Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

So it's been a while since my last blog post, but I credit my lack of entries to the insane amount of things I've done and seen here in Spain the past few weeks. Excuses aside, I've been here in Barcelona for about 6 weeks now and it seems like the time just keeps rolling on by without remorse. The highlight of it all (if I had to pick one and only one) would have to be our class trip to southern Spain just this past week. We had the opportunity to tour the countryside of southern Spain stopping at key cities along the way including Madrid, Cordoba, Granada, Sevilla, and Merida. It was my first time visiting each, and I was not disappointed. For sake of ease, I'll give a little sum-up of my adventures and explorations in each individually.

For starters Madrid was very, very nice and may take the cake for my favorite city of the entire trip. In some ways it vaguely reminded me of DC- the city atmosphere, the friendly people. It had some of the best tapas I've tried here in Spain so far, and based on the crowds of inebriated people just outside of my hostel room at 4:30 in the morning, the nightlife seemed to be pretty good as well. During our two-day stay in Madrid we had the opportunity to see the Prado Art Museum, which was an adventure in itself. I was finally able to see the famous Velasquez painting "Las Meninas" (which I had heard so much about prior to my time in Spain) in person, which was pretty exciting. While in Madrid we also meandered through the Reina Sofia Museum and I was able to admire Picasso's "Guernica" up close and personal, another painting I had heard so much about before coming to Spain. The list of sites visited in Madrid also included Herzog and de Mueron's Caixa Forum and the city sculpture garden. All in all, Madrid was a huge success.




The next city on our tour of southern Spain was Cordoba. In comparison to Madrid it was a lot smaller and a lot more quaint- very rural European. We were welcomed to Cordoba by the remains of a still-functioning Roman bridge, a pretty interesting thing to see in person. The highlight of Cordoba, however, was our visit to the mezquita- currently known as the Cathedral of Cordoba. For one of the most famous pieces of Muslim-influenced architecture in Spain, the mezquita was a really cool thing to experience.

Next on the list of cities was Granada. In many ways it was somewhat reminiscent of Madrid, only on a much smaller scale. For what Granada lacked in scale, however, it made up for in history. Our two day stay in Granada was almost entirely dedicated to examing and experiencing the Alhambra palace. Our first night after arrival we had the opportunity of admiring the Alhambra from afar, sketching it at sunset from a neighboring hilltop. We were even provided with some Flamenco-like music from some locals while we sketched, which was interesting to say the least. Our next day in Granada we toured the grounds of the Alhambra from top to bottom, power sketching along the way. We were also able to watercolor in the grounds of the Generalife gardens- some of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Concluding our second day in Granada we had the special opportunity of meeting the archbishop of Granada for a private tour of the city's cathedral. Not too shabby for one city.




Following Granada we made our way down to Sevilla. The weather was beautiful- sunny and warm, with some of the freshest air around. Shortly after arrival in Sevilla we explored the grounds of the city's beautiful Muslim/Christian influenced cathedral and saw the tomb of famous explorer Christopher Columbus. Later in the evening we were lucky enough to attend our very own private Flamenco show, my first ever. Our second day in Sevilla was spent wandering the grounds and surrounding gardens of the Alcazar, which were matched only by those of the Alhambra. Our time in Sevilla was concluded by a visit to the Calatrava bridge that night, a spectacular sight to see in person.



Last on our expedition to southern Spain was the city of Merida. It was similar in many respects to the city of Cordoba- somewhat quaint but rich with ancient Roman history. Although we were only there for one night, we were able to explore the ruins of an ancient Roman theater as well as a portion of one of Merida's aqueducts. We also spent some time in Rafael Moneo's Museum of Roman History, which definitely took the cake for one of my favorite museums ever visited.



Sadly enough our time spent in southern Spain came and went way too quickly- I was almost disappointed coming back to Barcelona, but not quite. Nothing is ever as sweet as home, or so they say.

When in Barcelona

Week number 3 here in Barcelona has come and gone, and aside from the rainy weather a few of the days, there are no complaints to be found. Unfortunately I have not declared a theme for my blog yet, but it has been a work in progress; I'm waiting for inspiration to hit, my "eureka" moment. Early in the week we had the opportunity of getting a more in depth and more detailed "guided" tour of the exterior of Herzog and de Mueron's Forum on the waterfront, a unique structure to say the least. We also had the opportunity to head to Plaza de la Virreina to work on some sketching exercises looking at proportioning and scaling systems both in plan and section- my new blog theme? We'll see. However, as I was leaving the plaza with Mike Hoak and Mike Iskandar I was lucky enough to run into an intoxicated Barcelonan man walking his dog down the street following siesta. We stopped for about 10 minutes to talk- I figured it would be a good cultural experience. In broken English he praised the United States over and over again as being a great country, but insisted that as a language English was incredibly hard to learn. Naturally we responded by telling him that his English was in fact quite good, and insisted that Spanish was just as hard if not more difficult than English to learn. It occurred to me then that, regardless of which language any one person may hold as their own- whether it be English, Spanish, Catalan, or any of the other numerous languages spoken in such a diverse city as Barcelona, there is sometimes a fine line between the "language barriers" of different cultures. It was never more apparent to me than at that one moment, standing on an idyllic Barcelonan street trying to communicate with a man from an entirely different culture than my own using all the hand gestures and broken Spanish phrases I could come up with. In any case, it was one of the most noteworthy experiences of my trip thusfar.

Later in the week I finally had the chance to see Frank Gehry's fish sculpture/pavillion up close and personal, and I was not disappointed. We also had the chance to explore the waterfront and analyze the relationship of the Meteorology Center to the urban context of Barcelona. As I was sitting on a bench sketching, a bus of tourists unloaded and made their way right in front of me. Although it may seem somewhat trivial, about 3 or 4 of them passed by and kindly said "hola" to me. I guess after 3 weeks of living in Barcelona, I'm gradually starting to blend into the culture. Que quay.

Exploration

My second week here in Barcelona was spent better acquainting myself with the great city I now call home. I had the opportunity to check out many of the great architectural gems that Spain has to offer and document everything via photograph and sketch. Early in the week our class paid a visit to Richard Meier's MACBA Museu D'Art Contemporania as well as the Museu Picasso to work on sketching exercises in axon and to document potential sequences of spatial layout. My quest for architectural wonders throughout Barcelona led me to Antonio Gaudi's Casa Batllo and Casa Mila, as well as Sagrada Familia for the second time. Unfortunately, heavy winds prevented me from going into the towers to get a bird's eye view of Barcelona as was planned.

Later in the week I had the opportunity to make the trek up Montjuic to check out the Olympic Complex where the games were held in 1992. I was finally able to get that bird's eye view of Barcelona, and it was a great one. While in the area I also paid a visit to Calatrava's infamous communication tower and left with over 200 pictures to show for it. Our class had the special opportunity of meeting up with an architecture program based in San Antonio for a sketching class at Santa Maria del Mar- it was a great experience to gain a different perspective on the architectural learning process. As the week began to wrap up I also had the chance to see Torre Agbar up close and personal. The highlight of my week, however, came Saturday night when I went to see FC Barcelona take on CD Numancia at Camp Nou Stadium.

My second week in Barcelona was without a doubt a successful one. I had numerous opportunities to check out the architecture in and around Barcelona while absorbing the culture all the while, and I look forward to what the coming weeks have in store.

A Few First-Week Kinks

I was a little unsure of what to expect coming to Barcelona considering I had never been to Europe before, let alone a huge foreign city like this. So, with all the Spanish phrases and vocabulary I could muster up in my memory from high school, I set off from New Jersey to become a part-time member of the Spanish culture. My first week here was very eventful, to say the least. I had my first taste of the "culture shock" I had heard so much about the second I tried to catch a cab to my apartment with Mike Hoak and Mike Iskandar. My driver spoke no English at all (as was expected), and it became a game of charades with a whole lot of map pointing to try and communicate with him. When all was said and done, we made it to our apartment on Portal Nou, right down the street from the infamous Arc de Triomf. Much to my surprise, Portal Nou fulfilled my expectations almost perfectly of what I had always envisioned Europe to be- narrow cobblestone streets flanked on both sides by small shops, locals wandering everywhere, clothes drying on lines hanging from balconies only big enough for my little cousin to stand on. It was quaint and relaxing (some might say idyllic), everything I had hoped for in coming to Barcelona. Also as I had expected, the apartment itself was pretty authentic European. Another taste of culture shock came with the size of everything in the apartment; our kitchen had about enough standing room for one person (two at max), and my feet barely just made the edge of my bed when laying down. It was a little different from what I was used to back in the states, but all in all I had no complaints.

The week started off well. Prior to classes starting on Monday, I had the opportunity to explore some of the local bars on the weekend and try to get a feel for the city that I now called home. I also had the opportunity to check out some of the local restaurants, since from what I had heard, Barcelona was known for its great food. Again, I was not disappointed with the selection of food here, but actually ordering was a task in itself. To wrap up the weekend, I finally got the chance to see Gaudi's infamous Sagrada Familia in person, and I was pretty amazed. Classes all started off well, and the week seemed to be going smoothly until about Wednesday. Coming home from studio that night the three of us were mugged by 7 or 8 locals, and my bag with all my architecture supplies was stolen, along with my wallet that had two bank cards and all my ID's in it. Bad luck? Poor timing? Who knows, but its not the worst that could have happened.

The rest of the week went pretty smoothly (especially considering the events of Wednesday), and here I am. My first week in Barcelona is wrapping up. I'm finally getting used to navigating the city and I'm enjoying every second of it. If every other week here in Europe ends up being as eventful as this one, I'm sure I'll have plenty to talk about when I go back home to New Jersey in May.