Adventures in Spain: Day 0
So J and I got to go to Spain and we had an absolutely amazing time. I am going to break down our trip into several parts. Part 1 here is gonna talk about our first few days in Barcelona!
Day 0:
Hello Barcelona! It is December 28th and we land in Barcelona at 0800 local time! our first objective was to find our hotel and drop our bags and secure coffee! Cause today is operation fight jet lag! We tried both Ripa Coffee - Eixample (which to my surprise had drip coffee) and CAUA CACAO ROASTERS which had a very good mocha latte! We then started to wander about the city and our first stop was Arc de Triomf and to wander about Passeig de Lluís Companys.
This is were we learned about pigeons, parrots, and sparrows. Thats right you heard me. parrots. Specifically monk parakeets in this pic. Apparently there are 7 different types of invasive parrots that are in barcelona after they escaped or were let loose by some pet owner. The parrots go after the eggs of native species and have greatly reduced many of the native bird populations in spain.
After sitting a people watching a bit we made our way to Ciutadella Park. We saw El Mamut de la Ciutadella, an impressive life-sized sculpture of a mammoth. In the picture below we have J for scale! We also saw the famous Cascada monumental. Antoni Gaudí was a student of Josep Fontserè in the 1870's when he was working on the water tank and hydraulics systems for this epic fountain! [ 0 ]
Now Cascada monumental is the first in a long list of places in Barcellona that we are gonna visit and mention the name every one in the city of Barcelona knows Antoni Gaudí. So who is he?
Antoni Gaudí [25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926] was a Catalan architect and designer, who is known as the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernism[ 1 ]. Gaudí's works are mostly located in Barcelona, including the work he is most know for the Sagrada Família church. Gaudí's work was influenced by his passions in life especially religion and nature. His work combined many different materials and craftsman such as mosaics, ceramics, stained glass, ironwork forging, and carpentry. He even introduced new techniques in the treatment of materials, such as trencadís which used waste ceramic pieces.[ 2 ]
We swung by Cerveseria Vaso de Oro for a traditional spanish tapas experience and our taste buds were delighted! Then we continued on exploring the city till we got to Plaza Real, where we realized we were under caffeinated when we nearly fell asleep on the benches! So we scurried off to defeat the jet lag went to fix the issue. We got to have chai lattes at Coto and I 100% recommend this coffee shop if you are anywhere in the neighbor hood!.
Our first official tickets of the trip were at 1 pm entry time to Palau Güell. Palau Güell is a mansion designed by the architect Antoni Gaudí for the industrial tycoon Eusebi Güell, and was built between 1886 and 1888. It is situated on the Carrer Nou de la Rambla, in the El Raval neighborhood of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. [ 3 ]
This house was absolutely amazing! Definitely pre buy the tickets to ensure you can visit! There are so many cool facts about the building but one that stood out was that Gaudi designed the entry way “tile” floor and ramp out of wood to act as a natural noise dampener for when the horses came in and out of the house. It was nifty!
Our next stop was Barcelona Cathedral, AkA The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia. The cathedral was constructed from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. Each of the 215 keystones in the roof of the Barcelona Cathedral were so detailed and some weighed up to 5 tons. My favorite thing that I learned was the for some of the keystones it took upwards of 45 sailors from the local port to put into place and a commemorative banquet was held each time one was secured. The Barcelona Cathedral was breathtaking, however, I only have a few photos of it cause... Jetlag.... J and I nearly fell asleep on the prayer benches. The peace in this church was amazing and one day I hope to visit again and get to see the garden. But with our eyes barely staying open we made our way to the hotel!
[ 0 ] Nast. (n.d.). Reviewed by Gemma Askham. Condé Nast Traveler. https://www.cntraveler.com/activities/barcelona/cascada-monumental
[ 1 ] Gaudí’s most emblematic modernist route in Barcelona: Bo. Barcelona Obertura. (2023, January 30). https://www.barcelonaobertura.com/2023/01/gaudi-emblematic-modernist-route-in-barcelona/
[ 2 ] Gaudí. Artgaudí. (n.d.). https://artgaudi.com/gb/content/6-gaudi
[ 3 ] Palau güell. The Palau Güell, an early building of Antoni Gaudí in Barcelona. (n.d.). https://www.barcelona.de/en/barcelona-palau-guell.html
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