A Zip Through Barcelona
What to do with 2 days in barcelona
You know how you can tell some of the world’s most exclusive designers just by looking at their goods? They have trademarks or a “look” that just screams their name. Think - red bottom shoes or houndstooth and pearls throw in a little rock stud and you have Louboutin, Channel and Valentino. If you have multiple walls worth of the same painting - it’s Monet. I’m over simplifying but sometimes you look at something & you know who created it - or at least who influenced it. I don’t know if I’ve ever been to a city who has an architect. A city where the style is a representation of the thoughts and actions of a single person - but that is the city of Barcelona and the architect of it is Antonio Gaudi.
From the little I know of this historical architectural design genius, the more I like him. He would probably be on my list of people dead or alive to have dinner with. He starts things & doesn’t finish them. He has an incredible vision for what something can be…but then the details don’t work out. Or do they? Maybe the original plan doesn’t work out, but the end result is something more magnificent than what the original was intended to be. What a gift to the universe that is. It seems like he was a bit of a mad scientist in the best possible way & aren’t all innovators? I wonder what he could have done in today’s world with the technology that exists? A girl can wonder, but let’s see some of what he’s done.
Let’s take Park Güell for example. It’s perhaps the biggest failure of Barcelona, Spain. Gaudi was hired to develop a luxury private housing estate removed from the city. It was intended to be a “mini-garden” city with leisure areas, decorative structures, starting with 60 designated plots & more advanced technological amenities intended to drive appeal. But no one saw the appeal. Or bought land. Only 2 houses were ever built. But the park is magnificent & perhaps one of the most fantastical parks on earth (aside from the Mouse’s House, of course).
There is no straight line between this real estate failure and the Park’s future success. There are also no straight lines in nature which is why you won’t find any sharp edges or straight lines in Park Güell. Gaudí, being the genius he was used the topography of the land to enhance the nature around him when designing. Columns shaped like hurricanes, benches slithering like a serpent, an entrance mimicking the gates of heaven & a porter’s lodge resembling something out of a Hansel & Gretel book.
Trendacís is the technique that makes everything look so fantastical in the Park & around the city. The method is similar to Mosaic, and is said to have been founded by Gaudí after losing his patience with the time intensive process associated with Mosaic. Story goes, while attending a Mosaic workshop to learn the craft, he smashed a flower pot & started placing the broken pieces by the handful because otherwise “we’ll never finish.” ...ummmmm speaking of never finishing…let’s talk about the Sagrada Familia! That thing still isn’t done >100 years later!!! But before we do that, put Park Güell on your list of things to see while in Barcelona & definitely get a guide to tell you the stories of the Park. You’d miss so much if not. We bought tickets in advance from the official page here. Our guide was wonderful and we were in a relatively small group. After traveling quite a bit since then, I likely would have found a private guide - but the option we used was still wonderful!
Basilica de la Sagrada Familia - an unfinished masterpiece of Antoni Gaudí. Design began in 1882 and execution is expected to finally reach completion in 2026 (although some predict it could be as late as 2040) taking at least 144 years to complete. 2026 is also the cenetary of Gaudi’s death & it’s believed he completed only ~20% complete when he passed.
Like Park Güell, the design is inspired by nature. It’s said that Gaudi believed no unnaturally occurring structure should be built higher than what God has built. This is why (when complete) Sagrada Família will be a mere 3ft shorter than the highest hill in Barcelona.
When taking a tour, I’d suggest more time studying the outside design, which tells many stories on all sides in intricate detail. The inside is gorgeous, but looking at the exterior really helped me to get a slight appreciation for the eternal construction of this masterpiece. You have to buy tickets to go inside, which is definitely worth it. We didn’t do a tour here, but I wish I would have. I had so many questions about the design once I saw it up close.
Here’s a little comparison of Bascilica de la Sagrada Família to the Great Pyramid. Why, you ask? For perspective it took (is taking) >7x longer to finish Sagrada Família than it took to build The Great Pyramid of Egypt which only took 20 years. And by the way, The Pyramid preceded construction of the Bascilica by almost 4500 years. I’ve stood next to both the Basilica & Great Pyramid & it is completely unfathomable to understand how the pyramid was built (especially almost 5000 years ago)…and also really hard to understand how La Sagrada Família can be considered unfinished. Can’t we just put a time cap on this and call it a day? I guess that’s not for me to decide.
WHERE TO STAY: We stayed almost right next to Sagrada Família, which was great because we were only there for 2 nights. I don’t know that I’d recommend staying in Barcelona much longer than that. In 2 days we saw everything we wanted to see with the exception of making it to a FCB game (there weren’t any home games while we were there). The other area I considered was Gothic Quarter, but the Air BnB I preferred for our crew was near SF.
WHAT TO EAT: We liked but didn’t love the food of Barcelona. Paella was everywhere which was great to have once, but not something I’d want to eat everyday. I’d have to say our Barcelona cult favorite was Patatas Bravas which you can find in almost any tapas restaurant (they’re all tapas restaurants btw :). Who doesn’t love a well spiced, fried to perfection potato?! And my favorite drink to try at every meal was Sangria, of course! The best Patatas Bravas and Sangria I had happened to be at the same place. A little restaurant on La Rambla called Taller de Tapas. It was probably my favorite meal of the city (besides Cookona if you can consider cookie dough a meal…obviously it is) & where Santi discovered his love of calamari.
WHAT (else) TO SEE:
Casa Batllo - for my favorite Gaudi building in the city (especially at night)
Barcelona Cathedral - insanely gorgeous architecture (I preferred it over SF) with fun street vendors outside
La Pedrera - for more Gaudi architecture near Casa Batllo
Mercat del Ninot - to browse a local market
Montjuic - for best views of the city
La Rambla - for Taller de Tapas & touristy things
Playa de la Barcelona - for the beach. FYI - it’s topless. That was fun explaining to your 6 year old!
FCB Game - if they’re in town…do it!
We saw all of this plus much more by using the Barcelona Hop On Hop Off Bus. We also got on and off for the entire day & strolled around the city which was a perfect way to explore!
Enjoy!