Because of our airline tickets, we opted to spend a week in Barcelona before flying back to the US. We lost a day to the track vandalism, but still had time to enjoy the city. We know people who love Barcelona. We know people who hate it: primarily those who have been pickpocketed here.
For me, it’s hard to see Barcelona clearly. They are in month forty of severe drought. So it’s dusty, and unclean in general. Where guys take a piss in a corner is always gross, but where it would otherwise be washed away by rain it has now become utterly foul. Dog shit just desiccates into the atmosphere. The gardens are beautiful, but the trees are so stressed and dying and of course the fountains are empty. It feels like a grim, sad place. The contrast to Paris and their regular power washing of the sidewalks and general sprucing up for the Olympics is stark.
But on the flip side, every meal has been delicious. Cava sangria is wonderful. It's so confusing. We're definitely not seeing the city at its best.
We did the usual touristic things: an architecture tour featuring Gaudi, the Sagrada Familia tour including a trip up a tower, and a hike through Montjuic and over to the cemetery on the other side. The fonts in the cemetery were wonderfully creative.
My burning question: with the Catholic church working to beatify Gaudi, will he be known as St Gaudi, or St Antoni? Anyone out there a canon law scholar?
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| Fancy Gaudi |
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| Up in the (very) dry hills above the City. |
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| Sagradia Familia from a lower tower. |
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| The "warm side" stained glass. |
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Church, construction site.
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| Truly fancy fonts in the Cemetiri Montjuic |
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| Even more so. |
~Lucy
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