BARTTHHHHHALONA!!!!

Hi All!
I have a lot to share from my adventures in Barcelona. It is such a beautiful city and it is amazing to be in the sunshine again! I found the beach and have been spending a lot of time sitting in the sand and drawing.  This is more like it!!

 Barceloneta

 The W Hotel. One day I will stay there

Spanish beach volleyball!

The first hostel I stayed at was a little outside the center, and it was a good place to start.  I met a couple of guys from Argentina who have been living in Barcelona for the past 3 months looking for work. 

Martin and Pablo

It was great to have some "local" tour guides for the first few days.  They took me out to some restaurants and helped me figure out what sights to see when.  They had the inside scoop on when certain museums had free entries and which days were less crowded.  One of the coolest things we did was go to the HUGE flea market. They literally had everything you could imagine there.  We were wondering what these people did with all the stuff when they weren't at the market. 


These guys also told me about the turmoil in Spain right now. The government is lowering wages and raising taxes and the people are rioting.  We were watching the news one night the the police brutality is like nothing I have ever seen before.  Also, students are being charged more for tuition and that is also causing uproar.  There is a protest going on here in Barcelona and tourists need to be careful not to get involved.  

One of the first things I did was go to Parc Güell, designed by Gaudi. 

 The view

 Gaudi's house, which is now a museum

I walked by La Sagrada Familia by Gaudi (I still have to go inside).  It was begun in 1882 and is still being worked on.  Supposedly it will be completed by 2030.  There will be a total of 18 spires, representing (in ascending order) the 12 apostles, the 4 evangelists, Virgin Mary, and lastly Jesus Christ.

As I was leaving my first hostel to move to one in a more central location, I was standing on the sidewalk reading a map and this little Spanish woman, Gloria, came up to me and was so enthusiastic about helping me.  She wanted to practice her english and she ended up taking me on an hour long tour.  of the neighborhood.  We have been emailing back and forth a little bit and I will try to see her agin before I leave.

Gloria

I went on a walking tour of the Gothic area with the hostel and saw the art university Picasso's father worked at and where Picasso attended when he was only 13 years old.  The average age of students there was 21.  The typical application process required students to attend the university for 1 to 2 months and build a portfolio and then it would be decided if they were accepted.  But for Picasso, it only took one week to be accepted.  

I saw the Barcelona cathedral, also designed by Gaudi.

On Sundays a full orchestra sets up on the front steps and the square is filled with locals doing the traditional Catalan dance.

Kitty corner to the cathedral is an architecture school, and painted on the building is a Picasso sketch. The story is that Picasso was in a bar and was doodling on a napkin to make fun of the skill of a fellow artist and the bar tender kept the napkin.  After Picasso's death, the bar tender presented to napkin to the city council.  

The people of the town joke that for an architecture school, the building is one of the ugliest in Barcelona, and they aren't sure if the painting makes it better or worse.  Haha

On the tour, the guide stopped us at an empty corner and pointed out a small, spray painted figure on the wall.  There is an artist called Invader who spray paints the image of a character from the Space Invaders video game in random corners all over the world.  They can be found in most major cities, but no one knows who the artist is. 

The hostel I moved to is right in the middle of everything and was voted the most popular hostel in Barcelona. It is known for being a party hostel and every night at 2am, the staff take everyone to a night club.  The normal time of arrival back at the hostel is around 5 am.  Needless to say, I haven't slept much in the last 5 days.  Haha


This is Bruno, one of my roommates there. He is from Sao Paulo, Brazil, exploring Barcelona for a couple of weeks.

I went to the top of a "mountain" (it's really more like a hill, but they call it a mountain) and saw a 360 degree view of the city.

And two days ago I went to the Picasso museum, which was incredible.  I have seen his work before, but I am always blown away, especially by the work he did when he was a little boy.  I love his Blue Period pieces as well as Guernica.  There was also a video of his process of copying Diego Velasquez' Las Meninas.  Picasso did a series of over 50 studies in preparation that now live in the Picasso Museum.

That is all I have seen so far.  On my list to do in the next few days are the interior of La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's Casa Battlo, and Montjuic! 

I have loved my experience in Barcelona thus far and have met some great people, which makes traveling that much better.  It's much more fun to share these experiences with others.