Barcelona Basics: Food, Friends, and Gaudi
Barcelona was a non-stop adventure. I arrived at midnight on Friday night and made my way to Don Moustache Hostel via the Aerobus. My friends, Kate and Sarah, had arrived Thursday night. After a good night’s sleep (despite all the snoring–good thing I always travel with ear plugs!) we started off Saturday morning with some Gaudi.
Antoni Gaudi is Barcelona’s most famous architect and his designs can be found all across the city. Our first stop was Casa Batllo.
Casa Batllo
Gaudi designed the house for a wealthy aristocrat who lived with his family on the first two floors and rented the rest out as apartments. It’s said there are no straight lines in the house.
Below is a picture of Gaudi’s mushroom shaped fireplace.
Gaudi wanted the apartments to have uniform living conditions, so he made the windows at the bottom of the light well (an opening in the middle of the building with a ceiling of glass to provide light to inner windows) bigger because they were farther from the sun. As the apartments moved upward, the windows get smaller because they are closer to the direct sunlight. Also, the tiles gradually darken are they rise because they don’t need to reflect as much light near the top.
Gaudi was very inspired by nature. This house specifically was very ocean focused. If you look at front of the house photo again, maybe you can see the resemblance to coral. The ceiling alludes to a whirlpool. The balconies to the light well are fenced with wavy glass. When the blue tiles are viewed through it, it looks like the ocean.
On the roof, you can see the cross and the ridge of what looks like a dragon’s spine. Gaudi had to break the tiles into little pieces in order to cover the curved surfaces.
Next, we walked through the Gothic Quarter, encountering Barcelona’s grand cathedral and part of a Roman wall from the early history of the city. Like many places in Europe, the Romans were the first to settle Barcelona.
I knew that I had to try some paella while in Barcelona, so I signed up for a cooking class. I met up with my friend Camryn (who is studying abroad in Madri, but happened to be in Barcelona for the weekend) to make seafood paella with a few other travelers.
We bought our seafood at the market, prepped everything, and threw it all together in a giant paella pan. While it simmered, we enjoyed tapas and sangria, and then chowed down on delicious paella de mariscos.
Sagrada Familia
After delicious paella (and a lot of sangria), I parted ways with Camryn and rushed to meet Kate and Sarah at the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family), another famous work by Antoni Gaudi.
This side of the church is called the Passion Facade. Many say that the columns look like muscles and bones.
The other side of the cathedral is called the Nativity Facade. It depicts scenes from Jesus’s life, including the nativity right above the main entrance (next photo).
In the middle, above the door, you can see Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Bottom left are the wise men and bottom right are the shepherds. Surrounding the Holy Family are singing angels. There is also a scene of the family fleeing to Egypt, and many many more. I think you could go to the Sagrada Familia every day for a month and learn something new every day.
However, Gaudi died before the project could be finished.
Guess how our famous architect died.
It was very sudden: He stepped off a curb and was hit by a tram. His body was laid to rest in the crypt of the Sagrada Familia
In fact, the Sagrada Familia is still not finished. It is projected to be done in 2026 (the 100 year anniversary of Gaudi’s death). I’ll have to come back (though maybe not until 2030, so I can let all the hype die down and avoid the crazy crowds.)
Inside, Gaudi’s typical nature themes are revealed. The columns stretching to the tall ceiling are built to look like towering trees. The stained glass on the Nativity side is calm and cool colors, like the morning light. The Passion side has oranges and yellows to represent the bright lights of the setting sun.
The tallest tower is still under construction. When it is finished, it will be 172.5 meters tall. This is intentionally a few meters shorter than a nearby hill (hill of Montjuïc at 177 meters). Gaudi believed that humans should never aim higher than God’s own work.
For dinner, we simply had to have tapas. It’s self serve: you go up to the counter and grab what you want. At the end, you pay based on how many toothpicks you have.
We loved the patatas bravas, another Barcelona treat!
This has been a longer post (and a bit of whirlwind), but I’ll make this next part short and sweet because I have to reserve most of my brain power for midterms (next week) and the unpredictable complications of the coronavirus (who knows what’s going to happen next) My spring break plan is currently eleven wonderful days exploring Italy, but that seems iffy right now.
But I don’t need to say anymore about that since it’s all I’ve heard talked about for the last five days. So, back to Barcelona.
Bunkers del Carmel
Sunday morning we rose bright and early (actually dark and early) to take a bus across the city to the el Carmel bunkers. These bunkers are ruins from the Spanish Civil War and are located on Turó de la Rovira hill overlooking the city. We stayed at the Don Moustache Hostel near the Gothic Quarter, and bus N4 took us all the way to the bottom of the hill.
While the clouds prevented views of a gorgeous sunrise, it was fantastic to get a different perspective on the city.
After the sun came up, we wandered in the direction of Park Güell, stopping at an amazing bakery (La Farineta by Parc de Carmel) to try a Catalan treat. Xuxos de Crema is a deep fried pastry filled with Catalan creme.
It was absolutely delicious—I would come back to Barcelona just for another visit to this bakery!
We continued to Parc Güell for yet more Gaudi. We took park paths to get there, enjoying more greenery in the middle of this big city. (Am I the only one who thinks the Sagrada Familia in the distance looks like the Taj Mahal?)
In Park Güell, Gaudi was creating a residential living area. He designed walkways and viaducts to connect the space, as well as designing several houses. Unfortunately, after a few years it became apparent that the project was not feasible. Only a small area was Gaudi-fied, but it was beautiful and unique, just like the rest of his projects.
After another lunch of paella (another food that will be a reason I return to Barcelona one day), my friends and I hurried to the airport to return to Aix. But, I’m already thinking about my return trip!
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