Barça

Barça 

It's been about a month since I've been to Barcelona, however I couldn't write another post without telling about my five day adventure in this beautiful city! I've been meaning to post about it for quite some time now, however days seem to be getting shorter and shorter. 

This trip was the first I had ever planned by myself (can we say, "Adulthood?!"). I'd never booked a flight, a hotel, a long bus ride... I do have quite a bit of experience planning however. For those who know me, you know I'm usually the type of girl to take "the bull by the horns" and get the job done. I'm really good with time management and for this reason, I always end up being the friend who plans every event. This hobby/ quality of mine has manifested itself so strongly that today I hold two executive positions at UMich solely focused around event planning. Nonetheless, I was very nervous to plan a trip especially in a forgiven country. 

Everything actually ended up working out perfectly. I traveled with one of my best friends, Niyati, and thankfully she and I know exactly how to communicate in times of stress or tension. We have a really great relationship and for that I'm so thankful. Not many can put up with my stubborn mind. To put it into perspective I was voted, "Best Dictator" by my class in Granada. For some this might be an insult, but I was proud because - hey at least I'm the best.  

We strategically planned our trip around the Feria in Granada for Corpus Christi. I do love a good festival, however I'm not always one for crowds. I was ready for an adventure, so we booked our plane and our bus, and we traveled to Barcelona for five of the greatest days of my life. 

Picasso Museum 

We arrived rather late Wednesday night, so we quickly went to bed (but only after eating some midnight Calamari). We woke up Thursday morning and wandered the city. After exploring a bit, and getting lost in the Gothic part of town, we made our way to the Picasso Museum. Unfortunately I was unable to take pictures inside the museum. However, I took notes on some of my favorite pieces and have attached pictures from online. 

It's funny after so much time going back and re reading my notes about the museum, it's like I'm living it all over again. I wish I could remember my exact thoughts about this first painting. I think I liked the red mostly. I liked the use of color in this painting. What was amazing about the museum itself was the fact that it traced his life from a very young age with his drawings and paintings, and overtime I was able to see the development into the style we think of as Picasso today (Cubism). The museum allowed the visitors to walk through the early periods, the blue period, the rose period, and through his later works in cubism and crystal cubism. 

I am, by no means, an art expert. I just have a great appreciation for art. I've always loved visiting museums, especially with art or sculpture. I've learned a bit about the different forms of art growing up, and in my most recent history of art class, however as I've visited many places I'm realizing there's so much more I have interest in learning. 

Las Meninas - Pablo Picasso 

The original "Las Meninas" which is now in the Museo de Prado in Madrid 

A large portion of this exhibit was devoted to Picasso's depiction of Las Meninas, originally painted by Velázquez. In short (and general) it depicts the royal infant, Margaret Teresa, and her entourage in the Royal Alcazar in Madrid. In the back is the artist himself painting the portrait. Although there are many interpretations of the meaning of this painting, I was more interested in the development and psychological reasoning Pablo Picasso had for wanting to make his own depiction.

Depictions of the Margaret Teresa ("Margarita María" in Spanish)

The walls in the museum were covered in what I thought to be as "drafts" of sorts for the full sized rendition. There's both a black and white version and a color version, however from my understanding his black and white painting is the more popular of the two. In total there are 58 separate paintings of Picasso's Las Meninas collection. Today, it is the only complete series of his work that remains totally together.

Valázquez was the leading artist of the golden age of Spain, which leads me to believe he was an inspiration of Picasso's. Attempting to recreate an image that was so famous to begin with, and attempting to make it your own seems like quite a daunting task to me. The creativity of Picasso's work was astounding. 

The quote below is from Picasso about his work on Las Meninas, and I think it demonstrates his personal attitude on this project. What I gather is basically, "I do what I want because I can," and that's pretty awesome if you ask me. 

"If someone would want to copy Las Meninas, entirely in good faith, for example, upon reaching a certain point and if that one was me, I would say.. what if you put them a little more to the right or left? I'll try to do it my way, forgetting about Velázquez. The test would surely bring me to modify or change the light because of having changed the position of a character.  So, little by little, that would be a detestable Meninas for a traditional painter, but it would be my Meninas." - Pablo Picasso

Woman with Mantilla 

This work, as far as I know, is not one of Picasso's most famous. In fact, I don't think it looks like many of his more famous pieces. It remains unfinished, it was one of my favorite images in the museum. Up close the detail is amazing in this picture, and I love the fact that it remained incomplete. It makes me wonder why he chose to move on to another work, or what was going through his head. The part I enjoy most is her eyes. I heard a quote once that said, "Make sad look beautiful." I automatically loved the quote because I, personally, think sadness is the purest of human emotion. Anger only stems from disappointment, another form of sadness. Happiness is simply the lack of sadness. Envy is twisted sadness about not feeling adequate. I could write pages about my theories on the purity of human emotion, but because of my thoughts about sadness itself, I automatically felt connected to this piece and this woman. For this reason, I purchased a poster of it for my younger sister. She's nine, however I think that she'll grow to appreciate this painting as she matures. She's already very talented with both art and music. She has a knack for drawing and creativity, of which I was never the best at. These past few months of her life have been a bit more challenging, and I'm hoping she'll find some connection with Woman with Mantilla as I did. Perhaps she'll be a source of inspiration as she continues to grow in her talents, and if not she'll always be something to look at and ponder on her wall.

La Boqueria 

Over the past year I've gotten extremely into cooking and, well, food. I've started to watch documentaries about clean eating, clean food processing, organic farms... all that jazz that seems to be the "rage" today. I have fallen victim to the trends as well, and I was very excited to travel to Europe knowing their food system was much different than that in the United States. 

The market in Barcelona was heaven on earth for me. 

One of my favorite hobbies back home is to go grocery shopping. It makes me feel like a "real human." In college, I continuously feel solely identified as two things: 1. A college student (obviously) and 2. A sorority girl. I do everything in my power to divert from being these two things and to reclaim my other identities: sister, friend, daughter, citizen, person, adult... I've grown to love grocery stores, super markets, out door markets, and the like. So when I set foot in the Boqueria, my head went wild. 

Chuches! These gummy candies are so popular in Spain. Every time I see them I think of my father and younger sister, both who absolutely live for these kinds of sweets. My mom and I are more "chocolate" kind of people, but I'll admit I fell victim to the goodness of churches myself from time to time. If I could go back I would grab some for my family, however they wouldn't have stayed fresh for long and by the time I arrived home would be hard as rocks. 

One of the things I loved about Spain is that I always felt my meat was fresh. Yet, this market brought a whole new meaning to fresh. I had heard that people here try to use all of the animal, and I experienced that when I ate bull's tail. Yet, who knew people wanted to buy heads?! Or brains?! Apparently they are often used to make stew or soup broth. I'm normally a fan of knowing what kind of ingredients are put into my food, but maybe in this case, ignorance is bliss?

Just outside La Boqueria is the street called, "Las Ramblas." This street is one of the famous sites in Barcelona. It's lined with trees and there's all sorts of little street carts with touristy gifts, flower shops, or street food. There's always people here, but watch your bag! Pickpockets are everywhere in Barça. 

EGGS! Yes, eggs are one of my favorite foods, and one of the things I miss most about the US. People don't eat eggs for breakfast, usually only for dinner. I occasionally had them in my family, but not as often as I would have liked. As soon as I get home I'm going to eat a giant omelette from the locally famous, Real Food Cafe, in Grand Rapids.
The most amazing part about this stand is that they are all what we would consider to be "farm fresh." Finding white eggs in Spain was almost impossible for me, only the smaller, brown were available, but I was pleased. Also look at those Ostrich eggs?! Who knew those were actually edible. 

Upon entry into the market you'll be flooded with vendors attempting to sell their fresh juices. Although they are a bit more expensive than I would have liked for such a small refreshment  ( about 2 euros), I will say it was the best juice I'd ever had. I usually don't drink juice because it's so high in sugar and I don't even really like the classic "OJ." However, after having my fresh pineapple coconut concoction, I was hooked. Niyati and I went back the next day for more juice and we were not ashamed - at all. 

A picture of mi guapa y yo enjoying our juices!

Ahh Tapas, how I miss them already. In the market there were also many restaurants. We randomly ended up at one called, "El Quim" which we later found out was rather famous (as evidenced by the photos on the wall behind our food in this picture). We tried all the best things Barcelona had to offer including Escalavida, Pimientos, Patatas Bravas, and Cava. It was easily one of the best meals I've ever had, and as much as I adore southern Spain, Barcelona has it beat in the food department.

Sagrada Familia y Gaudí

This obviously isn't my photo (thanks Google), however I felt I needed to put an all encompassing picture online to show the greatness of this building, the Sagrada Familia (The Sacred Family). It's impossible to capture an incredible picture on the ground, however the awe of the extravagance is still the same. 

It wouldn't be a trip to Barcelona without experiencing the amazing architecture of Antoni Gaudí. His work is most known for incooporating organic shapes with modern style architecture. I'd honestly never seen so many interesting and intricate buildings in my life. Before traveling to Barcelona, I had said to a friend that I was disappointed that our generation didn't create any more truly beautiful buildings, or rather, not as often. I don't consider sky scrapers lovely, and most buildings I enjoy viewing are rather old. However, after seeing Gaudi's creations, I ate my words. 

Although they aren't quite "built" in my time, I consider them modern because the Sagrada Familia is still not finished. In fact, during my visit, the construction was heard loud and clear, however it didn't take away from the immense beauty of the building itself. 

I have a great appreciation for stained glass windows because it was a hobby of my great grandfather's. Every time I look through one, I immediately feel as though he is watching over me. 

The outside of the Sagrada Familia 

Cheesin' 

My favorite part of the church - the alter. The hanging cross is one of the most elegant  displays of Christ I have seen. It's mystifying. 

Another breathtaking view 

Panorama of the ceiling of the Sagrada Familia. There's almost no words to describe it's intricate beauty. 

A closer view of the entrance 

Another picture of the outside 

Another famous work of Gaudí's is Casa Milà and La Pedrera. This building is composed of an organically waving stone surface with wrought iron balcony gates. The building was home to the most highly sought after apartments during the time of it's creation (early 1900's). They are designed to use the most possible outside light sources which is why in the center of the building is a large, open air, opening through which buildings have both balconies facing inward and outward, creating a multitude of light sources. People still live here today, however one level apartment has been restored to what it would have looked like in the time of it's creation.

Also not my photograph because I was dumb and forgot to walk across the street to take a photo of the whole building. However, this image gives you an idea of the ingenuity of La Casa Mila. 

Another outside view of La Casa Mila showing greater detail of the gates and stones 

The inside balconies

On top of the roof, La Pedrera. The roof was made with just as much detail as the other building because Gaudi , basically, didn't like the philosophy architects usually had about roofs. Today we use roofs, especially in cities, for things we don't want to be seen for example, antennas, chimneys, etc. Gaudi still had the essentials on his roof, however they were created in a  way that was artistic and pleasing to the eye. 

Another image of La Pedrera

The last work by Gaudí we explored was the famous Park Güell. Although the legendary look out has become very touristy (and over priced), it was still an amazing experience. The hike to the park was quite extensive, however I needed to burn a few extra calories after eating so much delicious food this weekend (including churros).

The view of Barcelona 

The (intended entrance) exit of park Guell. 

Niyati and I enjoying the park

I got in trouble for sitting on the mosaic railing, but I think it was worth the picture. 

Me and the famous lizard. I (also) was yelled at for sitting on this, but if Raven can do it then so can I! (see photo below)

Image from Disney's "Cheetah Girls 2" with Raven, aka Gabriella. 

There is much more to  the park besides the architectural section, however due to time, we weren't able to explore.

Comida y Cultura 

As I said earlier, the food in Barcelona was excellent. We went to some amazing restaurants, and tried amazing food. I would recommend eating the following:

Escalavida: A salad of sorts with eggplant, peppers, and onion, that is served cold. Sometimes it is also served with roasted goat cheese. I wish I could describe it better but I honestly have no idea how it is prepared, all I know is that it was phenomenal. 

Paella: A rice dish with seafood. I usually am not a huge fan of shellfish or any fish in general, but this Paella was excellent. 

Sangria: This is obviously a must. Before coming to Spain I only liked red wine, but now it's my favorite. I actually just love the taste, and Sangria is especially great because it adds rum and fruit (and more sugar) to the mix. There's no shame in getting (and finishing) one (or two) pitchers of Sangria. It's probably my favorite drink in all of life. 

Roasted Lamb: I'm not sure if this is normal for Barcelona, however Niyati and I had the most amazing lamb and potatoes dish. The restaurant we were at had an open kitchen, and was listed as one of the best in Barcelona. I'd highly recommend trying dishes outside your comfort zone in general. I would never openly order lamb in the United States, but in Spain I adopted a relatively fearless attitude toward food, and I almost always love everything I try. 

Crema Catalana: This is the Barcelona version of Creme Brûlée, however it's a bit less sweet. I love both. The filling or pudding in this version is a bit thicker and a bit more savory.

Another food to try in Barcelona or Spain in general, is Patats Bravas. Depending on the restaurant they can be excellent or drenched in sauce. Usually the potatoes are crispy and cooked to perfection. This can be seen in the bottom right hand corner.
Also in this picture is one of my other favorite foods, Pan y Tomate. Sometimes restaruants serve it as an appetizer the way rolls are served in the US (except they charge you in Spain). Other times it's eaten for breakfast. No matter what time of day, Pan y Tomate is in my top 5 Spanish foods to eat on the daily.
Lastly, Calamares. These rings look like onion rights, however they are filled with squid. I like calamares however I prefer the smaller versions that are the whole baby squids (sorry, babies). Either way squid is one of my new favorite foods. In fact, I went through a period were I CRAVED calamares. It lasted about 8 days.

At a restaurant one night, Niyati and I were reading the menu. We were sitting at the bar area near the open aired kitchen, so we were able to see the line of Chefs preparing the various meals. A waiter walked by and said to a chef, "Buena vista, eh?" which means good/ nice view. I laughed and smiled at the chef, thinking it was funny, and wanting people TO KNOW I understood Spanish. I had run into the problem that as soon as people heard my accent, they'd immediately want to practice their english, when all I wanted to do was practice my Spanish. Nonetheless, he saw me smile and smiled back. Later that night my waiter brought me this note from the chef. It basically translates to something like, "You have a beautiful smile, more beautiful than my dreams." I was flattered, and it became a joke among my classmates. One day I received a note that said, "Prom -Victor M." 

On our last night in town, there was a large play off game between an Italian team and Barcelona (for futbol aka: soccer). Although the game was in Berlin, the entire city was full of commotion. We searched forever to find a bar to watch the game in however, it was nearly impossible. We ended up tapas hopping, and casually watching the game in between random locations, and from the outside streets. When Barcelona won the game the city went wild. Cars were honking in the streets, people were screaming and singing. It was a feeling I'll never forget. I've now decided to make Barcelona my official futbol team. Although, I still can't really get into sports. I'm hoping when I return to Spain in the future I'll have the opportunity to actually go to a real game.

Barcelona will always be one of my favorite cities. I had an amazing time and would love to return in the future. Special shout out to Niyati for being the best traveling partner and friend I could ever ask for. I miss you already. 

Besos,

B