Date of Visit: 12 - 14 September 2011
After a short flight from Madrid on the excellent budget airline Vueling, we are in Barcelona! Some background info here: Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, which is a region in Spain. Their official language is Catalan, but they speak Spanish too.
Finally, a coastal city! I can't resist not going to the beach. I always like seaside and beaches, I don't know why, but I just do! Barcelona has a nice coastline, and the sea is very clear. Now I can say I've touched the Mediterranean Sea!
The beach looked like those of Miami, as seen on CSI Miami. So since I've gotten a new pair of cheap sunglasses, I had my Horatio Caine moment: (Sorry, no one liner here)
We stayed right in front of the famous La Sagrada Familia. It's still under construction, even though constructions started more than 100years ago, and it is estimated to be completed in 20 years. This Basilica, not cathedral, is downright cool! Designed by Antoni Gaudi, it's theme is about nature. Once inside the basilica, we understood why. There are these thick pillars rising up towards the ceiling, representing the tree trunks. There're also a tree canopy at the ceiling. It's so unlike all the other basilica/cathedrals I've seen so far. And I love it. The windows are designed to look like flowers. As they are still building it, many of the windows are not stained yet, but those that were stained looked absolutely stunning.
I bet it will look damn awesome when it is finally completed. Hope I get the chance to see it in 20 years.
We signed up for a short 2 hour tour of the Gothic quarters in Barcelona. It is very insightful. So here are some photos from the tour.
The famous street in Barcelona is called the La Rambla. It's just a road that leads right towards the coast. It's jam packed with tourist, pickpocket heaven if you ask me. There are all sorts of people along the street trying to ask/beg for money. Some interesting, some just suck. Speaking of which, it seems that everywhere we go, there will definitely be some africans selling stuffs, like magnets, glasses, fans, etc. But in Barcelona, they sell something different. There's this little thing that makes super irritating noise when you shake it. And those people will just stand there and shake the things whole day, waiting for people to buy. Good Luck amigo.. Wonder which idiots will actually buy those things.
Since we are in Catalonia, here's a local tradition we found out and will share with you. During christmas, they do not have Santa Claus, instead, they have Tió de Nadal. It is simply a piece of log puts on sticks. Children will have to feed it with food everyday before christmas so make sure it is full and happy. And on Christmas day, they will try to make the log "shit" by beating it. The log will then "shit" out presents! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ti%C3%B3_de_Nadal) Nice tradition right? Lol
Following this tradition, there are many places that sell figurines depicting famous people in shitting position. These figurines are called caganer, and are often placed in nativity scenes. They are said to bring good luck as well. You can read more about them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caganer
We went to visit this showcase town made for the Barcelona 1992 Olympic games. It's a small place, but it showcases all the architectures that are available in Spain.
One evening we walked to the Olympic Park. It is a really nice place. It's very big and spacious, located on top of a hill. We can look out to the city and the sea from there. Right smack in the middle is this space needle thing that looks like some alien communication device. Not very powerful though, for I can hold it in my hands! Muahahah
We visited Parc Guell too. Although we were advised by this graffiti to go home, we did not care!
Parc Guell is designed by Antoni Gaudi too, and he lived here most of his life. He would walk 5km everyday to the La Sagrada Familia to oversee constructions and back every night. He only left his house to stay at the construction site when he felt he was too old to walk so far everyday. Tough guy, he is.
Barcelona is definitely an interesting city. Even their city layout is cool. They're mainly all built in parallel grids, so it's rather easy to navigate the city. Hope to be back when the La Sagrada Familia is completed!
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