Barcelona

This is your postcard from Barcelona.

Seriously, this is your postcard. I won’t be sending any in the mail because I can say and show much more here. And, well, who uses the mail anyway? But if you really need it:

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Hi!

I hope that everyone is well back home. I am having such a great time on my trip. I’m in Barcelona now, and I can’t believe that it’s already been two weeks. I’ll be back before you know it though – in less than a month. I can’t wait to see you then.

Wish you were here.

- Nathan

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Just pretend that I started running out of space at the end and had to write tinier, and you'll never know the difference. As further fair warning, I'll be coming home souvenir-free. Sorry, guys. But my whole life is crammed into one backpack right now, and there isn't much space to spare.

With that behind us, I can get to the details. For starters, this was my second trip to Barcelona. I visited once before in 2005 when I was staying in London. (Shout-out to my original travel companions: Jason and KJ.) So this is the first of only three cities that I am returning to on this trip. Last time I was here, I saw much of what I had hoped to see. (I even took in a soccer game at the massive Camp Nou soccer stadium.) So this time around, I could take it somewhat lighter and ease the pace of the trip a bit.

Reed and I arrived in Barcelona at about 10:00 am, and after dropping our bags at the hostel, we went straight to the most famous site in town – La Sagrada Familia. La Sagrada Familia is, or will be, Barcelona’s signature cathedral. (9) Like many other buildings in the city, it was designed by Antoni Gaudi. He is quite a famous architect and an important part of any visit to Barcelona.

As you will see here, Gaudi is famous for a very creative style of architecture. Basically, everything he designs looks like something out of a Tim Burton movie.

You likely noticed the scaffolding on the outside of the building, too. There is less of it now than the last time I was here. But La Sagrada Familia is not being renovated; it is still under construction. It often takes something like 150 years to build a large, intricately designed cathedral. Construction of La Sagrada Familia began around 1900, and it is still a work in progress. In all likelihood, construction will continue for at least another 25 years.

Just to tell you what you’re looking at: one façade of the cathedral depicts scenes from the nativity, and the other side features more abstract-looking figures from the passion and the stations of the cross. Because Gaudi really loved nature, the exterior also features more unusual elements like lizards and birds, and the tops of the towers are decorated with fruit. The towers are also decorated with tiny mosaics. It’s hard to see form this distance, but the mosaics undoubtedly added some time to the already long timeline for completion.

After waiting in line outside, Reed and I bought tickets to check out the interior of the cathedral. Last time I was in Barcelona, we came by too late in the day to be admitted, so this part was all new to me. As you can see, like the outside, the inside looks very different from your average cathedral. While the branching pillars, spiral staircases, and twisted balconies are all interesting, the most striking aspect of the interior is the planned amount of stained-glass windows. While only a handful of the elaborate windows are actually in place, the design envisions them to cover nearly all of the walls. When the place is finished, the inside will be entirely flooded with color.

Before we left, we also ascended all the way to the top of one of the towers to see different parts of the church and the city from new and interesting angles.

La Sagrada Familia is a beautiful building, but I think that it was especially interesting to have been there during the construction process. Maybe one day I can go back for a third time when it is complete.

After the cathedral, we visited some of Gaudi’s other creations in Park Guell, which overlooks the rest of the city. Then we returned to the city center to walk down the famous pedestrian street La Rambla (which is covered with tourists, venders, and street performers) and to wander around the gothic quarter.

The principle site in the gothic quarter is, of course, a cathedral in the gothic style. (10) While its few gargoyles outside have nothing on those of Paris’s Notre Dame, its interior is perhaps the best example of a gothic architecture I have ever seen. It’s stunning. And I think my pictures there came out really well.

In the evening, we met up with a few of Reed’s friends for drinks on a restaurant patio. And for the rest of our time in Barcelona, I mostly just relaxed and wandered around. I took it easy while Reed visited a few museums that I had already seen. I thought about wandering down to the beach, but I didn’t get around to it. I needed a breather.

I like Barcelona a lot, so I was happy to come back. In my opinion, it’s Spain’s best truly big city. It has tall buildings, shops, and plenty of nightlife and things to do for those who live there, but it still feels distinctly Spanish – or at least distinctly Catalan. It's Spain's answer to London, Paris, and Rome - though admittedly not quite in their league. It was a fitting city to wrap up the Spanish leg of our trip.

Now, I’m heading out of the land where everything to eat is either ham or more ham. I’ll stop very briefly in the land of snails and duck before an extended stay in the pasta provinces.

Stay tuned.

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More pictures of Barcelona: