Barcelona

Before I begin to talk about my time in beautiful Barcelona, I need to rewind back to Seville.  I completely forgot to write about one of my favorite moments!  As Claire and I explored the Alcazar Palace, I kept seeing this familiar looking guy walking around.  Finally, it clicked where I had seen him before.  He was on one of the walking tours in Munich! I walked over and introduced myself and we started talking.  He had been traveling around Europe ever since Munich and he was able to give Claire and me some great advice for Barcelona.  The whole situation was such a coincidence!

Anyways, after catching a plane to Barcelona and settling into our hostel, Claire and I took the metro to see la Sagrada Familia, a church designed by Antoni Gaudí.  Gaudí was a famous architect in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and his buildings seem quite modern for his time.  I could have stared at la Sagrada Familia for hours and still not seen enough.  The church is extremely detailed.  Every inch of the outer walls is carved into a different scene from the Bible or is a mass of curving patterns.  The inside is made of tall arches that resemble palm trees and huge windows filled with colorful stained glass.  La Sagrada Familia was started in 1882 and is still under construction.  It is estimated to be finished around 2026 which is the centennial of Gaudi's death.

After admiring the magnificence of la Sagrada Familia, Claire and I headed over to Parque Güell which was by far my favorite place in Barcelona.  The park was designed by Gaudi as well and it was simply beautiful!  Most of it was like a desert mountain trail with large somewhat skeletal structures made of warm-colored rock.  However the best area was the large terrace fenced in with curving benches covered in broken tiles.  Claire and I just reclined on those benches soaking up the sun.  We even got a little sun burnt which was surprisingly refreshing after all the clouds of Ireland.  We walked down the steps and discovered that there was a patio under the terrace we were just on.  The ceiling was dimpled with tiled sun-shaped designs and in front of it was a fountain with a large tiled salamander.  Gaudi designed a few buildings within and at the edge of the park which were spectacular as well.

Grumbling tummies finally forced us to leave to the park and we headed to a grocery store and grabbed bread, cheese, and sangria.  We wanted to watch the sunset from the beach so we packed up our dinner and took the metro as close as we could get.  We were too late for the sunset but we decided to keep going anyways.  We walked down the boardwalk a ways until we found a spot we liked and we parked ourselves in the sand to enjoy our simple feast.  We splashed about in the Mediterranean a bit but the water was so cold it made our feet hurt!  With socks and shoes back on Claire and I went back to the hostel to get some sleep and prepare for our next day.

We awoke bright and early and walked down a long street of restaurants and shops called Las Ramblas.  The street is also lined with small stands and kiosks selling anything from flowers and post cards to rabbits and birds.  After wandering a bit, Claire and I joined a walking tour of Barcelona, but it was rather disappointing.  Next we headed over to la Boqueria, a market like the one we visited in Madrid but at least three times bigger.  There were long counters covered in ice and different kinds of fish.  They even had sea sponges for sale!  The best part was the huge stands with different kinds of freshly squeezed juice lined up in cups and just waiting for a straw.  They had every combination of fruit imaginable!  I got some sort of mango concoction that was absolutely scrumptious!

Claire is big fan of art, so after we got lunch at la Boqueria, we walked over to the Picasso Museum.  I really enjoyed the museum because they showed the evolution of Picasso's art.  He started off painting very realistic pictures but eventually he move to cubism.  He even did his own cubist version of Las Meninas, so it was fun to see that since we had just seen the real thing in Madrid.

Casa Milá

After Picasso, Gaudi invaded our lives once again as we headed back down las Ramblas to see two of his famous houses.  We stopped outside Casa Milá also nicknamed la Pedrera (the Quarry) because of all the stone used.  Casa Milá's whole facade is curving stone with iron balconies.  Peeking above the roof are several unique chimneys.  Claire and I didn't go inside because we were saving our money to go into Casa Batlló which was our next stop.  Casa Batlló was spectacular!  The whole building was designed to resemble water and fish.  The inside uses blue tiles and stained glass help with the underwater effect.  The roof is curved like the back of a large dragon or serpent.  To be honest, I could write a whole blog post on Casa Batlló, but it would be rather worthless because you need to be standing in front of the windows, the walls, the banisters, the doors, the everything to be able to understand the genius and purpose behind Gaudi's design.

Casa Batlló

Claire and I were absolutely famished after all the walking we had done that day, so we went down las Ramblas once more and sat outside at one of the restaurants for dinner.  We ordered paella of course and it was delicious!  It tasted much more like Susie's than the kind we had in Madrid.  With full bellies, we got back to the hostel and packed up all of our things before collapsing into bed.




In the morning, Claire and I had just enough time to grab some chocolate chip muffins and go back to the beach for breakfast.  We spent our last few hours putting our feet in the water (which wasn't nearly as cold with the sun shining), collecting shells, and lying back in the sand just enjoying the sun.

I absolutely loved Spain, but even with all the sunshine and warmth, I was happy to finally be back home on Irish soil (rain, cold, wind and all!).