Adios Barcelona

After a late night out, I slept in a bit and then headed to the Plaza Epanyol to visit the Museu Nacional d'Art de Cataluyna. Thomas was still sleeping it off, so I toured the art museum on my own. The museum had a large collection of medieval and modern Catalan art. I don't think there were any pieces I recognized, but the highlight for me was the collection of Romanesque church frescoes and carvings. Like all European art museums, come prepared to view room after room of pictures of Jesus and colonial atrocities. Yay! Western civilization!

The approach to the museum is very dramatic, and the building is very attractive.

Looking back towards the city from the terrace.

Jesus looks pissed.

The disciples are giving Jesus a real WTF expression here.

This 900 year old carving was really colorful.

I'm not 100% sure what's going on here, but I assume these are lots of ways the devil could kill you.

I thought this more modern pieces was very lovely. It was inspired by western contact with Japan in the middle 19th century.

And of course, Europeans glorifying their colonial conquests. 

By about 1pm Thomas was ready to meet up. He came to the art museum and we grabbed a cab to a nearby seafood restaurant called Terraza Martinez for some paella. This place was on the eater 38 list as well. The restaurant was part way up Montjuic (the mountain on the southern side of Barcelona), so it offered great views over the city and the Mediterranean. With no reservation, there was only one table available and it was in the blazing hot sun...but our waiter was very accommodating, opening some windows for us, and now I've finally regained vision in both of my eyes. ;) The food was very good. We got a seafood paella and there were mussels, shrimp, clams, etc. 

Seafood paella.

After lunch, we strolled down the block to the cable car station, which connects Montjuic with the beach at Barceloneta. We bought a ticket and took the rickety car on a 10 minute trip across part of the bay. The views of the city are amazing from the car, and it's worth the money just to see the city from this vantage. The machinery itself is pretty old and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't planning my escape from the car when it plummeted to the sea the entire ride...but hey, I'd still recommend it!

Barceloneta from above. Yeah, there are people swimming in January! I hope the pool is heated.

View back towards the city from the cable car.

After disembarking from the cable car station, we strolled back up the beach at Barceloneta to a bakery I had marked on my travel map called Baluard Barceloneta. This bakery had tons of fresh bread, savory snacks and desserts. I bought a small piece of cake and a cannolo. We brought the treats home and I enjoyed them for a few minutes on the AirBnB terrace before it got too cold. After napping and hanging out for a few hours, Thomas and I went out for ramen for dinner. Maybe not the most Spanish last meal in Barcelona, but you can't live on tapas alone. :)

Mmmm....European pastries.

While skeptical about ramen in Spain, I was really happy with this meal.

So ends my time in Barcelona. Overall, I really liked this city. There's tons of good food, it's really walkable and there's a good mix of activities. The city feels very livable, which is a term planners tend to use for places that are just well thought out overall. My general spin on the term livable includes a notion that the city may be a little white bread. I don't know if I'd consider this city on the same level as Madrid, Rome or London but I definitely see its charm and why people tend to love it. 

There's a really funny episode of 30 Rock where Liz Lemon's character visits the south and notices that things are mostly the same as the rest of America, but slightly different. I think that's how I'd describe Barcelona in reference to the rest of Spain. Having visited other parts of Spain in the past, I had some expectations for Barcelona. Mostly these were met, but slightly different than I had in my mind. Familiar dishes are prepared here a little differently, the language is a bit different, and the people have a different way about them. After visiting, it makes it a little easier to understand why some of these people may consider themselves a separate nation (an idea that I won't weigh in on).

At any rate, with Spain under my belt it's time to head to Athens! Janice and Peter are meeting me there on Saturday and I'll have about 48 hours before they arrive to explore on my own. I'm looking forward to revisiting Greece!

Good Gawdy Ms. Gaudi

For my third day in Barcelona I got up early and went to the Sagrada Familia. This work in progress is definitely a highlight of any trip to Barcelona. Originally designed by Gaudi before he died in the early 20th century, this monument is scheduled to be completed in 2026, which is the 100th anniversary of his death.

The pictures I took can't do this place justice. I am not remotely religious, but I definitely felt moved by the interior of this building. While the exterior seems a bit over the top and gaudy, the interior is mesmerizing. The use of light from the stained glass and the sense of scale was amazing. Along with the Vatican and the Duomo in Florence, this is easily one of my favorite cathedrals in Europe. It's modern aesthetic is more relatable, personally, than many older cathedrals.

The best picture I got showcasing the use of light. The color is all from light entering stained glass. It's amazing!

The interior columns are grand and spread out like branches. Minimalism prevails and angles and light are the main attractions.

Tree-like columns in more detail.

Looking towards the alter.

The exterior is kinda hideous and over the top.

More intense exterior

The passion side of the building. The statues here are more subtle and look like they've walked out of the wall.

After visiting the church, I took the metro back towards the Gothic Quarter to visit the Museo d'historia de Barcelona. The metro here is really great, but not very necessary for most sightseeing in the city center. Barcelona is one of the most densely populated cities in Europe, and the metro is well used, clean and connects many parts of town.

The museum is a part of a larger network of museums in the city that preserve historically important parts of the community. At this location, an overview of the city's history was presented along with a walking tour over some of the ruins of ancient Roman Barcino. The walkthrough was one of the more impressive set of ruins and explanations of Roman life outside Italy I've seen. You can see an old laundromat, a vintner, a bath and other homes and workshops. 

Here I learned two particularly interesting facts. First, ancient Roman Barcelona residents drank nearly one bottle of wine per day (so, you know, less than now...). I also learned that amphora were placed in front of the laundromat and people were encouraged to urinate in them as they walked by. The laundromat had to pay taxes for the pleasure of collecting passerby urine. Why you ask? Well urine has ammonia and that was used to bleach clothes and sheets after it was allowed to decompose for a bit. Yippy!

After exploring the museum, I met up with Thomas and we got lunch at a little sandwich shop that I noticed on Barcelona's Eater 38 list (check it out if you need restaurant recommendations) called Conesa Entrepans. This cheap hole in the wall had some great sandwiches! I got a bacon and pepper sandwich and Thomas got a chicken and onion one. Yummy!

Roman Barcino ruins under the Gothic Quarter.

Simple & delicious sandwich from Conesa Entrepans.

After lunch, we grabbed a cab and headed uphill to visit Park Guell, a park designed by Gaudi in the early 20th century. Park Guell was meant to be a communal space for 61 English-style cottages and would feature a communal market space along with art and park space. Well, the housing development never seemed to take off, but now you can pay 8€ for the privilege of viewing some of the work. Ugh. Here you'll find the very famous statue of a lizard/dragon, along with some spectacular views down into the city and out into the sea. Maybe skip unless you're really into Gaudi.

Famous Gaudi lizard, El Drac.

I do really enjoy the use of color in much of Gaudi's work.

View out of the city from Park Guell.

Proof that we were here.

Everything Gaudi did is so organic, which is both cool and creepy at times.

I like the font he uses in lots of his buildings. It's playful and colorful.

After a short visit to Park Guell, we decided to walk back to our AirBnB. Today the weather has been less pleasant, it's been cold and drizzly at times. The trip back was a few miles, but we passed through the Gracia neighborhood which was full of cute streets with shops and restaurants. Many of the streets are pedestrian-focused, so it makes the walk very pleasant. After getting back to the AirBnB, we were both tired so we watched a movie (The Cured) and had some wine. Overall, a pretty full day of sightseeing and relaxing!

Gracia neighborhood street.

Barcelona seems to have a love/hate relationship with tourists...

After resting up, and polishing off a bottle of wine, we decided to hit the town again! Decidedly attempting to fit in better, we didn't leave the AirBnB until close to 9pm to go eat. We tried to go to a restaurant that was recommended by friends called Cuidad Condal, but the line was out the door. At least we figured out WHEN we're supposed to eat, finally. We settled on the nearby La Colosal instead. This restaurant is a cocktail and tapas bar (surprise!). The food was really good and the drinks were nice as well. Please enjoy the following dramatically lit pictures of food.

Raspberry mojito and a gin something or another.

Staple food of my trip to Spain, patatas bravas.

Burrata and arugula salad. Finally something not fried.

A mini Spanish tortilla.

After a couple drinks and dinner, we decided to go to some more bars and out dancing. I think we went to four separate places with weird names like gingin bar, punto BCN and la chapelle. It was still kinda early and a Tuesday so most places weren't too busy. 

The discoteca we ended up at was called Disco Arena. It was pretty empty but started to fill up around the time we left at 2:00am. Just like my trip to Madrid eight years ago, I'm still really impressed at how late these people go! I'm not a huge dancer, but after all the stress with leaving my job and lining up this travel since early December it felt good to just get a lot of energy out. After we had our fill, we were just a 15 minute walk back to the AirBnB. In a first, I logged over 10,000 steps on my fitbit before sleeping. :) Yay Barcelona!

Proof of Life. 

Disco Arena before it got more crowded.

Barcelona - Tapas & Tours

After sleeping in, Thomas and I got up and strolled down l'eixample's paeso de gracia to look at a couple different Gaudi buildings. We walked by the casa batllo and toured la Pedrera at Casa Mila. La Pedrera is an apartment designed by Gaudi. The tour offers access to the roof, which gives great views of the city. A free audio-guide offers a nice overview of the design elements and architectural history of this building.

Casa Mila

Roof of Casa Mila. The pillars are "knights" and some represent the four natural old timey elements.

Great views from the roof. 

View down paseo gracia.

Just chilling by the Fire monument.

View from inside the apartment through the wrought iron balcony.

The actual apartment was kinda small, but full of interesting design elements and lots of natural light.

After touring Casa Mila, we were hungry so went looking for a place to eat. I marked a ton of restaurants on my travel map, and we ended up at a very nice gastronomic restaurant called Mont Bar. I'd highly recommend this place for its unique twist on Spanish and Catalan staples and ingredients. The food here was really unique and the staff were very helpful. 

Come on, this is still Spain...you knew there'd be jamon iberico at some point. 

Up front is a jalapeno corn cake. In back is a pork and shrimp sandwich and a croquette of sorts.

This dish featured stracciatella cheese with a salty foam on top and sweet fruit inside. Very interesting!

Finally, we had a gorgonzola gnocchi morel mushroom dish. Very savory.

After eating our fill, we decided it was time for a siesta back at the AirBnB. Thomas needed to finish some work and I watched TV and took a nap. After an hour or so we headed back out towards the Arco de Triunfo de Barcelona and strolled through the Parc de la Cuitedella. Here we saw the lake, the Cascada Monumental and the Catalan Parliament building.

Afterwards, we strolled through the Gothic quarter towards the Catedral de Barcelona. We grabbed a gelato near the plaza in Born before gazing at the cathedral. Next we went to the Mercado de la Boqueria to check the area out. The market is basically a grocery store/food hall.  Thomas got a couple snacks and David bought some Catalan chocolate to take home. Overall a great market!

Barcelona's where's waldo, apparently. 

Arco de Triunfo

Cascada Monumental. They're not exaggerating it's monumental nature.

Catalan Parliament. 

More photos of the Gothic Quarter. It's like a cleaner Rome.

Catedral de Barcelona. Very monumental and interesting building.

Mercado de la Boqueria.

To wrap up the evening we went to dinner near the AirBnb at a little tapas place called el Mercat. We had a random assortment of some patatas bravas, friend chicken curry, spring rolls and "langostine" (basically giant prawn). Unfortunately, the langostine was a little intimidating, it was butterflied and chock-full-of-organs...we we basically just picked out the tail meat and hid the bodies. Overall, another great day in Barcelona!

Prawn graveyard.