Touring Barcelona

This post picks up where I left off in the last one.


First off, let me descibe El Raval. El Raval is an artistic neighborhood full of people from all over the world. The architecture style contrasts very much from the Barri Gotic. It appears more Moorish in influence and even has a huge Spanish mosque. The street you see to your left is kind of like the main thoroughfare, with wide streets for walking, surrounded by palm trees which bear fruit for the vast numbers of pigeons (and even parrots!!!).

The first place we went to in El Raval was MACBA, a museum of contemporary art. We didnt go inside, but instead watched the skateboarders outside. Here you can see two skateboarders talking outside MACBA. Behind them are many more skateboarders enjoying their lunches.








Another thing of interest: I don't know why there is this statue of a big cat with huge cajones, but it was on the main thoroughfare of El Raval too.



After touring El Raval, we went back to Las Ramblas
and visited La Boqueria, a market place with many different kinds of foods. I think it'll be easier to upload an album onto facebook. but here are a few pics.

(Top) This is the view from outside La Boqueria
(Middle) Here's a fruit and spice stand
(Bottom)And here's some REAL fresh fish!




After La Boqueria we started walking back to the hotel on Las Ramblas. One the way back we some street performers. These guys dress up real strange-like and pose for pictures when you drop coins in their coffers.

(Top) This guy is some kind of devil creature
(Bottom) The guy on the left is some kind of earth- friendly superhero while the girl on the right is some kind of purple fairy





After seeing these guys, our guide (one of the API directors, from Barcelona) warned us not to fall for street performers or street vendors. Five minutes later, we watched her get tricked into that exact thing (some guy suckered her out of 1.5 Euros for a cheap bracelet). I hope to get more pictures of Las Ramblas, where the street is lined with pet stands. They sell many different kinds of animals, like chickens, squirrels, fish, and ducklings.



We then headed back toward the hotel, and on our way found a street band. I got about thrity seconds of their song on video:

Anyways, that about does it for now. Hope you enjoyed this live action blog, and I hope to bring you more and more as my time in Barcelona goes on. Gotta go real fast for Adriana's surprise birthday party (which will be in about 30 minutes!!!). Adriana is one of the daughters of the family that I am staying with. More to come, until then, hasta luego!

Orientation

I meant to write this last night, but got writer's block. I was telling my roomate Micheal about it and he said that I needed to stop worrying so much over details and get to the point already. I guess this also means include interesting stories along the way, so I'll try my best.

Orientation lasted two days. I arrived in Barcelona on Wednesday the 21 around noontime here. I was a bit exhausted, having to run around three different aiports and having not slept much on any of the flights, and being in a differnet hemisphere will do that to you. Anyways, one by one, we API students met up with eachother and made introductions. About an hour later the two directors came to pick us up from the airport and we were on our way to our hotel, the Hotel Granvia.

Having unpacked everything, a few of us decided to go out and walk around until meeting time. We did a little sight-seeing and tried to go into a bar called Obama (I kid you not) but it was closed. Instead we went elsewhere and had a pint a piece of Spain's most common beer "Estrella." At first I was a bit tentative about the entire API thing, since everyone but me was a girl. However, at the introductory meeting that night I finally met the rest of the guys and my current roomate Micheal, who is from UF but I'll forgive him anyways.

Actually, Micheal and I get along pretty well, both of us being kinda nerdy but also sharing the same interests in music and travel. Anyways, he mentioned that Barcelona and Espanol (futbol teams), were going to square off that night, so we asked around and found a sports bar to watch the game. Apparently, Barcelona has a rivalry like the GA-FLA rivalry. The rivalry between Barcelona is so intense, that if the game is held in Madrid (Team Real Madrid) and you are from Barcelona, you do not go to that game: your health and life are at stake for doing that (its the same the other way around). The main reason for this goes back to Franco's dictatorship: Franco was a huge Real Madrid fan, so Barcelona was never able to really win, or else risk their lives. Sports are crazy over here.

The next day we all went out to learn all about Barcleona in two tours: El Raval and Barri Gotic. We went to Barri Gotic first, and unfortunately I didnt take any pictures, but we saw many shops and a Gothic Church. El Raval was more intereting for me anyways, but we all had to especially watch out for pickpockets. El Raval is probably the most likely place for you to get pickpocketed, besides the metro, where within ten minutes, two pickpockets tried to rob us. Apparently, you are a prime target for pickpockets if you are a tourist so avoid or be aware of the following: If you are in a big group (like our tourgroup); If you are a tourist (speak Spanish, not English); If you are wasted (then you'll probably really stand out).

Anyways, I have some pictures of El Raval and Las Ramblas, this big walkway that divides the two neighborhoods of El Raval and Barri Gotic. But you'll have to see them next time because I am so hungry. I think I am finally over my jetlag, but that's probably because I slept until noon. Anyways, gotta go and shop for slippers (I'll explain that later).

First Blog

Hey everyone,
this is my first time writing a blog so to say the least, this will be interesting. The purpose is twofold: to keep friends and family updated about what I'm doing over here and also as a kind of memoir I can look back on one day and smile (and probably shake my head). Right now I'm sitting in my room at the Hotel Granvia, a classy place South of Las Ramblas and Plaza de Catalunya. The idea of writing a blog is kind of low on the list of things I would like to be doing right now, so I'm gonna cut this one short. I promise the next entry will be more exciting because I will have photos and videos to post along.
Anyways, I'm heading out for Tapas, then to an Irish bar before a night of clubbing, should be interesting. I miss everyone already, but I wish I could live here forever (might try to do something about that). Anyways, hope all is well with everyone back home or wherever you are, I hope you can find a way to come visit Spain if not Europe while I'm here, and I'll be very happy to hear from you all, so drop a line anytime.
Joshua Moreno
Barcelona, Spain
Thursday, January 22, 2009