Ang Bahay ni Kumareng Grace

As we neared the last legs of our trip, we still had three places to go to. We’ve already been to Amsterdam, Brussels, Versailles, and Lourdes, so what’s the next destination? Well, it was time to say “au revoir Paris” and “hola Barcelona”!

Early morning, we were already at the Charles de Gaulle airport to catch our early-morning flight to Barcelona. It was a bittersweet departure. Ten minutes in the CDG airport, we were already missing Paris. On the other hand, we were excited to be moving to another country.

We left Paris via a low-cost airline, Vueling, which is the counterpart of Cebu Pacific here. The trip was soooooooo cheap, I can’t stress it enough. Rick Steves actually “introduced” Vueling to us, and we can’t thank him enough! Imagine, the Paris-Barcelona trip didn’t even reach 100 euros! What a bargain!

Anyway, after a 2-hour plane trip, at around 8 in the morning, we were at “Hola” country. Welcome to Barcelona, Spain!

We deposited our bags in the hotel and immediately set out to explore Barcelona. Wala nang pahinga-pahinga! Lucky enough for us, our hotel was located along La Rambla, which is one of the most popular streets in Barcelona. True enough, when we set out, the place was busy with people, locals and tourists alike.

The first thing I noticed about Barcelona was that, unlike in the previous cities we’ve been to, there were many Pinoys here. In fact, as we ate our lunch [KFC, of all the places!], out cashier was Filipina. She has been in Barcelona for 5 years already. And being her kababayans, we were given extra fries [pero secret lang syempre...he! he!]. And as we walked along the streets, we met other Filipinos, like the seamen whose ship was on a brief stopover in Barcelona.

Another thing is that the weather in Barcelona is much hotter than that in the previous cities. I don’t even recall wearing a jacket there. Also, it is more “Philippines” here than in the other cities. Maybe because of the Spanish influence in our country, some parts of the culture of Barcelona reminded me of the Philippines.

The people here are also more “mixed” in regard to race. Whereas in Netherlands, Belgium, and France, people were mostly white, here, there was a pretty good mixture of whites, Americans, Africans, and Asians. With this mix, one would easily blend in.

I enjoyed walking along La Rambla. It was a long stretch of street, and you will need hours to walk through it. It was bustling with people and was full of tiangges and stores selling stuff from magazines to souvenirs to flowers to bird cages to many more others. There were lots of restaurants and small shopping shops at the side. Kaya naman tigil kami ng tigil.

Placa Catalunya, which is considered as the city center, is on one end of La Rambla. Here, some of the major streets of Barcelona meet.

Pigeons are a common sight in Placa Catalunya.

One of the main attractions of La Rambla are these animated “statues” that abound along the street. Kanya-kanya sila ng gimik. They have pots for coins that people can out money in. Some show their “gimik” when people put coins in. These statues add character to the street.

Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, or simply La Boqueria, is a large public market along La Rambla. It is considered one of the famous tourist spots in Barcelona.

La Boqueira features a variety of goods such as candies, chocolates, fruit shakes, mushrooms, and many more others.

Along La Rambla, there are many artists displaying their talent. You may also have you picture drawn or painted, for a fee of course.

Art, Barcelona style

After a long walk, what better to eat than paella! Yehey! Authentic paella! I think we ordered the most basic paella!

On the other end of the long La Ramblas is the Columbus Monument at Port Vell. The monument serves as a reminder that Barcelona is where Columbus reported to Queen Isabella and Ferdinand after his most famous trip. Port Vell is a harbor in Barcelona.

Barcelona, however, is not just about La Rambla. In fact, when you say Barcelona, it is almost always synonymous to Antonio Gaudi. And I can tell you that almost every corner in Barcelona practically shouts GAUDI!

The lamp posts in Plaza Real, where our hotel was located, were designed by Gaudi.

Water fountains [yes, that's a water fountain with potable water] that are a common sight along the streets are also designed by Gaudi.

My favorite among the Gaudi works has to be Casa Batlo. Let me tell you that I’ve never seen anything like this. And I could say that Gaudi was one hell of an architect. He certainly has his own unique, distinct style. I love the design of Casa Batlo; the colors, the materials, the talent that contributed to the overall look were simply awesome. Iba talaga sya!

Casa Batlo, built in 1887, has a skeletal, visceral overall look.

The ground floor has irregular oval windows of sculpted stone.

And each window is designed as frog-like eyes that seemingly look over Barcelona.Also, the roof is believed to resemble a dragon.

But the most famous work of Gaudi has to be the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia, commonly known as the Sagrada Familia. Sagrada Familia has been under construction since 1882 and is expected to undergo construction until 2026. This is because the cost of construction for the church is shouldered by donations.

When I saw the Sagrada Familia, I was breathless. My heart palpitated [yes, just like with the Eiffel Tower]. It was so majestic! I can’t even describe it. The design is so unique [so Gaudi!], so intricate. Nagkataon pa na when I first saw it, I was meters away from it. And it was so big, so overpowering in size and beauty.

The design of Sagrada Familya is rich with Christian symbolism. In fact the facade consists of three parts: the Nativity facade, the Passion facade, and the Glory facade.

The back design is a bit different from the front design, you might think it is a different church.

I love the sides; the look is so medieval, so simple but beautiful.

It was such a privilege having seen some of Gaudi’s works. It was like seeing the works of a master. His creations were so unique, so incredibly beautiful!

Barcelona was a beautiful place. I enjoyed walking around, especially along the smaller streets where there were quaint shops and cafes. It was so Europe with a hint of the Philippines! What I also liked about Barcelona is that the place was so full of character. More than the structures and the tourist spots, the culture was interesting. Everything was bustling with activity and I loved to watch the people going about their own affairs. Oh, and did I mention the craftsmanship of people in Barcelona? Bow ako! Some of their products are beautifully hand-made. And most of the stores sell hand-crafted products like bags, shoes, tea sets, even chess sets, and many more. Ang gaganda! I was able to buy a hand-crafted wallet that I love so much because the craftsmanship was superb, not to mention that it is unique.

In all, Barcelona was such a remarkable place. I super duper loved it! It was just unfortunate that we had only a day and a half to go around. Next time, I’ll stay longer here!

Next stop: Rome, Italy

Tags: Europe, Spain, Travel

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 8:07 am and is filed under Europe, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.