Barcelona, After Dark

Barcelona takes on a little bit of a different personality at night.

I shouldn't have licked that frog, man.

That’s another building by Antoni Gaudi. It’s called la Casa Batllo, which means the House Through The Eyes of Those Tripping Balls (editors note: that’s not true). The lights really allow you to see all the detail that is on the front of the building.

Here’s where I wish I had stayed, and not spent twenty minutes trying to find in the dark a place with no signs:

Their sign was much easier to see at night.

The major avenues were always filled with people, scooters and cars at night. I only wish I had walked up the hill again to look over the city and all it’s artificially lighten splendor.

This is a caption.

Next time I travel to Barcelona I want to go with a group of people as I see it being an entirely different experience. Who’s in? Let’s say in 2014 or something.

O Barcelona, Where Art Thou?

Dateline: Sunday, September 8th, 2009.

Location: I set off on a journey to Spain to escape the rigorous schedule of a student.

Actually, that’s not entirely true. Our beloved Anthropology department had scheduled a reading week for us, and damned if I was going to read during this past week off. On Friday, I booked a ticket to Barcelona, 3 nights in a hostel, and packed my backpack of essentials.

That's not my plane. I don't know where that one was going.

The flight took just over an hour and a half from London. It was the first time I’ve ever flown such a discount airline where they don’t actually assign you a seat. You just show up and sit wherever you like. Fortunately the people were civilized and we were able to take off on time.

I actually flew to Girona, which is a city in Spain about an hour drive NE-ish from Barcelona. The roads were clear and we flew into the city. When we arrived, it was already dark, I was tired and I wanted to get to my room in the hostel. I got outside the bus station and attempted to follow the Google Maps directions I had printed out to the hostel. See, the thing about the cities is Europe is that they like to put street signs on the sides of buildings, and not always were easily visible. I’m used to the street names on polls on the corners. I didn’t know where the hell I was or were I was supposed to go. I wandered around for about 15 minutes until I decided to go back to the bus station and buy a proper map (which I probably should have done before hand, but whaddayagonnado?). All prepared and on my way, I walked towards the address of 290 Calle Mallorca. What the people with whom I reserved the room neglected to tell me was that there is no actual sign for the hostel. I must have walked around that intersection for about 20 minutes before I found the only sign that indicated that this place actually existed; a small printed out note taped to the buzzer panel beside the large entrance gates. Finally I got in to the hostel, got the keys to my room and collapsed onto the bed.

Where the magic didn't happen.

I realize now that I probably shouldn’t have flown in on a Sunday evening since nothing was open. I managed to sustain myself for that night on the Nutrigrain and Kit-Kat bars I had stowed away in my backpack for just such an emergency. Next time I will know better.

So I spent the next three days walking, walking and walking. I would venture a guess that I spent about 20 hours walking during my time in Barcelona. The city is amazing; there is just so much to see. The city is laid out in a grid pattern for large sections so it’s really easy to get around. The map I bought had all the land marks and tourist attractions on it, so I spent my time walking from one to the next. Many of the more interesting buildings were designed by Antoni Gaudi, as well as probably the most famous structure in Barcelona: the Sagrada Familia.

 

 

YOU SHALL NOT PASS!

 

Unfortunately I did not go into most of the buildings since I didn’t want to spend a ton of money on entrance fees. But all was not lost. I walked up to one of the higher hills in the city, up Baixada de la Gloria, where the street is so steep that they installed escalators outside to make it easier to climb. Once I reached the Parc Guell at the top the view was magnificent.

"Look, Simba. Everything the light touches is our kingdom." - Mufasa

 

You could see all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. The air up there felt so fresh. I suddenly didn’t feel at all tired after the long walk. I just stood up there for a little while just looking out over the city. It felt a little surreal to be there and I’d be lying if I said the thought “Holy shit, I’m in Spain!” didn’t cross my mind.

More pictures soon…