Getting to Barcelona
After I came back from school, I wanted to go outside the country, to a place I’ve neven been before - it was either Amsterdam or Barcelona. After looking at the guides, I decided that Amsterdam was more for traveling with friends, and since I was the only one who could afford to go, I went with my mother. It was mid-May, and we booked the trip for 8 days, 7 nights - a total of around $2,500, which turned out to be expensive, since it was a last minute, unplanned trip. Since neither of us know any Spanish, it was something to consider, since Barcelona is not as tourist-friendly as other vacation spots, like resorts.
We traveled by Delta France, with a 2 hour stop in the beautiful Charles de Gaulle Paris airport. The entire trip was about 8-9 hours. Not too exhilirating. We heard a lot about pickpockets in Barcelona, so we decided to keep everything with us, locked up. We took a cab to the Hotel Royal, on La Rambla, the center of the city, by the Gothic Quarter. As it turned out, we could not have found a better spot to live out the week.
La Rambla
I will not describe the great hotel accomodations, except that one of our windows overlooked a side street branching off La Rambla, off which we could hear spanish music and watch dancing at all hours of the day and night. The street below us looked like a classic old spanish alleyway, with pots of flowers and clothing lines streaming off the balconies. It was beautiful. Once we decided to go get something to eat, there was a small cafe bar across the street with typical Spanish “tapas,” which Barcelona is so known for. These are small crackers or bread with pieces of seafood, vegetables, olives, etc. mixed together, all marinated and salty. To drink we had a type of punch, which is usually drunk here during the day, like a rose wine. The food in this city is uncommonly fresh and very inexpensive.
As we went out onto La Rambla, the noise rushed at us. It was beautiful, a word I will repeat often. Artists dressed and made up in all types of costumes littered the enourmous street. At every step one could see a tree naiad, or a myriad of fairies, people posing as statues, Houdinis, ninjas, musketeers, 18th century noblemen and women with umbrellas, greek philosophers and playwrights, etc. Along with them, there were tens of little outdoor shops set up. Some with fresh, unwilted, and uncommon flowers; some with birds, and all kinds of tropical parrots; some with ginuia pigs, chinchillas, rabbits, hamsters, etc.; and some with souveniers, calendars, cards, and newspapers. At about 6pm, the artists left and the shops were closed up and taken away. Instead, you could see tables set up for palmreading, with crystal balls and gypsies at every 10 steps, who sat outside the closed up flowershops. Instead of the artists in costume came artists who painted your name with flowery letters, drew your portraits, or sat on the floor and spray-painted far-away galaxies with rainbow colors. Short, dirty men brought out tables and cards, as well as encouraged tourists to play at guessing under which cup the ball was, which they moved so quickly that it was impossible to tell. In a minute’s time one could see a poor tourist losing $50 euros, or dollars, which is a lot of money in Barcelona.
On every side of La Rambla were hotels and food shops and cafes for tourists. The entire street was a tourist attraction, and at no time, not even 4am, would the street be less than as crowded as Times Square in New York City.
A typical day in Barcelona
Every morning, my mother and I would go down to a cafe on La Rambla in search for breakfast. We always had coffee, orange juice, and a croissant with marmalade. The croissants were average, but the coffee was spectacular. It was the most delicious coffee I have ever tasted. And I am not exaggerating. It felt like a cappuccino, but not exactly as frothy, and it wasn’t hot, but just warm enough. The orange juice was freshly squeezed, and the most expensive thing on any menu. As I said earlier, delicious.
After breakfast, we went to the beach. It takes about 40 minutes from our hotel, but since the weather was extremely warm (about 28 celcius) with minimum humidity, it was an enjoyable walk, even if tiring walk. To get to the beach, we passed such unique houses and attractions, as one could never dream of. Many houses are decorated with frescoes and ivy-woven balconies. Restaraunts, museums, and attractions are shaped in strange ways - such as a theater with the roof shaped like a fish, shining golden in the light of the sun. Again, beautiful. On the beach, the sands are soft and small-grained, but the water was still cold in mid-May. It is not a nude beach, to which I would never go with my mother, but the women, no matter the age, did not wear bikini tops.
On the way back from the beach, we stopped by the several market shops, which sold beautiful original jewelry, took pictures of the dancing locals (it was a holiday), and enjoyed a ride over the river to a mountain. We thought it was going to our side of the river (the beach was on the other side), but we turned up at a mountain, from which we tried to hike back to our hotel, it took us two hours. The mountain top was like an old temple. And of course, the view was amazing.
When we came back, it was early afternoon. We went to the famous market (I forget the name), and returned with tiny strawberries which can be found nowhere in America. I believe in Spanish it is fressas. Or something like it. We had the tapas, and took an afternoon nap. Sometimes, after the nap, we would go wander around the Gothic Quarter, or Barrio Gotico, look into local shops, ate Catalonian desserts, and, of course, we got lost plenty of times. These little wanderings took us about 4 hours at a time. Once, instead, we took a tour bus to Montjuic, a small mountain with a village at the heart of it, with examples of over 80 different architectural styles from around the world. Each of these buildings was a shop or restaurant. And of course, ther were examples of Gaudi works. The tour bus also took us to see the most famous Gaudi buildings, the zoo, the museums.
The early evenings, however, were different. Anywhere we went, we would see groups of kids in their early 20s, dirty, dressed in rags, mismatched. This was a typical Barcelonian young person. They laughed and looked like they were constantly having a great time. I hadn’t time to go to any clubs, and it was a bit dangerous, as every street was dark, and many drunk and stoned men strolled around the empty alleyways which were so charming during the daytime. It was also a bit chilly, and a jacket was necessary. We went out to eat, usually seafood, and of course, drank plenty of wine, in the style of the Catalonians. Everything was delicious. We spent the entire week just walking around Barcelona, trying to get to know the culture of this wonderful, lively city.
The End
I believe that you need 2 weeks to really enjoy Barcelona. I regret going with my mother, and not my friends, although I promised to go with them next spring break. When you are in college is probably the best time to visit this city, which seems made for the young. I would definitely recommend going there and at least visiting the clubs, which I hadn’t a chance to do.
Around May is the best time to go to Spain because the weather is warm enough, and at the end of the month, the sea is nice enough to swim in. Later becomes very hot, and earlier is too cold.
