Barcelona

Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia (an autonomous community in Spain) and is not really that Spanish. I really enjoyed Barcelona as there was a wide range of things to see and do. We visited several of the works of famous Catalan architecture Antoni Gaudi, the Picasso Museum and Museum of History of Catalonia, and also did some climbing and sightseeing on the beautiful mountains of Montserrat and Pyrenees.

Pyrenees mountains
A mountain range in Southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain.
We did a walking tour to explore the medieval mountain villages of Pyrenees with the company Spanish Trails and it was a tour like no other. The tour was very personalised with only four of us in the group, and we were led by our guide Victor, a widely-travelled European (because of the mixture of his heritage he could not even state his nationality), who provided many valuable insights on travelling. For a price of EUR95, transportation, breakfast of pastries, jamon, and coffee at a local cafeteria in Vic, and a sumptuous lunch at a very traditional Catalan restaurant were included. I never really liked guided tours but for a country where there is so much to learn about, reading everything off a museum exhibition or guidebook was too tedious and some interaction really can make it more enjoyable. This was when this very personalised tour fit right in.

The entire hike was 3hours long and it brought us to where some of the most beautiful scenery could be seen. There were some parts where we had to walk along the trails on the edge of steep slopes and I was scared out of my wits. Every time i go on such hikes i ask myself what have I brought myself into, but I find myself doing it over and over again. And this is the reason why...



Houses dating back to more than 500 years ago


Camp Nou
Home to one of Europe's best football teams FC Barcelona and also the largest stadium in Europe, with a capacity of 99,354 seats.


Montserrat
Catalonia's most important religious retreat

After an hour train ride from Barcelona, one can choose to take the cable car or the rack railway. We chose to take the cable car because it offers a better view of the mountains.

Many people also come to see the unusual rock formation on the mountain:

Santa Maria de Montserrat is a Benedictine abbey/basilica which hosts the Virgin of Montserrat, a statue of the Virgin Mary (and infant Christ), Catalonia's favourite saint. The entire structure of the basilica is really beautiful and it takes a while to marvel at every intricate detail of the entire place.

Architecture
Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) is one of the most internationally prestigious figure in Spanish architecture. His highly individual and distinct style are reflected in three of his most famous works:

Casa Batllo
Balconies which look like skulls and pillars which looks like bones. Use of colours and shapes found in marine life as inspiration. Use of trencadis (waste ceramic pieces).




La Sagrada Familia
Under construction since 1882 and still not completed.
Use of highly symbolic content, both in architecture and sculpture, dedicating each part of the church to a religious theme.

The remains of Gaudi's designs are opened to interpretations and there are controversy surrounding its continued construction today(notice the difference in colour between the old parts and new parts of the building due to the difference in materials used).

Parc Guell
Multi-coloured tiling. Use of natural shapes. Sculpted fountains.



Magic Fountain of Montjuic
Fountain performance incorporated with light and music. Performance varies and the time we were there, it was a Christmas-themed one which lasted about 25minutes. (And its free!)
There are many museums in Barcelona in all spectrums - art, history, archaeology etc and we visited two of the them - the Picasso Museum and Museum of History of Catalonia. Though there are many museums, I was careful to limit the number on our itinerary because I think it is important not to information overload (it becomes boring after reading too many things and we won't remember them anyway) and picked only those that we were really interested in.

Tourism in Barcelona, like in many cities, brings along problems as it flourishes. Pickpocketing and theft is prevalent - in fact we witnessed a pickpocket in action at one of the metro stations. But like our tour guide Victor advised, to concentrate on the beauty of the place and not dwell on the ugly side, that way you enjoy your travel much more. So just be extra careful with your belongings, because Barcelona is indeed a beautiful place and well worth visiting.