Travels in Barcelona

 I have not posted on my blog in a long time because I've been traveling around Europe without a computer. I am now back in Los Angeles but thought I'd write about my travels in Barcelona, Paris, Venice, Florence, and Rome as well as my last week in Spain. I will try not to ramble... at least not too much. In this post I will focus on Barcelona.

I left Madrid on December 8^th, headed towards Barcelona. I found it amazing that I could take the metro from my flat in La Latina and, two transfers later, arrive at the airport. Come on Los Angeles, you'll get there someday!

The language of Barcelona is Catalán (Catalunya is the province of which Barcelona is the capital city) although locals understand Spanish as well. The Catalán language seemed to be a mixture of Spanish and French. For example, all the subway exits in Madrid are marked “salida.” When I later went to Paris, the exits were all marked “sortier.” In Barcelona, they were all marked “sortida.” I found this mix of languages very interesting; after all, Barcelona is directly east of Madrid and much closer to the French border than is Madrid so the combination of the Spanish and French dialect makes sense.

Lisa, a friend from Willamette, has a job teaching English in Barcelona, so she was able to show me around the city. One story she told me about Barcelona that I found particularly interesting was the legend behind the flag of Catalunya. The flag is fairly simple: four vertical, red stripes on a golden background. According to legend, a Catalan count was dying after the battles with the Moors. To commemorate the count, a king dipped the count's four fingers (minus the thumb) into his own blood and ran them down the his golden shield. Although dark and questionable, the story of the flag's origins intrigues me nevertheless.

The influence and impact of the Catalan architect Antonio Gaudí is present all throughout Barcelona. There's a huge park in Barcelona called Park Güell that is full of Gaudí sculptures and design. In addition, there are numerous buildings scattered throughout Barcelona which were designed by Gaudí. Many of his buildings looked like they came out of a Tim Burton movie: balconies with railings that look like bones, intricately designed sculptures that seem like something out of a dream. My favorite Gaudí building was, by far, Sagrada Familia (literally, “holy family”).

Sagrada Familia is a huge church in Barcelona with swooping supports that are not perfectly circular but rather seem twisted and out of shape, 4 conical towers with intentional gaps in various locations, and an interior that will stun even those who are not impressed by architecture.

Perhaps what makes Sagrada Familia even more intriguing is that it is still under construction... and has been since 1882. In 1926, Gaudí died suddenly when he was run over by a tram. Thus, construction of the church has been left to other prominent architects. At this point, completion date is expected to be sometime in 2026. For me, it was almost unreal to see a beautiful finished part of the church right next to a construction cite, scaffolding and all. I returned multiple times to marvel at the wonder that is Sagrada Familia; any trip to Barcelona without visiting this amazing work in progress would not be complete.

Barrio Gótico (Gothic Neighborhood/area) is another part in Barcelona worth mentioning. It's an area filled beautiful Gothic architecture. Most notably, it holds the “Catedral de Barcelona”, a towering cathedral with extremely intricate designs and a beautiful facade.

Las Ramblas is a street which borders Barrio Gótico on one side. It is known as a touristy street, with vendors selling different types of trinkets in the middle divider as well as stores on each side. Eventually, the road ends at the port, where there is a huge column with Christopher Columbus at the top. For me, the street was definitely not all it was cracked up to be. Going there once was worthwhile just to see what the fuss was about. However, I felt I'd had enough after walking down the street once. Barcelona was an amazing beginning to my trip around Western Europe, setting the bar very high for my other destinations.