Barcelona is a very popular city for tourists and overlooks the Mediterranean Sea. I feel it’s where the British go for the sun! Barcelona is known for its football team and the works of the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. We took the train from Barcelona to Madrid but were still hesitant about being scammed. It is a really touristy city, but it was also fine. The most significant difference between Madrid and other cities is that there are pushy salespeople. Again, not to say you can keep your guard completely down, but don’t avoid it at all costs either. That sounded preachy, but let’s continue. So, we took the train from Madrid, which was relatively uneventful. We then went to the hotel and had an early dinner with cheesecake.

Guell Park

On a new day, after eating a cannala and drinking coffee on the go, we arrived at Guell Park. It is on a steep incline, but there are escalators, and it’s a park. I don’t understand why an admittance fee is in the double digits. Like sure for Gaudí’s house, but for the park? Might be to control foot traffic, I guess. Guell Park is a failed housing project. It was supposed to have 60 houses, but only two were built and neither by Gaudí. See, even 100 years ago, housing projects were doomed to fail. Guell, who started the project, commissioned Gaudí to convert the land into a park. Gaudí lived in the Gaudí house while he was in charge of building the Sagrada Familia. He is famous for his gothic style, and his house details this well. In the other parts of the Guell park, you can see a lot of Barcelona from there. There are a bunch of pretty details, such as mosaics and fountains. My favourite part was the porter’s lodge pavilion because it reminds me of the Gingerbread house from Hansel and Gretel. We did walk from one side to the other.

Casa Padella, Museum of the History of Barcelona

After visiting Guell Park, we decided to venture into the city centre, so we heard about this museum and decided to check it out. This museum focuses on Barcelona’s history, and it does just that. We learned about when the city was founded, the industries that dominated previously and what dominate now, how it was affected by world wars and the Spanish Civil War, and Barcelona today. I learned about Pedro Virgil, who founded the Barcelona Royal College of Surgery and a military hospital named after him. He was a royal surgeon and also influenced medicine in the city. Our main reason for visiting the museum was that it contained the ancient ruins of Roman occupation underneath (above). There were a wash house and a wine plant at that location, so comparing the ruins to Pompeii was interesting.

Gothic Quarter

The Gothic Quarter is the centre of the old city, one of the more touristy parts. It contains the Barcelona History Museum, the Barcelona Cathedral, and the Palace of the Generalitat of Catalonia. There are a lot of tourist stores and food places nearby. We took some photos by the Cathedral and saw the old Roman wall.

Picasso Museum

We went to the Picasso museum the next day, bright and early. This museum contains the works of Pablo Picasso, who was Spanish. It contains over 4251 pieces, and we learned a bit about his life. Like in his later years, he got into pottery; some of his ceramics are displayed here. It was created in his lifetime and is only a year older than my mum! The museum showed most of the artwork in chronological order. Some include draft sketches followed by the painting showing his process. Also, Picasso is a nepo baby (in the internet sense). It was interesting how his emotional state would come through in his work, such as when his friend died. His work looked sombre and moody with monochrome deep blues (known as the blue period).

One of my favourite paintings in the collection was the Blanquita Suarez (below); she was a comedic actress and singer. Like the way his mind works, unbelievable.

Museum of the History of Catalonia

While walking along the pier, we decided to check out the Catalonian History museum, which felt different from the artwork. Lucky for us, we got free tickets again. We were willing to pay, but the receptionist said, “You guys look young, are you students? We said, “not from around here.” He was like “Doesn’t matter if you show me a student ID. I can give you the discount,” so we did. The museum has an audiovisual tour available on your phone. The receptionist showed it to us and we followed that.

This museum is about people, and I knew very little about the Catalan people. It took us through prehistoric times, Roman times, brief Islamic times, the Middle Ages, and then through different eras. It focused on food, jobs, and the arts, such as how the Catalan language was discouraged in the 1700s until it was revived in the 19th century. However, it was abolished in Catalonia under the Francoist dictatorship. Learning about Spain during and after the world wars was also fascinating, as what history I learned after World War 2, seem be America focused, ignoring the other parts of the world. It was eye-opening learning about the Dictatorship of Spain and the transition to democracy.

Sagrada La Familia

Sagrada La Familia is a cathedral that is currently being built in Barcelona. It was the project of Antoni Gaudí. He was the principal architect, and the project is his vision after he took over. It will be one of the world’s largest cathedrals when it is finished. We went to the cathedral late afternoon, and the security was tight; it was like entering border control. But after that, they have an app you can download for an audio-visual tour. I think it’s around one hour and has 360 view parts, but I wasn’t a fan of that. It started from outside the current entrance to the current exit, which aren’t the main entrance and exits. The tour discussed the exterior and what parts of the Bible influenced it. There are currently four central towers, and there will be a fifth one, with nativity imagery like stone flowers. It is beautiful, then you go inside from there, you will go to the main entrance, which has an old Catalan prayer written in many different languages. There are these glass panels in the interior. They illuminate the interior in various colours depending on the time, so in the morning, it would look different from what it would look like at night. It was so beautiful, we went through the tour and then took some time to take in the interior (pictured below) and imagine what it would be like when it is finished.

Then we continued to the exit, which also has bible imagery focusing on the crucifixion of Christ. Underneath the church right now is an exhibit of the plans of the Sagrada Familia. It showcases how the work continues after Gaudí and how the engineers and architects use 3D imaging and printing to build models. It was interesting seeing such a large-scale project from an engineer’s perspective. The deliverables, the plans, the funding, etc. Much to my sister’s dismay, I read all the displays closely because I was trying to find the completion date. But I couldn’t find it; it wasn’t mentioned in the tour, nor on any of the information cards. So, who knows when it will be completed? I hope it’s finished in my lifetime because I want to see the final product and visit in the morning now to see the interior illuminated in different colours.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I enjoyed my time in Barcelona and in Spain. I learned a lot about Picasso, Barcelona’s history, and the people of Catalonia. As well as about the works of Gaudí, something I wouldn’t have been curious about if I hadn’t gone. The local cuisine I did try was good, and I kept going: “I need to learn how to make this!” One thing that surprised me was how cheap alcohol is here. For example, beer at some places was 1€, while you couldn’t find a can of soft drink or water for that price. Even coffee isn’t that cheap. The parts we went to were pretty cool. I also found that many shops we went into played Mariah Carey. They have such good taste in music, so our time in Barcelona was nice, and I enjoyed just basking in the sun.