Spanish Parenthesis: 16th to 21st August, 2008

The short Spanish holiday is over, and I loved every minute of it.

Barcelona was a dream. Gaudì’s dream.
Casa Battlò made me want to have a home, a place where I can really feel happy and relaxed. The UkiyoE exposition at Casa Milà made me want to study some Japanese art and literature again. The “Sagrada Familia” made me feel uncomfortable – the tall, slender structure seems to desperately seek for the sky, representing more an obsession than a dream. Like four fingers, try to catch the invisibile, ephemeral essence of the divine.
Then Park Güell – a convoluted, complicated, magnificent fantasy. A place for artists, day dreamers and people who love to wander and think. And La Rambla, wonderful street full of performers, little shops and cafés, where to rest and enjoy the breeze coming from the sea.
Moreover, Mont Jüic: a hill in the city, with great parks, the Olympic facilities and many many museums, including the MNAC where an exhibition of Avantgarde art was being held. Man Ray, Duchamp and Picabia’s art works and movies – Man Ray’s masterpieces in particular made me happy.

Barcelona made me think a lot – I could live in a city like that. And – why not – I could spend some years living in different European countries, like Spain, France and Germany. Instead of a PhD in the US, I could improve and perfect my knowledge of Spanish, French and German while teaching my language in these countries.

I ate great food, too – Tapas above all. Tapas are a sort of small sized appetizers that one can order at the counter or at a table
Usually people order them together and then share food and price: it’s a great way to eat well and have soem good chatting. Needless to say, dinner is around 10.30 / 11 pm around here. Then clubs open around 1.30 am…

On Monday, we left for Valencia.
A brief meeting with Olivier, my French friend, and his juggler companion Martino. Then, on the train around 6 pm. Now, trains in Spain surprised me for their quality: huge, comfy seats, beautiful and clean wagons, a movie played during the trip. Really outstanding, compared to ny train in my country.

Valencia: cute little town that one can visit in a day. It took a while for me to appreciate it after Barcelona but I truly enjoyed the time spent in Valencia. Plaça del Ayuntamiento, Plaça de la Reina, Plaça Redonda and their monuments were all pretty, though not as magnificent as the wonderful houses in Barcelona.

On the last day of our vacation, we went to the beach and sun tanned a bit: it was a bad idea to forget the sun screen and we got burned, but the weather was gorgeous and I liked the sea overall.

Spain is a place where I definitely want to go back, and maybe live for a while: laid back, relaxed and friendly people, nice places, good weather.
Next summer I will try to go to Madrid and maybe Andalusia – everyone that I know speak of Andalusia as a wonderful place to be.

A particular thanks to Marta, that came with me and was there to share this experience

Spanish Parenthesis: August 15th and 16th – Barcelona

Last week was quiet – I had a french friend over, Mael, and it was enjoyable taking him around my beloved Verona. As Antonio mentioned in the last email he sent me, it is always exciting to show a place you know very well to someone new, you get some of their enthusiasm!

Mael left on Friday morning, and in the early afternoon I left with Marta, heading to Orio al Serio airport.
Our Ryanair flight (European low cost company, a sort of SKybus that works) was scheduled at 4.35 pm, but was delayed. We left at 5, got to Barcelona around 6.30 pm.

Now, i am in love with Barcelona.
The city is a big dream, Gaudì’s dream: every palace, every street corner has a magic feeling to it. Some houses are simply unbelievable – like Casa Batllò or La Pedrera (I will post pics as soon as I am back home, I forgot the cable to download them on my Mac >_> ), some others are “just” beautiful, very beautiful. Even street lights in Passeig de Graciàs were designed by Gaudì – and they are gorgeous.

What a genius, this Gaudì. The shape, the colors, the architecture of his works gives me a great vibe. It feels so… cozy. It makes me wanna live there.
I bought plenty of souvenirs, postcards and even some Tshirts and magnets, things I usually don’t buy – everything is so pretty.

Last night we pretty much stayed in the area around our hostel (great place! Plenty of young nice people, clean and cheap) and ate at a nice Mexican restaurant.

Today, we woke up kinda early, jumped on the subway and headed to Passeig de Gracià, a wonderful street full of marvelous buildings. We visited Casa Battlò, probably the most beautiful house I have ever seen – i fell in love so hard with it… -, Casa Milà or La Pedrera, where we could see a Ukiyo-e exposition and then walked along the street, just enjoying the breeze and the amazing weather.
We turned right on Avinguda Diagonal that took us to the great Sagrada Familia church; wonderful view, topped only by the wondrous Park Güel. No words can describe the park.

If you have money to spend, go to Barcelona and spend the day at Park Güel: it is breathtaking, every inch of it. Marta and I met Sebastian, a Colombian guy that was selling handmade bracelets and necklaces: we bought some items and chatted with him – great person.

After the park, we took the subway to see the Arena de Toros, where the Corrida de Toros is held. Then we ate some good Tapas and went home – had a shower and went donstairs to relax a bit in the pleasant hostel atmosphere.

If I hadn’t received the BAD news that the girl supposedly moving in with me decided she has friends to take care of and help financially by standing me up and going to live with them, this would be Heaven on Earth.
I guess it’s just a great city on Earth. So far, I could easily live here and be happy – Barcelona is a particular blend of many aspects that I like in different countries – pretty unique.

More soon – and pics!