Barcelona in a "big" nut shell

Isn't it simply amazing how time flies? Here we are at the end of summer 2009 and I am only now posting pix from our time in Barcelona, almost a year ago! There never seems to be enough time, especially when we are trying to hike as many mountains here in Jasper National Park as we can!

Our Moroccan adventures having ended safely back in Spain, we took leave of Madrid, Julio and his dear mother, Josephine, by hopping an overnight bus to Barcelona. Most people would probably agree that travelling by coach is the least comfortable of all methods of transportations. As I have been blessed with the ability to sleep in almost any circumstance, I did not truly agree with this opinion until this overnight bus experience. We had managed to get the last two tickets on the evening coach, which turned out to be at the VERY back of the bus. A few problems revealed themselves quickly within minutes:

Firstly, as I am not the tallest or heaviest of people, I could not keep the back of my seat in a reclined fashion and every few minutes, my seat back would spring back into the upright position. Not very comfortable. Secondly, there is usually at least one annoying person on every long bus ride. Our "annoying person for the day" happened to be sitting right in front of us. Not only did she complain non-stop, she tried to push her "very expensive and fragile" painting into Adam's face, while crushing his knees with the back of her seat. As you can imagine, neither of us slept much on this night and were a bit dishevelled upon arrival in Barcelona at 7am in the morning!

Thankfully, from there on in, Barcelona proved to be one of our best adventures and we had an amazing time there.

After a continental breakfast, a couple of rest stops and a few pricings, we settled ourselves into Hostal Lausanne, right in the heart of the city. Situated on the main shopping street of Portal de l’Angel, only minutes away from Plaça Catalunya, we were in walking distance to most areas and the underground subway system.

Our first day in Barcelona was mostly a rest day - long afternoon naps, wandering aimlessly in the vicinity and getting in touch with Adam's old boss from Bournemouth, the illustrious Lee! Lucky for us, Lee had recently moved to Barcelona to take up a new position and so we had our own personal guide for a few days! We met up for dinner at "Fresco", an affordable buffet-style restaurant, with lots of fresh salads, vegetables and a free drink to accompany your meal! We enjoyed a few drinks in various bars together, whilst people watching - as it was Halloween!

The next day, we were ready to take on the city! Meeting up with Lee, we walked down the famous street called "La Rambla" or "Las Ramblas", getting lost amongst the flow of people shopping and sightseeing down towards the port.





At the port, we were introduced to Lee's friends, John and Eugene, who only had the day to see all of Barcelona's glory. So we started by taking in the Statue of Christopher Columbus, pointing to the new world, I assume, the many yachts and old buildings along the port side.







One cannot visit Barcelona without making a point to see some of Antoni Gaudi's famous architectural feats. Hence, we made our way to see La Casa Batlló - a building façade Gaudi was commissioned to refurbish in 1904. La Casa Batlló is a prime example of Gaudi at his best. With full creative freedom, he used all manners of materials, including stone, wood, ceramic, iron and glass. His love of nature can be readily seen with the many uses of colourful ceramics depicting flowers, undulating surfaces and plant motifs.

**Don't forget to click on the photo for a closer view - definitely worth it for all the Gaudi works!!**



Next, we meandered to MILÀ HOUSE, La Pedrera. Gaudi, having finished his work on La Casa Batlló in 1906, was hired by the wealthy Mr. Pere Milà to create for him a monumental home. Two blocks of apartments with separate entrances, unified by a common undulating façade, made La Pedrera like "living in a stone sculpture".



Some of the more interesting aspects of La Pedrera are the enormous windows allowing light into each open planned apartment, some with shoreline-like ceilings, all maintaining a feeling of motion and the unique iron balconies forged to imitate vegetal forms.



Can anyone find the hidden star?

Finally to complete our tour of Gaudi creations for the day, we followed the crowd to the impressive La Sagrada Familia. The immense Roman-Catholic church was begun in 1882, designed by Gaudi, who worked on and off on it for many years, until finally completely devoting his last 15 years of life to the project. The Sagrada Familia is expected to be completed by 2026, well over a century of construction and delay. Even if Gaudi had not been run over by a tram car and died prematurely, he would never have lived to see its completion. However, it seemed that he was not overly concerned as he was said to have commented, "My client is not in a hurry."



The Sagrada Familia is filled with Christian symbolism, as Gaudi wanted it to be the "last great sanctuary of Christendom". Once completed, it shall have three separate façades: the Nativity façade to the East, the Glory façade to the South (yet to be completed) and the Passion façade to the West.

Although incomplete, The Sagrada Familia is one of the top tourist attractions in all of Spain. Standing before it, you can definitely feel overwhelmed by all the detail and towering spires. Truly worth a visit.

Inspired by such great architecture, we decided to continue doing some sightseeing. We hopped on the nearest Metro (subway) to the "Placa Espanya" station and made our way up the hill of Montjuïc, where the views of Barcelona from the Palau Nacional are stunning. The Palau Nacional (National Palace), built in 1929 to house the International Exhibition, is home to the National Art Museum of Catalonia.





As the National Palace is located in the same area as the 1992 Estadi Olimpic (Barcelona Olympic Stadium), we took the short trek behind the beautiful Museum to admire the Olympic grounds.



Dusk was upon us so we hurried back to Montjuïc, as there were rumours of a "Magic Fountains" display. Sure enough, a large crowd had planted themselves on the many steps leading up to the Palau Nacional. Within minutes of anticipation, music, lights and streaming water filled our eyes and ears. To a medley of Broadway musical hits, including a Spanish version of "The Circle of Life" from The Lion King, beautiful patterns and varied lights dazzled the audience. As it turned out, these magical fountain shows happen only on the weekends and we were truly fortunate enough to be "in the right place at the right time".
































(We had made some video footage of this great display but I have yet to figure out how to upload them onto this blog site! If you are interested, let me know and I can email them to you!)




By this time, after a long day of urban hiking, we were rather famished, as you can imagine. We decided to head to "The Eixample" (Catalan for "extension"), a district between the old city and what were once surrounding small towns from the 19th and early 20th centuries. There, we found a quaint little restaurant and had a fantastic meal, with various tapas, lovely wine and even better company. We had such a fantastic day with John, Eugene and Lee - we were sad that the day had to come to an end. It always warms my heart when one can meet complete strangers and share an adventure together - as though we were all old friends.



Before dropping John and Eugene off at their hotel, we went for a final night cap at an "English Pub" to reminisce about our meeting Lee in Bournemouth. (I must admit, I much prefer Spanish bars, with tapas served per drink ordered, to any English pub in any country! The only downfall being that anti-smoking laws are not in effect in Spain yet! :P) We eventually said our "goodnights" and farewells and dragged our tired feet home to our hostel.

Big hugs and muchas gracias to John and Eugene, for sharing your laughs and company, which made for a truly wonderful and memorable day! (Not to mention, GRACIAS for the dinner, as well!)

Having only two short days left to explore Barcelona, we hit the streets bright and early, though the weather was not overly cooperative.

We went back to the port and walked along the Barceloneta beach, admiring the rainbow over the ocean, the giant lobster statue (I AM from the Maritimes, afterall!) and the shimmering waves hitting the shoreline.







After hiding a while under the sheltered boardwalk from the rains, we came across the casino and opted to try our luck at Catalonian slots! Luck must have been on our side that day as we left after an hour with a profit that would cover our meals and fun for the day!

As the skies cleared up, we headed to the Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona's beautiful most central park. We only had a short time before we were to meet Lee for dinner back in the old Gothic Quarter, so we decided we would return the next day to take in the full grandness of the park.



As we made our way back to our hostel to change, we made a few stops in the Old Town Barri Gotic quarter. Barcelona's Old Town Gothic Quarter is crammed full of historic buildings and sites, including the Picasso Museum, Barcelona Cathedral, old ruins of Roman walls, and various museums. While most of Barcelona has large open streets and walkways, the Gothic Quarter maintains the ancient medieval feel with its narrow winding streets.





The remains of the old Roman walls actually emanated its history. Meanwhile, as Murphy's Law would have it, when we reached the grand Barcelona Cathedral, the interior was indeed grand but we found the exterior to be under renovation, of course.



We ended the evening with a quick bite and some drinks with Lee, saying our farewells and wishing him luck with his new life in Barcelona.

Muchas gracias, Lee!! You were a most gracious and fun host! Thank you for taking so much of your time to show us around and making our time in Barcelona so wonderful! We look forward to seeing you again! Salud, Lee!!!

As it was suddenly our final day before returning to rainy, cold England, we made the most of it and trekked across the city once again to the Parc de la Ciutadella. Once a hated citadel fortress by conquering King Phillip V, this enormous converted park holds a zoo, several museums, a beautiful fountain, a large lake and the Catalan Parliament.



This beautiful fountain is called the Cascada - built for the 1888 Universal Exhibition. Unfortunately, the triumphal arch and waterfall aspect of the fountain were also being renovated, hence are not shown in the photo. The Baroque design used was based on the Trevi Fountain in Rome, and the architect was assisted by Antoni Gaudi, still a student at the time.



The park being designated for the 1888 Universal Exhibition, there were many buildings constructed for the event, boosting the development of the park. One of these to have survived is the 'Castel dels Tres Dragons', built as a medieval castle which served as a restaurant during the 1888 exhibition. It is now home to the Museo de Zoologia.



We wandered through the park, although we knew we could not cover it all in one day, when we had other sites to see! We did come across a true mammoth though - a Woolly Mammoth!



Leaving the park, we turned our attention to the Spanish version of the "Arc de Triomf", which I cannot remember the Parisian one well-enough for a fair comparison to be made.



The third tallest and one of the most noticeable buildings in Barcelona happens to be shaped like a giant egg. We had seen a similar one in London, England (the Gherkin) and wondered if this too was simply an eccentric business building! Indeed the 33 story tower known as the Torre Agbar is home to the head office of Aigües de Barcelona Group, the water supply company of Barcelona.



The Agbar Tower is rather magnificent, with its 4500 LED luminous devices that allow it to reflect its variation of colours, particularly when lit up at night. A word to the wise, however, Torre Agbar retains its grandeur mostly from afar - we do not recommend a closer inspection!

Next stop was Park Güell, a garden replete with the imaginative architectural works of none other than Antoni Gaudi, situated on the hill of "el Carmel" in the Gràcia distric. Originally Count Eusebi Güell's idea for a housing site for the rich to get some fresh air and unmatched views of the city, the area was eventually turned into a municipal park with Gaudi's work from 1900 to 1914.

Located at the top of El Carmel hill, you are first impressed with the actual walk to the park. Steep streets and walkways from all directions lead towards the main entrance and if you choose to do the walk up the hill, there are thankfully a few sets of escalators for the steepest parts. Open-aired escalators on the streets - what a grand idea!!!



Upon reaching the main entrance, you are immediately thrown into a kind of "Alice in Wonderland" meets the "Gingerbread House" world. Two magical houses greet you at the entrance, while you admire the main focal point of the park - the beautiful terrace in the form of a sea serpent.



As you head up the steps to the terrace, Gaudi's famous multicoloured mosaic dragon fountain is well-worth the wait for a picture.



Nor should you hurry too quickly through this unique park - even the colonnaded footpaths are impressive!



One can truly understand Count Güell's wish for a luxurious neighbourhood as you take in the dramatic views from many locations throughout the park. In the distance, one can make out the various structures already familiar to our reader, including Sagrada Familia, Torre Agbar and even Montjuïc in the furthest reaches of the eye.



Gazing down the long way back, we pulled up our socks and started the trek home. Thankfully, you cannot go too far without finding a quaint little place for some tapas and a drink to rejuvenate tired bodies. Eventually, we made it back to our neck of the woods and had one last meal at "Fresco" and called it an early night. The next we had to take the shuttle to Girona Airport and return to Bournemouth.

We felt that we had made the most of our trip in Barcelona, although there were a million other things to do and see. We will simply have to return someday to see how the Sagrada Familia is coming along and the many other not-to-be-missed sights. Barcelona should definitely be one of the top cities to visit in Europe. But don't take our word for it, give it try yourself!



Thanks for checking in! I will try to get our whirlwind tour of the UK up soon.
Take good care and we miss you all!

Be sure to scroll down to the gallery as I have posted some new pix there too!
oxxo