Barcelona: Olympic Park & Castle de Montjuic

My last day in Barcelona,  I decided to go to Olympic Park which is to the south of the city (still within walking distance) but not really IN the city. I was ready to get out of the city, so I started by walking along the beach (did you know Barcelona's beaches are fake? They were made for the Olympics -1992 Summer Games- and the sand is imported from Egypt)-

The hike up to Olympic Park is crazy steep but the views were worth it-

About half way up

And all the way at the top-

Totally worth the hike, although once I got to the top I realized there was a metro station that takes you right there!! I'm glad I walked though it was really pretty. There was also a hotel at the top and it had amazing gardens-

Can you imagine watching a soccer game and having this view?!-

How amazing would that be?

After checking out the amazing views, I hoped on a train to head to the Castle de Montijuic. It was built in like 1640, and had more amazing views-

One of the downsides of traveling alone, I would have felt pathetic eating at this restaurant alone but if I had someone I totally would have!

And there was a huge Catalina flag-

The Catalonian flag is supposed to be one of the oldest in the world. The four red stripes are to represent the bloody fingerprints of a warrior wiping his hand off on his shield.

which I was told Barcalonian residents are extremely proud off. There is actually a movement to create Catalonia as a country separate from Spain, and in Barcelona residents speak Catalonian, not Spanish. I'm not entirely sure how different the 2 languages are, it all sounded like Spanish to me!

Lastly I went walked around the Joan Miro Museum which was another shrine to modern art. Pretty sure you know how I felt about that :)

And then I headed back to my hostel for some laundry before i headed to Madrid!

Barcelona: more Gaudi architecture

Since Gaudi is pretty much THE Barcelona architect his buildings are EVERYWHERE. They definitely have a distinct style, you can point them out and be pretty sure it's a Gaudi. I had never heard of Gaudi before going to Barcelona but I certainly heard about his while I was there (I went on a Gaudi walking tour). Basically, what I took from it was he was an architect with a super distinct style -obviously- and he lucked out when he met Eusbui Gruell who really liked his style and happened to be super rich as well. Gruell was such a huge fan he gave Gaudi free reign and enough money to basically do whatever he wanted (like create Gruell Park). Without Gruell, Gaudi may never have gotten off the ground, which leads me to this plee:

are you rich? do you want to create works of art you don't have to design yourself? Contact me, I am willing to help you create :)

ANYWAY. There is tons more Gaudi architecture thruout Barcelona, like this apartment building that was like a block away from my hostel-

And this house that was also right down the street-

The super bad thing is that since Gaudi worked for private individuals, all his buildings are still held by private individuals which means all the buildings/ museums about him and his work are ridiculously expensive. Because of that I never went into one of his buildings, which kinda sucks, I would have liked to but ultimately I could not force myself to spend the $25+ for ONE thing. 

And, of course, the Sagrada Familia Temple...which was Gaudi's final project... it was only 25% complete when he died in 1925 and it's still not complete today. Initially private donors put up the money for it, but now it's the construction is financed by ticket sales, which means tickets are around $25...which means I did NOT go inside. 

It's cool, but not my cup of tea. I thought it looked like a giant, melting candle. I took this picture from google, which I think gives a better overall look of the building-

It's pretty crazy looking.... I will have to go back to Barcelona in 2028- when construction is supposed to be completed! Only 100+ years of construction...not too bad.

Also while walking around I saw this cute NON-Gaudi building and I could not resist-

Why is the owl on top of the building? I don't know but I think it's adorable!

And, all the street are painted with this-

Which I am pretty sure means if you step out into traffic you will die-and I believe it the drivers there are not messing around, the traffic is terrifying. 

Barcelona: Hospital de Sant Pau, Arc de Triumph

When talking to other people traveling in Barcelona everyone kept mentioning "the hospital" as in "Yes, I have been to the hospital," or "No, I haven't but I NEED to go." Since I had done exactly zero research about things to do in Barcelona before I went I was totally confused about what what going on. I just smiled and nodded because I thought maybe everyone was sick or something?... and I didn't want to be rude! 

However, a closer inspection of my map assured me that I was (in fact) crazy the hospital everyone was talking about was The Hospital de Sant Pau,  tourist site- but actually it was a working hospital up to 2009 (now part of it is an art school).

Not too shabby, right?

Basically if I had to be sick in a hospital, this would be my hospital of choice. :) It was founded in 1401, but underwent major renovations around 1900 which is why it's so art deco.

Certainly worth seeing, I thought. Added bonus I got to casually say "yes, I went to the hospital today" and it was a GOOD thing, which I feel like may never ever in my life happen again :)

From there I walked to the Arc de Triumph (Barcelona style, which I thought was cooler then the Paris one actually)-

Then I walked along the main street back to my hostel-

And saw this... maybe the highlight of my day (remember I don't like modern art)-

And called it a very sucessful day!

Barcelona: walking tour

Barcelonas Main Square

I had opted to take an overnight train ("train hotel") from Paris to Barcelona for about €100, which was absolutely the right choice. It was so easy: I got on the train in Paris, my bed was pulled out for me (I shared a room with 3 other women) and I had a great nights sleep, and arrived in Barcelona at 8am. It was so easy!

After arriving in Barcelona, I opted to go on a walking tour to get a feel for the city and to kill some time since I couldn't check into my room till 12. The tour was really interesting- did you know the Eiffel tour was originally designed for Barcelona, but the city counsel though it was too ugly and turned it down? I can't picture it, personally.

But who knows.

We walked thru a super cute market thing-

Barcelona: Gruell Park

Modern art is absolutely Barcelona's "thing" which was not super thrilling for me since I have no appreciation for modern art- actually I have like negative appreciation for modern art... Let's just say there has never been a piece of modern art that I have seen that I have actually liked. :)

Still, as my super smart Uncle Brian always says "when in Rome..." So since my Uncle Brian is never wrong about anything, ever, I decide to really try to dig down deep and appreciate modern art, especially since I was seeing arguably some of the best in the world. I was told that it would be like something out of Dr. Seus, and I love Dr. Seus, so I was thinking that maybe that would play in my favor.

Gruell Park was designed by Gaudi (who I had never heard of before) but is apparently ridiculously popular. By the way it's pronounced like gaudy, which I don't think is a coincidence. 

Going to the park is quite the hike- they actually have escalators it is so steep! But the view is quite nice-

This terrace is probably the most famous part of the park-

Along with this lizard fountain thing-

But I thought these weird seating things were, well, weird-

Along with these cavern things-

Along with these paths and the art-

And so were the houses (actually, okay I will admit it, I quite like the first white one)-

I dug deep but I really don't think I came to appreciate it. It reminded me of something out of the Flinstones. Apparently when the wife of the guy who actually paid for this saw it she also did not appreciate it and was actually pretty pissed. I don't blame her- my reaction probably would have been similar!!