FC Barcelona Match

Going to a FC Barcelona match at Camp Nou is an experience I will not soon forget. I recommend anyone who comes to visit Barcelona to try and attend a game if they can. The passion and pride on display from the FC Barcelona fans is unrivaled from any sports team in the world. The team is more than that to them as evidenced by their team slogan painted across the stadium seats: “Mes Que Un Club”. I have been to plenty of football games in the U.S. but I have never seen anything as I witnessed at Camp Nou. I went when they played one of the worst teams in all of La Liga, Racing Santander, and still I didn’t see one person get up from their seat during the game. The only time people left was at halftime. This is in stark contrast to the U.S. when there are always people getting up to go to the bathroom or to get a beer and something to eat. Barcelona completely dominated the match winning 4-0, but even though it wasn’t a close game I still had a lot of fun. Because of my broken leg at the time I got the first deck seats right behind the goal. It was a perfect view that made you feel as if you were right on the field with the players. More than anything though going to that game made me appreciate and realize the Catalans so much more. With the history of Spain’s dictatorship under Franco the Catalans were oppressed and not allowed to speak their language and they still view Barcelona as a symbol for Catalan nationalism. That is why even after all these years they care so deeply about their team because for them they are not just playing a soccer game. It goes way beyond the playing field and has deep rooted political meaning behind it. Going to the game I got to be surrounded by the people who truly love this team and what they stand for. It allowed me to understand much more about Catalan culture than I was previously aware of.

La Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia is truly a sight to behold in person. There are no words to give justice to Gaudi and the other collaborator’s architecture. Although it is still being built, it is quite impressive. One thing I don’t like is how you can see the cranes and construction work which can diminish the beauty of the church a little bit. The outside is particularly noteworthy for the facades. The nativity façade especially has such a large amount of detail you wonder how a human being can produce such great work. I am always amazed at how someone can think of an idea and then artistically implement and act on that to create something so magnificent. The inside is noteworthy to me for how they set up the columns to look like trees in a forest. They twist around and come down at angles that you wouldn’t expect to be able to hold up such a large building. There is a great sense of light that seems to shine through the church. I noticed what looked like clocks with light in them on many of the columns that gave it a more modern and original look. One thing I found interesting was that the floor was not very ornate with a lot of marble, colors, or symbols that other big churches have such as St. Peters. I am not sure why the reason for that but maybe Gaudi didn’t want people looking at the ground but up to God and Jesus Christ who you can see hanging on the main altar. If you go to the museum in the church you can see all of the sketches and what Gaudi had planned out for what he wanted it to be. It is unbelievable his vision of what the church will turn out to be and it is evident he had a mind of a genius. I just can’t wait to come back and see when his dream is fully realized and it’s completely finished.

La Merce

La Merce is an annual event held in Barcelona that acts as a festival to celebrate all things Catalan. This year it was held on the weekend of the 24^th of September. I was told that this year was not as big of a spectacle as usual because of the problems with the economy having an impact on how much money could be spent to finance the entire festival. There were still many events throughout the entire city such as concerts, a race, fireworks, and of course corre foc. I was only able to go to the opening ceremony that was held in Placa Sant Jaume which is the square that houses the government of Catalunya. I would have love to go to the other events but unfortunately I broke my leg on this weekend which made it impossible. The opening ceremony though was another event that really showcased the pride and feelings that Catalans have for their region. The square was jampacked with thousands of people gathered all around taking pictures and singing what I believed to be various national anthems. There was a live band and orchestra playing traditional Catalan music as people dressed in different costumes marched around the square. They also brought out traditional papier mache giants which were held up by people walking with them. The giants ranged from a king and queen to a giant dragon. The amount of work and detail that was put into those looked astonishing. You could tell that each and everyone was there to celebrate his or her love of everything Catalan. From the music to the outfits there was a certain sense of fun and love that made me feel great to be a part of an event like that. The whole ceremony felt to me as though they were trying to keep the spirit and culture of Catalunya alive and spread it from the elderly down to the kids.

Casa Mila

Along with Parc Guell and La Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila is among the great architect Antoni Gaudi’s most famous works. It is located on Passeig de Gracia, which is a large main street that is known for having many high-end fashion stores. Because of this the façade of Casa Mila certainly sticks out. It has a unique look in which the stone curves along the outside which make it look as if it were waves from the sea. There is a great amount of detail put into the wrought-iron balconies, which to me look like they were constructed to resemble seaweed. A rich businessman who wanted to make it an apartment building commissioned this building for Gaudi. There is still a family that lives inside of there even though it is now a museum with visitor’s everyday. Personally, I don’t see how anyone could live there knowing that there are thousands of people coming into where you live on a daily basis. The interior was interesting to see as it gives a glimpse of what an apartment would look like back when it was built in the early 1900s. You can see the way furniture was created and how everything seems to be covered in wood finish. I find it interesting that there is virtually no color found here compared to Gaudi’s other works such as Parc Guell. Maybe he was in a different space creatively which made him choose that style but it is a stark contrast for sure. The rooftop of Casa Mila showcases another one of Gaudi’s masterpieces in the way he designed the chimneys. They seem to be designed after warriors and remind me of the shapes used to create part of the façade for La Sagrada Familia. He seems to have carried the style of twisting and pointed angles into his work here. All in all the entire building is just another testament to Gaudi’s brilliant line of work.

El Raval

While walking around El Raval you certainly get a different flavor than other neighborhoods in Barcelona due to the large amount of foreign immigrants that live there now. It is almost as if you are walking into an entirely different country once you step inside of El Raval. It is located just east of La Rambla and is bordered by Placa Catalunya and Placa Universitat. It is fascinating to me how such a different cultural feeling you can get from an area located so closely to the biggest tourist attractions in the city. There is such a dichotomy you get from La Rambla and El Raval which are right next to each other that you don’t see in many major cities. There are many narrow back alleys that you can find yourself getting lost in wandering around El Raval. Many people look at El Raval as a more dangerous area than other parts of Barcelona although there have been many actions done to reduce the drugs and prostitution from the area. In my experiences there I have not seen anything that makes me believe that it is a dangerous place especially compared to areas of the U.S. To me, Barcelona is a very safe city and I don’t really worry at night that much whereas in the U.S. there are places I would never go to at night especially by myself. The thing I love about El Raval the most is all of the little boutiques that cater to certain cultures such as the Pakistan’s, which have a large presence there. It definitely reminds me of what a Chinatown in any major U.S. city is like. I think it’s good that they can still have a little semblance of home even while they are living in a land that is foreign to them but gives them much better opportunities. I know there are many Catalans who do not like the fact that there has been such a surge of immigrants coming to Barcelona but it allows for a more well-rounded and balanced society in my opinion.

Barceloneta Beach

One of the things that drew me into choosing Barcelona as the city to study in was due to its great weather climate. Barcelona has many beaches that take advantage of that fact. Even in October you could still find yourself in seventy-degree weather down by the beach that is something I am not used to it at all back where I go to school in New York. What makes Barcelona so unique as a city is the fact that you I can literally take a metro twenty minutes and be at the beach. It is a great blend of city life with the beautiful feel of a laid back and comfortable atmosphere that a beach brings. There have been a lot of new developments happening along the coast of the beachfront to bring in more tourists. They built a fancy new W Hotel as well as a casino and many popular nightclubs that cater to a touristy crowd. I am not someone who is a huge fan of the beach but I have to say Barcelona has my favorite beaches ever. I love going to the beach here because of all the beautiful Spanish women I get to see walking around in bikinis. One of the things I noticed was that you can get a massage while you are at the beach if you pay the Asian ladies that are working there. I had never seen that before and thought that was really different. Also, whenever I go to the beach back in the states I never swim in the ocean because of some traumatic things that have happened to me in the past, but here I love swimming in the sea because it was very calm and not all salty. I feel as if the beach is an extension of the people of Barcelona. It is a calm and relaxing place that focuses on leisure and is stress-free.

Medieval Barcelona: El Born and La Ribera

In the area of La Ciutat Vella, or the old city in English, La Ribera and El Born were very important places in the medieval ages for Barcelona. This area was where all of the guilds and workshops were located that helped to support the backbone of the city. During that time it was close to the sea and the different craftsmen, blacksmith, and other guild workers then used the ports where all of the goods and materials would come from. Many of the buildings in this area are very vertical and narrow because the way the streets were constructed didn’t allow for a lot of wide and large houses. These buildings would house all of the poor workers at the top so they would have to climb up the stirs to go to sleep. The owners and more important people in the guilds were housed near the bottom as that showed your wealth. The rooms in the houses usually were very barren and didn’t include much of anything because the mindset is that you would spend all your day doing work in the workshops and only use your room for when you sleep at night. Walking around on the cobblestone streets in this area of Barcelona transports you to a time that you can’t see back home in the United States. There are so many amazing structures and architecture that is singular of the medieval Gothic era. The Santa Maria Del Mar is one of these structures and walking inside of it is definitely a once in a lifetime experience. The interior of the church is very open and spacious with the light coming in through from the stained glass windows. This was a church that was dedicated to the working people of the area such as the stevedores and members of the guild, which makes it unique. The stevedores being carved into the front entrance of the church welcoming all those that worked hard to make the church possible shows who the church was really built for.

Les Corts

The neighborhood of Les Corts is located in the northwestern part of Barcelona and surrounded by the Eixample district to the south and the Sarria district to the east. Diagonal Avenue and the Sants below bound it. Les Corts used to be an independent village outside of the old city and was created in 1897 from two municipalities: Les Corts de Sarria and other parts of Sarria. The name of Les Corts comes from the Latin word cohorts, which means rural houses, due to the old Roman villas that were there before the area went through urban renewal. It is mostly known around Barcelona as being the financial district of the city. La Caixa, one of the main bank corporations in Spain has their headquarters here, which stand out due to their large black towers. The population here is mainly families and businessmen and women who work there. It is the least populated in the entire city with only around 82,000 citizens according to the 2005 census. There really is not a lot that goes on in this area with no real tourist attractions to draw people to the area. The main reason people would come to Les Corts is to see a FC Barcelona match because the stadium, Camp Nou, is located here. The stadium also houses a museum that takes you through the entire history of the club as well as taking you through the locker rooms, training rooms, and more. On game days this area gets pretty busy as the stadium holds around 100,000 people. Considering the popularity of FC Barcelona and what they mean for all of Catalunya this is one of the most important landmarks in all of Barcelona and certainly all of Les Corts.

Otto Zutz Nightclub

Barcelona is known for having some of the best nightlife of any city in the world. After being here just a few weeks I have already found this to be true. What is so different here than other places in the U.S. is that they don’t go out to the clubs until around two or three in the morning. If you go to a club any earlier than that chances are it is going to be close to empty. One of my favorite clubs that I have found so far is Otto Zutz. They usually have an hour for open bar where you can get any drink for free which is one of the reasons I love this club so much. This leads to some hectic situations when trying to get a drink, as everyone wants as many free drinks as they can get. I’m usually very good at getting to the front and ordering a lot of drinks fro my friends and me. The club’s dance floors are actually pretty small but it does have two floors with different music. I like the smaller size because it is easier to pick out which girls to hit on. Another reason I like this club a lot is because they are one of the only clubs I know that consistently play hip-hop music. Barcelona’s clubs are very heavy into techno and house music which is all right but I’d much rather listen and dance to hip-hop music myself. One of the nights I was there I had a little too many Vodka Redbull’s in my system and decided to hop into the VIP section. I was having a great time up there dancing away but I needed to go to the bathroom. I didn’t want to go out of the main entrance of the VIP because I was afraid the bouncer would recognize me and tell me to leave the club. So foolishly, I decided I would hop over the railing, which was about four feet high. That was a big mistake because I was jumping over it my foot got caught and I landed awkwardly on my leg and immediately felt a crack and was in pain. I left that night hobbling, but not thinking anything was seriously wrong with my leg. The next day I woke up with a swollen knee and decided to go to the hospital. I went to the emergency room and found out I had broken my leg. I was devastated at first but now I can have an awesome study abroad story to tell everyone for the rest of my life. And for that I will always remember Otto Zutz.

Cal Pep

One thing I can say that I like better in the U.S. than here is the food and variety of restaurants that are available. I personally am not a big fan of Spanish food and most of the places to eat here are little cafes and such that serve strictly Spanish food. That said, there is one aspect of Spanish cuisine that I am fond of and that is tapas. Tapas are basically the Spanish version of appetizers. They are designed to be eaten socially with some drinks before you go out for your actual dinner. Everyone had told me to go to Cal Pep as it was one of the best tapas restaurants in all of Barcelona and was good for a budget as well. When I went with my friends it was packed to the walls with Spanish people. The great thing about the tapas here is that they are fresh everyday and change according to what is in the market on that day. They had a wide variety of seafood, which I don’t normally like but I decided to get their fried calamari anyway. It was delicious with just the right amount of crispiness to it topped off with butter and a light seasoning of salt. The atmosphere was something that definitely added to the experience. The staff there were really nice to us as they could tell we were American and gave us a beer with our tapas which is normal. This was a chance for me to soak in what the culture of Barcelona is all about. The social aspect of eating out with friends and having meaningful discussions is something I think is lost back home. Here it is a very important part of their relationships with people and I saw that on display at Cal Pep. It was just another instance in where I saw what makes the Spanish people so enjoyable to be around.