in order to be approved.
I have found that even though the apartment we are living in is on a small street in a typical neighborhood...it sounds like downtown Calgary at night! Barcelona has the large garbage and recycling bins sitting on the streets. The emptying of these bins takes place at night and it sounds like war has broken out on the streets! Maybe it's the thin walls of the 4th floor apartment, but it is very loud with the little traffic that goes through.
Barcelona,
Water hounds!
This is what we look for! the City that honours Colombus and his voyage to the new world and its history, revolves around its port city position. We saw large post-gothic churches, gothic remains, forts and castles, and one of the largest and most fantastic beaches I have ever seen...right in the heart of the City! One of the most visited churches in Barcelona is the Sagrada Familia. It was started in the 14th century and has been worked on with pieces being completed over time but has never been finished. The designer Gaudi (?) is famous for a number of his churches and buildings (and is actually buried in the basement crytpt of the Sagrada Familia). The government discovered and had a team recreate his original plan for the church and has resumed construction to complete it in Gaudi's vision. I have never seen depcitions like the ones presented here in the church. They used four different architectural styles in creating the church, one being symbolism, and the symbolism is every where. Hopefully some of the pictures can help explain the uniqueness of this church. Unfortunately, the inside is all about the consutruction and we did not see a church as much as we saw
In Heaven!
Nicolas is where he wants to be. a construction zone. We were disappointed in the price charged to see a construction zone. But the museum and the outside of the church are impressive!
We are moving from Barcelona now and going 1.5 hours north to a small village (that I can neither spell nor pronounce) to stay at Ingrid's family's weekend house. We will be there for two weeks. We have rented a car and will be hitting the beaches, travelling the Spanish countryside and to Southern France and all over to get a different version of Europe. I am looking forward to visiting the countrytside.
It is Columbus Day in Spain on Monday and Thanksgiving in Canada. We will be thinking of our family and friends this weekend and wishing them a woinderful weekend!
Take care for now...Dana, Nadine, Alex, Gabriel & Nicolas.
60 SECONDS YOU WILL NOT GET BACK
Saran Wrap: When manufacturing plastic wrap I suppose there is a fine line to walk between grippiness and handle-ability. I have been frustrated many times back home by the lack of grippiness of plastic wrap. My experiences here are opposite…now I am frustrated by the handle-ability of plastic
Our Vehicle!
Subway is certainly the way to get around the city...Barcelona's stations were a bit further apart...but it was very well maintained and monitored wrap due to its considerable grippiness. Definitely a two person job to use plastic wrap here. I think the Europeans got the short end of this stick.
Space: There isn’t any here and there is an incredible amount in Canada. I was talking with a Pakistani convenience store proprietor and he said he has a friend that moved to Canada who cannot believe how much space there is there. He talked about large houses (in context…large is probably 750 sq ft) and trees and parks and wide streets. You do not see houses in the city here…it is all apartments. There is a problem walking two abreast on busy sidewalks. I have a feeling that parking anywhere close to where you would like is next to impossible (in context for Medicine Hat…out of downtown for a downtown business). We take our space for granted.
Speaking of space…the showers here have none! As you would expect when space is at a premium, designs would minimize space for areas that do not contribute to the quality of life. Apparently, the Eurpoeans include showers in this list…because the two shower we have had make our shower closet back home look big.
Guell Park
Beautiful Guell Park...fabulous views overlooking Barecelona. Fixed Shower Heads: Both showers we have had, had the hand held shower heads as well…perhaps this is a plan to reduce water usage. Maybe there is a law that arrests anyone who has a fixed shower head in their shower (they do not have lawns to apply watering restrictions). I have turned the shower demi-closet into a demi-fountain (and subsequently wading pond) on a couple of occasions by leaving the water running and putting the shower head down to soap up. If the idea is to conserve water…it works very well!
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Lindy
non-member comment
Wow!
Hi guys Just read your Barcelona blog and viewed the pics. All I can say is "Wow!" The city, the architecture, the beach, the scenery... it is breathtaking. Brings back memories for me as I was there for a day when I was 15 (part of a Mediterranean school tour). Definitely remember the Sagrada Familia! Of course the weather looks absolutely fabulous, especially when you consider that we are dealing with lows of -5, highs of -1 and snow flurries on and off! (No jealousy here, not one bit!) We all enjoyed Thanksgiving yesterday and tried to forget about the weather! Anyway, looks like you are all doing well and enjoying your travels. I can't wait to hear about the next segment of your journey. Lindy