This Catalonian metropolis is a colorful mix of extravagant architecture, vibrant street life, and museums and galleries full of artwork from prominent Spanish artists. The soccer team FC Barcelona or simply “Barca” has a cult following, especially after Spain won the World Cup.
Barcelona - An Eagle's Eye View from Tibidabo (Credit: Uzair Siddiqui)
La Rambla
The street life of Barcelona can be seen best on La Rambla – the street that leads down from the busy Plaza Catalunya to the seashore. The boulevard, which has a wide central walking area comes to life in the evening when performers and local artists vie for attention. Over the course of an hour we came across artists dressed as a flowerpot, a large fly and the most ingenious as an ingredient on a large plate of paella (a Spanish rice dish). There was also a fabulous juggler whose silken movements were amazing, and a spray can paint artist who created an ethereal world on paper in under 15 minutes.
The Paella Man
The Spray Can Artist
The atmosphere on La Rambla cannot be described – it can only be experienced. The boulevard is crowded with kiosks selling newspapers, flowers, sweets, ice cream and curios. Amidst all this were young men from Punjab selling scarves sourced from Delhi’s Sarojini Nagar market, and fluorescent helicopters that could be launched from rubber bands – much like the scene at India Gate. La Rambla is one big carnival every evening.
With its 435 pedestrian malls, Barcelona is a walking city where you can stroll its wide parks, where locals come to sit with friends, chat or read a book. Barcelona is also home to Spain’s four biggest names in art – Gaudi, Dali, Picasso and Miro – all eccentric yet brilliant in their own right. While Gaudi’s stamp on this city is omnipresent in the form of his bold architecture of La Sangrada Familia, Park Guell, and various housing projects, Barcelona also houses fantastic galleries featuring the works of Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso, in whose museum you will see not only his famous cubist pieces, but also some of his early works.
Barcelona hosted the 1992 Olympics and the Parc de Montjuic revives that memory. Besides the Olympic stadium, this area also hosts a museum that features the history and trophies of FC Barcelona – a feat for soccer fans. Tickets come at a premium for Barca games, but a casual tourist can always join victory celebrations at the fountain at La Rambla.
Barcelona is also a good place for shopping – either real or the window type. Almost every city district has fashionable as well as small traditional shops, but these are most prominent along La Rambla and in the Gothic district. For artwork, there is the centre of the Spanish village, Poble Espanyol, on the Montjuic Hill. You can soak in the atmosphere of a busy street that has been around for a thousand years on the European shopping street Sants and Creu Cobarta. There are over 350 shops as also restaurants and bars.
Inside the Gothic Cathedral (Credit: Uzair Siddiqui)
After a day full of walking and soaking in the sights and sounds of Barcelona, many a tourist can be spotted lazing over a carafe of sangria, a wine punch typical of Portugal, but quite popular in Spain as well.
America's death zones hits map of the United States takes into account all of the gun related deaths since the Sandy Hook school shooting. You’ll likely notice about death zones hits that there is one common denominator. The majority of the violence has occurred in major metropolitan areas, with some incidents spreading into outlying ex-urban and rural areas. As of this writing 2,244 people have been killed since December of 2012 where death zones hits on america.
Lovely post.
ReplyDeleteI´m your follower since now.
Kisses from Madrid, Spain!!
Why is there a Columbus Day protest there? I understand such protests in the Americas, but I'd have expected Columbus to be a hero in Spain.
ReplyDeleteAmerica's death zones hits map of the United States takes into account all of the gun related deaths since the Sandy Hook school shooting. You’ll likely notice about death zones hits that there is one common denominator. The majority of the violence has occurred in major metropolitan areas, with some incidents spreading into outlying ex-urban and rural areas. As of this writing 2,244 people have been killed since December of 2012 where death zones hits on america.
ReplyDelete