Barcelona

Over the course of the cold Belgian winter, we began planning our August holiday with one requirement in mind; the beach. Given that we are all so fair skinned, we definitely wanted to hang on the beach for a few hours a day, but at the same time, we didn’t want to be confined to the beach. So going to a small island in Greece or the Canary Islands didn’t exactly fit the bill right now. We decided to go to Barca because it has a very nice mix of a large, nice city beach and a huge city with lots of museums and Roman era streets and alleyways to explore. So it was with this balance in mind that we decided on Barca.  

We rented an apartment in the Born district of Barcelona, about a 15 minute walk to the beach and right on the edge of the city’s Born and Gothic districts. We adopted the local mindset for this trip and surprisingly, it worked out well. We did not eat dinner until about 9:30-10 pm or later most nights and each night, it was out in a beautiful placa in the shadows of a beautiful 15^th or 16^th century church. I was prepared to eat one of my favorite ethnic dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but in the end, had my paella (seafood, or chorizo, or vegetarian) a handful of times. Other evenings, I decided to try Galacian octupus or lamb with a local sauce.  The boys did very well and ate quite a bit of mine and Jess’ squid or octopus as well as Spanish omelets, and chorizo. After dinner concluded late in the night, we would walk the old Roman streets (Barcelona was established as a town by the Romans in the 4^th century and called Barcelone-the old Roman wall is still evident and it featured on our nightly strolls) searching for our second serving of ice cream or gelato of the day.  After getting back to the apartment after midnight, we slept late, got up, had breakfast (which we bought at the shop around the corner) and then went to the beach for a few hours of swimming. The boys loved it. The beach, we were told, was created for the Olympics which were held in 1992. Prior to that, no one really went to the beach, but with all the people coming for the summer Olympics that year a major revitalization of the port and beach areas was undertaken, with thousands of tons of sand shipped in from the Middle East. The waves were very big and the boys loved boogie boarding and being crashed by the waves. Colin made some great sand castles and Jess and I had a great time playing in the water with the boys.

After the beach, we came back and had lunch in the apartment and then went out in the city for the day. We saw so many cool things, such as the Picasso museum. He was born there and as such, Barcelona has the largest collection of his work in the world. The museum was housed in a 16^th century palace right behind our apartment. We went to the city’s aquarium, which was amazing! We went to a place called Pueblo Espanyol, which is a large tract of land overlooking the city where major buildings and styles of architecture from all over Spain were recreated in one area. It was a great place to walk around and see chapels from Galicia and the Plaza Major of Madrid among many other rich examples of architecture. We went to see the park designed by the famous artist and architect Gaudi (Parc Guell) as well as his masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia (Sacred Family) a Church which was begun in 1909 and which is still under construction. Barcelona’s intent is to have the church completed in time for the 100^th anniversary of Gaudi’s death; 2026. We took a great daytrip to the mountains outside Barca to a Benedictine Monastery called Montserrat where the Virgin Mary appeared. It was a beautiful place with gorgeous vistas.

And the highlight of the trip was the boy’s first soccer match over here in Europe at one of the most historic stadiums in the world; the Camp Nou, home of perhaps the best team in the history of soccer; FC Barcelona. Our seats were very high in the nosebleeds, but they gave us a great vantage point to see Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro and the new boy, Neymar work their tica taca magic. It is insane to watch how quickly these guys move the ball. And the most interesting thing to watch was how fast they moved off the ball. They have all been playing together since they were 11 next door at Barca’s famous youth academy; La Maisa. And the same philosophy is ingrained into them all; kept the ball. Own the ball. And as such, most matches they have 75 or more percent of the percentage of the ball. So to see the speed at which they play keep away from the other team and after five minutes of not seeing the ball, they get so frustrated that they open up a hole which Messi immediately fills and the ball is there waiting for him to put away in the old onion bag.  

The most interesting thing about coming back to Barcelona is their culture. They are a separatist region believing that they are not part of Spain, but rather their own country; Catalonia. This can be seen in their language, which is similar, but at the same time quite different from the main form of Spanish; Castilian (Plaza is Plaza in Castilian and Placa in Catalan). Also, it was interesting that typically in Europe, the ending of a website is the abbreviation for a country. In the UK, a typical address would be www. thesundaytimes.co.uk. In Barcelona, it ended in CAT for Catalan. In the rest of Spain, the web addresses end in ESP. Also, they have their own flag which is adorned in every balcony or restaurant or shop. And the Catalan identity is always on huge display at the Camp Nou during football matches. The club was founded as an extension of the Catalan movement and was used as a means to advance their political ideals. The badge of the club incorporates the Catalan flag and it was the one place which Franco, the old Spanish Dictator, would allow political demonstrations and speeches. So you weren’t just going to a football match, you were going to a political rally as well. 

The trip was fantastic from start to finish. The boys were fairly interested in everything we did, the food was great, the city and the beach were gorgeous and the weather cooperated nicely with warmth during the day and pleasant breezes at night.

 

Now, it’s back to reality…

 

 

EVENING 1:   We arrived around 6:30pm, so had a quick first evening in Barcelona.  Nevertheless during our search for dinner, we toured Port Vell and the beach.

 

 

 

 Excitedly awaiting for our turn to fly

 

 

 

Aidan feeling the water with his shoes on!

 

 

DAY 2: We went to the beach...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and walked around the Born District...

 

 

 

 

Our favorite placa in the Born (Santa Maria del Mar)

 

 

and parts of the Gothic District...

 

 

 

old Roman walls

 

 

 

gorgeous bridge

(thought it looked grand enough for the Pope to make an appearance)

 

 

 

Catalan flag

 

 

 

and visited Pueblo Espanyol on the hill of Montjuic...

 

 

 

Part of the recreated Plaza Mayor from Madrid

 

 

 

We do not recall all the regions in Spain that these are modeled off of, but Pueblo Espanyol was an interesting place to visit.  These are real buildings, not just facades.  And many housed restaurants, cafes, and little shops. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and even toured some modern architecture...

 

 

 

 

Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Days 3-8 still to come...