Spanish Sojourn - Fri/Sat

London summer never really arrived. Luckily Lou had the foresight to realise that we would need a dose of vitamin D before the winter well and truly closed in. It also didn't hurt that this trip coincided nicely with a certain festival involving tomatoes.

We arrived late on a warm Barcelona Friday night, and managed to work out the way to our hostel. After specifically deciding not to take the bus as its harder to know when to get off, we opted for the tube which by then we had found was running a replacement bus service anyway...

So we found the address we were given for our hostel, except there was absolutely nothing about this place that showed that it was a hostel and not a normal apartment block. Lou panicked, but then luckily Hamish noted this tiny little intercom button on the side of the door and we were let upstairs. The place was actually really good, shared bathrooms which is fine but also a kitchen which ended up saving us a lot of money.

After a rough sleep (it seems that the soundproofing was non existent and people in Barcelona go out REALLY late....) we woke up to a gorgeous day. We didn't know it was gorgeous until we got outside as our room had no windows but not to worry. Our plan was to head down to the centre of town (about a 30 min walk) and find some breakfast on the way. When will we learn??? Europeans do not do anything before 10am in the morning, including opening their cafes for breakfast. However we found a place that did the job, although Lou was quietly stressing about eating croissants every day (how do European women stay so skinny!!)

We resumed our trek down to the waterfront, down Barcelona’s most famous streets, Las Ramblas. This is basically where all the tourist shops are as well as the pick pocketers but also home to Lou’s highlight of Barcelona, La Boqueria, Barcelona’s most iconic food market. There has been a food market on this site since 1217, and it was amazing how many things we saw for the first time! There was everything from fruits, veges, fresh squeezed juices, meat, seafood, lollies and nuts. We wandered round for quite awhile before picking up snacks and continuing onto the waterfront. 

Mmmm lollies

Every kind of juice you can think of

We had a rest at Port Vell which is the centre of the waterfront area in Barcelona. It used to be a really run down area but it had been spruced up for Barcelona Olympics, they have built an Imax theatre and an aquarium accessible by this crazy bridge and cable cars as well.

We continued on to the Gothic quarter of the city, where the winding streets with no street names defeinately beat us. This took way longer than anticipated but eventually we found the Barcelona Cathedral.
Despite several changes undergone in the 19th and early 20th century, many of the buildings date from Medieval times, some from as far back as the Roman settlement of Barcelona, with remains of the squared Roman Wall can be seen around Tapineria and Sots-Tinent Navarro to the north.

 

The Cathedral of Santa Eulalia (Barcelona Cathedral), was constructed throughout the 13th to 15th centuries, with the principal work done in the 14th century. The roof is notable for its gargoyles, featuring a wide range of animals, both domestic and mythical. Pretty awesome inside, but nothing outstanding.
We got tripped up with the whole “can’t wear singlets in a holy place” rule, but luckily we had our rain jackets in our bag so that’s why we are wearing rain coats inside

B is for Bennie

After this religious experience we headed down Barcelona’s Arc de Triomf. It was built for the Exposición Universal de Barcelona and connects with the Park of the Ciutadella. This Park was a real find, we kind of thought it would be nice to wonder through until we came across the Park’s fountain. The Park was built in the mid 19 century, and for decades the only green area in the city. The fountain of considerable size designed by Josep Fontserè (with perhaps some attributions of the young student Antoni Gaudí, who at this time worked at Fontserès office). It looked awesome, specially in the sun. The gold horses at the top were pretty much blinding.

Not as cool as the real one

Highlights of other buildings we saw were: Casa Mila, Parc Guell and the best of course was Sagrada Familia. It was a bit of a shame that there were so many cranes about but it was still breath taking and after seeing so many cathedrals and churches in Europe that are all pretty much the same, it was nice to see something so different. Gaudi marked his work by the four passions of his life: architecture, nature, religion and his love for Barcelona, so it’s not strange to see a lime tree popping out of a church steeple, or the lords prayer in 10 different languages on the doors.

We queued for ages to get inside, but it was worth it. The sunlight was coming in through the stained glass windows made it seem really eerie, and the ceiling with the curved arches were amazing. It definitely did not feel like a church as it felt quite modern, but construction started over 130 years ago and it is still being worked on now. Once the spires are all completed, it will be the tallest Church structure in the world.

Having seen most of Gaudi’s key pieces of work we thought we would finish that off and trek to Parc Guell, which is a park to the North of Barcelona, again designed by this crazy architect. Fair to say that we were battling by this stage, having been in our feet all day in the heat and not really resting. So when we saw the outside escalators taking people up the hill to the top of the park we were more than a little stoked. We hiked up the highest spot to get the view which was pretty amazing, especially seeing the Sagrada Familia rising out of the other buildings, and there were also some buskers playing at the top which was a nice touch.

We wandered through the rest of the park, which was meant to be a housing estate when it was first planned out. Story goes that 2 show homes were built and no one bought them so the guy in charge convinced his mate Gaudi to buy the house and the areas around it to do what he wanted with them. It has since been converted into a municipal garden.

Park Güell is skillfully designed and composed to bring the peace and calm that one would expect from a park. The buildings flanking the entrance, though very original and remarkable with fantastically shaped roofs with unusual pinnacles, fit in well with the use of the park as pleasure gardens and seem relatively inconspicuous in the landscape when one considers the flamboyance of other buildings designed by Gaudí.

The focal point of the park is the main terrace, surrounded by a long bench in the form of a sea serpent. To design the curvature of the bench surface Gaudí used the shape of buttocks left by a naked workman sitting in wet clay. The curves of the serpent bench form a number of enclaves, creating a more social atmosphere. Gaudí incorporated many motifs of Catalan nationalism, and elements from religious mysticism and ancient poetry, into the Park. His structures echo natural forms, with columns like tree trunks supporting branching vaulting under the roadway.

We needed a big rest by now which was fine as we had chosen a choice place to rest! We hung out in the Park for awhile before heading back down the hill back to our hostel.
We did not have a scrap of energy to head out again so we tried the local supermarket and bought some dinner stuff, cooked up a big feed and collapsed.
Such a good day, we saw so many amazing things, and being outside in the heat was such a nice change.

Highlight: The weather, the city itself and for Lou the market
Lowlight: Getting lost! Difficult when 3 different maps all have different roads and street names!
Interesting Fact #1: To design the curvature of the bench surface in the Park Guell, Gaudí used the shape of buttocks left by a naked workman sitting in wet clay
Interesting Fact #2: People in Barcelona don’t drink fresh milk, in the supermarkets there is a whole aisle devoted to long life milk and only one brand of fresh milk in the fridge.