Barcelona Day One

More of London!

Barcelona Day One- April 1^st 2010

I don’t want to start off today on a bad note.. like yesterday, but real quick.. we spent the entire morning looking for our hostel. After spending the entire morning on a bus, getting lost in the city for two hours, and walking around until we finally found a metro that took us somewhere close to our hostel, and finally checked in.

Our hostel in Barcelona, Hostel One, was by far the best hostel ive ever been in. My very first impression of the hostel was that it was very clean and chill. We were immediately greeted by a tall, black dude who looked kinda like Bob Marley. He was real chill, and he was your typical reggae-listening, layed-back, beach dude with dread locks and worn, shaggy clothes. He fit with the environment very well. The hostel was very laid back. There was a main lobby/reception area, followed by a kitchen and dining room on the first floor. In the basement there was a pool table and a couple of couches and a TV (with american movies!) and on the second floor there was a couple computers with the internet! There was also a roof terrace with a table and chairs and a place to lay down and watch the stars! It was by far the perfect place to hang out and meet new people. Everyone who stayed at this hostel was quite young… in their 20s and 30s, and everyone was real chill. That’s the word of the day: chill.

After we got a little tour and paid for our hostel- which was relatively cheap (about 20 euros a night), we decided to walk around the city for a bit; even though we were dead tired from the little amount of sleep the night before.

The main street in Barcelona, La Rambla, is quite possibly the most effective use of public space I have seen as a traveller. The street is arranged on either side of a main strip running down the center, with buildings along the side. It is the ultimate tourist spot. Along the middle, you will find vendors and small marketplaces for people to shop. We were finding everything from pet stores to marketplaces for food and produce, souvenirs, and clothes. It was quite an experience- the strip leads you all the way to the beach. Barcelona, by far, imposes the best example of public space in all of Europe in my opinion. The city plan is very efficient- and trust me when I say this. I was finding myself embarking some of the most welcoming and comforting spaces, as well as some of the most unwelcoming spaces- cause as soon as you venture off the main touristy streets- like La Rambla and the streets along the beach- you hit the neighborhood streets, and find yourself in run-down, old neighborhoods, full of mainly poor locals. Are they all poor? No. In fact, I think most of them are better off- but I certainly didn’t feel welcome.

Casa Mila by Antoni Gaudi

Barcelona is famous for its architecture by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi. Built during the years 1906-1910, and officially completed in 1912, Casa Mila is located in the Eixample district of Barcelona. Casa Mila was revolutionary; it was the predecessor of some buildings with a similar biomorphic appearance- such as buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehry, and Le Corbusier.

Do I like Antoni Gaudi? For the emotion and style he was tryin to evoke- yes. But for his work in an aesthetic sense- no. Gaudi’s first works were designed in the style of gothic architecture and traditional Catalan architectural modes, but he soon developed his own distinct sculptural style. Probably his most famous work- the ‘La Sagrada Familia’- which I will discuss in a bit, is the best example of his style. I like his architectural style for only two reasons- one, every single room and component of his architecture is designed to accommodate the person, the function, or to perform a certain action. Every chair, window, even accessory- was designed by Gaudi. Two- he was able to successfully develop his own unique style. Only a couple contemporary architects are able to accomplish that today- Gehry being a good example with his curving, titanium facades.

While walking around today, we also passed some other works by Gaudi- including Casa Batllo, Casa Amatller, and Casa Lleo Morera. I will talk about his most famous of the three- Casa Baltlo, which was an extemely irregular looking building.

Casa Batllo

The building looks very remarkable- like everything Gaudi designed, only identifiable as Modernisme or Art Nouveau in the broadest sense. The ground floor, in particular, is rather astonishing with tracery, irregular oval windows and flowing sculpted stone work. It seems that the goal of the designer was to avoid straight lines completely. Much of the façade is decorated with a mosaic made of broken ceramic tiles called trencadis that starts in shades of golden orange moving into greenish blues. The roof is arched and was likened to the back of a dragon or dinosaur. A common theory about the building is that the rounded feature to the left of the centre, terminating at the top in the turret and cross, represents the sword of Saint George (patron saint of Catalonia), which has been plunged into the back of the dragon.

Placa Catalunya

Placa Catalunya is a large square in central Barcelona that is generally considered to be both its city centre and the place where the old city and the 19^th century-built Eixample meet. When we reached the end of La Rambla, before you get to the beach, this is the square you encounter. The plaza occupies an area of about 50,000 square meters. It is especially known for its fountains and statues, its proximity to some of Barcelona’s most popular attractions, and for the flocks of pigeons that gather in the centre- according to wiki.

When we were walking down Las Ramblas, we stopped by Boqueria or St. Joseph’s Market. The market was much different that San Lorenzo in Florence in my opinion- the range of meat, produce, fruits and vegtables, lets be honest- food in general, was extreme. Everything from cow and lamb heads to bread and water- the market was insamely huge. It smelled pretty bad in areas, but it was still a cool experience for an American to walk through it- who’s used to big warehouse Giant Eagles.

Next we stopped by the coast- Port Vell and the beach. Port Vell is actually quite an interesting place. Built as part of an urban renewal program prior to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics- which before was a rundown area of empty warehouses, railroad yards, and factories. It is the focal point of the city, containing the Maremagnum- a mall containing shops, a multiplex cinema, bars and restaurants, IMAX Port Vell and Europes largest aquarium containing 8000 fish and 11 sharks contained in 22 basins filled with 6 million liters of sea water. We walked across a swing bridge to the Maremagnum, where we walked passed the many shops and plazas. There were many restaurants- including a McDonalds and a Burger King, and the amount of sea ports and sailing boats was incredible. We sat on a bench alongside the port for a good hour, just taking in the atmosphere and the moment, not to mention we were pretty exhausted from the night before. For our last stop of the day, we headed to La Sagrada Familia, which is the most famous building in Barcelona, and possibly all of Spain. A portion of the buildings interior is scheduled to open for public worship and tours by September 2010.

La Sagrada Familia

The ‘La Sagrada Familia’ meaning ‘Church of the Holy Family’ is a massive, privately-funded Roman Catholic church that has been under construction in Barcelona since 1882 and is not expected to be complete until at least 2026. Every part of the design of La Sagrada Familia is replete with Christian symbolism, as Gaudi intended the church to be the “last great sanctuary of Christendom”. Its most striking aspect is its spindle-shaped towers. A total of 18 tall towers are called for, representing in ascending order of height the Twelve Apostles, the Four Evangelists, the Virgin Mary, and, the tallest of all, Jesus Christ. The church will have three grand facades: the Nativity façade to the East, the Glory façade to the South (yet to be completed) and the Passion façade to the West. Th church plan is that of a latin cross with five aisles. The towers on the Nativity façade are crowned with geometrically shaped tops that are reminiscent of Cubism and the intricate decoration is contemporary to the style of Art Nouveau, but Gaudi’s unique style drew primarily from nature, not other artists or architects, and resists categorization.

By the La Sagrada Familia there is a McDonalds, a Burger King, a Subway, and a KFC by the way, but they are all way too expensive. I thought was funny that you could find some popular fast food chains by one of the most famous Art Nouveau structures in the world! haha

After we stopped by a grocery store on the way back to the hostel, I took a shower- which was quite annoying because the water would shut off after a couple of seconds, so you had to keep pressing the knob on the wall. We were greeted by one of the staff members, Raphael, who actually lived in a tiki hut on the roof terrace and had to be one of the sweetest dudes ive ever met. He was a really down to earth guy. He reminded me of Johnny Depp from Pirates of the Carribean. He wore shaggy clothes- even a sack around his waist that resembled something like a tool belt. He wore a cowboy hat and he had long, shaggy hair and he smoked all the time. We also found out later that he was very smart- he read almost every book about Gaudi’s architecture, and he knew a lot about ‘green’ design. He even built a shading device (built out of fabric) on the roof terrace that would provide shade in an exact spot during the afternoon hours in the summer.

That night we met a lot of interesting people. Justen and I hung out on the roof terrace with some people from the hostel. We met a girl named Marie who was from Argentina who had been pretty much living at the hostel for a month. We also met 2 girls from Germany, who spoke to each other in German, but also knew English fluently. They were very interesting and fun to talk to. Perhaps the coolest guy I met on the first night, besides Raphael of course, was a guy from London who we talked to for most of the night. We talked about everything- most the differences between our cultures in America and England, but also the small stuff- like little British slang words that the British people would always say. Words like ‘Bloody’ and such. It was a very interesting night. I went out later- which wasn’t a good idea considering the fact that I couldn’t find 100 euros that I had in my wallet. Did I get pick-pocketed? Im not sure… but regardless, I quickly learned that Barcelona isn’t the safest place to be.