Barcelona - En el 'Cor' de Catalunya

Barcelona - In the Heart of Catalonia

For many years I've had an obsession with the idea of traveling to Barcelona. It all started when I first moved to Fort Walton Beach in 2008. I was living alone, out in the "real world" for the first time, poor, and without cable. I did, however, have a rather heavy and large TV that was gifted to me by a boyfriend who insisted I have something to watch movies on. So, along with many long nights filled with jigsaw puzzles and arts & crafts I started renting movies. Now, back in that day, kids, we rented movies from a shop. You paid to take an actual disc home for a few days and you returned it for the next lucky customer. It involved some sort of human interaction. Crazy, huh?

Well, one weekend I rented "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" because it looked aesthetically pleasing and because it also stars my doppelganger ScarJo (I suppose that's also aesthetically pleasing for most of you).

Thus, my obsession began (not with ScarJo. Barcelona). Barcelona in the eyes of director Woody Allen is everything you want in a city - arts, architecture, food, balmy nights with loads of red wine and super hot Spanish men (Javier Bardem) - you know, the usual fantasy of every "then-nearly-25-year-old-woman."

Anyway, I tucked this idealistic notion of going to Barcelona in the back of my mind with the hope that one day, just maybe, it would come to fruition. I guess you could say I put it on the bucket list although I've never formally written one of those things out.


Well, this weekend I figuratively crossed it off.



Did Barcelona measure up to the ideal I set up in my mind?


Yes.


(Except I didn't meet Javier. Or drink tons of wine. Ok, just a little Cava. It's all about moderation, y'all.)


Barcelona really is everything I wanted in a city.


Architecture


It's the most visible and albeit well known aspect of Barcelona. Modernism, Gaudi, Sagrada Familia blend seamlessly with Medieval and Roman buildings. Man has made some incredible structures here and I was lucky to see many of the most well known.

Arc de Triomf (1888)

Top: Placa del Rei, 15th cent. Bottom: Detail of Palau de la Musica Catalana (1908)

Sagrada Familia (1882 and still workin' on it!)



Park Guell

Park Guell is perched atop a hill in Northern Barcelona. The climb to the entrance is steep (even by Swiss standards) - so much so that there are escalators built into the street leading up to the entrance. I visited at sunset on Saturday and it was other worldly. Gaudi's organic style and use of mosaics really struck a chord with me, particularly at that time of day when the ever changing colors of the sky were echoed in the tiles all around me.

The famous benches in Gaudi's Park Guell. 



Music and Fine Art

There is a great sense of pride for arts in Catalunya. There are an endless number of museums and historical sites dedicated to various disciplines; I was fortunate to visit both the Picasso Museum and the Museum of Music of Barcelona.

My time at the Museu de la Musica de Barcelona is one that I will never forget. Upon finishing a four hour bike tour of downtown (more below), I was in a rush to make it from downtown to the Museu some miles away. I had 30 minutes, a tram ticket, and the determination to make the 4:00pm English guided tour. I made it 1 minute late and was concerned I wouldn't be granted entrance (this had actually happened the day before at another location to which I was only moments late).

Anyway, I arrived huffing and puffing, rosy cheeked, and hopeful. As it turns out, I was the only one who turned out. Apparently no one wants to look at thousands of musical instruments on Saturday afternoon when it's 60 degrees on the Mediterranean? Hmm. Well then, more for me.

So, I received a private guided tour of the collection and even more amazingly, a private 30 minute classical guitar concert. I was overwhelmed. And speechless. Nothing left to say about this moment.

Just me and the guitars.

Sport/Activities

Barcelona has a lot to offer for those who like to move, including parks for running and recreation, the Mediterranean for a variety of water sports, and cycling. On a return visit, I plan to run the boardwalk at Barceloneta and visit Montjuic, but for this first time, I joined a 4 hour guided bicycle tour of downtown. This was a great way to see the sites, and perhaps more importantly, a perfect way to meet other travelers.

Barceloneta Beach

Kelly Bikes Barcelona



It seemed like on every street there was something new to discover.


I've already made a list for next time.



A la prochaine,

SwissMissD



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