Generally, well i think, La Rambla is pretty rubbish, with tourist trap resturants (when you see what they are serving, you just know its going to be average), dodgy street preformers (since when has a guy dressed up as a statue been entertainment?), but occationally you find a good musician that are quite good to listen to, but you dont have to be on La Rambla to hear music, it seems to be everywhere. anyway, one hot tip that i got, was to check out 'La Boqueria' which is the market just off La Rambla. it was the best market i think i've ever been to. i swear there must be animals that i'm not aware of becuase i've never seen so many different types of meat, it was mental! i had lunch there a couple of times, also they had fruit and veg and they sold all different kinds of freshly squeezed juice, i dunno what it is, but when you travel the food you taste always seems to taste 10 times better than you've had before. it might be becuase i've been eating rubbish most of the time i've been traveling, so when i do get to try something good, its generally better.
while i was walking around i found a little area that had good food at a reasonable price (actually so far, i've found Spain to be quite expensive, i was kind of hoping that it wouldn't be. but then again, i am in a major city it might be better then i head to smaller towns). i had a Seafood Paella, which is kind of like a rice dish, it was brilliant, and really filling.
one of the reasons i wanted to go to Spain was to see some of Antoni Gaudí's work. Gaudí was an architect that did a number of really crazy buildings, its pretty hard not to see one while your here, they are everywhere. i was thinking to myself as i walked passed one on the way to La Pedrera, which is an apartment block he designed that doubles as a Gaudí museum, 'this guy looks like he was dropping acid, then playing with shells and bones to create houses' and it turns out i wasn't far off. he didn't drop acid, but he did use natural elements, like shells and bones, as inspiration for a lot of his work. so i guess 2 out of 3 ain't bad. i found his buidings almost dream like, it was quite fasinating really, some of the stuff he used to make designs for his buildings were really clever, i even saw broken bottles in the roof. i was looking at some of his furniture designs too, and i wouldn't be surprised if he was the grand daddy of ergonomics, just the way the chairs were moulded to suit the bodies shape and even the door handles in some of the houses he did were made by taking a cast of plastecine that had been grasped, to fit the hand perfectly.
a lot of the buidlings he created are now world heritage listed. so i went to a couple of other buildings that he did, like the Sagrada Família which is a church that is considered to be his master piece, but he never saw it finished, actually i think they are still trying to complete it. but, to be honest, i found it a bit of a let down. don't get me wrong, the outside is quite amazing to look at, but to get inside you had to pay something like 11 EURO then if you wanted to go up in a lift you had to wait in a really long line and pay a further 3 EURO. i found it a bit of a rip off and didn't go up and i was kind of kicking myself that i paid to go in. the other thing of his that i would recommend to other people to see is Park Güell which, in case you haven't guessed, is a park that he was commissioned to do. there are heaps of buildings within the park but i found the wall of the park quite interesting to look at. best of all its free to go in an have a look around.
i checked out the Olympic stadium which was originally built for an earlier games that was interupted by the Spanish Civil War. the only way i knew of it was from the 1992 Olympics, when the stadium was redeveloped. i still have memories of watching it on TV, because it was the first time i really remember an Olympic games. i remember the song that one of the guys from the 3 tenors sung at the Openning and Closing ceremony. also the guy shooting the flame up into the cauldron to begin the games. but probably my strongest memory is Dad and i going down the street to, probably, go and get bread and the news paper for breakfast. i remember us walking past a Retravision, or some store like that, where all these people where hanging out the front to watch Kieren Perkins on TV win the gold medal in the 1500m swim. i find it funny when i think of things like that, because back then i don't think i could've dreamed of being there, Barcelona seemed so far away.
i really liked wandering around the Gothic part of town with all the old buildings and such. as i think i've said before, i'm a little bit over churches now, but i ran into one that was quite good. i can't remember the name of it though, i think it was build during a time when the romans were here. anyway, it didn't really have a roof because it had a garden growing in the middle of it with a pond. i actually thought to myself 'this is probably one of the best churches i've been in' mainly because i felt it showed what religion should be all about, showing off god's creations for us all to admire and enjoy. sure beats getting preached to, don't you think?
i went to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, which is the national museum, but it was originally built for the World Fair (do we even still have those? if anyone knows, leave me a comment?) the building and its surounding area is quite symetrical and impressive. i climbed the stairs to the top and i thought, while i was up there, i should have a look around inside. i only went into the free area of the gallery but i noticed that the art work was really rich in colour and quite flowing, it wasn't like they were, i guess, how do i explain this... like trying to tell a kid to 'colour between the lines'. sometimes it crossed over the lines. but it wasnt messy or anything. i'm a fan of roughly drawn or painted work i think it describes the moment you are in while your painting it. i've always found painting a little bit scary, because i find it hard to paint myself out of trouble, but its thrilling at the same time. anyway thats enough about that. i'm constantly amazed at what some tourist will take photos of, i particularly like it when they pose in a way to make them look like there not posing. i watched this guy get his mate to take a photo of him looking at a painting, but then it wasn't right so he had to take another. another classic was i saw this girl on the top of a open-air double decker bus who wanted to get her photo taken, looking into middle distance with her hair blowing in the wind, her friend was just about to take her photo when the bus stopped, she made the gesture to her friend to wait, then when the bus started moving again she began looking into middle distance again, ready for the shot to be taken. why you would go to such effort i have no idea, what happened to the good old smile to camera?
i think i was getting used to small little towns because i totally underestimated the size of Barcelona, its freakin' HUGE! i don't generally like catching buses and trains becuase i feel sometimes you really miss out on seeing things, so i do a lot of walking, but here, i walked A LOT. but the weather has been nice and with the sun on my back, its been a pleasure, but i definately fall in a heap at the end of the day. Though spanish architecture has its own flavour, ie: fresco's, mosaics, ornate carvings, sandy coloured, quite rugged etc, everything you'd expect from a mediterranean city. something i did noticed while i was here, and it could be just me, but the buildings and general layout of Barcelona reminds me quite a lot of Paris. there buildings are quite high and some (not all) are very similar in style. also the layout of the roads is have a really big road followed by smaller ones that run in between the bigger one which is kind of how Paris works too. they even have an Arch de Triumph look alike, and guess what its called... yep, you guess it 'Arc de Triomf'. to me, it kind of makes sence to have a french connection because they are so close to one another, but then again, it could just be me. but i found it a little bit easier to navigate around here than i did in Paris.
i found the people here are pretty friendly, always putting there hands in your pockets and stuff, only kidding, you definately have to be careful of pick pockets here, La Rambla has a bit of reputation in particular, i didn't have a problem. but honestly, i did find Barcelona to have a friendly atmosphere. but i found some couples EXTREMELY touchy-feely, it was a bit much at times. but i like the old guys that get dressed up in there sunday best (no matter how hot it is) and sit on the bench at beach and just watch life pass by (and they probably do a little bit of perving while there at it too), people here are generally pretty relaxed but not many speak english, and i think its only going to get harder for me to communicate from now on.
i really enjoyed Barcelona, its probably been one of my favourite cities, it always seemed like there was something always going on, at midnight when most cities are winding down, its like Barcelona is only getting started, and there are heaps of cool little bars, with lots of character to get started in. even though i think i did a really good chunck of Barcelona, more than i could write about. i could easily spend weeks apon weeks here just wandering, what seem to be, endless streets. but i had already booked a cheap flight to Sofia in a months time, and i wanted to see a fair bit more of Spain while i'm here so i couldn't stay longer. if i do have some time left over i think i might come back. i suppose in a lot of ways i have to say a big 'Gracias' (pronounced 'Gra-th-e-us-th', as if you have a lisp) to Barcelona, because its made me start to enjoy traveling again. anyway, its time to say 'Hola!' to Sans Sebastian. more when i get there.
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