Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain 2015

I will remember the deeds of the LORD; surely I will remember thy wonders of old.

Barcelona is a really beautiful and interesting city. I am one of the luckiest to be able to travel to this city. It was a very short trip, a weekend gateway, between paper writing, thesis researching and surviving life in Europe. It took 8h bus ride from Bilbao (the city I am currently studying) to Barcelona. It was quite a boring ride since we just passed some sort of dessert-look-alike areas of dead vineyard and industrial zones. we only had 30min break near Zaragoza. The city is so much bigger than I expect it to be. We arrived quite late, so we only spent the first night wandering around Gothic Quarter where our airbnb apartement was located.

The next day, we went directly to Casa Batllo. It was the most genius building/house/casa I have ever seen in my life. We had to pay 18.50EUR (student price) but it worth all the pennies. We arrived around 10am, there was no queue. After we got the ticket in 2min, we got the audio guide (in English). I followed the audio guide to the dots. It was amazing.

The most amazing section of this place for me is the attic and the staircases. Oh well, those are two :p The first because it was all white and in a shape of a ribcage. I felt inside an animal ribcage and I felt, oddly, safe. The house was said to be without straight lines, all were in curves. And the curves in this section of the house were just huge and overarching. Somehow, it amazed me. The second was because it resembles a backbone of an animal.

 

 

The second was because it resembles a backbone of an animal. I dont know how Gaudi got his inspiration from. But using all living creatures elements are a state of the art! As I walked on the staircases, feeling the railing on my palms, seeing the multicolored tiles and feeling the warm of sunlight. I can understand how this was the backbone. It supported the entire house by giving a good air and light ventilation. Without it, the house would be damn, dark, gloomy and simply ugly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The more I think about this, the more I got amazed by the One True Creator. Amazing God.

We also went to Park Guell, another work by Gaudi. It was rather small. And we had to queue for 30min to get a ticket that we can use 1h 30min afterwards. We had to pay 8eur for this park and no student discount. While waiting we ate Paella at Bar Piranya. The food needed some pinch of salt and some drops of tabasco to fit my taste, but it was a nice lunch with a slight “entertainment” by a hyperactive waiter. The park was not so big. It had not a lot of things to see. But we were enjoying the sun in November, in Europe. So, I had no complaint. Well, maybe one. It was a bit overcrowded. We couldnot get a decent photo around there. And that, my friend, is a shame! hahaha…

Some other places that we saw in Barcelona, but could not manage to enter were The Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila, Palau Guell and Camp Nou. They were all amazing from the outside. It was a bit pity that we didnt have enough time to go inside these places and visited other interesting places. But, we could not have everything, can’t we? 😉

As I reflect back to this short trip, I am amazed one more time on how gracious God is to me. Who am I that He gives me this opportunity to travel and marvel on His wonders through other human hands. On the way back to Bilbao, I said to myself, remember how He has been kind and loving to me that during dire and distress, I can still feel his kindness and love to me. Yes, I will remember the deeds of the LORD; surely I will remember thy wonders of old.