Breaking In Barcelona

I'm now traveling through Europe, but I thought I'd make one last entry to consummate my time in Barcelona. The following are an assortment of pictures from Barcelona that I didn't get a chance to post in here yet.

Sagrada Familia by Gaudí:

Typical Narrow Streets:

There was a day in Barcelona called "Día de Sant Jordi" that celebrates the Patron Saint of Barcelona. The story goes that he slayed a dragon to win the hand of a princess, and the dragon's blood turned into roses. So every year on April 23 the men in Catalunya give the women a rose. These ones were my favorite:

Some views of Barcelona:

Barcelona at Night:

Gaudí:

More Modernism (Gaudí's era and style):
Palau de la Musica by Domenech i Montaner

Gothic era cathedral (13th century) Basilica Santa Maria del Mar:

Barcelona Beach:

Gardens of my School University of Barcelona, the second oldest University in the world:

Park de la Ciutadella:

Friends Megan and I met in Barcelona:

Arroz Negro (Black Rice, the color is from being cooked in squid ink):

Bubbles! Gothic Quarter:

Plaza Reial on a Rainy Afternoon:

Barcelona, Constantly Under Construction:

The Ladies of my Casa:

All in all, studying in Barcelona was a really good experience. I had the best apartment in Barcelona because I was living with the best people in Barcelona, and traveling Europe right now is showing me that Barcelona was the perfect city to be a 21 year old student living in.
My top three lessons learned from living there have been (in no particular order):
1. How to treat people better, or how to always be a "lady" or "gentlemen" in your mannerisms. Europeans have an intrinsic sense of how to act and how to treat others, which I think most Americans of my generation lack. What I mean by this is a selflessness, an ability to go totally out of your way to help someone, and to do it because you genuinely want to help them. To try to live better by creating a sense of community with the friends, family, and strangers around you.
2. This is a personal realization: I am not a city person. I always thought I was, and dreamed of living in New York or San Francisco, but as I've matured I realize the importance of quiet, nature, and a sense of familiarity and community with your surroundings, which is hard to feel in a big city.
3. I want to live somewhere that is bursting with history and art. Europe functions and sees things differently than the U.S. because of these two elements that make up their culture, and usually I find that I like their ways better. As Henry Miller said in one of the last lines of Tropic of Cancer, "Here, where the river gently winds through the girgle of hills, lies a soil so saturated with the past that however far back the mind roams one can never detach it from its human background."

Next entry I'll delve into the latter idea more with more tales of my travels around Europe, especially of the most spectacular city of Roma.

Much love,
Emily

I decided my final project for my photography class here in Barcelona would assume the theme of "reflections of Europe," and I suppose you could say that a sub-theme was "colors." I am on the verge of being obsessed with reflections and colors, especially when combined (hence my adoration for bubbles). I don't know why... they just seem magical.
Here are all the photos included in my book, sometimes with a quotation attached. You may have seen some of them before...

"Reality, whether approached imaginatively or empirically, remains a surface, hermetic." Samuel Becket
[Barrio Raval, Barcelona.]

[Cemetery, Paris.]

[Girona.]

"Travelers are fantasists, conjurers, seers-- and what they finally discover is that every round object everywhere is a crystal ball: stone, teapot, the marvelous globe of the human eye." Cynthia Ozick
[Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona.]

[La Boquería, Barcelona.]

"This world of imagination is infinite and eternal, whereas the world of generation is finite and temporal. There exist in that eternal world the eternal realities of everything which we see reflected in this vegetable glass of nature." William Blake
[Sepulchre Window, Paris.]

[Dalí Museo, Figueres.]

[University of Barcelona Gardens.]

[Dying Crab, Barcelona.]

[Broken Rose, Barcelona.]

"This sea has the color of mackerel, changeable I mean. You don't always know if it is green or violet, you can't even say it's blue, because the next moment the changing reflection has taken on a tint of rose or gray." Vincent Van Gogh
[Sea, San Sebastian.]

[View from Megan's Apartment, Barcelona.]

She Was Living in Quite a Bubble...
[Marie Antoinette's Bedroom, Versailles.]

[Abstract Window, Barcelona.]

"Don't tell me the moon is shining, show me the glint of light on broken glass." Anton Chekhov

Amor....

I went to Tossa del Mar and Girona (two beautiful ancient cities) and Figueres (has the Dalí museum) with my program the weekend before going to San Sebastian. Both Girona and Tossa del Mar were gorgeous, and the Dalí museum made me realize that he is the artist I most understand and appreciate. He had such a variety of ideas and most importantly, was the greatest dreamer there ever was.
These are two of his bronze and gold sculptures...


The museum was really interactive, and this was a room he created that you could see through a looking glass:

Epic tapestry...

This was in the inner courtyard.

All of these places were North of Barcelona, and within twenty minutes of driving in this direction everything turned into the most vibrantly green landscapes I've ever seen.
Girona:




Me, Erica, and Kathleen:

Tossa del Mar, a beautiful beach town that was apparently made famous by Frank Sinatra's and Ava Gardner's visits there:

Work in Tossa del Mar:

On a hill off to the side is an old, old Roman town and castle.


This street in Tossa del Mar appeared to me to be a very typical Spanish calle... white buildings and wisteria.

La Luna y el Pájaro en Tossa del Mar:

Finally, a pretty picture of the deep blue Mediterranean sea:

Un abrazo y un beso...
Emily

San Sebastian
I think San Sebastian is probably the loveliest place to live on Earth. It seems like the perfect medium between Santa Cruz and Paris, with the culture of Spain. It's located in the Basque region Northeast of Barcelona, about an eight hour drive away.
If you go to Spain, make sure you go there. Here’s some pictures to further prove this point… though I think the most telling thing about a city is the feel you have while you’re there—the extent to which the city charms you.
Nonetheless, here’s a sampling:




Cute picture of Traci and Erica hugging.... they're my friends that I traveled with (I met them in my program).

Erica about to enter a "secret passageway"



There was a nosegay of roses swimming around in the ocean...

This structure is one of a very famous group done by some Chilean man. They all stick out of the oceanside cliffs.

Coincidental Resemblance...

Kathleen, Traci, Erica, and Me

Traci's hair as she looks over what resembled a mini-Seine.

Sunset


Night Falls

I've decided that I will live in San Sebastian someday. I want to return and teach English for at least a little while. Living in Barcelona has made me realize I can’t handle big cities for long periods of time—they’re so noisy and dirty and an overload for the senses and there’s so much consumerism and jaded, mean people and everyone becomes so deluded with synthetic things and ideas.
For those reasons, San Sebastian seems like the perfect place to live. Bigger than Santa Cruz, but still with a “small town” feel, relaxed surfer culture, lots of history, on the coast, lots of rain= lots of green, nice people, etc. etc. Maybe you can come visit me in the future and see for yourself someday!

Until then, besitos y abrazos

Emslice in. Just wanted to make a quick note that I have seen quite a few "Santa Cruz" sweatshirts, stickers, hats, etc. here in Barcelona. My parents were just here to visit me and while we were walking down a Barcelona street, a young guy walked past us wearing a Santa Cruz sweatshirt. We were in the midst of talking about how odd it was, when my mom saw another young guy with a Santa Cruz wallet. Then, the following day I was walking to my parent's apartment and saw a VW bus (of course) with an SC sticker on it. And finally, yesterday I saw another SC sweatshirt while waiting in line in the photo shop. But maybe it isn't all that surprising since Barcelona is supposed to be the "skateboaring capital of the world."
Also, thanks to all the birthday wishes from everyone! Very sweet. I had an awesome day in Paris with the 'rents. More to tell later. And if I haven't responded to anything sent to me on my birthday, it's because I was hosting the parents and now I'm frantically catching up on school.... but know that I do very much appreciate them!
Hasta pronto y mucho amor....
Emily