A far too brief summary of Barcelona

First, I do not think I have mentioned how incredibly skinny nearly everyone was in Barcelona. I felt out of place, and I am by no means overweight. Despite the popularity of tapas- meals of tiny portions of food- fast food chains such as Burger King and McDonald's are present on almost every block in the main section of the city. To the left of this writing, you can see one of the giant vending machines nestled in the subway stations. One might think with the prevalence of such food, more people with curves -or more obesity- would be present in Barcelona.



Second, Barcelona itself is a painting with all of its artwork dotting the least-expected places. This beautiful mosaic-dotted park, near Gaudi's home, is stuffed in a corner of a larger park that consists mostly of dirt paths and giant aloe-like trees.










If I had one piece of advice for those planning to visit Barcelona, it is "Look up." Everywhere in the city, hidden statues and ornate architecture flutter above one's head. If your eyes are cast down to the ground, which is often beautiful to look at with its stamped-leather-esque designs, you will miss the most beautiful parts of the city. This archway was hard to miss, but countless angels and paintings would have been strangers had I not kept my eyes heaven-bound.











More on Gaudi, of course, must be written. Barcelona is a living tribute to the man, whose artistic vision sings from buildings such as this. One cannot ignore La Sagrada Familia, the great church that points almost defiantly toward heaven. Such decadence seems almost sinful- spires topped with fruits, melting images of people and animals, collage-like collections of words and symbols. If Gaudi is not to your taste, try MNAC- an art museum filled with medieval, religious, Baroque, Roman and modern art. I spent my entire time there with drool dribbling out of my mouth, which was open wider than it has ever been, except perhaps when the orthodontists were installing braces.



However, for a city whose very blood is art, Barcelona also had some of the worst cases of graffiti I have ever seen. Take this statue, covered over with vulgar words. Walls, doors, sidewalks- they all seem to be fair game for someone. It's as if someobe resents the beauty of these works, as if someone is empty and wants to make everything around him or her empty, too. It breaks one's heart to see the magnificence of Gaudi and the cruelty of spray-painted obscenities on the same block.