Day 2 – Mistakes Were Made, Tears Were Cried

In that order, though the two weren’t related.

I’ll start with the tears in case you get bored and don’t finish the whole post. I had a 6PM ticket for La Sagrada Familia today. It was awe-some. Experientially, the setting sun streaming in the windows of the “passion façade” stirred my chest and poured tears down my cheeks. On a more cerebral level the audio-tour was excellent and there was much to see and take in. I didn’t get to go up the towers (long story involving a failure of internetting – if you’re looking for tickets the official site is: https://sagradafamilia.org […obviously 🤦‍♀️] don’t bother buying them anywhere else, it will be a rip off) and it was still awe-inspiring. That being said, if I come back I’ll def be going up a tower 🙂

The organs as I walked in <sound on>

Gaudi worshipped nature – God’s work as he saw it. Nature inspired his work and informed his architectural genius. Each moment in this cathedral is intentional and informed. For example the fifty lamps on this baldekin represent the 50 days of Pentecost, the Nativity façade faces east and the Passion faces west, the turtle holding up the pillar closest to the sea on the Nativity side is a sea turtle with flippers and the turtle holding up the pillar closest to the mountain is a land tortoise with feet, the tallest tower of this shrine, the Jesus tower, when complete, will be just slightly shorter than nearby Mont Juïc, because Gaudi believed that man’s works should never surpass God’s. Listening to the audio guide I realized that Gaudi is the architectural Beyoncé and I love him for it.

In summary, I think La Sagrada Familia is an ode to love written in light. Atleast the inside. The outside.. is still worthy of awe. But is different:

The Passion Façade

The Nativity Façade… there is a LOT happening here. Can you zoom in?

Anyhow, back to the beginning of the day and my mistakes!

I started the day at Park Güell – one of the “must sees” on any list of sights in Barcelona. I took the bus, which was easy/straightforward and enjoyable. I was there a bit early: my ticket was for 9:30AM which is when the park “opens”. I sat near the opening for 30 minutes watching a crowd gather near the entrance. In addition to the crowd, I watched locals walk up with their dogs, the dogs greeting the park attendants like family friends, and parents with their young children on their shoulders or their ride-along bike seats, sail into the park. I didn’t know it at the time but there is a school in the middle of the park (not a small one). I liked that the park is a resource for the local residents – both with the school and as a place to exercise (I saw plenty of joggers head in there too) and stroll with their dogs – and not just a reason for piles of tourists to descend on their neighbourhood.

The park itself? As an attraction? Eh. It was fine. I always like walking around in the sunshine, and the views of the city centre/coast were lovely. The park is a little mind-blowing as an example of bourgeois excess and entitlement, but otherwise it is just a park… a park with a few moments of architectural intervention that are either quite pretty or quite ostentatious.

Why an example of bourgeois excess and entitlement? Because this was supposed to be a gated subdivision. A place for the bourgeois to build homes within a clean, healthy, beautiful park setting.

The park was signed over to the city when it became a financial failure. I think only two or three homes were ever built in it.

A contrary case of “if you build it, they will come”.

<sound on>

Can you see La Sagrada Familia in the background?

The school – if I remember correctly this was the home of Güell, the financial person behind this attempted “planned subdivision”.

A place for the wealthy to congregate during their promenades.

The roof under the terrace above.

These were the main gates of the development. The far building was the guardhouse and the near building was the groundskeeper. These two buildings are directly in front of the plaza above.

I suppose if you were an architectural buff and the moments of visible Gaudi work meant more to you than the simple observation of unexpected colours and shapes, then perhaps it is worth the 10E entrance fee. Otherwise.. 🤷‍♀️ I don’t know if it is a <must> see. More of a “go if you feel like walking around a city park with a nice view and have a few extra dollars in your budget”. I’ll admit I enjoyed the Parc de la Ciutadella more.. there were moments of grandiosity in that park too (photos in the next post when they happened) but what really made it for me was all the people living their lives and using the park. As opposed to the wall-to-wall selfie sticks at the Park Güell. Not to mention the the Ciutadella was free 😉

Anyhow, going to the Park Güell wasn’t a mistake. Not using the washroom I saw while I was there was. It wouldn’t be until 3PM that I would find another.

My second mistake followed shortly on the first. After leaving the Parc Güell I watched a number of promising lunch nooks and kitsch/souvenir shops go by the bus window. I just kept failing to get off the bus. By the time I finally did it, the three shop fronts I was greeted by were Christian Louboutin, Jimmy Choo and Dolce & Gabbana… not exactly the level of dining or shopping I was aiming for and it continued for ages and ages as I walked towards the waterfront. By the time I started seeing food venues that might be in my price range I realized I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink anything until I found a toilet.

Despite these mistakes and the physiologic discomforts they provided, I enjoyed the small amount of time I spent on the Barcelona malecon/sea walk/promenade. They have done a beautiful job and from what I can tell from what I saw and the maps it goes on for quite awhile. If I had a week in BNA I would definitely spend a day strolling this walkway. Unfortunately no photos due to an on-going toilet-vigil at the time.

It was quite a sunny, breezy day. That morning I had asked one of the people at the hostel if the tap water was potable.. they looked horrified and told me to buy water at the shop. I didn’t, but I also didn’t fill up my water bottle at the hostel. As I was walking and observing that I was likely getting dehydrated I saw a guy walk up to a set of faucets in the middle of the side walk (I hesitate to use this word because most of the downtown BCN pedestrian areas bear minimal similarity to the NAm side walk) and drink. I thought, “Pf, what could go wrong?” and filled up my tin. I didn’t drink it until I found a toilet but I admit I’ve been largely drinking tap water since and have had no ill effects. Whatever that’s worth to others.

Seems legit.

Anyhow, I eventually found myself at the Mercat de La Boqueria. This is also on many of the “must see” lists, though I’d had no intention of going. It is an outdoor market that has been completely tourist-ified. There are three or four types of stalls (bakery, fish, meat, fruits, etc) repeated, even multiple of the same company, all selling the same items at the same price. There WAS however a toilet:

I didn’t bring up the inconsistency here with the attendant. Sufficed to say toilet-use in BCN are nowhere free.

I was so thrilled that I bought a bit of lunch at the Boqueria: some cured pork sticks for 2.50€ and a spinach mushroom empanada for 3.50€.

This was mistake #3. It turns out there was only one chocolatery in the Boqueria and I did not splurge on these delicious-looking treats. 😦

Anyhow, I walked back to the hostel from the Boqueria to charge up my and my phone’s batteries before heading to La Sagrada. Even though I keep my phone on low battery mode the minute I unplug it, a day of navigating and photo-taking wear it down quite a bit.

On the walk home around 9PM from La Sagrada I was so hungry I collapsed into a totally unremarkable corner bar and had a pizza (tasty, not a hot dog in sight, IYKYK) and a glass of wine. Two in fact, since Aidan called via messenger and we had a little company. ~12€ total before tip.