Discovering Artistic Wonders in Barcelona

Barcelona is vastly different to any other city I visited in Spain. It’s full of international visitors from all walks of life. It’s busy, vibrant, artistic, cultural and full of tourists. Perhaps that’s why it reminded me more of my city, Melbourne, than any other city I’d visited so far.

My hostel was located in the Poblenou district, which is an upmarket neighbourhood close to the beach. For those who love to exercise, play beach volleyball and laze in the sun, dipping their toes into the cool Mediterranean, this is the place for you. Each day I woke up and walked along to beach AT night the calmness reminded me of the beach walk I did each morning or evening at home. For this first time in a month, I felt a tinge of nostalgia for my home.

If you want to be closer to the centre of town near the tourist spots, I’d recommend the historic Gothic Quarter (Barrio Gothico), home to the great Cathedral and lots of great restaurants, or the beautiful Gracia, a hit with lots of tourists for its charm and local vibe.

La Sagrada Familia and Antoni Gaudi

You cannot, however, come to Barcelona without seeing its main attraction, La Sagrada Familia (The Holy Family). This basicila began as a project of the architect Antoni Gaudi, a project which the visionary artist began at 30 years old and he worked on until his death in 1926. It is the most visited attraction in Spain, and although I’d seen quite enough cathedrals and basilicas to last a lifetime, especially for an atheist, I’d been advised that it was a work of art not to be missed.

And man, they were not wrong. Gaudi’s vision for this building was to tell the story of the life and death of Jesus Christ. Rather than leave the detail for the internals of the building as is often the case in cathedrals, with small chapels lining the sides  dedicated to various saints and stories, the story of Christ is told on each side, or facade, of the basilica. The entrance tells the story of his birth, and the exit, of his death. A golden figure atop the exit reminds us of his later resurrection.

Upon entering the inside of the building, the light shining through the stained glass windows illuminate the space, blue and green shades on the eastern side for the early morning sun, and warm orange and red tones for the afternoon sunset. Gaudi had a purpose for every detail. The hude columns inside the space supported what is going to be an enormous tower, dedicated to Jesus Christ. The architect died with only two parts of the project completed, and others have continued on with his vision. Gaudi spent his life on this project and was asked to be buried in its crypt when he died. He had such respect from the people that the town converged to carry him to the site upon his death for his burial. It was upon hearing this that I felt the sting of tears behind my eyes. To imagine being so dedicated to a project that you wish to spend your eternity there, and to leave a legacy so great that people from all over the world will come to see it for decades, perhaps centuries to come, is something so great I could not put into words, I could only weep.

Gaudi’s influence is seen all around Barcelona city, including in the Casa Batllo, which was beautiful decorated in roses for Dia de San Jordi, who is the patron saint of Catalonia. On this day, women receive a rose and men receive a book, stores and corners around the province are alive and bursting with both.

Gaudi’s former house is located in Park Guell, located north of the neighbourhood of Gracia. The park is beautiful and is free to enter, however for the famous photo often seen from the park, you must pay an 8EUR entry to an extra section, and as a tourist sick of paying for entry to take photos of things just to say I’d been there, I decided it wasn’t worth it.

Friends in Barcelona

As always, my favourite part of a trip is always when I meet new people and visit those I’ve been chatting with for months.

First, I met up with Vittoria, a girl from Italy who now lives in Barcelona and whom I met in my hostel in Cordoba. She introduced me to another friend from Argentina whom she had met in her travels to Sevilla and with a glint in her eye, Vittoria told us she had a special place in mind to show us. She led us up a hill to the Bunker de Carmel, where we could see the entire panorama of Barcelona city, away from the throng of tourists. She then produced beers and snacks! What a great new friend I had made. There we sat, three girls, talking about life, Barcelona, our countries, Spanish and more as we sipped our cool beers, watching the afternoon sun hit the city, with La Sagrada Familia dominating the skyline.

Secondly, I met with Ramon, who lives just outside of Barcelona and with whom I’ve been chatting for over a year on HelloTalk. It was great to wander around with a local. I’d been commented to by many visitors and outsiders to Barcelona that Catalan people are a little hard to get to know, simply because their friendship groups are already formulated, and also because visitors who do come to BCN may speak Spanish, but not Catalan, their preferred language.

Barcelona has a lot to offer to people from all walks of life, from beach to sports to shopping, history, art, architecture to hiking in the mountains to the north. It’s a wonderful melting pot of cultures, languages, music and parties (unfortunately of which I couldn’t attend as I was still unbelievably unwell). With the right company, you’ll have a blast in BCN!

Barcelona was my final city in Spain. It is with huge regret that I couldn’t get to Zaragoza, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Bilbao in Basque Country, but alas this will have to ve another journey in another time. It’s time to move on!

Stay tuned for my summary of Spain, and my next adventures in Mexico!