Barcelona

Thanks to Woody Allen, Barcelona has been at the top of my list of cities to visit. But you know that feeling when you've wanted something so badly you not only hope for it to be the most perfect experience but you also try to make it the most perfect experience? Well that was Barcelona for me. For the past seven months I've been living in southern France, a mere three hours from the Catalonian city, yet only during my last few weeks did I make my way down to  Barca. This was because I wanted to badly for the weather to be perfect, yet at the same time not too far into tourist season. I wanted Barca to be everything I had dreamt it to be and my gosh did it deliver. Thanks to Gaudi, Picasso and the Catalonian people, Barca takes the cake for my favorite European city. 

When I arrived in Barcelona I went straight to my hostel to meet up with my lovely friend Lisa. The last time I had seen her was in Madrid where we went to see an amazing Flamenco show so we decided to spend our evening doing that again. We found a great spot not too far from our hostel, named Taranto, in Placa Reial. Although we got there ten minutes late, we were still just as captured by the show as anyone else who showed up on time. 

The next day, we woke early and made a B line to the magnificent Sagrada Familia. The Sangrada Familia is a Catholic Basilica, which began it's life in 1882. It is one of Gaudi's most stunning creations but unfortunately he never got the chance the admire it in it's entirety, as he passed when it was only partly complete. Although still in construction this basilica is a UNESCO protected sight and my god is it amazing!

This is a sight not to be missed. I would recommend that if you are going to visit the Sagrada Familia (and you should) to order your tickets in advance online, you can literally do it the day before or the morning of. Don't show up to a huge line and then decide you have better things to do with your time than to stand in line to see something as spectacular as this!

Another of Gaudi's brilliant creations is the Gaudi park or more formally known as Park Güell. When you think of a park, or at least what I've come to know as a park having spent the last few months in Europe, you think of manicured lawns, beautiful extravagant fountains, and perfectly executed trimming of trees, hedges and shrubs. This is not quite what you walk into when you walk into Park Güell. Don't get me wrong, it's perfect but in this kooky, eccentric, yet magnificent way. The mosaic ledge is perfect for cool "I'm just chilling in Barcelona, hanging with friends overlooking this amazing view of the city" but really not cause your surrounded by thousands of tourists eyeing you to get off the ledge cause they're trying to take the exact same photo.

As you keep walking through the park, you are constantly met by beautiful homes, and random mosaic art. Right in the middle of the park there is this huge cave like structure, that is completely brown and dirt like, but some how flows so well with the chic homes and mosaics.

I remember watching Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona, and seeing Vicky walk through this park, right where the following few photos were taken. In the film the park looks so peaceful and serene. Not a tourist in sight. Oh my! does reality prove a completely different atmosphere. Literally standing there for so long trying to get a photo without a million people posing for their own photo.

The building to the left is Casa Milà, another Gaudi creation. It's better known as La Pedrera and was built between 1906-1912. I didn't enter because it was a little expensive but I'm told it's pretty cool from the inside as well. Looking at this building and thinking about how forward thinking the architecture is for today, makes me wonder how people took it in the early 1900s. Barcelona is just that kind of place! For the super creative.

The building to the right is Casa Batlló, Another Gaudi building located down the street from Casa Milà. Casa Batlló is a building that had been remodeled by Gaudi in 1904. It is known as being very Gaudiesque. It's decked in beautiful, vibrant mosaics and and is so obviously inspired by nature, which is known to be Gaudi's muse of choice. The building looks like it's covered by some sort of deformed, reorganized skeleton. At first sight it gave me a very spooky, all hallows' eve feeling. I instantly fell in love. Mixing the morbid skeleton architecture with the joyful bright mosaic  gave the entire building this realistic life, that everyone could identify with. How could a human identify with a building? I don't know, but it happened... to me.

After my Gaudi filled day in Barcelona my friend and I were ready to return to our hostel for a rest. As we were walking down the street we noticed these stalls selling FC Barcelona match tickets. We were joking around about going to watch the match that started in a few hours. Then as a joke we actually stopped to check the prices, and then for real we started asking for tickets to buy. We found two tickets in the nose bleeds which happened to be in the same section that our two other friends had already bought tickets in. The tickets were fifty bucks each and they came with a free drink at some sports bar! WIN/WIN! And just like that we were on our way to Camp Nou!

After a long day of Gaudi Hunting and Barca cheering, I had half a day left in Barcelona and decided to take it easy. I went to the Picasso Museum, which I happened to get in line for just as they were switching over to their free museum hours. Seeing So much Picasso was mind blowing. The art that he created when he was just a child, 8,9,10 years old - It's unbelievable. Picasso in a way, reminds me so much of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. When you look at the art he created when he was a child, the paintings, portraits and sketches look like those of someone who had been studying art for years. Such depth and emotion. The complexity and the intensity of the paintings, you'd never guess it was a child drawing and painting these pieces. Then you get to later on in his career, and although still creating master pieces, all his work becomes so youthfull, and at times immature, and silly. His work when he's an older painter channels a child's mind for sure. He definitely developed as an artist backwards to a normal human-being. Just to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. The two pictures below are Picasso paintings. The one on the left was painted in his 50s and the one on the right was painted in his early teens. 

 Finally, after the Picasso Museum, I headed to a park that had been recommended to me by my friend Lisa. Parc de la Ciutadella, is this gorgeous mark, with amazing fountains, going back to more common European parks, but still had a very bohemian feel than any park I had seen so far. Or it could have just been the hippy festival going on. African tribal music, vegan snacks, and free trade venders lined the trails of the park. I love how when I went to sit down to enjoy some African music I was approached by a guys selling beers and mojitos. Somethings are just better in Europe.

All in all, Barcelona exceeded my expectations. The only thing I would have changed about the weekend would have been to make it at least a few months longer. I fell in love with the architecture that is just so unique and so different from anything I have ever seen before. There is definitely something in the water in Barca that generates the most creative minds. I love it's artistic flair mixed with the spanish love of life. And gosh am I happy I didn't get pick pocketed!