Barcelona

Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Familia

Barcelona is definitely alive and well; a city full of strapping energy and vibrant colors, good eats and sweet pastries, café con leche, street performers, Roman ruins, Gothic cathedrals and churches, and fresh bagets, seafood, and olives so tasteful that dousing your being in their leftover fluids sounds like a plan worthy of pondering and executing.

A city and sea view from inside one of the towers at Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia's ceilings are something like 60 feet tall
Looking up a staircase in the tower as we ascended for what felt like 20 minutes
Spain has fathered amazing artists like Antoni Gaudi, Pablo Picasso, and Joan Miro, and Barcelona was the city that made their creative insights fly high like the local parrots that squawk at bystanders from the palm trees. I couldn’t help but sit in silence, basking in the architecture, sculptures, murals, and mosaics, and feeling an artistic itch that annoyed me to search for a medium to release the over abundance of imaginative influence that engulfed my bag of bones. It’s no wonder that the entire population of Catalonians favors their beloved gifted artistes, especially Antoni Gaudi. Gaudi’s masterpiece, Sagrada Familia, can be seen from almost all view points in the city. He started working on this grotesquely magnificent gothic church in 1883, and it is expected to be completed in 2030. Park Güell is another brilliant gem that Gaudi worked on from 1900 to 1914. In my opinion, this park is a monumental perfection. It’s off the weathered saturated tourist path and it offers magnificent views of the city and the Mediterranean Sea while luring gypsies and musicians who serenade the masses with sweet harmonized sounds that perfectly fit Gaudi’s organic architecture and mosaic overlays. And, there is no admission fee. On the roof of Gaudi's Casa Milà, aka La Pedrera, built 1906-1910
La Pedrera
La Pedrera

Overall, Barcelona is as good as all may have heard or foretold, and it’s not surprising why the Romans conquered this skirt of land almost 1600 years ago. Thank you Travis and Anna for exploring with us. Oh Barcelona, how I love thee, that lively vivid city by the sea, whose salt and wine remind me of glee. Cathedra de Barcelona, aka Cathedral of Santa Eulalia, was completed in 1450. Eulalia is a co-patron saint who was said to be a young virgin who suffered martyrdom during Roman times in Barcelona. The story suggests that she was thrown into a public square stark naked by the Romans and an inexplicable snow fall in mid-spring covered her naturism. The aggravated Romans enclosed her in a barrel with inner protruding knives and blades, and proceeded to roll the barreled virgin down the street. Her body is enshrined in the cathedral’s crypt. That church is eerie
Carrie, Teresa, and Anna; of course Travis and I roll with the most beautiful women
Ms. Carrie, thanks for coming from London to hang out in Barca
Tapas
Bagets, cheese, olives, and fruit; a magnificent meal
Did I mention how good the bagets were? Eating while freezing on Montserrat's mountain peaks
Carrie asked for a quick massage from Teresa, and it looks like it hurt
Of course we drank sangria
At the oldest bar in Barca, absinthe's ~90% alcohol gave Trav and I a new perspective on Tom Petty's greatest hits
Barcelona's labyrinth
Even close friends square up at times; SZA SAD vs. Travis Digital
The bar closed at 3AM, so street beers kept our engines fueled; Me, Trav Digi, Dallas, Mother Teresa, and Satu
The Maritime Museum has this wooden submarine on display
El Raval's finest indian cuisine and strangest mural at Punjab The Mediterranean Sea provides the best sea salt; Tarragona seaside
Gaudi's Casa Batllo, built in 1877, mirrors his love for nature and water therapy
Gaudi's Park Güell, built in 1900-1914, overlooking Barcelona
Me mate Travis and his lovely lady Anna at Park Güell
Park Güell

Park Güell's gypsies and onlookers

This was our last escapade, a night of flamenco at Jazz Si. Jazz Si is a bar where music students play each night. Friday is flamenco night and it was packed to the rafters, filled with two types of smoke, and the Spanish vibe was more than irie, it was Catalonian.