Exploring a city such as Barcelona is exhausting. Even when my days are considerably free compared to my busy days in Colorado, I come home exhausted and warn out. The city, the language, the endless public transportation, the signs written in Catalan… everything is difficult. It’s one of the most compact cities in Europe, which makes it very accessible but also very claustrophobic. Considering how compact everything is and how efficient the metro system is, it’s a mystery why some of the most popular places are the ones that are most inaccessible. I spent the entire weekend seeing things that I kept hearing about but hadn’t figured out how to get to, and I took plenty of pictures to post online.
Saturday I found my way to Parc Güell, a city space that once had the intention of being a “gated community” of sorts for the ultra-rich of the early 1900s. Mr. Güell, the ultra-ultra rich namesake, hired Gaudi (of course, he’s popular around here) to build a community on the outskirts of Barcelona. Basically a mini garden city, which never came through and is now a pretty remarkable and famous park. Here’s a picture of the park from the highest point I could find.
Here’s a picture of me standing in a tunnel in the Parc. I think the official name is a viaduct, but I don’t actually know if it has a function, or if it’s just one of Gaudi’s over-the-top details that is gorgeous but pointless.
A picture of the girls I do 90% of my sightseeing with. From left to right: Mara, Katie, Kate, myself, and Maggie. We are sitting in Parc Güell on the world’s largest bench made entirely of mosaic tiles.
And another picture just for fun: The entry to the park, essentially the gate, two candy-land type buildings by Gaudi.
After exploring the park I felt so happy and thankful to be out of the congested city. But avoiding the city can’t last forever, and I went back downtown right around sunset to explore the neighborhood right around the University of Barcelona (which I do not have the privilege of attending).
(On a side note, looking at this picture reminded me of an event today. I saw my first SUV while in Europe. It was an Escalade in my neighborhood and it kind of took me by surprise because it looked so out of place driving behind a Smart Car. You never realize how big Americans’ cars are until you walk the streets for weeks without seeing an SUV or pickup truck.)
Saturday night we ate well and drank well at a chic tapas bar on Passeig de Grácia, a hip and expensive shopping strip by day and just as popular at night. I was totally against the idea of tapas until this place… there was more to it than pork and sausage, and everything wasn’t fried, so I finally found tapas that I enjoyed. I laugh when I think about Bryant coming to visit, because everything is in miniature portions… one bite of food per plate. Bryant eats about 5,000 calories per day and tapas just aren’t going to cut it for him! Anyway, I went home exhausted at 1:30 am, which was about 5 hours earlier than the rest of the group went home.
The next day, Sunday, the same group of girls took the metro to the funicular stop, and then took the funicular to Mounjüic. I actually don’t know what a funicular is, but it starts out like a metro and suddenly it’s above ground, and then all of a sudden you’re suspended above ground going up a hill. A little bit unnerving! Monjüic an area at the edge of Barcelona filled with museums, a castle, gardens, and all the Olympic facilities from the 1992 Olympics. We also discovered that Mounjüic is home to the most disgusting homeless men to ever exist.
Doing anything on a Sunday is a little bit tedious, because 95% of all places of business are closed on Sundays. In fact, the only thing that was open was an old castle (famous for housing hundreds of executions during Franco’s reign) that is now an incredibly boring military museum. The castle itself is pretty remarkable and overlooks the Mediterranean, so we paid of the military museum just so we could check out the grounds. I’ve included a picture of the castle, and myself on top.
Roof of the castle, home to executions of all various types.
After the castle we wandered down the hill and through various gardens, which is the location of our encounter with Scary Homeless Man. We finally arrived at the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, which was built in 1929 for the Worlds Fair and it was incredible. I didn’t get a great picture, but here’s a picture of part of the building and then a view of the city from the steps of the museum.
It was a great weekend and I feel like I know the city better. The weather was incredible, which I am now very thankful for considering that it has been cold, rainy, and windy for the past four days. I am going to a nearby town, Tarragona, this weekend and spending time with the daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren of my host family, so hopefully the weather will clear up by then!
Still missing everybody every day, hopefully these updates aren’t too boring! Lo siento!
Saturday I found my way to Parc Güell, a city space that once had the intention of being a “gated community” of sorts for the ultra-rich of the early 1900s. Mr. Güell, the ultra-ultra rich namesake, hired Gaudi (of course, he’s popular around here) to build a community on the outskirts of Barcelona. Basically a mini garden city, which never came through and is now a pretty remarkable and famous park. Here’s a picture of the park from the highest point I could find.
Here’s a picture of me standing in a tunnel in the Parc. I think the official name is a viaduct, but I don’t actually know if it has a function, or if it’s just one of Gaudi’s over-the-top details that is gorgeous but pointless.
A picture of the girls I do 90% of my sightseeing with. From left to right: Mara, Katie, Kate, myself, and Maggie. We are sitting in Parc Güell on the world’s largest bench made entirely of mosaic tiles.
And another picture just for fun: The entry to the park, essentially the gate, two candy-land type buildings by Gaudi.
After exploring the park I felt so happy and thankful to be out of the congested city. But avoiding the city can’t last forever, and I went back downtown right around sunset to explore the neighborhood right around the University of Barcelona (which I do not have the privilege of attending).
(On a side note, looking at this picture reminded me of an event today. I saw my first SUV while in Europe. It was an Escalade in my neighborhood and it kind of took me by surprise because it looked so out of place driving behind a Smart Car. You never realize how big Americans’ cars are until you walk the streets for weeks without seeing an SUV or pickup truck.)Saturday night we ate well and drank well at a chic tapas bar on Passeig de Grácia, a hip and expensive shopping strip by day and just as popular at night. I was totally against the idea of tapas until this place… there was more to it than pork and sausage, and everything wasn’t fried, so I finally found tapas that I enjoyed. I laugh when I think about Bryant coming to visit, because everything is in miniature portions… one bite of food per plate. Bryant eats about 5,000 calories per day and tapas just aren’t going to cut it for him! Anyway, I went home exhausted at 1:30 am, which was about 5 hours earlier than the rest of the group went home.
The next day, Sunday, the same group of girls took the metro to the funicular stop, and then took the funicular to Mounjüic. I actually don’t know what a funicular is, but it starts out like a metro and suddenly it’s above ground, and then all of a sudden you’re suspended above ground going up a hill. A little bit unnerving! Monjüic an area at the edge of Barcelona filled with museums, a castle, gardens, and all the Olympic facilities from the 1992 Olympics. We also discovered that Mounjüic is home to the most disgusting homeless men to ever exist.
Doing anything on a Sunday is a little bit tedious, because 95% of all places of business are closed on Sundays. In fact, the only thing that was open was an old castle (famous for housing hundreds of executions during Franco’s reign) that is now an incredibly boring military museum. The castle itself is pretty remarkable and overlooks the Mediterranean, so we paid of the military museum just so we could check out the grounds. I’ve included a picture of the castle, and myself on top.
Roof of the castle, home to executions of all various types.
After the castle we wandered down the hill and through various gardens, which is the location of our encounter with Scary Homeless Man. We finally arrived at the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, which was built in 1929 for the Worlds Fair and it was incredible. I didn’t get a great picture, but here’s a picture of part of the building and then a view of the city from the steps of the museum.
View from the steps of the museum, looking down on the fountain and plaza:
It was a great weekend and I feel like I know the city better. The weather was incredible, which I am now very thankful for considering that it has been cold, rainy, and windy for the past four days. I am going to a nearby town, Tarragona, this weekend and spending time with the daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren of my host family, so hopefully the weather will clear up by then!
Still missing everybody every day, hopefully these updates aren’t too boring! Lo siento!
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