Barcelona

Barcelona was a bit of a tough one for me. I arrived in the middle of some drama at home with my boyfriend and my roommate who decided to move out before I get home. Stressful! I tried my best, but I spent a few days walking around without really seeing. Rough stuff. Barcelona is very beautiful and deserves exploration!  The other part that was hard about it was how hot it was. I can see myself walking around this city for hours, but I was always so sticky and uncomfortable in the humid heat. It was also a little awkward when you would meet a person and, as is customary, kiss each cheek once. They don't exactly kiss cheeks though, it's more like kissing toward the ear and touching cheeks. And then your cheeks sort of stick together in the humidity and it's not the most pleasant thing! Sweet custom though.

I started out couchsurfing with a girl from Korea who was there studying Spanish. She took me to the beach where we met a couple friends of hers and had a nice time. The beaches are very relaxed - you can drink beer and even go topless (or probably nude if you want). She also taught me how to make one of my favorite Korean dishes - bibimbap. It basically means mixed rice, and it includes cooked vegetables over rice with the most delicious spicy red pepper paste. Yum! Unfortunately it was too spicy for her Colombian roommate. I guess they don't really eat spicy foods there.

After couchsurfing with Suemin, I stayed in an apartment I found on airbnb.com with a couple from South America (Colombia & Brazil). They were very cool too and told me of nice places to go.  It was still so hot though! Thankfully the room had a fan.

This is the elevator that goes up to their apartment. I only used it once because the first time I tried, it stopped between floors at random and scared the crap out of me.

Walking around the gothic area of town, I wandered into a pretty cathedral and took a few photos. It was called Santa Maria del Mar and it was built in the 1300s!

One day it cooled down a little and there was even a little bit of rain. Finally! The whole trip has been so hot! So I rented a bicycle for the day and gave myself a tour of the city and its parks. This is the Palau Nacional (palace) near the Parc Monjuïc that has a massive fountain, both built in 1929. The Parc Monjuïc is where parts of the 1992 summer Olympics were held, so there are buildings there for that, as well as a variety of gardens, museums, pavilions, and a castle. It's a gigantic and beautiful park!

I was lucky enough to find some deserted gardens to wander around - a pleasant change of pace from the masses of tourists all over La Rambla (a main shopping and tourist street).

A few from the gardens of Barcelona - check out that massive church on the mountain!

You can easily see Antoni Gaudí's Sagrada Família from up high. Impressive how it towers over everything else!

Biking past the string of beaches I saw cool sculptures like these guys.

And Frank Gehry's massive fish! I loved him when I was a kid and forgot this was here - such a great surprise!

I met this lady in the park when we were both getting some water from a public fountain. Me for my water bottle, her for her bubbles. She was a super cool Aussie lady who now lives in the park. Didn't ask me for anything, but gave me a lesson on how to make big beautiful bubbles  =]

I love it when I find castles in the middle of cities! This is the castle of three dragons, right in the middle of the city park.

They also have an Acr de Triomf!

I found another random little park on my ride - this one was full of land sculptures like this big tiled wave.

It also had a spiral stepped into it with tiled steps.

On one of the main streets, I found La Pedrera, another of Gaudí's buildings. Amazing metal work, I am so in love with his work! 

The sidewalk around La Pedrera

I like these bench/lamp posts.

And across from La Pedrera is another of Gaudí's masterpieces, is this one, Casa Milà. As per usual, there were hoards of folks around it, so I didn't go in. The outside and the building next to it were amazing though.

The building just next door was really cool too, love the tiles!

I went back to Palau Nacional one night to see the Magic Fountain. It was originally built with the palace in 1929, but it's been added onto of course. Some of the original mechanisms are still being used today.

It's just massive and so beautiful!  Wish they could stop the traffic blocking the view though.

This is the view down the street if you stand near the big part of the fountain. There are fountains all the way up the street to the plaza.

Finally my friend Adam came - the same friend I met up with in Paris. We had such a nice time there that I asked if I could stay with him in Barcelona along with some of his juggling friends in an apartment they rented for the week. We had a great time walking around and seeing things, and I was very happy to be around people I could talk to (especially burners!) On their first night when everyone was exhausted from the bus journey from the juggling convention in France, Adam and I went out for delicious tapas in the neighborhood Gràcia  We found a nice place called Sol Soler and were surprised when Adam asked for the bill and the server brought us each a shot, and took one himself with us - on the house! We liked the place so much we went back with everyone a few days later, and even with our table of 6, we still each got free shots with the bill! What a way to keep customers coming back!

I was so happy to have friends to go to Gaudí's Parc Güell with me. He designed this fabulous park and we got there a little late after a day at the beach. We thought it was going to close in 20 minutes, but we went in anyway and it just stayed open! The jugglers juggled, hooped, and spun poi to music while I watched, chatted, and drank homemade sangria. It was so beautiful and relaxing!

Always such great metal work on his buildings - I love it!  So inspiring!

You walk in and up to this wild place with gigantic columns. There was a guy in there playing live music, such a dreamy atmosphere!

Above and behind that structure the park extends.  There was this big platform to hang out on, or you could walk around the trails up the hill behind it and get some nature. Such great views, especially when the sun set.

Looking down to the entrance and the Gaudí House Museum (didn't go in, heard it wasn't worth it).

Adam's juggling friends were fun to watch. Great company too  =]

On my last day I finally got to go in Sagrada Família, which became my favorite of Gaudí's buildings... or maybe even my favorite building ever. It's simply unbelievable - huge and impressive, creative and beautiful. The forms are taken directly from nature and so much of the design is symbolic of the bible. The spires, for example, represent the 12 apostles, Mary, and Jesus (who is represented by the tallest one). The three entrances represent the three virtues: faith, hope and love.

The Passion Façade

Before we were allowed to enter, we could go downstairs where a mass was going on in Spanish or Catalan, I'm not sure which, but it sounded neat and a bit creepy.

The downstairs crypt.

Finally we were able to go inside and we all were astounded by the beauty waiting for us inside.

I want so badly to be in here with nobody else and just lay on the floor between columns, looking up and taking it in silently. How eerie it would be!

Tree inspired columns that actually change shape as they go up. They start at the base with 8 sides, change to 16 sides, and then round at the top before branching off to support the weight. Original Gaudí design. I thought they also looked like fireworks when you look at the way they go into the crazy star shapes in the ceiling. The columns are also slightly tinted, some reddish and some more blue or green, a subtle detail that adds depth and richness to the space.

Tallest spiral staircase I've ever seen!  Like someone stuck a corkscrew in the building.

Huge organs reflecting the colored light let in from many stained glass windows. The colored light inside was reflected and bounced everywhere and it was really fun to take photos of it.

The lighting inside is just perfect. No surface is flat and the light hits everywhere so dramatically without flooding it. There were some lights on and some of the windows are not yet tinted, but it still worked really well. I'd love to see it totally done though. It has been in construction since 1882 and is supposed to be done in 2026 - 100 years after Gaudí's death! He spent more than half of his life working on it and it wasn't even close to done when he passed.

We took an elevator up one of the towers and got to see some of the building details up close, as well as great views of Barcelona.

A bridge connects the towers very high up. This is Blu, a super sweet chica from San Francisco who joined us this day. I really liked her  =]

Jen and Noel on the bridge.

The tops of the spires are inspired by plants.

Inside the staircase of one tower, looking down to other folks lower than us. It's a bit maze-like.

Looking up to where we couldn't go. Might not be safe up there. They even close the towers to visitors in extreme weather conditions...I wonder if you can feel them sway in the wind.

The coolest spiral staircase ever! You can see people's hands and heads when you look down, it's freaky!

I could not get over the lighting!

Night view.  The exterior is a bit busy for my taste, but still impressive.

And on that note, see ya later Barcelona. Actually, I probably won't see ya later. Beautiful city, but there were just too many occurrences of theft and random rudeness for my taste. Note to travelers: when you go to Spain and pay for things - count your change! And keep a close eye on your belongings. Well, do that anywhere you go.

Off to Vienna!