Barcelona

I returned from my wonderful trip just on Saturday - it was not a fun transition from the sunny Barcelona skies to a rainy, windy, cold airport that left much to be desired. It was a completely amazing week, really busy, and filled with beach and Spanish architecture and embarrassing fumbles when (trying to) talk to the Spanish host. The time went so quickly as well! Dali's painting (which can be seen at his museum at Figueras just outside Barcelona) of the melting clocks symbolising how time is not constant really rings true when spending a week in Spain with 19 other friends.

It's hard to pick just one aspect of Barcelona to talk about, but then again I can't write about them all because of the volume. And I'd like to do an article on Barcelona.

Parc Guell is Gaudi's work, a park high up on a plateau away from the busy center of Barcelona. It's a hot walk up some steep hills, with very authentic looking Spanish buildings forming corridors, and some not so authentic escalators to help lazier tourists. Once you reach the top, to quiet roads suddenly open out onto this huge green view. You can see mosaic buildings (one of Gaudi's signatures) peaking through all these wiry green trees, like hands reaching for the clear blue sky. As you slowly walk down the park you see more impressive pillars, gingerbread houses by Gaudi, the famous lizard fountain of Barcelona and beautiful views. And that was just one morning of the whole week!

Another of my favourites was the day we spent at the Dali museum/theatre and then to his house at Port Ligat. It was a long coach drive by well worth it - a great pebbly shore and view out to sea awaited us. There were some swings and benches to mess about on before the house itself! It's this deceptively small white building, with all sorts of different levels and unusual architecture. Some very odd furniture too - a giant stuffed bear statue with necklaces and green leaf lips sofa in the hall, and a naked Michelangelo statue with a fencing mask in the studio!
The best bits were the outside - more spectacular views, egg sculptures and cracked head - not forgetting the questionably shaped swimming pool and telephone box out back.

All these words really don't mean much, but Barcelona is an amazing city with so many different sides to it, and interesting anecdotes and stories (that our tour guide Hattie from the ISLA language school that the trip is organised by told us). Like the Barcelona government cleared out all the red light district and rough fisherman's seafront ready for the 1992 Olympics, and added a lot of imported sand to make a wonderful golden beach, that of course we all spent a lot of time on!

So, I advise everyone to go to Barcelona, learn some Spanish and have a generally fabulous time. Woo!