Barcelona Gaudi’s City

CEBU, Philippines - From the plane, Barcelona looked like a port city. A long bridge stretched out from the land and into the sea, to receive the ships that come to Barcelona. The bridge looked like a backwards letter “C”.

My first impression of Barcelona when we got out of the airport was that it was sunnier and warmer than Paris. Palm trees lined the streets. I felt hot in my sweater. My husband Klaus and I took the bus that transported us to Plaza de Catalunya, a busy square which some people call the heart of Barcelona. Here, tourists and locals meet to take the subway or bus, for transport or for sight-seeing. A stone’s throw away is the La Rambla, the famous busy street with an endless number of stalls, restaurants, street performers and shops. To me, the highlight in La Rambla is this little gelato shop. Sadly, I have forgotten its name, but I haven’t forgotten the taste of its gelato. I went there every day to have stracciatella, vanilla, mint and chocolate, and yoghurt gelato.

We got off at the Plaza and transferred to the subway so we could go to our hostel. The subway station was made so that you will never want to go there again with a 30-pound piece of luggage. This was the case with me. To get to the platform for the train, we had to go through several corridors and walk up and down several stairs. I was getting my cardio workout that day. My luggage felt like there were stones being added to it, plus I was boiling in my sweater. I couldn’t take my sweater off because I only had a camisole underneath. Oh, and I hadn’t slept at all the night before. (I shall never touch coffee again!)

   Finally, we got out of the subway and into the sunshine. Our hostel was only a short walk away from the station. We looked for a place to eat. Just across the street was a restaurant, but a girl there told us they were closed (siesta, I assumed). She directed us to the restaurant next door. I ordered the seafood paella because I’m totally a tourist who wants to try the local specialties. We waited 45 minutes with nothing but tough pieces of bread to nibble on. I got excited when our waitress emerged from the kitchen carrying pans of hot food. Since the other people in the restaurant were already served, I assumed the food was ours. However, she passed our table and placed the food on an empty table. I was puzzled until I saw the manager walk to the table, then the bartender, and some of the other staff. Apparently, the staff got free meals from the restaurant, and they were also served before the customers. I found this bizarre.

   We took the tour bus to see Barcelona. I figured this was the better option rather than being in the subway the whole day, climbing stairs and getting lost in the maze. It proved to be a good choice. We boarded the bus from Port Vell and sat on the top deck, enjoying the sunshine and the view. Soon after we boarded the bus, we saw the Olympic stadium, built specifically for the 1992 Olympics, as well as the high-rise building where they housed the athletes. Barcelona is a beautiful city with countless impressive buildings and structures. It wasn’t long before we found out that most of these impressive structures were the works of one man: Antoni Gaudi.

   Gaudi, born 1852, was more than an architect — apparently he was a genius. He never married and his life was devoted solely to his work. It seemed like his name was mentioned in every other structure we saw during the bus tour. His greatest work, and one he loved, is the church called the Sagrada Familia. Our tour bus stopped at this spot and we got off to take a close look. It was a construction site. Gaudi started this project in 1914 but knew that he would not see the completion of it. It is a massive, magnificent structure, with intricate details on its facade, and towers rising up to 170 meters in height. Gaudi died in 1926, but his beloved work continues today.

   After the bus tour, we went back to La Rambla (my main purpose being the gelato). We were weaving in and out of the tiny streets, admiring all the interesting shops, when we found ourselves in a familiar-looking place. It was a little restaurant that was close to our hostel. We realized that we were within walking distance from the Plaza de Catalunya and that we did not need to torture ourselves with the use of the subway. On the day we left Barcelona, we walked to the Plaza de Catalunya to catch our bus back to the airport. It did not take five minutes.

   We had a very nice dinner in Barcelona on our second and last night there. We went to this restaurant called “Hotel Roma Reial,” located at the Plaza Reial. The host seated us at one of the outdoor tables. In the middle of our dinner, we were approached by three guys who were playing music for all the diners. One had a violin, another a guitar, and the third was the singer. It was very cheesy, and I had to hold back my laughter since they were standing quite close to our table. The scene reminded Klaus of the movie The Heartbreak Kid, when Ben Stiller was trying to break up with his wife over dinner and people kept coming over and playing romantic music for them.

I would definitely go back to Barcelona, perhaps to see the completed Sagrada Familia, and to find that gelato shop. This would be apt, because I think by the time the Sagrada Familia is completed, I would be too old to eat anything but soft food like gelato.