Just an hour’s flight from Marseille put us in Barcelona, the heart of Catalonia. Catalonia would like you to know that Catalonia may look like it’s part of Spain, but it is Catalonia, the wealthiest and bestest independent not-Spain place ever. [Think Jefferson County in California if you need an analogy.] Barcelona is the capital of the region of Catalonia, and its call for independence seems to meet mostly with eye-rolling from the rest of Spain. But like any big city (at over 5 million people, it is 3.5 times bigger than Marseille), Barcelona has its own feel.
Even our local walking tour guide wonders how anyone makes money in the area. With a culture of up and about by 11am, soon followed by lunch and afternoon siesta, a reopening in the late afternoon, dinner at 21:00 or 22:00, bedtime at 2am…, well there was a shop right next to our hotel that Piper desperately wanted colored pencils from and it wasn’t until the last day that she finally caught them open.
But as a tourist, it was delightful. After first getting to our hotel, Dwayne and I explored as far as we could walk, using his delightful method of aiming for the greenest parts on google maps. That’s how we ended up miles from the hotel, on the top of an abandoned WWII battery, overlooking the city. We got back with enough time to get to our 7:30 dinner reservation for tapas, beating the dinner crowds by a few hours. Weird.
We started our first full day with a crack-of-day 10am walking tour, perfect for our 2.5 teenagers. The tour was my first introduction to Gaudí, and more importantly, fresh churros with chocolate dipping sauce.
We also explored the busy, busy market (dozens of independent food stalls under one roof) with the freshest foods displayed like a beauty pageant. Getting through this with our guide gave us the confidence to shop at a smaller market later.
I am always pleased to see gothic cathedrals, peekaboo art and city water fountains, and of course, ancient Roman aqueducts.
We ended at the city park, our first real bit of green in a city that must conserve water, and where dozens of pocket parks and playgrounds on each street are brown and sandy. Dwayne didn’t feel the magic that made him tingle at Longchamps, but I was delighted by fountains, falls, and, especially, dragons. Hola, Barcelona! We’re happy to be here.
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