Visited May 2012
Written: January 14th 2015
Having just graduated from teacher’s college and accepted a contract to go work in Italy for the summer A friend and I decided to take off for Europe a little early and spend a month travelling through Spain. The cheapest flight we could find took us to Barcelona and that worked well enough for me. Our flight home brought us back to Barcelona for another round. Again, not a problem. In fact to this day Barcelona is still in my top 3 major european cities, and If I had any interest in partying it would likely shoot to number one. Here’s the list as of now.
1. Rome
2. Barcelona
3. London/Athens
At any rate, between the two visits I spent about a week exploring this stunning Catalan city. We visited the Nou Camp, spent time on the beach, wandered through lots of small parks, and explored plenty of examples of one of the most interesting architects ever. For the purpose of this post though, we’ll focus on my favourite day in Barcelona, our first full day exploring the city.
We start early and catch a train into one of the central stations of Barcelona, disembarking just a few blocks from Las Ramblas and walking through the crowded streets. Gaudi buildings emerge on corners as we continue towards Las Ramblas.
The street opens up into a wide park complete with fountains, statues, and Protesters. It’s interesting but we’ve got a full day planned so we don’t linger long, heading down into the depths of Barcelona;s famous pedestrian street, turned party scene at night. My friend Stu has already almost been pick pocketed in the train already and Las Ramblas is famous for it so we do our best to keep aware.
Wandering through the crowded and charming pedestrian thoroughfare full of street vendors, and performers, many of whom turn in to drug dealers and prostitutes once the sun goes down, I marvel at the vitality of the city. It pulses with life, every which way your glance wanders.
Before long we’re standing outside La boqueria, an open air yet covered market place which sprawls out and sells all manner of food and drink. Wandering through the crowded market places, hearing the stall owners calls, and even bargaining with a few of them is a great way to spend an hour or two.
A few delicious Juices and cold cuts later we continue down Las Ramblas eventually turning off to the left in search of the official Barcelona Cathedral. On the way there we happen to notice old Barcelona kits in the beautifully ugly tangerine salmon colour and Stu finds one with Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s name on it and can’t resist.
A few more blocks takes us to the Cathedral, sunlight spilling out onto the plaza in front of it so brightly were almost blinded until we enter the shadowy huge church, dimly lit by candles and light through stunning stained glass.
We wander in the holy space (free to enter) for a good long while before deciding it’s worth going up to the roof. One of my pet peeves with churches is they rarely allow you to explore the higher up places, but here, for 2 euros at the time, you’re allowed to climb up onto the roof for a wonderful view of central Barcelona. Almost as cool as the Basicalla in Quito honestly.
We walk along the make shift wooden walkways scaffolded above the roof and stare down at the sprawling city, one of several astonishing views we’ll experience this day, smiles on our faces. I’m definitely already glad of my decision to accept work in Italy. It’s been 6 years since I’ve been in Europe and I’ve forgotten how much I love it.
We’ve got more planned, and a visit to the famous Gaudi designed church the Sagrada Familia (15-24 euro depending on ticket type) has been scheduled online to avoid the impressive lines so we’ve got no flexibility. We cross a good chuck of the city to get there and once again i’m impressed by Barcelona’s undeniable and very visible heartbeat.
As we walk we discuss the idea of urban waterfalls cascading over the edge of tall buildings. A great idea I think, though perhaps some would say it’s a waste of water. At any rate as we step around a corner and come into sight of this legendary architectural landmark all conversation stops as we gaze up in wonder at the still unfinished masterpiece.
We marvel at it from a park out front waiting for our 2:45 entrance time. When we finally get to go in I’m utterly amazed by the unique interiour Gaudi’s crown jewel, which feels full of air, open, and almost of nature. While it is almost entirely opposite to the Barcelona Cathedral, it somehow feels equally holy, and I’m not even religious. There is a gravity and a levity to the air inside, as contradictory as that might seem and I marvel at the one of a kind pillars and artwork inside the Cathedral.
We explore the inside as fully as we’re allowed, going up one of the towers, and even check out the little museum about Gaudi’s style learning that he did in fact draw huge inspiration from Nature. Eventually we decide to head for our final location of the day and more of Gaudi’s work.
We walk through a maze of narrow streets up towards park Guell, stopping to buy a watermelon on the way because, what snack is easier to carry up a hill than a watermelon?
Parc Guell is stunning, not just for the fascinating fantasy-esque buildings and statues at the entrance, but for it’s many walking trails and stunning views of Spain’s Catalonian jewel. We spend the last few hours of full daylight wandering the park, finding the best views and thoroughly enjoying some watermelon before deciding to try to find our own way back to our hostel, whose name unfortunately evades me.
As we wander we pass some truly interesting street art and lots of friendly Catalaonians to help us find our way. My Spanish is certainly rusty and not aided by the fact that I’m never sure if they’re speaking Spanish or Catalonian, but it’s enough to get by and we get back there in time for some intense game’s of ping pong, and wall pong, a game of our own invention in which each shot must hit a wall before hitting the opponents side of the table. A great day in an Amazing city.
