Befort the sunrise I walked to the FGC, where I took the L7 to the Provença station where we transferred to the Metro, taking us to the RENFE station at Ptg. de Gracia. We took the train to the airport, BCN, and took the bus to the terminal. We met up with the group and went though security, boarded our 9am Vueling flight and flew to Granada’s regional airport. We transfered to a charter bus which brought us to our hotel in the city center. For those of you keeping track, that is 6 modes of transportation all in the morning – oh yea!.

The city was under a cloudy sky but the weather turned for the better as we hit the streets for a walking tour with our local guide, Alfonso.

We hit the streets with our guardian angel (spanish student from Bacrelona who hangs out with us) and found a traditional tapas place which you order a beer and it includes tapas. Great way to eat lunch for 3€. We had fun eating, drinking, and learning Marc’s dice/BS game and then headed out for our organized tour of the Capilla Real, the royal chapel where Spain’s royalty Ferdinand and Isabella are now.

The place was my first true exposure to moorish and islamic architecture which kept me amazed until the next best thing (continue reading). The church is a typical roman catholic church and is very romanesque or traditional in the sense that the use of imagery and sculpture was exuberant (where moorish/islamic architecture features ornamentation instead, more below).

At this point, I would like to point out that the pictures here in the post are only a fraction of those from the trip. You can see them here or check them out from the link at the end of the post (as always). Of the 3 full cards, I filtered out 300 of the best (out of over a thousand). Gotta love digital cameras.

After seeing columbus’ sword and the king’s crown, we left the church for the streets and a walking tour of Granada with our guide. He took us around and we just went on a walk, with lots of photo stops.

We toured the gypsy part of the city (part of Granada’s UNESCO World heritage site) and saw the roots of Flamenco dancing and came across a great photo op. Meet Granada’s La Alhambra.

We saw a preview of what saturday held in store and then hit the road again touring the streets of the city. We explored the curvy streets on the edge of town and then headed back for the festivities of the night.

The night included a quick stop at the hotel and a rendezvous at a series of bars. We enjoyed lots of beer, tapas, and good company. It was a fun night and we all were tired by the end of the night. The next morning was energetic, beginning with a early lunch at the hotel of bocadillos, mimosas, and some cereal. We boarded the bus for the mysterious monument we had heard so much about then headed up the hill. The sun was out and shining over the humid and foggy city of Granada. As we approached the hill top, we saw La Alhambra’s walls grow until we entered the tropical resembling area.

The place was sweet. From the towers and walls surrounding the complex to the ruins from the barracks of years ago to the roman theater which was unfinished all stood out as the day’s greatest highlight, until we hit the palace. La Alhambra is a beer in the region, but is better known as Spain’s most visited monument (according to my fav source, wikipedia). The monument stood as the moorish kings home for many of the years between 711 and 1492. Lots of history lies within the walls of this sweet place, which words and pictures could never substitute the experience of visiting it in person.

Our tour continued thought the site into the summer palace and then we headed back into the town where we found some graffiti walls which crossed the line from vandalism to art. We spent the rest of the day playing around in the area, then heading home for some wine tasting, games, flamenco, and sleep. Saturday included a visit to Granada’s hillside and a famous poet’s Granadan house. We flew home to BCN and made it back just in time for our regular 9pm dinner Sunday night.

The story of the trip really needs to be experienced thought the pictures I took. You will find 2 sets:

» The Best of the Best (on Flickr)

» The Whole Set (all Granada pics, around 300)

Enjoy!

The morning begins with a series of iPhone alarms which eventually get me out of bed, showered, and ready for the day by 8. I run out the door, down 3 flights of stairs, walk to the Avinguda Tibidabo FGC stop and catch the next L7 train into Barcelona’s center, the Placa Catalunya station. The FGC stands for Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya, or the government railroad company for the Spanish Catalonia territiry, similar to a US state. The FGC runs metro lines from Barcelona inland to many outlying towns and features, including Montserrat. The FGC is different then the TMB, or Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona, whe city run transportation company. They run the metro lines within the city and also run the extensive bus network. Both are included in the ATM integrated transport card system which means I only need one public transportation card in Barcelona.

So, I take the FGC run L7 train from it’s end station at Av. Tibidabo to it’s other end at Pl. Catalunya. The train is nice, all padded seats and usually never has people standing. Once I breach the surface, I am presented with Barcelona’s Placa Catalunya, the unofficial center of the city. I walk towards La Casa II, where I take classes following the famous Passeig de Gracia to the school. If I am feeling adventurous, I will generally get off at the Provença stop instead and walk to the school passing Antoni Gaudí’s Casa Mila, Casa Batllo, and a series of other famous architectural works which I used to know of from architectural history textbooks and wikipedia featured image galleries.

The streets are pretty quiet (for the busy city of Barcelona) at 9 in the morning, and all of the sidewalks are clean from the early morning daily cleanups the city has to keep the city beautiful. Classes start with Spanish, which is my easiest and hardest course. Depending on the work load of the other classes I take, Spanish may seem easy (reasonable amount of simple homework) compared to the studio with large workloads but sometimes spanish changes pace as it is now, mas dificil.

Spanish is followed by our class on Gaudi which is either a lecture on the man or other works of the Modernisme style, or an adventure in the city to experience his works. We will visit his building, and take a tour with our instructor, Magda, as our guide. After Gaudi fascinates us, we generally wither hit up some catalan restaurant with a tasty sounding Menu de dia or head out for some other part of the city. The concept of the “Menu de Dia” is different from what the travel guides will tell you. Although Rick Steves will tell you menu in spanish is la carta, what you want is el menu de dia. This is a 3 course meal generally in the 10€ range consisting of the day’s fresh menu. It includes wine and bread and is the opportunity to enjoy a large lunch with friends.

The afternoon is the time to work on studio, explore a new part of the city, or the perfect time to hit up one of Barcelona’s numerous museums. This week included a visit to MACBA, Barcelona’s museum by Richard Meier. The white building of squares sits in the old city and houses Barcelona’s collection of contemporary are along with other exhibits.

The day usually ends with a quick excursion home for dinner around 9pm or a visit to a bar for some beer. Some nights include a trip out to the clubs (nasty mondays at the apolo) or the blue bar we now love in Gracia.

Thats a pretty basic summary of a day here, but just as no 2 snowflakes are alike, my days here vary.

» Pictures from a typical day

On arrival to the Roses stop, our excitement began to build up with sights of true Spain (where Barcelona’s cosmopolitan and modern lifestyle is more international). Our bus took the winding road over the mountains just outside the small fishing town and occasionally offered quick glimpses of the small home of Salvador Dali.

Our arrival was quick and chilly, and we quickly found our way to the el Rancho Hostel where we were staying. We then hit the streets for a walk around and the place which was, as Hannah would say,”precious.”

The next morning offered a cloudy and windy welcome to the town. With many reviews and suggestions for our stay, we had most of our day planned out, starting with the Casino. Magda, you were right, it was a great place to get breakfast!

After breakfast, we headed south and found our way to the church in the town’s center and high spot. The small building featured a magnificent alter and apse which we stared at while the organist serenaded us with some classic catholic tunes.

We headed out into some very welcome sunshine, which lit up the entire white town. (You may have noticed, but this entry will be more of a photoblog post…)

After the church, we found a nice little spot on the water to sketch. After a while, we took some profile-type pics and headed out to a small island which had a neat bridge to it.

Lunch time was spent in a little tourist trap on the beach in the center of Cadaques, enjoying some tapas, a bocadillo, y una cerveza de San Miguel.

Our walk the previous night took us to the northern part of the area and we follow our footsteps for a little bit until ending up in the newer and more expensive residential areas outside of the town.

We ran across a really nice house, assuming someone important lived in it (such as Juan Carlos). Next door was a little peninsula where the wind was irresistible.

Kite flying was a blast until the wind was too gusty for teaching (Hannah had never flown this kind of sport kite before). We then headed off to Port Lligat and Dali’s house. The place was closed for the season so we enjoyed the port and headed back to Cadaqués where we got some snacks at the local grocery and had dome drinks at a cafe.

The conversation was intense, with the topic of design, typography, and Hannah’s portfolio. We talked for some time then headed off to a little resturant which was reccomended to us.

The restaurant, Casa Anita, was one of the best meals I’ve had in a while (thanks Magda for the suggestion here). We had our dinner along with a bunch of wine and a few neat conversations with the owner. He would pull up a chair to your table and explain what was on the menu, instead of handing you one, then recommend what you would want depending on what you like.

The trip included a lot more then what I wrote above, including more of Judy’s cats. Apparently cats running all over is not a general occurrence in Barcelona but it is common in a few parts of Spain. In our short walk from Dali’s house to the center of the town, we saw tons of cats all over, and it was funny ever since our encounter with the Polish cat from the Monastery.

Our trip came to an end after a quick night’s sleep and an early morning 2 hour bus ride back home to Barcelona.

» See all pictures from Cadaqués

In the course of a few hours we went from ideas to travel plans, backups, research and more… The 29th was a Friday which we have been very excited  for because we had no class. As the 3 day weekend allows for more travel time, I ended up taking 2 trips, the first of which will be described here: the mountain monastery of Montserrat.

The trip to Montserrat is the ideal day trip from Barcelona. It was very easy to get tickets and to get there, all with public transpotration (FGC railroads) which take you from Barcelona’s Placa Espanya hub to the base of the mountain. Our day began in a hectic manner, quickly getting to the train and meeting up with our friend who would get our bus tickets for Cadaques (the next post in the blog) before making it intime for the hourly train that would take us up. We disembarked the R5 line and transferred onto the cog railroad which took us up the mountain to Montserrat. Since it was winter and the weather was not ideal, many of the attractions were not open (funicular railroad lines to surrounding places at the monastery and the closure of the cable car, aeri). We still had a marvelous time.

It was a bit chilly and the area was submersed in fog but the sun did manage to peek through later in the day. We wondered around the place, finding our way into the basilica, which was fantastic.

We were the typical tourists – taking pictures, eating lunch in the cafeteria, walking on the paths, and looking at the schedule which set out the day’s highlights including the boys choir. The performance was exceptional except for it was short, maybe 10-15 minutes. We headed out of the basilica to see the sun on the basilica and the rocks surrounding.

The basilica was the highlight of the visit, the detail of the entire place exceeds any photograph or what a book can describe. Each part of the church also had it’s own highlight – from the numerous alters lining the edges of the isles to the hidden chapel and detail of the apse at the front of the basilica, the place was truly astonishing.

After I squeezed every last bit of power from my camera’s battery, we walked around while waiting for the train down the mountain, we came across a cat. This feline became quite fond of Judy, following us along where ever we went. We later found out that the cat spoke Polish. After pulling the “puppy dog eyes” routine, Judy broke down and gave it a snack which it ate with lightning speeds and continued to follow us. It was very funny.

We caught the R5 down to Barcelona where we had just under 2 hours to prepare for our next adventure…

» Photos from Montserrat

The day was easy going and included a trip to the architects association bookstore and supplies shop a floor below. The building also includes a library which is set in the old city center in the Barri Gotic / El Raval area across a plaza from the Barcelona Cathedral. Filled with books, the place is very cool and has an impressive collection of monographs, magazines, and general architectural and design literature. After we failed to find a t-square in the store, we set off in our separate ways to grab a bocadillo for a snack then head back out.

Our adventure out into the city started in a very hectic manner, and was filled with excitement. When crossing the street at Placa Kennedy, I was almost hit by a taxi which did not care for the rules of the road. After my worst fear came true (the confrontation of Spanish Police), the officer I had to talk to spoke english. The taxi driver was ticketed and I walked away, not much of a story but it all happened so fast, I don’t know.

We headed towards a Gaudi designed college which turned out to be very private so we wondered into a park, Sant Gervasi de Cassoles, where the sun set and the lights of the city made for quite a view.

We left the park as the police were driving around at the lat hour and we looked at the Lesseps plaza and library which was interesting to see after we talked about the rehabilitation of the site. The area used to be a place of noise and traffic and lifted streets – a memory many of the locals did not like. When the city came through and redesigned the intersection, the public art and sculpture that was intended to be a nice addition to the space became an unwelcome memory of what once had been, oh well, that’s what you get when you let metaphor influence design. We headed home for the night after photographing the library at Lesseps.

» Photos from the Sant Gervasi Adventure

From a really late start, I hit the streets looking for Muji, my new favorite store that sells the perfect sketchbook (so good that I have ditched Moleskins) for a euro 50 (yup, a whole sketchbook for ~$2). After my big shopping trip, I headed over to La Pederera (also known as Casa Mila) where the tourists were all missing in action and the sun was shining perfectly.

After shooting around 200 photographs (don’t worry, I didn’t post them all), I was in the Gaudí mood so I headed over to Barcelona’s Block of Discord.

The block is famous for not fitting in, with all of the buildings having very different facades while being of the modernisme style (the Catalan/Barcelona version of Art Nouveau). Gaudí’s famous Casa Batlló is the focal point of the block but the other facades are still impressive, being designed by some of Gaudí’s contemporaries.

Our first day of studio was a very relaxed yet exciting class where we had a quick talk on our project, then we hit the streets for a site visit where we would be redesigning a youth center within a Eixample city-block’s center. The Proeixample project is a city initiative that is revisiting Cerdá’s 1850’s plan for the city which ended up being the famous grid Barcelona is known for. In the spirit of public spaces, the Proeixample project buys up land in the center of the city’s blocks with the intention to redesign the space for the public.

Projects have included public parks, youth and senior centers, libraries, and more – all of which are being designed by local architects to maintain the Catalan identity.

One of the better examples of the completed Proeixample projects is the Càndida Pérez Gardens which included a library and senior center. We toured the center and it’s 5 floors which included spaces for anyone from kids to seniors to students.

» Photos of the Day’s Adventures

Many of the other participants had continued into the night long after I left after our tapas night and their adventures (including a visit to Montjuic and the Apolo) were great so we set out for the same thing. After changing plans early in the night, we headed to a bar featuring 1 euro shots which kept us occupied until we headed off to the Apolo, a big club in Barcelona. The walk to the club was an adventure in itself and once we finally arrived, we found one of the largest and insane lines I have ever seen (and it was around 3am).

We entered the line and slowly progressed towards the doors until the doormen said it was all full, and that we should go away. We wondered around the area, trying to end up inside but no luck. We gave up and took a taxi to Plc. Catalunya where the Nit Bus took us home for a little sleep.

No photo gallery for the day, didn’t take very many pictures.

Our hike took us into the hills of Vallvidrera and was very cool. With views of the cloudy city below and peeks of Norman Foster’s communication tower above, the walk was very exciting. We talked to our guides about Spain and places to travel and also looked into some of the other CIEE provided trips which were in store for us in the upcoming weekends.

Our destination was Can Martí which overlooked Barcelona and the Med. The spot is well known for it’s famous calçotadas. An onion cooked over an open fire and charred to perfection, calçotadas were a yummy mess. We dawned our aprons and enjoyed wine and 8 courses of this massive meal, not including the calçotadas which we had multiple plates of.

Some of the meal’s highlights included the colçotadas themselves along with bread and the wine which you could either pour in a glass, or drink from a single container with a spout. Although practice makes perfect, the group went right in to drinking from the pitchers called a Porrón. Some of us tried perfecting the act of drinking with multiple porróns.

We ate our dessert and headed out for the FGC funicular and to the city of Barcelona.

» Photos from the day

We began to wander around the streets of L’Exiample district and came across a neat public exhibit of sculptures by Auguste Rodin. Among the dozen or so sculptures inculded one of his best known pieces, the thinker. While among the sculptures, we met up with mor of the group and headed towards the Gracia district, visiting a few shops along the way including a new personal favorite, Muji.

Our adventure landed us at a nice pizza parlor where Passeig de Gracia turns into Carrer Gran de Gracia. We enjoyed a new variety of pizza accompanied with some chocolate cake and an appetizer which is completely different from those pizza stops in the US. Our group headed thier separate ways from there and I headed up into the Gracia and Tibidabo/Sant Gervasi Districts which I haven’t spent much time in.

The dynamic and feel of this part of Barcelona is very different in an array of ways. From the size and directions of the streets and the variety of people in the area contrasts to the constantly busy small streets of the old town or the perfect grid filled with speeding mopeds and cars. In the spirit of adventure, I chose to stay on the paths less taken, avoiding traffic and stoplights and was amazed at the surprises the quiet corners of this area had hidden away. From small churches squeezed between 7 story apartment buildings to the neatly dressed older men out for a stroll, the area had more of the stereotypical European feel that Barcelona’s popular cosmopolitan districts have avoided.

My adventure led me into the streets above the metro/FGC’s L7 end station at Placa Kennedy and a Condis (spanish supermarket) which caught me by surprise. Supermercados are generally small stores squished in to a single small space and are everywhere. They generally will have 2 isles, and you would enter and follow one to the back of the store and then follow the other to the checker, or caixa. This Condis was neat in the fact that it was just a long hallway (larger then some supermercados) which lead to this huge store, the size of a medium American Albertsons or King Soopers.

After picking up a liter and a half of agua for 39 eurocents, I headed home for a siesta before heading out for a guest lecture on vertical gardens.

Located in the poblenou area of Barcelona, IAAC hosted botanist and vertical garden master Patrick Blanc. His talk was in English with his thick French accent and included a summary of the vertical gardens he builds along with a variety of projects where the architects used his material. From massive ceilings in Dubai to walls on Jean Nouvel’s latest projects, his work is impressive. Some of his walls include over 500 different native species! Definitely a material which will be a popular addition to many architects’ toolbox.

The IAAC also had their Solar Decathlon entry on display, with many models all made out of wood with laser cutters. The night ended with a stroll into the Gracia district for a few drinks at some neat bars.

» Pictures from the day