A Mixed Review

Prior to visiting Barcelona, my friends and I had been given one piece of advice: look out for pickpockets. This warning came from travelers we'd met, our program advisors, other students, and even the taxi driver who had driven us to the Galway bus station. Apparently, Barcelona is notorious for the skillful pickpockets who have made petty theft their craft. There have even been students in my program that can attest to that statement, being victims of robbery themselves. So heading to Barcelona, I was a bit apprehensive. When we arrived, our hostel was not located in the best location. It was down a narrow street close to La Rambla, which is a major street in Barcelona that attracts both tourists and locals. It is also the street on which most pickpocketing occurs. The hostel itself was great. It was called Be Mar Barcelona and met our criteria of being clean and secure, providing us each with our own locker to keep our belongings in. The hostel also provided breakfast, computers, and helpful staff who were willing to give us maps, directions, and advice for our stay. However, walking to and from the hostel wasn't exactly a pleasant experience, as the sight of six American girls attracted lots of stares, whistles, and inappropriate comments from people we passed by. We made a point to stick together and not be out too late, as there was also prostitutes and who knows what else conducting business in the area. Lesson learned: thoroughly research the area of your hostel before booking a stay there! 

Our first day in Barcelona we actually spent outside the city on a beach in Sitges, which I posted a blog about earlier. After our day outside the city, we came back to our hostel and got ready for a night out on the town. We got tickets to an inclusive flamenco and tapas night put on by a local tourism company that would get us entry into a flamenco show and then take us to a restaurant for tapas and sangria. It's all about the cultural experience, right?! All dolled up, we headed to the meeting point and then to the show. Apparently we were not high on the priority list for the venue because even though we arrived early, our group was made to stand outside while other customers were let in before us. When we finally got in, there were no seats left so we had to stand for the duration of the performance. Luckily, the show only lasted about half an hour. Even though it was short, the performances were so good that by the end, we had all gotten over being shafted from the seats and ended up really enjoying ourselves. From the flamenco show, we headed to the Traveler Bar Restaurant where the six of us plus another few people from the show were given sangria followed by assorted tapas. The food and drink kept coming for over an hour before we were cut off and told we would have to pay for anything extra. We then decided it was time to leave the restaurant and join up with a pub crawl that was happening close by. We went to two different bars where we met lots of other travelers and heard about their stories and walks of life. I think that's one of the best parts of traveling, the people you meet. Everyone tends to be very friendly and keen on swapping stories or advice. We decided to call it a night around 1:30AM, tired from a day at the beach and knowing we had lots of sightseeing to do in the morning. 

Trying to give Barcelona the benefit of the doubt, we went on a walking tour of the city that focused on the Gaudi architecture that the city is famous for. Gaudi created buildings for living, business, and prayer, as well as fixtures, flooring, and other pieces that were works of art within themselves. His architecture is unlike anything I have ever seen and is clearly the product of dedicated effort and thorough attention to detail. It is so unique, I learned, that it has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Sight. We began the tour in the Plaça Reial, a plaza by La Rambla that displays lighting fixtures made by Gaudi himself.

From there, we walked to Palau Güell, a mansion that had been built by Gaudi for a Spanish industrial tycoon. It was closed to the public due to renovations so we weren't able to go inside but the outside was enough. The intricate detailing of the ironing was beautiful and the front gates featured a phoenix that inspired JK Rowling when she was writing the fifth installment of the Harry Potter series. 

Next we took the metro to Passeig de Gràcia, a street lined with the likes of Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Chanel that reminded me of Champs de Elysses in Paris. There we saw Casa Batlló and Casa Milà, two residential buildings that had been designed by Gaudi in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Each building is uniquely designed, however, it is easy to tell that the design is distinctly Gaudi. The two buildings are located along Illa de la Discòrdia, the "block of discord" famous in Barcelona for having constructions made by Spain's most well-known modernist architects. Even the pavement on the street was designed by Gaudi, with intricate designs engraved into cement tiles that were then strategically lain into the sidewalks.

 

The last stop of our tour brought us to Gaudi's most famous piece of architecture, the Sagrada Familia. It is the church that looks like melting candles, consecrated by the Pope in 2010 and named a UNESCO World Heritage Sight on its own. I thought the best part about the church was that it is a piece of living history, continuously being built up and added on to in an effort to complete Gaudi's vision for the church, as he died before ever getting to complete it.

Our tour ended at the Sagrada Familia, leaving us the rest of the day to see what else Barcelona had in store for us. We took the metro back to La Rambla and walked down to its end where we could see the famous Christopher Columbus Monument, with Columbus pointing his finger in the direction of America. The monument is situated on a rotary between the end of La Rambla and Port Olímpic, a port that had been constructed for use in the 1992 Summer Olympics and has since been a scenic landmark. The port was beautiful, with hundreds of boats in its harbor, a large walking bridge, and a pier containing many shops and restaurants. It was a beautiful day so the port was crowded with tourists and vendors, but it was still a nice walk over the bridge and around the pier.

After visiting the port, we walked back to La Rambla for some lunch and souvenir shopping. We had pizza and traditional churros then walked further up to where most of the shops were located. The main pedestrian walk in the center of the street was filled with street vendors selling art and other trinkets. Along La Rambla, we stumbled upon La Mercat Josep, an open-air market that was filled with endless rows of stalls selling all types of food: fresh produce, dairy, meat, eggs, fish...you name it, they had it. I loved the market, it was ideal for trying new foods at a low cost and getting in some good people watching. We wandered around the confines of the market for a while, overwhelmed by the color, variety, and upbeat nature of the environment. 

Soon, tired and shopped out, we headed back to our hostel to shower, grab dinner, and head to bed early so we'd be ready for our 3AM wake-up to go to the airport and catch our flight to Rome. Overall, I am disappointed to say that Barcelona really didn't meet my expectations. I had heard such wonderful things about the city, but I found it to be overrated. Maybe I was seeing the wrong things or visiting the wrong areas and missing out on what is so great about it. I think the best part of my experience was realizing that I have retained some of my 5 years worth of Spanish classes, as I was able to hold slow but full conversations with native speakers. While I don't think I will be going back anytime soon, I am glad that I had the opportunity to visit in the first place. 

Love and on to the next place,

Haley