Barcelona, Spain

Two days in Barcelona - I'm almost too embarrassed to admit it. Right or wrong, it was an amazing two days. Barcelona's architectural heritage is largely from the 19th Century when Antoni Gaudi and his contemporary Spanish artists Dali and Picasso gained international fame. Surrounded by beautiful urban landscapes everywhere we went, we felt the locals' love of art, history, and the good life. Barcelona is a dynamic, authentic place where every turn yields something new and interesting. Barcelona invites you to let your guard down and get swept away by its feast of sight, sound, and taste. Barcelona feels folksy, provincial, yet with modern pleasures and conveniences. A longer stay in Barcelona is a must to truly experience this flamboyant, sophisticated, and above all, beautiful city.

Barcelona is the capital of the Catalonia region of Spain, which borders France. The native language of the region is Catalan, a language more similar to dialects of southern France than Spanish. In Barcelona all public signs are written in Catalan first. A brief historical timeline of Barcelona:

Before ~400 AD - Roman rule from Rome, Italy.
to 717 AD - Christian rule by Visigoth Germans. Barcelona was capital from 507-573 AD.
to 801 AD - Muslim Moorish rule from Cordoba, Spain.
to 897 AD - Christian rule by Frankish Germans from France.
to 1469 - ruled by various local Christian princes.
1469 - modern Spain established, with capital at Madrid.

Mom, Neil and I arrived at the Barcelona airport in this cool spring morning, decided to wait for Hyacinth and Novlett (Neil's mom and sister) scheduled to arrive 2 hours later. Neil has this uncanny ability to chit-chat with strangers, especially women, regardless of where he is and what he's doing. And so he strikes again while we sat near the exit of the airport! We were introduced to Claudette, a filipino girl also waiting for her friend, and it turned out they were heading to the same cruise ship, and staying in a cabin just a few doors down the aisle from us. What a coincidence! Claudette and her friend Sharon became our adventure buddies on and off the cruise ship. 

Once we met up with Hyacinth and Novlett they bragged about the great service on their KLM flight. I felt ripped off by our flight! Gathering our luggage we boarded two taxis to our hotel. Across the street from the stately and lush Ciutadella park, the hotel is in a convenient, central location close by the grand Triumphant Arch. The place also has a full-service restaurant on the ground floor with outdoor tables viewing the park. Our whole family had several memorable meals there. Some of us tried local specialty dishes such as seafood paella, but we all agreed that their Spanish style pizzas were delicious! 

In the afternoon we set out to explore Barcelona by subway, with Helena, Tim, Hyacinth, Novlett, Mom, and Neil. I had been to Barcelona once before in 2001 so I became the tour guide. We took the funicular railway and the cable cars to the top of Montjuic, the hill where the 1992 Summer Olympics were held. The transportation connections were convenient and comfortable. Navigating the subway system had one or two perils - pickpockets, crowds, but it didn't deter us. It's important to be aware of your surroundings. My uncle caught a woman trying to open my aunt's backpack while she was fiddling with subway tickets. The pickpocket denied any involvement, even with the language barrier we all understood the exchange. We climbed up the majestic castle on top of the hill in perfect sunny weather. The views from the top was magnificent, extending to the rugged mountains surrounding the city, the blue Mediterranean, and the densely packed city below. Colorful spring blooms decorated the pleasant walking paths, steps, and terraces up and down this lush hill standing right by the sea.

We came down the hill to visit the Gothic Quarter, first peeking into St Mary's cathedral to admire its soaring masonry vaults. Then we wound our way to the area around Santa Eulalia Cathedral, a Gothic masterpiece in the heart of old Barcelona when it was a Visigothic capital city. A maze of alleys around the cathedral lead to medieval facades decorated with flamboyant Gothic sculptures. Sound of live acoustic guitars added to the sense of mystery at every turn. Protruding gargoyles, frilly-edged spires, a fountain courtyard covered with tile murals, a lacy covered bridge over an alley, the area is filled with a romantic old-world atmosphere. In a small square a fashion shoot in progress slowed our walking pace: a model with a corset top and fancy Renaissance attire strutted her stuff under the gaze of onlookers.

On our way back to the hotel, we passed by the Catalan Music Hall in a quaint alley of the Gothic quarter. It is a Gaudi creation full of surrealist grandeur, in a way it's art deco to the extreme. The next day we would see more of Gaudi's architectural masterpieces.

The next morning at daybreak, Neil, mom, Ailing, and myself explored Ciutadella park across the street from our hotel. Wandering around we found the grand cascading fountain designed by Gaudi. Fanciful Gothic dragon sculptures guarding the large pools of water puts one in a fairy tale world. The couryard and garden areas around the Catalan Parliament inside the park was exquisitely beautiful, surrounded by elegant hedges and trees. Easily a hundred noisy macaws perched on a vibrantly flowering purple tree in these relaxing gardens. On the way back we admired elegant beaux arts buildings housing a botanical conservatory, a natural history museum, and other attractions.

After breakfast we gathered a bigger group, including my relatives Ailing, Wenxiang, Aiyue, and Chenghua freshly arrived from China the previous evening.  sometimes squeezing into the tiny glass-walled elevators in the stations. We took the subway to the Sacred Family cathedral, Gaudi's unfinished grand project. This massive church with huge towers piercing the sky has been under construction for over 100 years, but is less than half finished. It is monumental gradeur mixed with playful surrealist freedom. Approaching Easter weekend, the church was surrounded by big throngs of tourists and tour buses, unfortunately one of our group lost valuables to a pickpocket.

Our next destination was Parc Guell, Gaudi's fanciful park. It was a rainy Friday on the Easter weekend, the bus we took was packed by people going to the park. Not knowing how to pay for the bus and not knowing enough Spanish to ask, we were a bit confused, but the friendly bus driver simply gestured us to get on. The bus ran up Passeig de Gracia avenue, the main street of Barcelona lined with elegant 6-8 story buildings in flamboyant Beaux Arts, Moorish, or Gothic styles. The Spanish eye for beauty seems especially well-developed. With a big crowd of sightseers we arrived at Parc Guell, nestled in low hills overlooking the city. Filled with fanciful organic-shaped pillars, walkways, bridges, terraces, wonderfully landscaped with flowering shrubs and handsome trees, the park was enchanting even if crowded. In the central area of the park, the grand colonnaded terrace is decorated with dazzling ceramic tile mosaics, a signature of Gaudi's work. Descending the park, more fairy-tale castles appear below, shaped into organic curves and growing slender spires, everywhere covered with pretty mosaics. Accompanied by an informal live band playing in a naturalistic cave underneath the terrace, we arrived at the lower park gate decorated by artful wrought iron forms.

By mid-afternoon we arrived at the cruise ship port just at the base of Montjuic. Free champagne was served in the main lobby of the ship. This was the start of a fun 12 days on and off the ship as it cruises clear across the whole length of the Mediterranean Sea, then cross the sea again back to Barcelona. We would be visiting Rome, Athens, Izmir (Turkey), Egypt, and Malta along the way. Waving Barcelona good-bye from the deck while the ship gently sailed away, we admired dramatic sunset views of the city sprinkled with evening lights.