I was there from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, which I later realized was not nearly enough time to spend and see all that I wanted to, that I should have.
First things first - Las Ramblas. The singular street on which, for whatever reason, turistas gather, inhabit, breed for God's sake! It's so crowded and chock full of street performers and venders, overpriced souvenir shops and restaurants to appease complacent tourists. The best parts of Las Ramblas is that it is convenient, performers are entertaining, its on pretty much the same street as the Gaudi houses. It also has an awesome gelato chain shop called Amorino. For 3 euro you get 2.5 scoops of gelato on a cone shaped into a flower. So cool!
The very best part of Las Ramblas is that strangely enough La Boqueria is in the middle of it. It's a cool little market organized in different sections of fruits, vegetables, meats, and fish. Its a tourist spot, but a cool one. Awesome example of the wonderful food markets in Spain, most likely those throughout Europe as well. Although I wasn't there to actually buy anything, it was very cool. The colors and arrangements amazing, under the bright lights of the stands. A photographer's dream! Not to mention the delish fruit juices and smoothies some of the fruit stands give out.
As good it was to see each other again, it was pretty much a bummer the fact that she wasn't feeling too well when she got to Barcelona after a 9hr train ride. Not to mention the fact that she was in a country where she didn't speak/understand the language nor did she know anything really of Spanish culture, not even the touristy things...siiiiigh my heart! Actually to be fair, it was semi foreign to me as well considering that pretty much all the signs and places, and a good number of locals speak Catalan, NOT castellano (a.k.a. spanish, but don't call it that in Catalunya, you might get shot) But still, we fight on to try to make the best of time here.
Another obstacle in our Barca adventures was the metro system. It's nowhere near as extensive nor as easily accessible as that of Madrid. Many times we had to make a transfer at Passeig de Gracia, which no one told us had a long-ass tunnel to walk through, which if it was any longer we probably could just walked to where we were going and it'd be about the same. Not to mention the fact that when on the actual streets of Barcelona, in order the cross over into the next block you have to go around the corner to the cross walk, then cross. Confusing I know, and with no sense at all. Honestly, Barcelona's reputation of being a unique and artistic type of city soon became inefficient and annoying. Suffice it to say, getting lost was a tendency and transportation was problematic. On a certain night we got quite lost, to the point that we settled for just eatinf at the nearest restaurant we found which was a mediocre chinese place. Still, again, we go on.
Wandering around the center area was pretty nice though. Into the tiny streets off of Las Ramblas is Barri Gotic and a slew of museums, shops, restaurants, and all sorts of other stuff. Definitely weeds out at least some of the tourists. At a certain point on this sunny day it started to rain for about 15mins, as the sun was still shining. Very strange, random, bittersweet. Quite definitive.
We had a slew of bad timing, one thing led to another and we end up cramming pretty much all the Gaudi sites into our last half-day. We decided to go inside at least one of the houses, and the Bone house won us over. As expensive as it was, it was still pretty damn cool. Meant to emulate the body of a dragon, the Bone house is unique in its design in and out. The mosaics, the colors, the curves and designs. Hard to believe that that place was actually functional and that a family once lived there. Awesome.
Next up, Parc Guell. A whole park designed by Gaudi. On the outskirts of town, and up quite a few hills (seriously, we took ESCALATORS to get up there), it has an amazing view of the city, Sagrada Familia and Torre Agbar - the grandest, most phallic object in the world. In my opinion anyway. Don't worry, Gaudi didn't design that one. Anyway, from the little we saw of the park, it was very awesome, very Gaudi, difficult to describe in little words because there's just so much. One thing's for sure, these damn tourists need to get out of my way. Never thought I could feel claustrophobic in park. At the very least they need to get out of my pictures. If they did that, I could work for a postcard company. Honestly, I take better pics with my point 'n shoot than some of those crappy postcards.
Finalmente - La Sagrada Familia. Gaudi's yet-to-be-completed masterpiece. Gaudi is called "God's Architect," and for good reason. Being devoutly catholic, he dedicated the church to be the "last great sanctuary of Christendom," and indeed it seems so. Despite the cranes and scaffolding continuing the construction, it is amazing to behold. So tall, grand and incredibly detailed and gothic, not to mention rife with religious symbolism. 18 towers representing different Biblical figures, the tallest towers representing the Holy Family it self. So wonderfully gothic, looks like as though it was made of wax and melted ever so slightly. I just wanted to touch it. I know, weird, but I just wanted to! But that meant getting through the crowd of tourists and paying for it soooooo nooooo.
Gaudi worked on it on and off for 40 years, the last years of his life was spent in depression and he madly consumed himself in his plans for La Sagrada. Even so, they don't plan on completing what they THINK he had wanted for the church until 2026, 100yrs after his death! Utter and complete passion, dedication, and pure genius even beyond death. That I can appreciate.
Looking back on it, the bad memories of Barcelona are becoming more and more distant, maybe because I didn't take any pics of it. I realize that we actually did see a lot of things. Beautiful, irreplaceable things that can't be experienced anywhere else. I didn't leave Barcelona with such contempt for it at all, just with a thriving want to return now knowing what I know, to see everything else there is to be seen. Hopefully that might include a few locals like Manu Chao and a tall dark and handsome stranger...preferably not one with a crazy ex-wife and a gun.
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