Barcelona

By [ E ]

June 28^th, 2011

Since our return from our trip to Europe, people have been asking which city I enjoyed the most. Although I enjoyed all of them pretty thoroughly, I default to saying that Barcelona was my favorite. The combination of a bustling urban city, the laid back attitudes of the Spanish, the beautiful beaches, and amazingly delicious foods made for a great city to explore during our 3 days there.

We arrived in Barcelona right in time for lunch so the first meal we had was at a tapas bar. Tapas are small appetizers or snacks that are sometimes served on toasted bread. They usually somewhere between €1-€2 so you can try a bunch of different ones for a good price. Some of my favorite ones were the seafood tapas which were really fresh and had some great flavor combinations. During our stay there we also managed to grab some Paella for dinner. I’m always happy when rice and seafood is involved, but I have to say, the best Paella I’ve had is still made by Pete Tam. If you were to tell me before the trip that the best meal we had in Barcelona was going to be at a Vegetarian restaurant, I’d probably laugh at you. We’d been using TripAdvisor pretty extensively throughout the trip and it was showing us there was a pretty highly rated restaurant between the subway station and the hotel. After reading some reviews, we decided to give it a shot. Sesamo turned out to be so good that we ended up going the next day for lunch as well! Some of the highlights of the meals were the watermelon gazpacho, beet & hazelnut gnocchi, wild mushroom risotto, and the brie and fig appetizer. The owner and chef also took time to come out and chat with us during both our meals which just added to the experience. At this point you’re probably thinking I liked Barcelona the most because they had the best food. You wouldn’t be too far from the truth.

What are these photos about?

Sagrada Família

If you go to Barcelona, you have to visit Sagrada Família. It’s still under construction but this was easily the most amazing Cathedral that we saw during our trip. It was great to be able to see some of the more historic Cathedrals in Paris, Prague, and Florence before we set foot in Sagrada Família because it really gave us a good historical background. Construction of the church began in 1882 and is still going on today. The anticipated completion date is 2026! That just blows my mind to think that even with all the advancements in construction technology, it still takes this long to complete a Cathedral. Even with the church being only partially done, it was still a spectacular sight. As amazing as the exterior is, the interior is even more so. I mentioned to Yvonne that if Scientology were to have built a Cathedral, it’d probably look something like this. After seeing a bunch of Cathedrals that were built 300-400 years ago, it was refreshing to see a modern take. When the church is finally finished, we’ll have to go back and see what it looks like then.

The first picture on this post is from La Ramba, a tree lined pedestrian mall area that runs all the way to the beach. This feels like the central hub of all the tourist action in the city. During the day there are tons of vendors, restaurants and street performers vying for attention. There’s also a market called La Boqueria where they sell fresh seafood, fruits, and vegetables. Yvonne and I were able to by some cured meat sandwiches and fresh fruit for a picnic at the beach. The city itself reminds me a lot of Los Angeles; a huge bustling metropolis with great weather and a huge beach area to relax. Another thing that I loved about Barcelona was the subway system. You can get anywhere in the city with it and it’s newer and cleaner than Paris’.

I think what I came to appreciate most about Barcelona was the diversity of things to do and see. I’ve also discovered that the more touristy a city is, the more I dislike it. Venice was beautiful, but the amount of tourists and the way everything revolved around tourism was suffocating. Barcelona has the feeling of a city that local people enjoy. They still have their touristy areas but it’s more integrated into the fabric of the city. In that way, you are able to really see what the local culture is like. 3 days was just enough to get a taste of what Barcelona is. I’m looking forward to going back there someday to find out more about this great city.