Barcelona’s Stunning Beauty and a Lack of Fear

I hate what YouTube does to my perception of destinations, worse when it’s one that I have never spent time in. For the past three days, I’ve been walking around Barcelona and seeing some of the impressive sights. Places that I bet more visitors wouldn’t know to visit,  like the Palau de la Musica, and the churches plunked down in the alleyways of the Gòtic Quarter. Here is where I was supposed to be afraid, isn’t this where the crazy pickpockets will steal your phone?

Sure, you can be robbed, and you can have your phone quickly picked up and stolen if you leave it on a cafe table.  One trick I read about is being approached by a person with a piece of paper, and they put it on top of where your phone is, then whisk it away. I kept my phone off the table but managed to shoot hundreds of photos of this beautiful city. I guess you just have to be aware, as they say.

That Palau, though, what an incredible building. Built in the 1890s, it was and still is the headquarters of a large choir, its purpose-built home, designed by the famous architect Domènech i Montaner, who was also a botanist. Therefore, most of the decorative features of the ornate 2000-seat concert hall are floral in nature.  The most impressive feature is the natural light that floods in from both regular and stained glass windows.  The hall is booked for classical and pop music events throughout the year, and the acoustics are magnificent.

We walked around the alleyways and mostly pedestrian areas, and each time we would look up to another beautiful building, so many different types of them. I also love how the city’s harbor is so accessible. We crossed a bridge that was being opened after letting boats through, a two-giant wooden pier that came together to let people cross.

On my last night here, I set out to find what everyone wants in Spain…Tapas.  I found a Basque restaurant a short walk away and was soon enjoying squid and some potato tapas. Oh yeah!