Barcelona (by Michelle)

Barcelona is an amazing city. Es muy muy guay-- "It is very very cool/hip": the architecture, the museums, the sea, the shopping, the crowds. It was crazy to try to see it all in two days and two nights, but we sure tried.

The Architecture and atmosphere:
Barcelona is known for having had its own brand of an art nouveau architecture movement called modernismo. Most famous are the buildings of Antoni Gaudi (though the whole city is dotted with fun architecture). Gaudi is an interesting character and I want to read more about him. When he received his architecture diploma the headmaster said, "Who knows if we have given this diploma to a nut or to a genius. Time will tell." His buildings certainly reflect a unique inner voice. They are bold, creative and interesting. The kids especially loved the Parque Guell, a park (with houses) that he designed and lived in for many years. There is a very long and curving bench that Eva was excited about. One of the characteristics of this architectural movement is the use of broken tile. For this bench the planners told the workers to lay the broken tile in whatever way suited them. (fun, isn't it?)

The Gaudi style can be pretty out-there. Here is the roof and smokestacks of the Casa Mila, an apartment building that was designed by Gaudi. Almost all of the lines in the building are curving ("like the sea's waves.") In the background you can see the Sagrada Familia Cathedral, the work for which that he is most known. The cathedral was started in the 1882 and is slated to be finished in 2027 . . . We see a lot of cathedrals on this trip and have discussed with the kids that many (most?) cathedrals take 100s of years to build which means that the original designer and several generations of workers never get to see the final result of their work! This is humbling to me and we've discussed the honor of being able to see the works completed. It was fun seeing a cathedral half-finished for this reason. The Sagrada Familia is big and if completed as planned will be the tallest cathedral in the world. The style is new-gothic and some might think quirky, but Gaudi took it very seriously and very religiously. Very interesting.



The Museums: The boys were especially excited for the Picasso Museum and it didn't disappoint. (Although Eva took turns sleeping on Dave's shoulder and then mine.) The museum features mostly Picasso's early works which are interesting because he was such an extraordinary artist at a very young age. I kept counting on my fingers . . . how old?! The piece at the right he did at age 16.

We also saw the Antoni Tapies Museum and the Juan Miro Museum. The Tapies was great because we pretty much had it to ourselves and the museum itself was a beautiful space. (picture on the left) Miro was fun, but we were getting pretty worn out by then. The kids did make a new little friend, though.

The Shopping: (the shopping you say??) As many of you know I am not a shopper (with the exception being that 2nd-hand stores bring out in me some primeval hunting/gathering instinct, but otherwise I don't like shopping much) and David is even less of a shopper . . . but Barcelona had so many fun, arty and creative little shops in the very atmospheric Barri Gotic (the old part of town-with winding thin alleyways like in the middle east), that I found myself wandering into shops (with 3 kids and David following behind) and wishing I had time and a girl-friend for some real shop-exploring. Later, along the very posh Passieg Gracia street we had fun looking at window displays -- very upscale and over the top. Eva liked this red spaghetti window. (In the picture she is showing how to eat spaghetti.) I laughed out loud at this shoe store which took a museum-like approach to the shoes they sold (with prices to match). I told David, "Go stand by the shoes and look contemplative."

The Sea: ? We didn't even have time to get to the beach! We did see the sea from the Columbus tower and from the Montjuic Castle (see family shot above.) Next time.

FINALLY, the draw-back . . .
THE CROWDS: Never in my life have I seen so many tourists. When our bus pulled up to Las Ramblas (the famous walking street of Barcelona) there was an audible gasp of surprise at the sea of people. It looked like the outside of a stadium after a sporting event. I was so looking forward to seeing the Sagrada Familia, but with so many people we left without even touring the inside. I don't want to discourage future travelers-- perhaps crowds are more oppressive when you have small children to worry about (especially when street performers are grabbing at them-see Simon's blog below). Anyway, it did temper my love of Barcelona a little bit. Would I go back? For sure! Would I go back in August? Hmmm, I'd think about it. . . who's paying?