What Makes Barcelona So Special?
Barcelona! It screams passion, romance,
good food, good wine, and nice people. This beautiful, energetic city holds a
high revisit rate. 80% of the people can’t get over the high after visiting
Barcelona and just keep coming back. To some Spanish people, Barcelona might
appear to be like any other pretty Spanish towns/cities, but that’s just little
rude to say. There are always voices on being fully independent from Spain, but
in 2016, 2017, due to the bad economic situation in Spain, Catalan independence
movement got really heated up. We all know the result by now, but let’s set
aside the politics and get touristy on what makes Barcelona so special.
Goudi! Goudi! Goudi!
We can’t put aside Goudi when talking about
Barcelona. Doesn’t it blow your mind when you see someone so different, so
creative, so passionate, so sensitive and this person put those thoughts into
architecture and interior design and any details possible?
Park Guell, Casa Batllo, La Sagrada
Familia… … you name it. Countless masterpieces.
His work was inspired by his great love for
nature and religion. Nature as he studied plants’, insects’ and animals’
structure and used it in his work. He was devoted all his life to his
profession and his faith. And of course, his works have been reorganized by
UNESCO for granted World Heritage status.
Art Scene
For sure, the Picasso Museum is a must-see.
Is Pablo Picasso from Barcelona? In fact, he was born in other part of Spain
and later moved to Barcelona. Although he spent most of his adulthood in Paris,
he was made as an artist in Barcelona and always had a close relationship with
Barcelona. His personal secretary had a collection of his work and initiated
the thought of building a museum dedicated to Pablo Picasso, and that’s how the
museum came about.
Besides the Picasso Museum, there are also
Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art
(MACBA), and Hemp Museum Gallery (with Marihuana) for you to visit!
Food Scene
Calories don't count during vacation! Here
are some must try.
Paella
Flavored rice with seafood. Yum! Remember,
prices on menus are usually per person (minimum two people). And don’t go for
the menu with pictures and English descriptions, cause that stuff is for
tourists and so is the price.
Esqueixada
Typical Catalan salad. There are fresh
tomatoes, onions, shredded salt cod and olives with “romesco sauce”.
Pa amb Tomàquet
Literally “bread with tomato”. Pure
simplicity and deliciousness.
Beaches
Barcelona is all those wonderful things and
on top of that, there are beaches! The closest one is La Barceloneta, the
greatest thing about it is that it can be reached by metro or buses. The beach
in Barcelona is very well-kept, stretches 4.5km long. Tons of cool bars and
diners to choose from, be mindful that during the high season the beach can be
super crowded.
Fun fact, there were no beaches in
Barcelona two decades ago, they imported sand from Egypt to make the artificial
beach for the Olympics 1992. The event really changed the city sharply.
Futbol Club Barcelona
Or known simply as Barcelona. The football
club earns great fortune for aiming tourism. It is the fourth-most valuable
sports team in the world, worth $4.07 billion. (Side note: first place, Dallas
Cowboys; second, Manchester United; third, Real Madrid, according to Forbe.)
Messi! Messi! Messi! The player’s so popular that you can see most of the
game-goers are international tourists and you might wonder if FC Barcelona is a
football club or a tourist attraction. Camera clicking, always, and people all
share high enthusiasm that the fact that they’re in Camp Nou Stadium by
instagramming and taking selfies.
Gothic Quarter (Barri Gòtic in Catalan)
If you’re taking your date to Barcelona for
a romantic getaway, don’t miss out these beautiful, narrow medieval streets.
Take a walk here, enjoy the gothic
architecture and end the night with hot chocolate and churros. Here are some
must-visit:
lamp posts in Plaça Reial by Goudi
The animal details on the street lights are
fascinating, they were the first couple design by Goudi when he just graduated.
Barcelona Cathedral
Took two hundred years to build, first
opened in 1298. Stunning.
Els Quatre Gats (4 cats)
This café was well loved by Pablo Picasso
and Ramon Casas i Carbó a hundred years ago. Picasso even had his first solo
exhibition here.
Laidback Mediterranean culture with rapidly
growing start up scene
Barcelona has become more and more popular
with the digital nomad community. Freelancers from Europe and all over the
world live here short term, get their jobs done online, and get paid online. Quite
a heaven here, fast internet, cool co-working space, perfect climate, nice laidback
culture, plus it’s relatively cheap in Europe.
The population of Barcelona is 1.6 million,
but there are around 32 million tourists visit yearly. Needless to say, it
brings tons of money to the picture, however, the price has gone up so much,
especially housing. Some people rather have the space rent out for short term
profit. Some residents are forced to move somewhere else and local shops are
replaced by chains or souvenir stores. It’s easy to understand why locals are
mad, and we can always be the more considerate, respectful version of ourselves
when paying a visit.
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