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| Inside of Sagrada Familia |
Our adventure consisted of fourteen hours of train travel, six different train stations and one final destination in an unforgettable Spanish city. When Kathleen and I realized we did not have school on Thursday November 11th because of Armistice Day, we had a variety of cities we wanted to visit for the four-day weekend. We planned our trip to Barcelona, Spain less than two days before we left. After two visits to the travel agent, and many hours spent on hostelbookers.com, we were so excited to see one of the most beautiful cities in Spain. Barcelona is the most modern of the cities I have visited in Europe thus far. The colorful architecture, talented street performers and extensive art scene left me amazed with all the Barcelona had to offer. Upon arriving in Barcelona, we had difficulty finding our hotel. After walking around for 45 minutes, Kathleen and I found an Internet cafe where we used "Google maps" to find the exact location. The "Google maps" application has been such a savior throughout all of our travels. It just so happened that the Internet cafe where we sat down also sold tickets to all of Barcelona's soccer games. Kathleen, who played soccer in high school, mentioned a few times that she really wanted to attend a game. We bought tickets in the second tier section for the Barcelona vs. Villarreal game on Saturday night. We were so excited. It gave us something to really look forward to for our entire stay in Barcelona. Completely exhausted, we retired to our very modern hotel. Decorated with all white furniture, red blankets and lamps, the Rambla Gothiko Hotel was very clean and was in an amazing location just off of the main street: La Rambla.
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| Cathedral of Santa Eulalia, choir stalls |
Barcelona is such a unique place. The lively atmosphere on the streets was contagious. All of the enthusiastic street performers added to Barcelona’s energetic and exciting personality. Our first stop on Friday morning was a small Gothic church called Santa Maria del Pi. Said to have one of the biggest rose windows in Spain, the Santa Maria del Pi Cathedral had many stained glass windows that illuminated the Gothic architecture. In front of the church there was a street performer making giant bubbles with two wands. People surrounded him in amazement; he was definitely my favorite street performer. Later we walked through one of the oldest parts of Barcelona to get to the Cathedral of Santa Eulalia. This cathedral was constructed between the 13th and 15th centuries and is adorned with gargoyles and other various animals on the roof. The church retained the original choir stalls with the different coat-of-arms from the knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Barcelona. Kathleen and I took a little elevator up to the roof of the church. We had a perfect view of the entire city of Barcelona. The church also is famous for its Gothic cloister and garden. In the garden there are beautiful fountains and 13 white geese to resemble the age when Saint Eulalia was martyred. On our way to see the Sagrada Familia, we stopped to see the Arch de Triomf made with red brick and the famous Barcelona Head by Lichtenstein.
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| roof of the Cathedral |
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| Sagrada Familia |
The Sagrada Familia was absolutely breathtaking. It was unlike any church I have ever been to. I can safely say that the Sagrada Familia designed by Antoni Gaudi is the most interesting piece of architecture I have ever encountered. At first glance I thought I was standing in front of a gigantic dribble sand castle. Known as the “Unfinished Cathedral,” the Sagrada Familia was started in 1882 and is still not complete. This church is the true collaboration between architecture and art. We were lucky to visit the church just three weeks after Pope Benedict XVI visited to consecrate the church as a basilica. The cathedral is extremely modern and colorful. You could stare at Gaudi’s church for hours and still be surprised by all the small intricate details. Different animals and creatures scale the façade of the church and give the building a very playful and childlike feel. When I walked into the church after waiting in line for an hour, I was completely blown away. The cathedral was so colorful and new. The stained glass highlighted the modern altar and tall soaring pillars that were said to symbolize towering trees. We took an elevator to the top of the tallest spire. It was like walking around a maze. There were different entrances and exits and ups and downs on all of the spiral staircases. It was neat to get close to the artwork adorning the tops of the different spires. The colorful mosaics looked like bowls of ‘Capt’n Crunch’ cereal. Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia was truly an amazing and mystical sight. The different colors and animals added to Barcelona’s lively and vibrant nature.
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| Sagrada Familia altar |
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| spiral staircase in Sagrada Familia |
The weather in Barcelona was magnificent. It was mid-November and I was not too warm and not too cold wearing just a short-sleeved dress. It was such a nice change of pace from the very chilly days in Aix. Barcelona’s temperature was about 70 degrees on November 11th. I was astonished because the two cities are so close on the map, yet have such different climates. After going to the Sagrada Familia, Kathleen and I ventured across the city to see the ‘Museu Nactional d’Art de Catalina’ also known as the MNAC. The massive museum rested on the top of a hill with five very long staircases leading to the front doors. After mustering the energy to walk up the hundreds of stairs, we got to see such a beautiful view of Barcelona from above. We arrived just at nightfall, and I am so happy we chose to go towards the end of the night. Having the museum to ourselves, we got to look at the various pieces from different artists ranging from Fragonard to Dali without tons of crowds. There was a really neat jewelry exhibit featuring different pieces from over the centuries. The most famous piece of jewelry was a brooch designed by Salvador Dali that featured a clock in the shape of an eye.
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| MNAC |
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| Dali Jewelry |
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| view of Barcelona from the museum |
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| "La Xtina" |
That night Kathleen’s family friend suggested a good Chinese restaurant close to our hotel called “La Xtina.” The food was really good and the restaurant reminded me of a trendy Asian restaurant that would be in New York City. There was an illuminated paper Chinese dragon hanging from the ceiling that spanned the whole restaurant. Kathleen and I were lucky enough to sit close to the chefs so we could see what they were cooking. After dinner we went to this little local bar called the “Manchester Bar.” We sat amongst Barcelona locals listening to The Smiths and MGMT in this little bar with red lights above us. We were definitely the only Americans in the spot, but it was fun to see all the different Spanish people in their element. Though I must admit, they did not dress all that different from the average American “hipster.” All the girls seemed to be wearing American Apparel cropped tops and the boys wearing zip-up hoodies while sporting shaggy curly dark hair dos. We later ended our night at this club near our hotel called ‘Razzmatazz.’ Kathleen’s boyfriend told her about it, so we figured we should check it out. There were 5 huge rooms blasting 5 different genres of music. One played 90’s hits and the others played rock, house, techno, and pop. There were so many people running around. It was really fun, I’m happy we went to see what the nightlife was like in Barcelona.
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| Manchester Bar |
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| Rassmatazz |
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| Park Güell |
The next morning we woke up and ventured to Park Güell. This was one of my favorite sites in Barcelona. Designed by Antoni Gaudi, the Park Güell reminded me of a mix between Disney World and Alice and Wonderland. Gaudi lived in the park for twenty years at the beginning of the Twentieth Century, and we were lucky enough to tour his home. The colorful mosaics and interesting architecture made it feel as if I were walking through a play land. We later walked to the Pablo Picasso Museum, which was really interesting. I have never really had a true appreciation for Picasso until I got to see all of his works at once. The museum was really nicely set up. The pieces were displayed in chronological order and it was fascinating to see how his style changed so much throughout his career. Obviously his later pieces are known for their bright colors and use of shapes, but his earlier pieces are very classic and similar to others during his early time period. The special exhibit showcased the comparisons between the works of Picasso and Degas. I love Degas. I was so lucky to see the 1922 ‘Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer' sculpture by Degas. It was much larger in person than I had expected.
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| Degas Sculpture |
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| FC Barcelona Fans |
Kathleen and I quickly went home and changed into our soccer jerseys before the game. It was fun to sit on the metro and see all the fans piling into the various subway cars. Everyone was wearing different red and blue garb. The stadium was huge, and our seats were perfect! The game was really fun and the crowd was so animated. The FC Barcelona stadium has a current capacity of over 98,000 people. The people were always singing different songs and cheering/booing in unison. It was so much fun. Barcelona played Villarreal and they won! The score was 3-1. I am so glad we ended up buying tickets to the game. It was totally worth it, and a great way to end our trip to Barcelona.
