Barcelona: The Best Place on Earth

So you know how you have those days that are great and you say "This is the best day ever!"? Well I had one of those days...one of those weekends in fact. And it just so happened this past weekend in Barcelona. It was the one place in Spain where I knew I had to go after studying so much of the architecture of Antoní Gaudí. There was so much more than his work in the region, but for me, Barcelona = Gaudí = wonderful.

On Friday morning (no Friday classes remember) I woke up at 4:30am, left the dorm a while later with 3 others in a taxi and made the 7am flight. It was a short flight and pretty easy going. It was pretty to watch the sun rise and make the clouds into colorful fluffs of cotton candy. To get to the city we took a Renfe train and then hopped on the metro. The stop was actually very close to our hostel and we got to know the metro very well as it was our main means of transportation.

We couldn't technically check in to our hostel since it was only 11am but we had a whole room to ourselves so they let us leave our stuff in the room and we went to walk around the city and wait for the other two of our travel companions (one had a later flight and one had took the train. There were 6 of us altogether). We walked in the direction of the Sagrada Familia to have a peak at it. When I saw it through the trees it really did take my breath away. Heart stopping, unbelievable, gorgeous...it gave me goosebumps. We just walked around it and then went to a gift shop and bought some souvenirs. For lunch we had kabobs at a restaurant that was very close to the hostel. I ended up eating there once everyday. It was really good, filling, and cheap. Hit the stop on a dime!

After chilling out at the hostel and meeting up with our two other hostel mates from school, we took the crowded, smelly metro to Park Güell. This park was designed by Gaudí and built from 1900-1914. It was incredible - the way that the stone walkways were constructed and the mosaic benches, buildings and sculptures. We even walked down the hall where the finale of America's Next Top Model was filmed a few seasons ago. The only letdown for the entire weekend was probably the lizard sculpture. I had seen a lot of pictures of it but it ended being a lot smaller that I had originally thought. The park was huge and we only saw the main attractions but it may have taken a whole day to see all of the gardens and buildings.

After another metro ride back we bought pasta and ate it on the balcony of the hostel. On the third floor is a dining area and an open air balcony where we had breakfast in the mornings and drinks at night from the bar. There were actually a lot of Americans staying there and the staff was very nice and friendly. Spoke good English too!

Saturday was full of more Gaudí treasures. The main attractions besides the Sagrada Familia are two houses he designed: Casa Milá (The Pedrera) and Casa Batlló. Besides my friend Amanda, I was the only one to go into the house. We saw a floor that was remodeled the way a 20th century family would've lived and a exhibition that showed models of Gaudí's other works. The best part of course was the roof. The mosaic structures and the military-inspired chimneys were amazing. And of course the view from the house was beautiful.

I went into the second house with Astrid - "The House of Bones" as it is called. This entire house, inside and out, was designed by Gaudí. The colorful facade was inspired by natural sea coral and the iron around the windows look like eye sockets of skulls. I was amazed to see in person everything that I had seen in books especially the staircase that resembles bones of a spinal column. Each window, door frame, light fixture, and tiled floor had a signature Gaudí curve or shape. But again, it was the roof that stole the show. It looked like the spine of a dragon and the shingles looked like scales. The chimneys had been gathered together at the top of the house and wrapped together into more works of art. I took so many pictures that morning that my camera died shortly after leaving that house.

After this we walked down the non seedy part of the ramblas that included high-end stores like Valentino, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton. Some of the girls went back and three of us had lunch in a small restaurant. I had a delicious margherita pizza and a small bottle of wine to myself. What followed was a great conversation, I'm sure. Before getting on the metro to head back to the hotel for a rest, we saw some fountains and were attacked by pigeons. Thus far there had been no sketchiness on the streets and wasn't worried about losing my things or being pick-pocketed every few seconds.
That evening we got lost trying to find the Magic Fountains of Montjuïc. This fountain lights up and changes shape to music in front of the national museum of art. We eventually got there and saw it light up for the last 15 minutes but there was no music. We met up with another student that was in the Barcelona and had some sangria at a local cafe and just talked. It seemed like a short day since I had only seen 2 of the 12 sites I had planned on visiting but we took the metro back to the hostel where I had another kebab and a beer. I wish I could say that I was too tired to go out that night and had a proper excuse for turning in early, but it was everyone else who was so tired and wanted to call it a night. A good night out would've made up for all the things I didn't see that day, but oh well...I'll just have to go back again sometime to experience the nightlife of Barcelona.

Okay, here comes the good part. Sunday. The bet day ever. It started with a superb visit to the Sagrada Familia. After standing in line for a little while, we went inside and saw Gaudí's greatest work that is still under construction. It of course looks huge from the outside and from the inside it's just as impressive although incomplete. All of the construction elements were kind of ugly next to this great church, but when I come back in 30 years and it's all finished it'll look much better. I took a lift up into one of the old bell towers and got to see some of the other towers up close and personal. Altogether it was a perfect visit.

After that Amanda an I went to Montjuïc which means hill of the Jews in Medeival Catalan. We took the metro and then a cable car up to the top of the hill. The entire area of Montjuïc includes the 17th century castle, some of the grounds where events of the 1992 summer Olympics were held, the Miró museum, and botanical gardens as far as the eye can see. This is another thing that would take at least a day to see. Up by the castle there were a lot of trails though a wooded area that we walked through. The fresh air and pine trees reminded me of camping at home with my family. It was a gorgeous day - sunny and warm with a slight breeze. Perfect weather for eating ice cream. It all made for great photos and a beautiful visit.
We then took another cable car across the port down to the beach of San Sebastia. This was the first time that on October 11th I was able to walk down a beach in a dress with my feet in the water and feel the best I'd ever felt. We walked towards the big goldfish in search of something to eat. Eventually we found the best food ever at Woki Market. It was like a mini Mongolian Barbecue - pick your food and they grill it right there in front of you. There was a nice boardwalk outside that we ate our food on and just rested our tired feet. But of course I wasn't tired enough to stop!!

Walking west we came upon a well preserved Gothic Basilica Santa Maria del Mar. Although now that I think of it, it was under construction on the outside so maybe it was in the process of being well preserved. We crossed though Plaza Jaume where they had crepes that were too good to pass up. I was still full from stir fry but the chocolate strawberry crepe was soooo worth it. Next we walked down another part of the Ramblas on the north side of the Gothic quarter. This was just a lot of tourist shops. We saw some of the street performers but this isn't where all the crazy stuff goes down that most people like to talk about when the Ramblas come up. It was later afternoon on a Sunday and we didn't make it over there so I don't have any crazy stories about a clown trying to sell me street art and a parakeet. Maybe next time. Plaza Real was rather calm too.

The last two stops were of course, Gaudí. Palau Güell is a "town mansion" that Gaudí designed for the industrial tycon and close friend Eusebi Güell. This house has a really cool roof too but you can't see that because....yup, it was under construction. At that time of day it was closed anyway. But the great thing to see was the iron work on the front gate. That was enough for me! Afterward, it was a decent metro ride north to see the last of the best Gaudí works of Barcelona (as far as I'm concerned, anyway) Casa Vicens. This family residence was Gaudí's first major work and is special because it's covered in gorgeous tiles from the owner's business who owned a brick and tile factory. Again, the iron work was exquisite and the mudejar (Moorish) style was beautiful. And there ended Sunday. With a kebab of course!

The next morning we were at the airport and on the plane back to Bilbao. The weather was cold, wet and rainy...typical Bilbao. And it made me miss Barcelona even more. I know that in the near future I'll have to be going back to do more and do somethings again. It truly was an incredible experience.

One major downside...I now have too look through the 800 pictures that I took over the weekend for some to put in the blog!