Viaje: Barcelona

On Halloween weekend, I took a trip to Barcelona, Spain with Amber, Grace, and of course, Michael Trevis.

When I asked Michael if he wanted to take a weekend trip during his stay in Sevilla, he almost immediately replied, "Yes, to Barcelona." So that's where we went for the holiday weekend. It was actually nice not being in Madison for Halloween as thousands of drunk college students raged in the streets. (Although I am sure that our Pixar costumes were missed.)

Here is some random information about Barcelona:

Barcelona is the capital of the region of Cataluña, and is located on the sandy white beaches of the Mediterranean Sea. Many consider the city to be Spain's most livable and enjoyable urban center. It is home to many works by the world famous Catalán architect Antonio Gaudí (It is even frequently called "Gaudí's City").

After checking into our hostel after a very early flight, we took a stroll through the city. We ended up at the coast for our very first sights of the Mediterranean Sea!

Grace, Amber and I at the port that was built for the 1992 Olympics

 

The newest addition to our traveling crew.

Then we wandered through the Gothic Quarter of the city to the Picasso Museum. Now let me tell you, I have never seen so much Picasso in my life. Everything from his drawings of animals from when he was 10 years old, to his blue period, to his study on Las Meninas by Velázquz. A tad overwhelming, but definitely interesting.

Then we visited what may be considered the "main attraction" of Barcelona: La Sagrada Familia, which is a cathedral-in-progress. It is one of Gaudi's masterpieces that has been under construction for over 100 years and is supposed to be finished by 2040.

Inside la Sagrada Familia

Outside la Sagrada Familia

La Sagrada Familia really is incredible. Neither my pictures nor my words, although lovely, do it justice. Gaudi's work is truly one-of-a-kind, and you must see it in person in order to really understand the scope of it. On another note, it was also cool to see a cathedral under construction. Until then, I had only seen cathedrals that have been around for centuries. And I have often wondered what it must have been like to see them during the time they were being built. Well, now I have seen one for myself!

We then took another stroll through the Gothic Quarter to the original cathedral.

Outside of the cathedral

Of course, we also visited other great works of Gaudi, including la Pedrera, Park Güell, and la Casa Batlló.

Photos of La Pedrera:

Outside of La Pedrera

The famous rooftop of La Pedrera

View from the roof of La Pedrera with La Sagrada Familia in view

Photos of Park Güell:

Relaxing on the beautifully tiled benches at Park Güell

Park Güell by Gaudi

Photos of la Casa Batlló:

Outside of la Casa Batlló

Inside la Casa Batlló
The architecture here is heavily inspired by nature.

Michael on the whimsical roof of la Casa Batlló

All things Gaudi were definitely my favorite part of the trip, and we just barely fit all of them in the weekend. There is so much to see in Barcelona, that three days is hardly enough.

And I suppose you all would also like to see the pictures of the food? Well, here you go:

Spanish hot chocolate and cake. Oh dang.

Sangria and seafood at a culinary student restaurant

As always, sweets!

Our weekend in Barcelona was whimsical and exhausting, and I would like to visit it again for a longer period of time. When you talk to Spaniards about Barcelona, they typically say that in terms of big cities, Madrid is cool, but Barcelona is cooler. After my visit there (and also to Madrid, which I will blog about soon), I can surely say that they are correct, and it has become my favorite city in Spain (besides Sevilla, of course, which will forever have a giant place in my heart.)