Blown Away by Barcelona

I have wanted to visit Barcelona for years. Decades, actually. I don’t remember for sure, but the Mediterranean metropolis might have hit my radar during the 1992 Olympics. Well, 34 years later… Barcelona, you were worth the wait. WOW!

Rob and I spent today on our own. No pre-arranged tours or tastings, no guides who knew our names. Today it was just the two of us, anonymously hanging out on the top of a double-decker tour bus winding its way around a spectacularly beautiful Spanish city on the Mediterranean. It was wonderful.

On a bus! With the Futbol Club Barcelona
(Soccer) Stadium behind us.

We spent about 6 hours touring the city, only getting off the bus once to walk around the perimeter of the famed Sagrada Familia Basilica (more on that later) and grab some mid-day snacks. It was a beautifully sunny day, mid-70s, that produced a slight sunburn and the purchase of a new baseball hat. I had all the provisions – they were just unhelpfully chilling in our air conditioned hotel room.

I realized I was falling in love with Barcelona when I started making a mental list of the tour stops I wished we had time to come back to. 

The old bullfighting colosseum that was turned into a marketplace when Barcelona officially banned bullfighting in 2012.

The Arenas de Barcelona bull ring now shopping
center. The last bull fight here was in 1977.

The stunning Olympic Park area on the top of a mountain with incredible views.

I desperately want to go back to soak in this view!

The funicular ride down a mountainside.

The sparkling cruise port and beaches with the calm Mediterranean waters.

The beaches looked soft, uncrowded, clean, and
super relaxing.

The late-1800s amusement park on the top of Barcelona’s tallest mountain peak that reportedly boasts an elegant blend of new and old.

At each turn of the bus into a different section of this beautiful city of nearly 2 million lucky residents, I yearned to hop off the bus and dig deeper.

I was struck by how parts of Barcelona reminded me of other cities I have visited. The walkable, palm-lined section along the water was very similar to San Francisco with its sparkle and occasional outdoor art. The way the city creeps from the ocean up to tall mountains reminded me of Acapulco. The wide avenues and Spanish-style stucco buildings with ornate metal work reminded me of Buenos Aires. I occasionally caught glimpses of buildings that looked oddly Parisian. Meandering through the Old Town of narrow, stone streets reminded me of countless cities outside of the United States. Maybe it was the variety of familiarity that made me so oddly comfortable?

All that's missing is the SF-Oakland Bay Bridge
off to the right

And yet, despite all the ways Barcelona feels like someplace else, it is also uniquely itself.

It has the widest diversity of architecture I have ever seen in a city. Modern, post-modern, Spanish, French, wood, stucco, brick, metal. Pointy buildings, rounded buildings, simple buildings, elaborate buildings. And so many buildings proudly described by using the architect’s name. Buildings are art in Barcelona. Not to mention the outside public art.

Casa Batllo, designed by Antoni Gaudi
Once a house, now a UNESCO World
Heritage Site

Random building that looks both
French and Spanish to me

Beautiful blend of old and new 

Much more modern near the waterfront

Random outside art
This is called "Woman and Bird"
If you say so...

And then the streets. There are SO many trees lining streets in Barcelona! A taxi driver told us that since the city doesn’t have many public parks, it has trees instead to give a sense of nature and green and calm. I’m there to tell you, it works. All the trees somehow make the enormity of Barcelona feel cozy and neighborhoody instead.

View from our hotel room
downtown

We were also told that the major intersections throughout the city are intentionally designed with chiseled edges to increase airflow and visibility for safety. So instead of your typical plus-sign shaped intersection, imagine the 90-degree points are lopped off like slicing off the corner of a piece of cake. What you have left is an intersection that is more open and rounded and almost feels like a tiny town square. Not only are cars and pedestrians more visible, the feeling is more communal and friendly. A resident revealed that this design feature provides more room for outdoor tables and places to chitchat al fresco. Such a small change but it makes a huge impact.

See how the corner is chiseled off? Imagine 
that on all four corners. So spacious and inviting!

Of course, any first trip to Barcelona must include a visit to the enormously tall and enormously unique Sagrada Familia Basilica. Designed by architect Antoni Gaudi, it started being built in 1882. Despite recent reports to the contrary, it still isn’t finished. Note the cranes in my photos.

I have soooo many variations
of this photo...

Described by Wikipedia as having a style of “Gothic Revival, Art Nouveau, and Modernista,” the basilica is made of stone and concrete and metal. It is crazy tall (at 566 feet, it is the tallest church in the world), and it features all sorts of religious scenes and persons and symbols on the outside. It has three sides, each telling a different part of the story of Jesus Christ’s life. One side is the Nativity (Jesus’ birth and childhood), one is the Passion (Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection), and the third is the Glory (Jesus’ path to God and eternal life).

Close-up of a section of the
Passion Side. The first column is
the Jesus Column (it is much taller).
The second is the Thomas Column.
The third is the Phillip Column.
Each Apostle has his own column.

We slowly walked around the perimeter of the basilica, which took about 30 minutes. We had been warned that pickpockets are rather active in Barcelona – and we assumed especially so around The Main Attraction – so we were not as lingery as either of us would have preferred. It was quickly clear that you could make a full-time job studying the Sagrada Familia and noting all the details, both architecturally and religiously. So even if we had spent all day gazing at the structure that mythically birthed the word “gaudy” (it’s a great story; I’m bummed it isn’t true!), we still would have only scratched the bizarrely intriguing surface.

We didn’t go inside the basilica; the first available tickets are a month away. We searched online to see what the inside looks like. Wow, so much stained glass! Rob and I agreed that if we ever make it back to Barcelona (already on my radar again), we will make sure to plan ahead to go inside the Sagrada Familia instead of just stalking it from the outside, clutching our cellphones and wallets.

I suppose at this point the cranes are
the Modern part of the Post Modern
vibe

As we sat at the rooftop bar of our hotel tonight, gazing at Gaudi’s iconic landmark, Rob and I agreed we wouldn’t mind living in Barcelona. I think it might be the first foreign city we have ever said that about. Of course, Rob’s interest was qualified with “If I had to live in Spain…” I leaned fully in and said, “I could live here.” We haven’t left yet and I already miss it.

Click here to see a short video of
Barcelona from our hotel's roof

So tomorrow we say adios to Spain and head to Portugal to learn about…port! Much to my surprise, our day in Barcelona today did not allow me to cross “Visit Barcelona” off my travel bucket list. Instead, I have added “AGAIN!”

Barcelona, you captured my heart!

We will be back, Barcelona!