Europe Trip - Barcelona and Tarragona

4 April 2010

Just finished our longest stay in a single city (Wednesday to Sunday – 5 days) and I don’t think we could’ve picked a better place than Barcelona.


Placa Real, off Las Ramblas

We (I’m also travelling with a friend from Case, Katie, and her friend Jenni) flew into Reus (about 100km from Barca) on Tuesday night and spent the night in the nearby (about 7km from the airport) city of Tarragona. Morning of Wednesday was spent in Tarragona, which is about the size of Cincinnati (~100,000+) and is famous for ruins from Ancient Roman times. It’s also right on the Mediterranean, and has some beautiful scenery, as well as a beautiful cathedral.

Took a train to Barcelona Wed. afternoon, and spent the rest of the day wandering around Barceloneta, a neighborhood along the beach (Barcelona is also on the Mediterranean). The next three days are better documented with pictures (three separate links!)

Thurs – Old city (mostly gothic quarter) tour and Las Ramblas, the most famous street



Fri – Gaudi tour, including Palau Guell, Casa Battlo, La Pedrera, Temple de la Sagrada Familia, and Park Guell



Sat – Markets (San Antoni and Boqueria) and Montjuic (including Poble Espanyol, a huge outdoor exhibit of architecture from across Spain built for the 1929 World Fair, and the National Museum of Art of Catalunya and the Montjuic Fountains)



Sunday we had originally planned to be in Zurich, but there wasn’t an available night train until Sunday night (getting in Monday), so we ended up spending an extra day in Barcelona. Since it was Easter, we decided to go to mass at Sagrada Familia, the magnificent (and still under construction!) Gaudi church, which was truly breathtaking. The mass was in Catalan (the primary language in Barcelona and the rest of the region; Spain is extremely federated), but part of the service also allowed for readings in a few other languages, and my friend Katie got to do one in English, which was exciting.

It had rained Saturday night, and Sunday morning was still pretty dreary so we spent a few hours in the Picasso Museum (free Sunday!, since it was the first Sunday of the month). The museum focused mostly on his early work, and included works from his childhood and training as well as his time as a young adult in Barcelona, Madrid and Paris, among others. It was really interesting seeing the evolution of his very distinct style of art, and the museum did a great job of presenting its collection of works. I also recently visited the Tate Modern in Britain a couple times before I left, and could definitely see this interest in art continuing (I still don’t understand a lot of it, though…)

Couple random thoughts about Barcelona:

It has a great metro system: perhaps not as comprehensive as London’s underground but very clean and modern, as well as affordable.

There’s also great diversity between different areas, but all definitively part of one vibrant city. Barcelona has some of the greatest modernist architecture in the world, with all of Gaudi’s works prominently on display, as well as some incredible traditional cathedrals and markets. The different quarters of the city, such as Montjuic hill and Barceloneta beach, add a lot of character to the city. At the same time, it’s also one of Spain’s most important cities economically, with many international businesses with branches in the city. Seeing it all from the top of Park Guell, though, it’s all connected and part of one Barcelona.

The presence of Gaudi’s and Picasso’s work (and especially the imitations in the many souvenir shops) makes the whole city very colorful. Coupled with the sunshine, it's a nice change from the relative grey of London and Cleveland.

Pictures if you missed them

Barcelona - Old City

Barcelona - Gaudi

Barcelona - Markets and Montjuic