Boats & Bikes

The last couple weeks have been very busy, as classes are now finally in full swing, so I am a little behind in updating the site. Here's whats going on: For our studio project this semester, we will be designing a master plan for a protected housing development on a portion of the current industrial port. Our first site visit was done by bike, and wow, what an experience! I had made many observations about the interesting relationship of bikes to this city, but until you actually take a ride, you have no idea. You have the same access to alleys, main streets, sidewalks, and trails as you would by foot, but instead, you whip around pedestrians, cars, and mopeds in a flash. Very cool.

After biking down to the sea to photograph the site, we had a few hours left on our rentals, so we biked up one of the popular mountains in the city, Montjuic. Looking down from the castle at the top, the city view becomes a continuous sea of buildings, an astonishing sight. In the end, the race down the mountain made up for the farily difficult ascent.

Our professor also required us to take a ferry through the site to get a feel for that perspective. This proved to be equally enjoyable. For 5 euros, we got a 45 minute tour worth every cent. Being on the water soaked us in relaxation, and the wind blew away the effects of our all-nights in studio. Hopefully the pictures lend you at least a fraction of the same feelings.

Barri Gotic

The gothic region holds some of Barcelona’s oldest and most revered historic architecture, including the 14th Century ‘Catedral de Barcelona’, and the Royal Palace. It didn’t take me long to fall in love with the old streets surrounding these monuments, where dense districts of seven or eight story residences bound the maze of stone walkways, only a few feet wide in some places. These narrow streets spill out into open plazas and courtyards, full of outdoor restaurants and simple landscapes, a place where people just sit back and relax.

The City Outside My Window

Our apartment sits a few blocks from Barcelona's main pedestrian thoroughfare, La Rambla (hence the title of this blog), and the location really couldn’t be any better. Situated just seconds from the beach, seaport, and ancient gothic area, so much of the city unfolds right in our front yard. The hot days of summer require us to keep our windows open, which is amazing until I try to go to sleep at nights, but surprisingly, after only a week, I have gotten fairly good at blocking out the barking dogs, squealing mopeds, and energetic shouts. While often noisy, they are a lively element to Barcelona’s vibrancy. In celebration of getting through our first full week, some friends and I are actually heading to the beach right now. Don’t be too jealous though; since this particular beach was developed for the 92 Olympics, rumor has held that the sand must have been mostly powdered concrete! No matter, it is still quite relaxing and will make the trips farther north to the nicer beaches all the more meaningful!

BARCELONA: Day 1

My flight into Barcelona last Tuesday certainly took first place in the “Most Scenic Landings” category. Arriving from Philadelphia, we first passed over the northern portion of Barcelona, providing a fantastic overall aerial view of the area, and continued out over the Mediterranean Sea to make a right-hand turn in preparation for approach. Fortunately, my window seat was on the right side of the plane, and looking out the window through the crisp 8:00am air, I could clearly see the vivid green colors of the mountain ranges further inland and the white rows of ships lining the beautiful seaport.

During the flight, I sat next to a guy from the US National Guard, who was visiting family here in Barcelona. It was comforting to have someone who knew the ropes with me while going through customs, passport control, and baggage claim.

I met a friend from Clemson there in the airport, and we began the ordeal of our first taxi trip in Spain. Our driver spoke no English, and we spoke little Spanish. Fortunately, a slip of paper with the apartment address got us moving in the right direction. Upon arriving at the street and paying the courteous cab driver, his general pointing and my summer’s worth of satellite image and map studies both failed to help me understand where the building was located. After walking around for a while in a developing rain shower, laden with suitcases, we found our apartment building and were soon unpacked in nice rooms with plenty of day left to enjoy our temporary home. My first European excursion had officially begun.