Beautiful Barça

I arrived in Barcelona by bus in the afternoon, and even though the bus ride from Bilbao via Zaragoza was long, it wasn't too much effort since the bus left so early in the morning that I spent the first three hours fast asleep. And once awake, the Spanish landscape is quite a marvelous view, so no need to feel bored.

In Barcelona a very dear friend of mine from Sweden came to stay for a few days, so we rented a room in an apartment inhabited by a quiet couple. After the first day's steady and very heavy rain, we enjoyed two wonderfully sunny days as Barcelona - as always - lived up to the expectations of a good vacation. When food is good, easy, everywhere and (at least for a Swedish traveller) cheap, and the same goes for beer and coffee, you can be happy with or without large events or tourist attractions. If feeling inclined to enjoy those, they are everywhere and most of them even accessible by walking in between.
When the rain poured down, we made the best of the day by spending some time at the food market hall next to La Rambla, a feast both for tongue and eyes.

And after walking a few blocks getting soaked, there's always a bar around the corner serving delicious drinks... I made a little bit of a fuss about the choice of name for this bar's sugar-free cocktail alternative. The poor bartender (who had no responsibility for naming the drinks) tried to calm me down by saying that Swedish girls were so sweet already we don't need any sugar...

Next day the sun was gracing us with its presence, so we spent a couple of hours in the always amazingly impressive Parc Güell. Discovering both the highest point of the park and marveling at the views over the city from its different hills, and also strolling along the secret little paths between trees and bushes on the backside of the hill, it was truly a peaceful start of the day.

Apart from Parc Güell, Gaudí is super famous for the crazy church building Sagrada Família. I have seen it before and found it ugly, but being there again I have to admit it is quite impressive. The weirdest thing is probably not the almost disgustingly overworked millions of details, but that it is actually located in a street corner with houses and buzzy streets creeping almost all the way up to the entrance. It is at the same time a praise to and a disgusting display of abundant art and the human creation of a palace not for those who need one, but for a god who already has his heaven.

Another really famous Gaudí building is the more simplistic yet wonderfully playful La Pedrera, a house to live in (though a bit too luxuriously designed for most people).

But most art and architecture in Barcelona is beautiful and interesting, so for those of us who like buildings, monuments and streetlights, the whole inner city is a large treasure-chest.

Evening sun and a walk along the former Olympic site and La Barcelona was a good way to wrap a sunny day up before having a late paella for dinner.

On the Saturday at lunchtime I was picked up by car by a Spanish man who passed Barcelona on his way to Valencia, which was my next stop for the three weeks in Spain. How that was different to Barcelona in many ways, you'll get to know next time.