Barcelona, Spain

Just realized I never posted this!  Old news now but good memories...

Every 6 weeks or so we have a break from school so this holiday we jetted off to Barcelona.  We’ve been trying to get to Spain since we arrived 2 years ago but we never made it – until now.  We took 4 days and walked all over Barcelona.  I don’t think we’ve ever walked as far or saw as many sights as we did in the short amount of time that we were there. 

Here are the top 10 things to do in Barcelona (not in any particular order):

1.    

            The Segrada Familia – a huge Roman Catholic Church. Construction began in 1882 and is still going on today!  Unbelievable. The architect, Antoni Gaudi, had a grand vision (and detailed architectural plans) but he died in 1926 and the church was only a quarter of the way complete.   Construction was slow thereafter and there were several disruptions, the Spanish Civil War, for one.  However, 2010 marked the mid-point and the church is expected to be completed in 2026.  It is truly a sight to see.  The church has three main facades – the Nativity, the Passion, and the Glory.  Each one is very different from the rest as they were/are being built in different times.  However, the Nativity is the most impressive; it literally takes your breath away.  It depicts the birth of Christ and many stories from the bible.  The stonework has a heavy Gothic influence and is so detailed; it almost looks as if it’s melting away.  #1 sight to see in Barcelona.  Hands down!

2.      La Rambla – the street where it’s all happening!  It’s approximately 1.2 kilometers long, and it was filled with high-end shops, vendors, restaurants, and was smack in the middle of the city.  It truly was fun to walk the Rambla and then veer off onto the side streets, which were small and windy – just like Venice.  This is where we had churros con chocolat, which brings me to the next point.

3.      

      Churros con Chocolat.  Ahhh, what a delight.  Naively, we thought it meant churros (which we were quite familiar with – we’ve had them at the Junior School as well as in England), with a chocolate filling.  Boy, were we wrong.  We got a cup of chocolate (yes, a full cup of melted chocolate, perfect for dipping your churro stick) and a plate of small churros.  I couldn’t believe people actually drink the chocolate once the churros are gone, but sure enough everybody around us was drinking it or spooning up every last drop.  And it wasn’t even sweetened.  Impressive.

4.     

      Picasso Museum – the only museum (dedicated to one artist) that was opened before the artist died in 1973; Picasso donated many of the works himself – right out of his studio!  This museum depicts Picasso’s early pieces and only a few paintings from the cubism period.  It was so refreshing to see his normal, run-of-the-mill pieces that he painted at the young age of 14.  I kept thinking of all the 14 year olds I know.  I can't see any of them painting a picture let alone a masterpiece; Picasso really was exceptional.  It was especially interesting to see to how he transformed other artists work into his own geometric masterpieces.  We all gathered around the video and watched the progression which proved to be more interesting that seeing the actual painting which was hanging just a few feet away.  Technology.  It makes everything more interesting.

5.    

      Camp Nou – the kids (and Mac) would say this was the highlight of the trip.  It was quite an experience!  We toured Barcelona Football Club, which holds 98,000 people.  It is the largest stadium in the world.  It felt like Giant Stadium but was much deeper.  Instead of football though, picture a soccer match.  It’s really exciting and the Europeans are incredibly passionate, so passionate sometimes it gets out of hand unfortunately.  But the day we went it was sunny and beautiful and everybody was happy to be there, despite the fact there was no match occurring.  We got a tour of the locker room, walked up where the players come out, stood at the edge of the field, sat in the press box, viewed all the trophies, and watched huge tv screens depicting great plays throughout the years.  The kids ate it up, and, of course, we walked out with Barcelona jerseys.  When in Rome...

6.       Flamenco Dancing – this was a highlight for me.  The guidebook said when in Barcelona you must see Flamenco dancing so we booked a table and went to a show, dinner and dancing, and the dancing truly was spectacular.  Flamenco is very artistic and passionate (some say the dancers look mad) but actually I think they are just trying to get through the dance, which is long and grueling on the legs.  It’s non-stop tap dancing, with an attitude.  Boy, can they dance.  These men and women didn’t stop moving their legs for what felt like 10-15 mins.  Impressive.

      7. Paella and tapas and more!  The food was phenomenal.  We ate quite a bit of paella as we got roped in at each restaurant we visited.  One night we ate where Messi, a famous Barcelonan footballer eats, so we had to get the same meal he gets – seafood paella.  The other days we ate tapas, seafood, and drank sangria (which was the best I ever had)!  And, of course, the pastelerias served wonderful desserts!

8.     Guell Parc – is a famous park that was also designed by Gaudi.  His influence can be seen in the gingerbread house, gardens, archways, and scenic overlooks.  As one child put it, “He is the masterpiece of mosaic”, and she was right.

Nine and ten we never got to but they are worth mentioning.  

9. The magic fountain is apparently on everybody’s top 10 list.  It is a fountain in the middle of the city that lights up at night and is set to music.  It only occurs on certain nights in the winter and although it was on our must-see list we completely forgot and went out to dinner instead.   Messi’s restaurant vs. the fountain.  Nobody was really disappointed.

10. The cable car ride to the top of the hill in Barcelona.  Apparently, the views are spectacular.  Unfortunately, we were told the cable car was not running so we skipped this activity.  However, as we exited the city we saw the cable car traveling overhead in the distance.  We were a bit disappointed as it would have been the perfect compliment to the trip. However, we can view it on the Internet, which is the next best thing to being there!

That’s Barcelona in a nutshell.  We really enjoyed our short excursion but we were a bit disappointed the sea did not play a more prominent role in Barcelona.  I thought the beach would be a huge draw but it felt more like a seaport.  There were beaches but obviously not in use as it was winter and the high was 60°.  However, the metro was wonderful; we walked everywhere or hopped on the train.  Nothing was more than a few minutes away.  And we got the packing down – we checked one suitcase (at 24 GBP) for all five of us, and we finally felt like seasoned travelers.  All in all, it was a great trip!

Now we are back in England and school has resumed.  Another 6 weeks and then we’ll be on break again.  Oh, how we’re going to miss all these vacations.  They certainly know how to live over here.

A few more exciting adventures coming down the pike:

*Our BIG trip in April

*Queen’s Diamond Jubilee (celebrating 60 years on the throne)

*Olympics 2012

Stay tuned – the fun continues!

J Amy