Ah Barcelona. The city of color. The city of paella. The city of a million escalators. Barcelona very quickly became my new favorite city, providing any future cities that I visit with some serious competition. The weather was warm, the people were friendly and the metro system was superb. After only a few days I can see myself living there in the future. Everything was absolutely beautiful!
Jessica, Caity, Sarah, Ashley and I boarded our first RyanAir flight early Friday morning. It didn’t take long before we were on the ground in Spain and ready to explore! We took advantage of Barcelona’s metro pass, which gave us unlimited rides for 3 days for only 20 Euro. Our hotel was in a quiet district in the northeast side of the city near the Sagrada Familia. There were lots of little shops and restaurants that weren’t constantly flooded with tourists, who mostly stayed directly next to the church. We found our way to the hotel where we dropped our bags and waited for more friends. My cousin Jake lives in Murcia, Spain and decided to join us for the weekend with his friend Marvin. After they arrived, we walked toward the Sagrada Familia to grab lunch. Spain is known for a delicious meal named paella, which is a rice-based dish with seafood and vegetables. Everyone at the table ordered it, and I have to say, it comes in as a close second for best dish I’ve ever had (behind fajitas of course). We sipped our beer while gazing at the cathedral across the plaza.
Our first stop, as should be true for all architecture students visiting Barcelona, was the German Pavilion by Mies van der Rohe. Originally designed as the German dignitaries pavilion for the 1929 World’s Fair, it is a simple, one room building made of the most beautiful marble, red onyx, travertine and glass. In architecture school, we are taught to worship this building from day 1 of first year… and after waiting for nearly 4 years, it didn’t disappoint. It was everything I had hoped it would be and more. We all ran around in a frenzy of excitement running our fingers across the marble and taking pictures with the sculpture, all the while Jake and Marvin were probably wondering what kind of cult we belonged to. We got kicked out at 6:00 when the pavilion closed, but we were all so happy to have seen it.
We made our way up a grand staircase (by way of escalators… I’m telling you they’re everywhere) to find a beautiful view of central Barcelona. You could see everything from historic monuments to contemporary skyscrapers to mountains framing the whole city to the North. We found ourselves at the Catalonia National Museum of Art. We didn’t go inside, but we continued exploring the grounds that were full of cool fountains and landscaping.
We took the metro back to the hotel for a bit of a break before heading out for the night. The Dow Jones Bar in central Barcelona, which raises and drops the prices of their drinks depending on who is buying and how much, was our choice for Friday night drinks. The screen updates the prices in real time, and everyone had fun trying to make sure they got their drink before stocks got too expensive. When the stock market “crashes” all drinks go on sale and the bar turns into a madhouse. It was easily one of the coolest bars I’ve ever been to (thanks to Matt Neustadter for the recommendation!).
The next day started with an early breakfast at a local bakery that had amazing croissants and donuts (we ended up going 3 times that day because it was so good…). Our tickets for the Sagrada Familia were valid for a 9 am entry, so we headed straight to the church, donuts in hand. This cathedral has been under construction for over a century (Gaudi designed it in the early 1900s), but is completed enough to allow visitors.
To quote Jess, the cathedral “actually made my jaw drop.” It was amazing/ beautiful/ perfect/ too great for words. Light was pouring in from the stained glass windows onto the sharp white structure, as if to softly lift the sculpted ceiling. We explored the church for almost an hour before going into the gift shop and museum below ground level. There we found a plethora of architectural models and drawings, and even a model shop where staff was still printing parts for new models (perks of not having a completed building). It was a design student’s playground.
The Sagrada Familia alone made our trip to Spain worth it, but we had more to see, so we tore ourselves away from the beautiful cathedral and headed to our next stop: Gaudi’s Park Guell.
The Park was a good walk from the cathedral, but it offered us the opportunity to see the real Barcelona, wandering through neighborhoods that weren’t flooded with tourists and gift shops. We arrived at the park too early for our 1 pm entry, so we walked the trails around the park where we found Spanish dancers performing alongside their musical companions.
The weather in Barcelona really made this day even better than it already was. The sun was shining and the temperature was around 60 degrees, much warmer than Rome. Upon entering the park, we were surrounded by colorful mosaics and stone arches. We made our way around the perimeter of the park, finding the colonnade with curved walls. Embarrassingly enough, the whole reason I know that this park exists is because I saw a runway show that was filmed here for the season finale of America’s Next Top Model a few years ago.
Now that I know the architectural significance, I was able to enjoy it that much more. Gaudi’s house was al the bottom of the grand stair in the park, and it felt like the perfect combination of architectural sophistication, Disney World and Candy Land. If you’re ever in Barcelona, this is a must see!
Our next mission was to find dinner, so of course we went for more paella. This time, we found a more authentic, hidden-gem of a restaurant. This was easily the best meal I’ve had since being abroad… and I’m still dreaming of it.
We decided to go out to the Gothic Quarter for drinks to celebrate Saturday night where I finally got some of the famous Spanish Sangria that I have heard so much about. Sangria in Barcelona is delicious, and I don’t think I can go back to drinking it in America ever again (guess I’ll just have to come back to Barcelona?). Surprisingly, the Gothic Quarter was filled with Irish pubs, which is where we spent most of the night. The nightlife in Barcelona was fantastic. The streets are flooded with people and lined with lights and energy. Despite the mass of tourists, there weren’t too many people trying to sell me things, and we were able to just stroll while enjoying the ambiance.
Sunday morning began with, you guessed it: more baked goods and Gaudi. This time, we toured the Casa Mila. Unfortunately Jake and Marvin had an early train, and were unable to join us for our Sunday adventures. The Casa Mila tour took us to the rooftop, which provided stunning views of Barcelona. In the attic, there was an exhibit on Gaudi’s use of math and parametric design in the structure of his buildings. This was definitely one of the coolest things about the museum. Inside the building, we experienced a typical, twentieth century apartment.
Just 3 blocks away is another Gaudi house: Casa Batllo. I was the only one of the group that wanted to go inside, so we decided to split up and meet back together later before heading to the airport. I had the Casa Batllo all to myself, and it was even better than the Casa Mila. The house is based on a whimsical, fairytale-like story, and everything in the exhibit plays to this notion of space and color as expression. Everything inside the house was beautiful; I just wish my friends were there to see it with me (taking pictures of myself hugging columns, selfie style, was both difficult and awkward).
Next, Robby and I headed back to the Gothic Quarter to see it in the daytime. As two very avid architectural history (and specifically Gothic style) fans, we went straight to the Barcelona Cathedral. We managed to get there right in time before mass started, so our visit was cut short BUT the church had a cloister to keep us entertained. We wandered deeper into the neighborhood where we found another Gothic church, Santa Maria del Mar. There really is no such thing as too many Gothic Cathedrals.
We proceeded onward to the Arco de Trionfo, where we found plenty of street performers and, to our surprise, a massive park: the Parc de la Ciutadella. The park was bustling with activity. Children were playing, couples were jogging together and artists were painting. There were so many people doing yoga and taking salsa lessons and playing music… the energy there was amazing (and was enhanced even more by the beautiful weather). Another great thing about Barcelona is how green it was, especially for January. The palm trees and green grass were a great addition to all of the activity we saw. We really wanted to see the port on the Mediterranean coast, but we were running out of time, so that is definitely on the top of the list for when I return!
For lunch, we enjoyed tapas and paella (yes, again… it never gets old) at a small restaurant in the Gothic Quarter before heading back to the hotel to meet up with the others and get back to the airport. We hopped on the metro and transferred to the airport train at the city’s main station. Ample signage and helpful personnel told us that platforms 9 and 10 were dedicated to airport transfers, so we got on the train, happy to give our tired bodies a break. We noticed that the seats were abnormally comfy and the train was going pretty fast… and that’s when we saw the airport go flying by in the distance. Then suddenly a tunnel engulfed the train and we realized we were going far, far away from the airport. We got on the wrong train…
WE GOT ON THE WRONG TRAIN. The kind ticket checker noticed our panic and didn’t fine us for not having the proper ticket to… wherever it was that we were going. He explained how to get back to Barcelona and wished us luck. We popped out of the tunnel to find the beautiful Mediterranean Sea, but we were so frazzled that we didn’t take any pictures (when I said I wanted to see the coast, that wasn’t what I had in mind). Instead, we just sat there, frantically texting our parents for reassurance and hoping that the train would stop before getting too far from the city. 45 minutes later, the train stopped in the Barcelona suburbs, where we immediately got in a cab and yelled “MUY RAPIDO” as the driver laughed at our panic attack. Luckily he took our request very seriously, and 120 Euros later, we found ourselves at the airport. I have never been so happy to sit on an airplane as I was last night.
Overall, Barcelona was stunning, and it is the first city I can see myself returning to permanently after school. The culture is vibrant, the food is delicious and the lifestyle is relaxed. There is a perfect mix of old and new, Gucci sits on the same block as Gaudi, and everything seems to live in harmony with its surroundings. The mountains provide incredible backdrops to the city, as well as awesome hills within the city’s grid. Luckily Darci has the opportunity to study abroad here during her undergraduate education, so the probability of returning to this beautiful place is pretty high. Until then, I’ll keep dreaming of paella.
Number of Columns Hugged: 9
Days Since Mexican Food: 43 (but doing okay because of paella)
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Read more from Haley at https://haleywalton.wordpress.com/
To find out more about the U of A Rome Center semester program for Architecture, visit http://studyabroad.uark.edu/romecentersemester/
