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Barcelona - another country within Spain
Entry 17 of 97 | show all | print this entry |
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We were actually starting to become rather tired of Spain, when we got to this city, but it rekindled our appreciation for this country. We could say that if you have to visit one city in Spain, it would have to be this one, but then again, Barcelona is quite atypical of Spanish cities, in language, culture, architecture, food and overall feel of the city. Since this is the last entry in Spain, it's probably a good idea to give an overall impression which we've got of the country. Spain is a ver y varied country, with probably hundreds of sites worth visiting, with spectacular mountain scenery, interesting history and culture and lively vivacious people infused with what the French call joie de vivre. It's certainly worth visiting, but of course like any other place in the world, it has its drawbacks. Its mainly mountainous rugged terrain has created a series of local cultures so different from one another that the locals call the country "the Spains", which is marvelous for a tourist, unfortunately the very same terrain has also made Spanish society quite closed to the outside world, and we have not found Spanish people to be particularly knowledgeable nor even care much about the outside world. One guy which Virginia spoke to, which gave himself airs of education and who had even been to Toronto to visit family asked us whether Canada's summer is when it's winter in Spain...
There's more than the environment which made the Spanish somewhat closed to the outside world. Those two majestic figures, the catholic kings Ferdinand and Isabella which founded Spain through their marriage, represented Aragon [of which Barcelona is the main city], and Castille [which is the center of Spain, dominated by Toledo and Madrid]. The dominant partner proved to be Castille, and the language which people nowadays know as Spanish is actually Castillian [and is still referred to as such here]. Castille thus exported its language and culture across the rest of the Spains, which is not necessarily a good thing, since Castille is a land of cattle and sheep-herdsmen, isolated in the centre of Spain. This could account for the insular attitude as well as for the cuisine, which for a land that prides itself on its joie de vivre, is frankly, atrocious. The food in Spain is neither healthy, nor particularly refined, and it gravitates around a variety of cured meat specialties, though vegetables are easily available and the climate could permit growing almost anything. Surely this must be attributed to the Castillian dominance, and their insular worldview, since the refined cuisines of its French and Italian neighbors owe much to those two nations actively trading and contacting the rest of the world. The Castillian "Spain is the center of the world" attitude which we've heard of and experienced across Spain, can also be observed in the fact that it is even very difficult to find restaurants of Spain's Latin American colonies.
Barcelona however is not Castillian, it is Catalan, and its openness to the world is immediately visible. The city's flair is reminiscent of France or Italy, and its people are the most cosmopolitan we've seen yet in Spain. The city has quickly become one of our favourites in all of Europe, not least because of its architectural wealth. Barcelona started out more than two millenia ago as a Carthaginian city named after Hannibal's Barca family, and then was a Roman town [there's still Roman ruins around]. Ths most charming part of the city is its Barri Gothic- a medieval neighborhood reminiscent of old towns we've seen in France though quite a bit darker, with a majestic Gothic cathedral partly open to the outside. Right next to it is the Ciutat Vella - a 16th to 18th century area, with beautiful Spanish looking traditional buildings. In between them runs one of the world's famous avenues- Las Ramblas, where throngs of people walk around a mostly pedestrian street, and where living statues, performers, artists, shops and cafes combine to create an atmosphere which is hard to peel yourself away from. Most of the rest of the core of the city actually dates from the 19th century to the early 20th and it reminded us a lot of the grand planned avenues in Paris, though they have their own style because of Barcelona's own style of the Art Nouveau artistic style called Modernisme. The central figure of the style is the architect Antoni Gaudi - a genius who created a series of buildings and parks across the city, most with a light organic feel about them, though some are very dark. His most famous creation is the Sagrada Familia cathedral, which has been under construction since 1882, and won't be finished for at least another decade. But that's not all Barcelona has to offer - in 1992 it was an Olympic city and partly as a result, its beachfront [yes it has awesome beaches too], is lined with original modern buildings and monuments. Virginia was in heaven! We could have easily spent another week in this city, but we have a flight booked to Rome tomorrow and we had to save our energy.
Our stay here has been enjoyable, despite spending the first three nights in a room that felt like a closet and where breathing oxygen actually became a concern. For the last two nights, we found it quite hard to find reasonably priced rooms, but eventually, after a minor adventure going from one hostel to another, we finally moved to a hostel right in the heart of things. It's not the Ritz, but there are no cockroaches either [that's the Ginny bottom standard!] and the location is terrific. It will do for the next while, as we try to recuperate and prepare ourselves for the next marathon which is going to be Rome. More thumbnails ...
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