The Point: Hola, Barcelona!

Last week was a three day trip to Barcelona Spain. After racking my brain to finish 2 midterm essays, we took the 3AM bus to catch a flight to Barcelona. This has been the first visit to a country other than Ireland, as well as my my first visit to a non-English speaking country in Europe. I think you find yourself in a country like this. Things are different there and I loved it for that. I got a good (though short) glimpse of Spanish lifestyle. However, I am told Barcelona is not a representation of all Spain (this area of the country is know as Catalonia. Many speak Catalan as well as Espanol and identify differently than the rest of Spain). Regardless, I loved the glimpse of Spanish culture I got.

People take things easy here. Cars and trucks have no problem letting pedestrians cross the street. You can easily approach someone on the street to ask a question and they patiently wait through your broken Spanish. The biggest example of this is eating out. Go to a restaurant and you should expect what we would call "bad service" in the states. I thought it was a breath of fresh air though. It takes a while to get a server, order and eventually get food or drink. However, this allows you to socialize and generally enjoy your meal rather than feel rushed. Relaxing atmosphere and delicious food. Aside from food, my favorite part of Barcelona culture was the use of public space. Everywhere there are arty public benches, parks, playgrounds and sculptures. People flock to these areas. They are all clean and utilized well (the city and Beach were surprisingly clean for such a big city). Makes you feel connected to the city and the other people there.

The architecture was another aspect I loved. We saw all the Gaudi stuff, though we never payed to go inside any of them. There is this huge park overlooking the city called Park Guell that was utterly beautiful. The city architecture gives you a very open feel. Balconies on all the windows, tall buildings and interesting, maze like, ally ways.

I could probably write way more on my visit, but Ill let the pictures speak for me. Though I should mention we loved it so much we thought maybe we should miss our buss/flight to Ireland, be forced to spend an extra day in the nearby city of Girona and then spend the night in the Dublin airport. So we did. It was weird.