Epic Spanish Adventure: Barcelona

Our final days in Spain were arriving too soon! We were in the middle of planning our return home yet we still wanted to make one more trip--to Barcelona!

We had heard many things about Barcelona. Most people mistake the city as the capital because the Olympics were held there back in 1992. Barcelona is quite a unique city in Spain. The province, Catalonia, wants to be an independent country. There are many signs that say "Catalonia is not Spain." Barcelona's history is quite different from the rest of Spain and their culture is unique as well. They are against bullfighting and you won't find any flamenco performances here. Along with having a drastically different dialect (Catalan sounds much different from Spanish) A and I both felt like we were in a different country! Nonetheless, the city has a great history and culture to explore!

We took a night train from Madrid to Barcelona. Basically, this meant that we slept on seats in a train from 10:30 at night until 7 in the morning! When we arrived, we went straight to our hotel and took an hour nap. We then felt refreshed and ready to see Barcelona. The first place we visited was the Park Güell. This is a housing development built just outside of the city by Antoni Gaudi. He was Barcelona's famous modernist artist who lived from 1852-1926. He created this neighborhood to house the wealthy class, but the plan failed. At the time, most of the elite wanted to live in the city. The park was never finished, but the buildings still remain for sightseeing.

This was Gaudi's house.





This building was supposed to be where the market would happen. It's got crooked columns on the sides and great mosaics on the ceiling!





If you can see it amongst all the people, this is the famous lizard fountain near the market. It was impossible to get a picture of the thing without someone posing by it.



Here are some other buildings in the park. Don't they look like gingerbread houses?



We then headed over to Plaça de Catalunya, which has statues of important Catalans. We went down the street called Las Ramblas. This is a mile long street filled with restaurants and stores. On one part of the street are several shops that sell small pets like rabbits, mice and parakeets.



While we walked down the street, we went into La Boquería, a large food market that made our produce markets in Madrid look minute. Here's a photo of some of the fresh produce!



At the end of Las Ramblas is a large monument of Christopher Columbus. When Columbus returned from his successful voyage to the New World, he came to Barcelona where he presented King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella with gold and a group of native Americans.



We became hungry after our extensive hike, so we went into a tapas bar called Taverna Basca Irati. They give you a plate and you can pick and choose the tapas you want! After you are finished, they count your toothpicks and ring up your bill. I tried to be sneaky and steal a shot of the array of food.



While we walked off our tapas feast, we found the Block of Discord. Here are a few apartments Gaudi designed. They really stand out beside the standard buildings.



The following day, we went to see one of the most famous Gaudi designs--the Sagrada Familia. This is a cathedral that has been under construction for decades. Gaudi designed one facade of this cathedral in order to get donors interested in funding the project. Gaudi died before it's completion and the designs on the cathedral change depending on the view you see.



Here's a close-up of the facade done by Gaudi.



Here's one entrance of the cathedral. This was done after Gaudi's death. It has a completely different look.





Here are some pictures of the inside of the cathedral. Gaudi wanted his architecture to resemble nature and this is the best representation I've seen. Don't you feel you're in a forest?



This is the nave.



Here's the ceiling.



Construction on the cathedral has been stalled because of transportation improvements and historical events. During the Spanish Civil War, it was damaged by the skirmish. Spain began to devote more time to improving the train system later, and construction stopped again. I hope to see the edifice finished in my lifetime because it's quite amazing!

After gawking at the Sagrada Familia, we went towards the other cathedral. On our way, we passed this 17th century well, which was the last place for horses to drink before people departed from town.



Here is the Cathedral of Barcelona. Inside, there are many chapels funded by the local guild. There is a large baptismal font, and Columbus supposedly baptized the native Americans here. Also in the cathedral is the tomb of Saint Eulàlia, who was tortured 13 times and killed for her religious beliefs. The number 13 is very important in this church.







Here are the beautiful cloisters connected to the cathedral. On top of this fountain is a small statue of Saint George slaying a dragon.



As you can see here, they have 13 geese housed in the cloisters.



Not long after, we had to head back to Madrid. Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Epic Spanish Adventure: Granada

I have more photos and adventures to share with you, but my work life has stymied my attempts to post. Basically, this week, I was offered an intensive class to prep someone for the TOEFL exam. In the midst of this, my mother and aunt arrived in Spain on their way to Germany. This meant that every hour gap I usually had to myself was instead spent teaching or visiting family. The student was great and the intensive is over, so now I can sleep!

After we saw the sights in Sevilla, we went to Granada. Granada is only a 3 hour train ride away, but still in Andalucía. This was another Moorish city that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella conquered during their reign. This city was the farthest south they went.



The most famous site here is the Alhambra. This was formerly a Moorish palace, but after their defeat from the Catholic monarchy, it was taken as a palace. In this palace, Christopher Columbus formally requested funding for the voyage to the New World. The Alhambra is quite a popular tourist spot where many come to see the beautiful Moorish architecture and manicured gardens.

In the downtown part of the city, there's a statue that commemorates Columbus's request. Here you see Columbus before Queen Isabella.



Here are some photos of the details in the Alhambra.











I found this quite interesting. Apparently, Washington Irving, who we all know for his book The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, had come to the Alhambra and written stories here. Here's the plaque stating that he resided in this room while writing his stories.



In the heart of Granda is Capilla Real, the final resting place of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. There you can see the intricate mausoleums made in honor of the royal family. In addition to the king and queen's coffins, you can also see the resting place of Queen Juana I (daughter of Ferdinand and Isabel) and King Felipe I and their grandson Miguel da Paz, who died at age 2. I wasn't allowed to take photos while in the cathedral.

During our entire stay in Granada, we were able to enjoy amazing tapas! Yes, the tapas in Madrid are delicious, but what's great about Granada is that you get a hefty portion with every drink you order! For the 24 hours we were in Granada, we never ordered food-we always ate more than enough tapas which came with our food. This made for cheap eats with a wide variety of traditional Spanish dishes!

Here are some examples of the large plates we would get.



This was called fried pumpkin. Quite good!



And who doesn't love a little paella with some sangria?



So, the last few photos have made me hungry! I must go and cook. We hope to squeeze in one last journey in Spain before we return to the United States! We're keeping our fingers crossed!

Epic Spanish Adventure: Sevilla

Hope you like the new look! I felt it was more appropriate!

How is it June already?!

It feels like time is speeding up and we're quickly approaching the end of our stay here! I'm starting to get nervous about leaving; I don't feel I've done enough yet!

The first weekend of June was a long weekend, thanks to a puente (bank holiday) on Thursday. We joined some friends and journeyed to the south of Spain-Andalucia. A and I have been embarrassed to say that we have lived in Spain for almost a year, yet we haven't truly seen most of the country. Sevilla is one of those cities everyone recommends seeing, so on Thursday morning, two Brits and three Americans got on a bus for 6 hours to check out this jewel of the south.



Sevilla was an important city during the Spanish Golden Age. The Moors possessed the city until the Catholics King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella reconquered the south. During the Spanish Golden Age, many dynamic changes occurred. First, there was the funding of Columbus to the New World, which ended up to be a success. Then, there was the successful takeovers of Sevilla and Granada from the Moors. Finally, the expeditions to the New World brought back immense wealth for the Spanish kingdom.

We arrived in the evening into Seville and were quite famished. I had heard about the oldest bar (founded in 1670) that has great tapas. We headed over to The Rinconcillo to try some sangria and spinach tapas.

The following day, we headed straight to the cathedral. It is the largest gothic cathedral in the world. I could only get part of the church in the frame! The cathedral was formerly a mosque; in the second photo shows the bell tower, which used to be a minaret.









Once we entered the edifice, we realized on our maps that Columbus's tomb is here! We were able to find it based on the large amount of people crowded in one area of the church.



Apparently, the tomb has been moved several times. At one point, it was in Havana, Cuba, but was later moved. The four statues carrying the tomb represent the four kingdoms of Spain during that time: Léon, Aragon, Castille and Navarre. There's some speculations as to whether the tomb truly holds Columbus's remains, but it's a fascinating monument nonetheless!

After the cathedral, we went to the Royal Alcázar. This was originally the palace of the first Caliphate of Andalucia (also known as the Moorish head of state). Of course, Seville was conquered by Catholic Royalty later, but it remained a palace for prominent leaders.



This is called the Admiral's Room. It is where Queen Isabella advised the trade from the New World. Amerigo Vesipucci carried out his role as Chief Navigator here and Magellan planned the first trip around the world. It seems like an unimportant room, but a lot of history took place here.



Here's a beautiful example of the Moorish architecture in the palace.









We later headed over to Plaza de España, a more recent edition to Sevilla (built in 1929 for the World's Fair) but a gorgeous site nonetheless! The structure is a semi-circle, decorated with tiled alcoves showing depictions of Spanish cities. Unfortunately, we were visiting during some construction, but we were able to take some nice pictures...







We decided to take a horse-carriage ride through the city, lead by an old man who could only point out to us the historical sites, but had no further explanations about their importance. We attempted to ask questions in our Spanish, but he merely repeated himself. So, here's a picture of the Torre de Oro, which is the Tower of Gold in English. When Spain was gaining riches from the New World, the ships would come to this port and unload the gold in to this building.



The trip to Sevilla was not complete until we attended a flamenco show! Fortunately for us, we were able to get some cheap tickets to a local show. Flamenco is generally a more typical dance in southern Spain. While it is possible to see flamenco in Madrid, it can be a bit pricey and sometimes hard to find. The best places are in Andalucía. The performance we saw consisted of a guitarist, a singer and the two flamenco dancers. The music and dance has such a unique style...I recommend looking at some online videos in order to get a feel for the ambience. I tried to take some pictures of the performers in action here.



It's difficult to squeeze all of our adventures into this post, but I think I have presented the most important points. I will try to post Granada soon, so keep checking back!