Before coming to Barcelona, I already had an idea of what it would be like. I have had so many friends who have visited and absolutely loved it (and one of my best friends actually lived there for a while, hi Sofia), and from their stories I thought I knew what to expect. However, while it was absolutely beautiful, I didn’t feel that ~connection~ that I’ve had with other cities. Barcelona felt a lot like Paris, but without that magical spark. Regardless, it was still an amazing four days and I am so glad to have experienced it. Below, are my highlights from the trip.
Gaudí
Gaudí’s work is undeniably one of the biggest attractions of Barcelona. From the Sagrada Familia to Park Güell, he redefined the architectural style of the city. I knew the basics about him and his work before coming to Barcelona, but when I actually saw it I was blown away by the creativeness and detail in his designs. The Sagrada Familia was insane, from high curving ceilings to huge stained glass windows that let light in in a way that created a rainbow effect, it was unlike any cathedral I’ve seen. My favorite part was how Gaudí took traditional things found in churches, such as statues of Jesus, and made them completely unique (like turning them into cubist block figures).
The other design that I enjoyed most from Gaudí was Park Güell. Originally meant to be an elite residential community, the small space in the middle of Barcelona has some of his most gorgeous designs. Unfortunately, half of it was under construction when I went there, but I was still in awe of all of the really creative pieces. Weirdly enough, it reminded me a lot of Terrace Studios, a glass bluebird making-fairyland-place close to home (how do I somehow manage to find little connections to Arkansas everywhere I go?).
New Friends
I met some really amazing people in Barcelona, and it was so much fun to get to hang out with them and learn about their cultures and different travel experiences (that’s honestly my favorite part about traveling – you learn so much about different cultures through the people you meet). I spend about two days with a German-Israeli girl I met on my walking tour, and I felt like I learned more about her cultures than I did Spanish culture because of all the conversations we had. My hostel had group dinners, and we would all sit around and talk about our lives and experiences. The topic of conversations would range to the differences in prices of our countries to our previous travels (one guy I met had spent three days in North Korea a few months previously – wild). It was a great environment to solo-travel in, and made me even more confident for traveling alone for two weeks after my program.
Dali Museum
On Friday, I took a half day and went out to Figueres, where the museum/resting place that Salvador Dali personally designed is located. It was an ordeal to get there (my train was delayed two hours and I had bought a timed ticket into the museum…which I missed the time for), but in the end it was so worth it. Dali is one of my favorite artists of all time so I was fangiriling the entire time. The only downside to the trip was that the museum was incredibly crowded, so I was constantly having to fight through other tourists to see the pieces. However, the way that the museum is laid out is really surrealist in nature – there is no clear pattern of direction and turning into one hidden room meant that you could get a completely different perspective of the same space. This meant that I was able to find pockets where the tour groups didn’t go (or couldn’t fit), which was really great for me!
Lets go to the beach-each
Living 12 hours away from a beach back in the U.S., means that it is not a common occurrence for me to get some time in the sand. So, it was so incredible to have a beach so easily accessible to me! Weirdly enough, the beach in Barcelona was actually created for the ’92 Olympics to bring more tourists, so the sand was imported from Egypt and the palm trees from California. But, is was still really beautiful and I enjoyed spending a few hours just soaking up the sun (I got some much needed vitamin D after living in a very gray CPH). While I didn’t end up with a tan, it was a relaxing way to break up busy days of walking and sightseeing.
Walking and walking and walking (rip my converse)
One of my favorite things that I do in every city is just wandering around and exploring tiny shops and museums that I stumble across. It is a way for me to break away from the touristy stuff, and I always really enjoy it. One of my favorite things that I came across in Barcelona was the European Museum of Modern Art. It was right near the wayyyy more famous Picasso museum, only 7 euros to get into, and I was the only one in the entire museum! The museum had a really different feel to it, as none of the artists or pieces were famous. Most of the art featured women who were portrayed as unapologetically female and powerful in that femininity. It was really subtle yet powerful, and I enjoyed it a lot. Plus, it felt like I had found something way less touristy, which helped me to feel like I was finally experiencing the culture of Barcelona!
Also, while this was definitely more touristy, while wandering around I found my way into La Boqueria. La Boqueria is a cool food market which has a ton of fresh fruit and food options, and is located right next to the main tourist walking street. I have really missed having easy access to tons of fruits (they’re super expensive) and so it was really nice to grab some healthy foods to snack on as opposed to my normal cheap pastry.
#Views
As you all have probably figured out by now, I make it a priority while traveling to spend at least one night watching the sunset with a beautiful view over the city. The views that I got in Barcelona were some of the best that I’ve seen yet. I tried two different places, with varied results. I went up to Montjuic the first night, and while it was pretty I wouldn’t recommend – there was a lot of obstruction from the nature of the mountain. However, the bunkers of Carmel (old world war bunkers at the top of the city) offered 360 degrees incredible views, and even though it took a bit of a hike to get up to them it was so worth it.
Barcelona was an amazing city, and I am so glad I spent the amount of time that I did there. While I’m not sure how soon I’ll return, I left with a ton of memories and pictures that made it a very worthwhile trip. This is my last trip outside of Denmark until I leave Copenhagen (in three weeks – I N S A N E). I figured that I should spent what little time I have left really exploring Denmark – plus I have finals lol so traveling is not good for that.
That’s all for my trip to Spain, adios for now and seen you in week fourteen in Copenhagen!
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Maya is a senior International Studies major, spending the spring 2018 semester in Denmark through DIS Study Abroad in Scandinavia.
Read more from Maya at travelingpapaya.wordpress.com
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