Friday July 5th 2013:
Hasta luego España and thank you for providing me with one unforgettable experience.
The picture above was captured this morning around 6:30 a.m. inside the Barcelona airport. Amy was a trooper and woke up around 5 a.m. to accompany me to the airport. After surviving one of the most terrifying cab rides i've ever experienced, we said our goodbyes and I continued onward in the direction of good ol' America. I deliriously made my way through security and was warmly greeted by the sunrise and a big cup of coffee. It's been a blur of a morning, but I am currently sitting on the plane in route to Charlotte (aka time traveling). I'm on plane number two and coffee number three since this morning, not to mention I am also typing this all out on my iPhone because my iPad is refusing to accept me as its travel companion. So yes, for these next few travel hours I will be assuming the role of that cliche American whose had too much coffee and won't put her phone down. BUT, it will all be worth it once I am finally caught up with this blog. So much has happened in these past two weeks. I've barely had the time or energy to recap, but here's my attempt, and as always, thank you for entering the journey with me.
Last night was my final night in Barcelona as well as Amy's moms first night here. Therefore, after some much needed relaxation time, we ventured downtown for some dinner. I was able to enjoy one last night of tapas (pintxos) and wine and one last stroll through the lively streets of a Friday night in Barcelona. On our way back to the hotel we briefly stopped in Plaça de Catalunya (above) and I said goodbye to the first place the group visited upon arriving in Barcelona two weeks prior :
Yes, I was indeed wearing almost the exact same outfit on the first day as the last- which I was unaware of until this moment, but it helps to illustrate the first tip I will give to anyone who is planning on doing some traveling: pack light. Seriously, wearing the same outfit over and over again is so much more convenient than lugging around a bulky suitcase. I don't think I overpacked too bad, but for my next adventure I'm filling my backpack up and stopping there. Worth it, trust me. Be free with light luggage and one with your stinky self.
Anywho, Barcelona is incredible. Every neighborhood has a completely different vibe and people come from all over the world to explore this wild place. The picture above was taken in one of Antoni Gaudí's most loved creations, Park Güell.
Antoni Gaudi was a Spanish Catalan architect born in Spain. Most of his work was influenced by his passion for nature and religion. Although he was deemed the leader of Catalan Modernism and given the nick-name "God's Architect," he tragically died after being struck by a tram yet not receiving adequate medical services quick enough because he was mistaken for a hobo. Today he is widely admired for his architectural brilliance all around the world, especially in Barcelona predominantly for La Sagrada Família and Park Güell. .
Park Güell was originally designed as a gated playground neighborhood for Barcelona's rich but when that plan fell through it became a mystical public park for anyone to visit. We started at the top, which as you can see offers one hell of a view:
and as you work your way down it turns into a fantasy land with a variety of musicians serenading passerby's, street performers showcasing illusional acts and posing as statues, as well as an array of Gaudí's breathtaking mosaic architecture. I had heard good things and was not let down one bit.
I wasn't let down by any of Gaudí's work actually. He truly is a genius, especially when it comes to his masterpiece and Spain's biggest tourist attraction, La Sagrada Família:
La Sagrada Família is still a work in progress and isn't estimated to be finished until 2030, yet when Gaudí was still alive it became his holy mission. It is considered a work of "storytelling art" including a variety of religious iconography and symbolism as well as a tribute to the power of nature.
The columns in the heart of the temple's sanctuary were inspired by trees and lead up to bursts of sun-like shapes. Probably my favorite part was how the light peeked in through the stained glass windows, illuminating the interior with vibrant glows of color:
I caved in and bought myself one of those little audio tour headsets and proceeded to wander around like a true tourist in awe and amazement.
Gaudí also has a few buildings around Barcelona that are worth it to stop by and see, the first being this apartment block called Casa Milà, or La Pedrera (The Stone Quarry):
Built from 1905 to 1910, this structure is in the top tier of Gaudí's achievements because of its approach to space and light as well as its blurring of the dividing line between decoration and functionality. As you can see in many of his structures, especially this one, he was a fan of curves and used very little right angles in the majority of his later works.
Also, this structure, titled Casa Batlló, is yet another one of Gaudí's most well-known works. I would probably rank it as one of the most bizarre, yet intriguingly beautiful, buildings I've ever seen:
The facade, which contains bits of blue, mauve and green tiles, was mystical. It reminded me of scales on a mermaid, yet others mentioned seeing the scales of a dragon. I read that Salvador Dalí thought it resembled "twilight clouds in water," yet many onlookers see a resemblance to Monet's "Water Lillie's." I'm not sure what Gaudí's actual intention was, but another funky detail to take note of is the design of each balcony which resembles skull-like masks.
Wednesday July 10th 2013
Well, I wasn't able to finish this update while on the plane. Partially because there's just too much to update about, and partially because I got pretty tired of typing everything on my phone. Anyways, I am now currently located in Cedartown, Georgia at Murphy-Harpst Children's Center where I will be interning for a couple weeks. However, that chapter of my summer will be updated about on a different blog entry, for now I will continue on with my final days in Spain:
So yeah, if you couldn't tell I really enjoyed Gaudí's work. BUT, that's not even the end of it. I was also able to visit the Picasso Museum (located in Barcelona) as well as the Salvador Dali Museum (located in Figueres Spain). Unfortunately they were very strict at the Picasso Museum so I have no pictures, but here is this lovely capture of Mr. Pablo to make up for it:
The Picasso Museum was pretty interesting, but I didn't have as much time to go through it as I would have liked. However, after everyone parted ways and it was just Amy and I left in Barcelona we took the train to Figueres, Spain for an all-day Dali Museum adventure.
Figueres is a small, yet cozy, little Spanish town about two hours by train away from Barcelona. It is also the birth place of Salvador Dali, as well as the location for one of three of the Dali Museums in Spain. This museum was hands down the most captivating art museum I have ever been to. I assume this is mostly because Salvador Dali is just a pure visual genius as well as a mastermind of surrealism, but also because his work touches on so many levels of the subconscious as well as dream-states. As Dali himself said, "I don't do drugs, I am drugs." I have to agree, his work is in so many ways twisted and bizarre, yet so extraordinary and mesmerizing, that it seems impossible to not feel a sense of euphoria when observing . I had seen a few of his pieces once before in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, yet walking through a museum for 3+ hours looking at nothing but predominately his work was truly an experience. I advise anyone who is traveling near any of his museums to stop in and take a look, until then- here's some of what I saw:
^ Look closely at this one. Can you see the two images (a woman's body and a mans face)? This is one of his optical illusion pieces titled "The Image Disappears." I overheard a tour-group guide saying that Dali titled it this because we will never be able to see both images at the same time.
^This is a portrait he did of his lover, Gala. So many of his pieces were either inspired by her or drawn of her. She was his muse, his heaven. What's even more interesting is before he had ever met her he would draw images of a woman who resembled her body-type, as if he was drawing her before he had ever met her.
This was such an odd, yet interesting, installation piece. There was a room that we could walk into with the "furniture" set up as shown above. While standing right on the ground level with all the pieces it appeared to be resembling a funky living room. However, once you walked up a small stair case set up behind the installation there was a viewfinder that, once you looked through it, the images came together to make a face (as shown below.)
I couldn't help but be attracted to this piece because it slightly reminded me of the piece I did for my final drawing 2 class this past semester, solely because of the tigers face embodying multiple other images:
And last but not least, did you know that Salvador Dali made jewelry? Not just any jewelry, some of the most brilliant i've ever seen. I couldn't resist getting a picture of his famous melting-clock (yet, the diamonds and gold give it a little extra twist.)
Getting a first-hand glimpse of the work of Gaudi, Picasso, and Dali was definitely a greatly appreciated inspirational boost for me. My gears have been turning and I can't wait to move into my new apartment and begin working on some art again. Not only am I grateful for the creative juices to be flowing again, but I am continuously in awe by all the amazing people I met along this journey, as well as the incredible places I found myself staying in while traveling through Europe. Here's a quick glimpse of the four (yes, four different places in two weeks) places from Barcelona:
Barcelona apartment #1- Gracia, where all 13 of us stayed (including little Isaac and Owen):
Barcelona Apt #2: El Poblenou- where 7 of us stayed:
Our main chefs of the house, thank you again ladies.
The Neighborhood Kitty- deemed "Biscuits" by Amy.
Barcelona Apt. #3: Gracia (pt. 2)- This is where just Amy and I stayed. We rented out a room in an apartment owned by a sweet bohemian lady named Olga along with her son, other roommate, and kitten. We found this place (and the place above) using a website called Airbnb. If you are planning on traveling anywhere, whether it be overseas or in the United States, I highly recommend checking out this website. You can browse through a variety of houses, apartments, flats, etc. and it's all capable of being customized for the price range, location, privacy, etc that you are looking for.
This is Plaza Del Sol, one of the many plaza's in the neighborhood of Gracia. People will gather in these Plaza's to eat, drink and socialize. The apartment we rented from Olga overlooked this plaza, which was a neat experience to sit and grab a glass of wine or a cup of coffee and people watch.
And last but not least, the final place I stayed in was a neat little hotel with Amy and her mom right past Plaza de Catalunya. I don't have many pictures of this place because I was only there one night, but I did get a picture of the most important, and exciting, part:
Yes, another roof-top terrance- but this time with a pool:
Perfection.
As I mentioned above, not only do I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to stay in a variety of comfortable and safe places, but I am still very grateful for all the conversations and experiences shared with so many new faces, whether it be a two hour deep conversation with a cool guy from California on the train:
Or a friend of a friend who provided good food, views, and insights (thanks again, Keith):
I am definitely going to miss the rooftop terraces. It was beautiful sitting on the roof watching the sunset and looking out into the distance at all the other terraces all up and down the streets where families were gathering for dinner. There is a lot of culture and family life in Spain, it's a really beautiful and refreshing thing to see. Tradition is important here, people are proud of their roots from what I have gathered.
One tradition that was definitely an experience to take part in was the Festival of Sant Joan, which occurred the night we arrived in Barcelona. The event was a public holiday that happened all over Spain to celebrate the summer solstice as well as the first day of summer. All through the day there were people joining together for small parades and street gatherings.
At night you would hear fireworks going off from every direction non-stop. We were also informed that the beach becomes one giant party. A few of us went down to the beach to check it out, which was a very amusing experience. We got down there pretty late so most of the "calm" celebrating was well over. We got there right when everyone was loosing their mind and their common sense for where to NOT point firecrackers (I still have a scar on my arm from where one hit me.) It was an wild event for sure, the whole entire coast line as far as your eye could see was covered in people dancing and carrying on, with fires blazing and music blasting. It was a pretty crazy, but overall neat cultural event to witness.
I heard it was a tradition to jump over fires on this holiday. We didn't, but we saw some people attempt. Some did it fine, some probably should have laid off the tequila.
Whew, that was a lot wasn't it. If you've read this whole thing then seriously, you are great and I thank you for giving my adventures the time of day (especially if you're not family and just reading this for fun.) Before I end this though I must appreciate a few of the little moments during my time in Barcelona that, although stand alone, provided just as much beauty to the journey as the others, such as the sweet man who I saw multiple times in the subway playing this neat string instrument:
Or the other musician who was playing Vivaldi's "Winter" outside of the Cathedral one day as I admired old Spanish stamps and postcards in the Antique Market:
Or those delicious cans of orange Fanta that I, for whatever reason, grew addicted to:
Also, the way that the small streets seemed to swallow you as you walked down them:
Or this amazing place. A giant beer for only one euro! (That's actually NOT ripping us off, fellow Americans!- which is a rarity in Europe) AND, on Wednesdays & Sundays all the pinchos were only one euro too! Needless to say, we fell in love here.
Or that first time sticking my feet in the Mediterranean Ocean:
and, once again, how cute this little thing was:
However, I will not miss those damn birds. Everywhere.
But, what I will truly miss and always appreciated seeing was all the fascinating street art:
OKAY. I am done. Wow. I think my last bit of advice for anyone who is traveling is this: if you're planning on doing a blog to keep track of your travels do yourself a favor and don't wait three weeks to update. It builds up fast. I'm sad that this chapter of my life is already over, but I am more excited to see where it takes me next. For anyone who has caught the bug of traveling and exploring i'm sure you agree with me that it is one of the most eye-opening and awakening experiences to take part it. Like I said in my first entry, this blog is not going to end just because I am no longer in Spain. I hope to continue with these adventures, whether overseas or in my backyard, and sharing them with whoever is willing to listen. Much love and thanks. Until next time..
