i would like to preface this post by saying a wholehearted thank you -
for keeping up with my study abroad travels, adventures, & musings thus far.
it means more to me than i could ever articulate into words.
during the second week of november,
we traveled to two cities that i knew simply had to be crossed off of my "to go" list
before i left the continent.
the first was barcelona.
this beautiful, vibrant city was one of the most upbeat,
and culturally versatile places i have ever been.
as we took the underground into the city,
it seemed as if every single person
was absorbed in an enthralling conversation with their neighbor.
i'm convinced some of them were complete strangers,
yet that did not matter
in contrast to the reticent newspaper-reading londoners on the tube,
the people of barcelona radiated warmth and life.
after a three hour plane ride into girona
& a one hour and forty-five minute bus ride,
we finally arrived in the city.
it was dusk as we approached the bus stop.
i noticed that there were fewer people walking the streets,
and the remnants of the last sun rays were fading fast into the shadows.
our first stop was to find camp nou,
the football stadium that is home to futbol club barcelona,
one of the prominent symbols of catalan culture.
the photo above does not nearly capture its enormity - it is the largest stadium in europe.
dan found out early on that there would be a game playing that night.
we crossed our fingers the entire way there,
hoping to make it in time to buy tickets at the gate.
it did not work out as planned.
instead, we stopped by a street vendor and bought the most delicious churros ever
(one was filled with custard cream & the other was dipped in dark chocolate)
and ended up watching the game amidst a crowd of passionate fans
in a restaurant adjacent to the stadium.
the excitement and buzz of the people pouring out into the streets after the game
encapsulated the feeling of authenticity,
the realness of being in barcelona on such a momentous evening.
the hostel that we stayed at provided a guided tour of the city,
more specifically, the gothic quarter.
so, at 8 am, we were up and ready to take everything in.
though our tour guide was from greece, and thus not a native of catalonia
(an autonomous community of spain that is comprised of four provinces,
including barcelona, girona, lleida, & tarragona),
she was extremely knowledgable about this area
and introduced us to many of the eateries that we went to during our stay.
here are some stone memorials that we passed by on our way to the gothic quarter,
one of the oldest parts of the city.
i'm not sure what it is about street markets that lure me in.
perhaps the fresh food, or the liveliness of the atmosphere, or the charming labels/tags.
i can easily lose myself in the moment, walking from stall to stall
and meeting all of the interesting vendors.
this is the shrine to santa eulalia, co-patron saint of barcelona.
she was a thirteen year old girl, who suffered martydom
during the prosecution of christians in the reign of diocletian.
this square, marred by the aftermath of a bombing,
was one of my favorite locations,
simply because it provided a peaceful respite from the busyness of the city.
towards the left of the photo, there is a small church,
and on the right, a school for young children.
later in the afternoon, dan & i had a bit of a hard time
finding our way through all of the narrow, winding alleyways.
we attempted to find one restaurant that our tour guide pointed out for churros,
but by the time we finally located it, the place was closed for the afternoon.
la seu cathedral, is the city's gothic cathedral.
(it's official name is catedral de la santa creu i santa eulalia).
it began to drizzle a bit halfway through the morning.
all of the tourists and their umbrellas were quite an amusing sight.
at the convergence of several streets is the architects building,
which displays picasso's only piece of public artwork.
it is an illustration that comprises three friezes of the mediterranean
and one of the giants, the children, and the catalan flag.
walking oftentimes induces fatigue.
rests are always important ;)
this group joined hands in the middle of the crowds of people
and began dancing a traditional catalan dance.
the gothic architecture is just extraordinary.
our tour guide pointed out the interesting gargoyles that we passed by,
and this one was my favorite.
walking through the city square where all of the government building are located,
i was surprised to see that there was a protest taking place before my eyes.
it was relatively small in scale, but i could see that the protesters
were determined to have their voices heard.
such a beautiful moment.
we encountered not only sights and smells,
but also the sounds of barcelona.
in the streets, on the underground, outside restaurants,
there were people everywhere expressing themselves through these melodies.
this is the fine arts school that picasso attended as a young boy.
the area in which it is located was once part of barcelona's red-light district,
which may have carried a significant influence over some of his later artwork.
this was taken near the beach,
but unfortunately, we did not get a chance to walk alongside it.
this was at the entrance to a salvador dalí museum,
as he was fascinated and inspired by eggs.
bubble-making was quite popular along the streets,
and we agreed that this man made the best.
the two of us stood here for a few minutes,
watching these kids blissfully raptured by each pop of these temporary creations.
els quatre gats, or 4 cats,
is a pub-restaurant in barcelona where picasso was known to have reguarly
taken part in intellectual debates with friends.
inside are many drawings and paintings,
bearing witness to the time he spent there.
we considered eating there;
however, dinner was only a couple of hours away, so we decided to wait for that.
dan signed us up for an authentic catalonian cooking class,
which we were both eager to experience.
our chef met us and several other people at a cafe.
from there, he walked with us towards our destination, but stopping along the way
to point out various food markets
and also a store selling premium jamon iberico, spanish prosciutto.
for dinner, we all sat together at a medium-sized table
and were encouraged to get to know one other.
we talked to each other over sangrias,
which we also learned to make.
for tapas, we were served something similar to bruschetta
as well as cheese & jamon iberico.
this concept of sharing food illustrates the closeness of the catalan people.
in an enormous pan, our chef added all of the necessary ingredients for making paella.
the word paella is derived from the latin word patella, which means pan.
in catalonia, this dish is usually made with these ingredients:
seafood, meat, rice, red peppers, green peppers, onions,
broth, saffron, lemon juice & a few other things.
the cooking time for the paella took nearly two hours,
and the entire dinner lasted for three.
by the end of it all, i had fallen in love with paella and its warm, sticky, lemon-y perfection.
& i found that the experience as a whole was highly representative of catalan ideals,
which emphasize the importance of sharing continuous dialogue over food
and of eating, not merely for the sake of eating,
but to grow in camaraderie with those around you.
