We are writing this post from our gorgeous Riad in
Marrakech, Morocco. We have not been this relaxed in a long time, sitting here
sipping on mint tea, looking out over the indoor plunge pool surrounded by
indoor trees, and typical Moroccan architecture – this is the life!
Before starting this post we took a little time out to
reflect on our previous posts, as this blog was always meant for us, something
like a travel diary. It was almost overwhelming to think about how many places
we have been and amazing things we have seen in just a little over 3 months.
Sometimes it feels like a dream, but then you realise how tired you are and
become fairly confident that that you’re not sleeping enough to be dreaming
this. It’s good to reflect back on how our writing style has evolved, how our
photos have changed and even how our approach to travel has developed.
After a pretty average bus ride from Marseille to Barcelona
with about 2 hours of sleep under our belts we arrived at 6:10am, and promptly
walked half way across Barcelona (no kidding) to get to our hostel. Obviously
we couldn’t check in, so we dumped our bags and headed out into the big city.
Some of you may know that Spain pretty much doesn’t work in the morning, so
nothing even started to open until 9am, so we found ourselves wandering the
empty city in desperate need of coffee. Eventually we stumbled upon an open
Maccas at about 9:30, we ordered a caffeine filled drink and sat. Amy fell
asleep and was awoken by one of the maccas staff with a very judging look on
her face telling her to get her feet off the chair, we are confident she
thought we were homeless but we didn’t care and promptly fell back to sleep. We
knew there was a walking tour on at 11:00am so we just had to keep it together
until that was finished and we could check in and sleep!
We found another Sandemans tour to initiate us to Barcelona
and hopefully get some tips for our days ahead. We discovered that Barcelona is
in Catalonia and they are very much pushing for independence from Spain. They don’t
really identify as Spanish but Catalonian and have their own language and
culture – you may notice our spelling of Gracies in the post title. So don’t go
to Barcelona hoping to brush up on your Spanish. As you walk around you see the
Catalonian (never the Spanish) flag flying proudly off balconies and out of
windows. There are several different Catalonian flags which indicate where they
sit politically – it’s certainly different to see how open people are with
their political leanings.
We returned to our hostel and enjoyed sleep! Spain works on their
own time schedule here, which means people eat dinner at 10 – 12pm, and then
they hit the jazz bars at around 11-1:30 and then clubs don’t even open until 1
or 2am. This is why the siesta is so important. Waking from slumber we headed
out in search of tapas and sangria at 9:30, and had our first delicious taste
of Spain.
Needless to say we didn’t set our alarms and then awoke at
12:00 the next afternoon and thought given that half the day is gone we had
better get going. We had seen some really gorgeous places in the Gothic quarter
in our tour the day before so we wanted to come back to stroll this gorgeous
streets. We stopped along the way for some tapas and paella. We made our way
around some of the main points of interest we had seen on the walking tour,
this time with coherence and awareness of what we were looking at. The main cathedral
in Barcelona in the main square, it’s a beautiful gothic style cathedral and
with the Catalonians being very
Catholic there was a queue to get in.
In the Christmas markets we saw plenty of
Cagners being sold, these are little plastic statues of a man taking a poo. Yes
these little pooping men are a Catalan Christmas tradition that every home has
as a part of their nativity. They are meant to symbolise the normal part of
life that everyone regardless of stature is subject to. As the song goes
“Everybody poops”. The Christmas markets in Barcelona were not of the variety
of which we are accustomed, decorations only! No wine, no food, no fun. We left
promptly.
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| The children hit the log with sticks and sing a traditional Christmas song, the tree in return, poops out candy. Bizzare. |
Around from the main square is Esglesia de St Felip Neri.This
secluded hidden gem is a beautiful courtyard of a church with a fountain and a
kindergarten. At times it is completely empty and silent, a sanctuary of the
bustle around outside. Then the school bell rings and screaming, running
children burst from the doors of the kindergarten to waiting parents filling
the courtyard with raucous noise. A stark contrast and both are enjoyable to be
in.
We had booked onto a Spanish cooking experience that night,
and so we met at the travellers bar to find 2 other Aussies and 2 American
girls who would join us and our Argentinian chef Fernando. Our first stop was
to go to the La Boqueria markets to pick up the fresh ingredients for our
paella and tapas. Along the way we picked up some delicious fresh strawberry
and pineapple juice – fresh juices are very popular here. This was not a
cooking class, but rather you watch him make the food, and you just get to sit
drink limitless sangria, eat and make new friends – take it from us this is how
life should be done!
The tapas alone was divine, in true Catalonian tradition we
started with fresh bread then got half a tomato and rubbed it on the bread till
it was nice and tomatoey, then added a few drips of olive oil (you can of
course add some garlic), this is called pan con tomate. Then add a little cheese, top it with your choice of Spanish meat, chorizo, aged jambon
(ham) or Spanish salami and top it with an olive – delish. The other very
popular tapas include a small slice of Spanish omelette, little green peppers
which are pan fried and sprinkled with salt – this is like a game of Russian
roulette because 9 in 10 are not spicy but that 1 in 10 can be super-hot.
Finally, the delicious potato bravas which are fried potatoes with a garlic and
paprika mayonnaise. After all this it was time to watch the seafood paella
being made with fresh prawns, calamari, clams and mussels. Then it was time for
more sangria, but this time we were making it – great idea to let the Aussies
and Americans loose behind the bar.
Our cooking experience started at 6pm and at 11:30 we were
leaving and heading to the next bar for cocktails and free Sambuca shots, 2 am
rolled up and we headed to Razmataz the biggest and apparently best club in
Barcelona there was meant to be 3 floors but we could only find one. I think
only the Barcelonans know how to find the other 2.
The next day we headed for the Sagrada Familia, probably Barcelona’s
most known attraction, and for a lot of people it is the reason they come. It
was designed by Antonio Gaudi an extremely famous Catalonian architect with a
very unique style. The outside was covered in scaffolding as the Basilica is
still being completed (due to finish in 2026ish), given it was low season there
was even more scaffolding than usual. But from what we could see the outside
was unique with intricate and distinctive sculpturing. From the moment you walk
inside it is like being transported to another world, another time, and another
place. We doubt there will ever be anything quite like it.
Gaudi wanted the
light to be in perfect balance, not too little and not too much, and the
balance he has created is perfect. The stained glass is not the traditional
pictures but closer to a modern art mosaic of bright colours. As you follow the
internal columns up you see them branch out and then burst into flower like
shapes on the ceiling. Gaudi wanted people to feel as though they are in a
forest and he achieves this overwhelmingly.
Our pictures in no way capture the effect this place has and the way the
light through the vibrant stained glass windows play amongst the trees and
flowers of this forest. Gaudi is known for being inspired by nature and this is
probably most evident in his work with the Basilica.
Gaudi is everywhere in Barcelona and he clearly is THE
tourist drawcard and this city knows it and charges for it. Gaudi has a number
of unique works throughout Barcelona, even the pavement along La Ramblas is his
work and it is beautiful. We decided based upon the entry cost (~50 each
building) not to do the others, after all we had already seen his greatest work
in the Sagrada Familia.
We ate our first churros in Spain, one which was covered in
dark chocolate and the other which was filled with caramel, it is possible to
fall in love with caramel filled churros.
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| Some of the facade fron the newer side of the Sagrada Familia. |
After a siesta we were ready to head out to dinner, and to
the Harlem jazz club. Live music is pretty big here and it’s just a regular
night to head out to hear something, and it is all pretty laid back. We arrived
a bit past 11 to some live jazz and funk.
Determined to have an earlier start we were out the door at
10am – this is technically an early start as most places open around this time
anyway. Then we headed to the opera house Gran Teatre del Liceu which is meant
to be fabulous. You can’t even enter the foyer without being on a tour, which
all need to be paid for. Crazy, even the brand new super structure opera house
in Oslo has a free tour. You can go inside the Sydney opera foyer at least for
free. So we didn’t go, there are other attractions bigger and better.
After a small insight at our paella experience into the
massive La Boqueria markets we decided to head back and take a stroll to look
at the local produce. These markets are nothing short of incredible and are the
best fresh food markets we have seen so far on our travels. Fresh tropical
fruit and juices are everywhere, kiwi and orange juice is a standout. We soon
lost track of time, and were in serious envy of anyone with a kitchen. We
grabbed some fresh strawberries, pineapple and lychees and headed to Park Guell
another one of Gaudis signature creations – we had heard this one was free.
After a metro ride and a long walk we arrived at Park Guell.
Built on the Barcelonan hills it was originally to be a housing estate for the
wealthy. The housing estate did not take off but the park today is now open to
tourists to see Gaudis outdoor work with mosaics and architecture… for a hefty
fee of course. Yes the too good to be true rumours for indeed false, the park
is free but the beautiful architecture pieces by Gaudi are ticket only.
We decided to walk around rather than through and to be
honest we got 80% of the experience for free. Not being massive architecture
fans we were happy to admire the work from a distance as we’d seen it all up
close on the postcards that you can get everywhere in Barcelona. We sat on the
edge of the park, legs dangling into the ‘paid area’, and ate our fruit from
the markets and took in the view over Barcelona to the sparkling Mediterranean.
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| Not in Park Guell but another of Gaudis famous buildings on Las Ramblas |
It was essential to us that we saw some Flamenco dancing
whilst in Spain, so for our final evening we headed to a Flamenco bar – filled
with tourists of course. The dancing was incredible and we nearly broke a sweat
just watching them, although we had sangria to cool ourselves down. Next time
we will aim to do a class, even if it is only to give us a legitimate excuse to
say Ole!
Our final day was upon us, so we aimed to pack as much as we
could in. We headed up to Montjuic Park which has spectacular views across
Barcelona – if only we had remembered to bring the big lens we could have got
some photos. There are a few touristy areas up here, but also a few beautiful
and secluded and serene parks to wander.
We headed to the ‘Palau de la Musica Catalan’ aka The
Catalan Palace of Music, which even above Gaudi’s work is meant to be
spectacularly beautiful, which it was. Of course (here we go again) it was
outrageously expensive with a 30 min look in costing $60, but this time we
actually decided to pay it and soak in this magical spot. The architect was
obsessed with creating this into a forest feel (a little like the idea of the
basilica but differently executed). Unlike most music halls this one has
windows surrounding it, allowing natural light in – essential for the flowers
in the forest. The sun is pictured on a stained glass skylight which forms into
the shape of a rain drop, this symbolises natures need for sun and rain to
flourish. Pillars symbolising trees all have individual mosaics of flowers
covering them, and as no tree is ever the same the pillars follow in form.
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| The 'Glow worm' |
Catching the metro south to the Barcelona beach we found the man made strip with its imported Egyptian sand. This was originally done for the Barcelona
Olympic Games and they continue to import sand every year. This is a tourist
beach and the locals don’t really come here for the beach, they go to an actual
Spanish beach, the ones you see in magazines – we will go there next time.
Before leaving to the airport we stopped along the beach for
some traditional style churros along with the chocolate dipping sauce which is
also drunk as hot chocolate.
Lessons Learnt
- Late dinners, late lunch, late everything, push things back about 3-4 hours and this is how Spain seems to do it.
- Alcohol (not in clubs) is cheap, road beers on the street will cost you 1 Euro, in the supermarket 6 pack for <6 Euros. Bottle of wine for 2 Euros.
- Supermarkets are called supermercats (trying our hardest not to think of a meerkat), but the name has kind of stuck and from here on out we are confident we will call supermarkets meerkats.
- Kids get out of school at 5 – we are still not sure what time they get into school, or what time their bedtime is given people eat at 10pm.
- We are not as resilient as we once were, and apparently need a lot of sleep. Ok ok we know ‘sleep when you die’ and all that, but we can’t wait that long, we tried.
- Carry ID because you can’t use your credit card at tourist attractions without it. Even though Barcelona is known for pickpockets and everywhere there are signs about pickpockets apparently you are meant to carry all the important items such as passports with you… Of course this could be avoided if you carry cash – oh wait the risk of pickpocketing strikes again. Ok, so you just go to the ATM before going to the attraction, but then the ATM charges you 4 Euro to use it. Ok so pay online next time – ah wait because then they charge you a booking fee and you have to print the damn thing because nobody does digital copies. Seriously Barcelona Get. It. Together!
- Spanish hot chocolate is like liquid gold and potato bravas is amazing – also don’t knock fries with egg until you’ve tried it.
Parting Thoughts
- Listen Spain, we get it you’re broke, but don’t take that out on us through the over inflated price of admission fees to EVERYTHING in Barcelona, along with a nightly tourist tax per person. If you’re not careful everyone who comes here will become broke too.
- Stuff Gaudi, its more like Gougey here anyways, as in they will gouge you to pieces, and bleed you dry. We totally get paying for attractions, and that is just part of travelling, but this is just outright seeing you as nothing more than a walking wallet. Perhaps Paris has it right, everything is publically owned which is why so many attractions are either free or really reasonably priced. If you come to Barcelona either come with lots of cash to spend on attractions, you could easily drop $400 per couple on main attractions. Barcelona is on par with London for attraction expenses, so really know what you want to see before coming.
- If you’re an architecture buff you will love it here with all of Gaudi’s weird and unbelievably wonderful creations.
- The Sagrada Familia is due to be completed sometime in 2025 so we intend to come back around then to check out the finished product. That will give us enough time to save cash for the entry fee – we can only imagine how much it will be with an extra two thirds of cathedral along with inflation! Don’t get us wrong this is the attraction that is well worth your cash, but ouch expensive.
- Public transport is cheap and relatively easy, the cheapest metro so far at under a euro a ride. But be prepared to get up close and personal with the passengers and have your flu shot!
- The nightlife here is amazing with diverse clubs and music venues. We really enjoyed our late nights out.
- Love tapas and intend to cook more when we return to reality. Sounds random but chips and eggs make a really good combo.
- Barcelona is a vibrant, diverse and culture dense city. It just a shame how much they milk the visitors for every euro they can. As with most places, but Spain in particular we would like to come back and explore all around as Barcelona is from our understanding quite unique and not really reflective of Spain as a whole.
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