April 2026
This city was visited as part of a Spanish tapas tour in the style of Erasmus: Madrid, Granada, Sevilla, Córdoba, Barcelona
There’s a direct train from Paris to Barcelona—fast and convenient
The area around the train station is under construction, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to turn out well
Just five minutes away, the city starts to feel peaceful
Suddenly, many streets are closed up for pedestrians
Maybe because the holidays are coming up, or maybe it’s always like this. Either way, it’s very nice
Catalan is seen on signs. You hardly hear it on the street, but when two people speak to each other in it, they show each other special respect
A free museum sponsored by a bank
It used to be a factory
But we headed for a bigger museum
We had to walk up a pretty steep hill
There was only one escalator, at the bottom
On a funny note—in Spain, it’s standard practice to check bags. I shoved my backpack into the X-ray machine, and it got stuck there. It took 10 minutes to figure it out
I saw the 3D version of the painting for the first time
The views of Barcelona from the museum are fantastic
It was worth the effort to climb up
The subway is okay, but it’s hot in there
The city is great for walking
They were selling books and roses on the street—the main holiday, “Sant Jordi,” was beginning
Dedicated to allergy sufferers
Catalan—mostly in writing
The city is full of mopeds
On the debate: Is this Spain or not?
Living ten minutes from the metro is quite pleasant
Indeed, many streets are lined with simple flowers
The Sagrada Família comes into view
When I was learning Spanish, it didn’t look like this yet
The evening’s highlight
I hope to come back next time, and see even more of it completed
The architecture is mostly brown
Entire squares are reserved for pedestrians
The city is quite lively in the evening
A unique button was discovered. LLamar?
Gaudi, by the way, left his mark absolutely everywhere
And we arrived right in the heart of Sant Jordi
There were just a huge number of people in the center in the middle of the workday
When I was leaving, there was a funny transfer: they were repairing the subway, so the transfer was across the street
And this is what boarding a train looks like in Europe—you have to arrive half an hour early and suffer, suffer
My take on Barcelona—it’s okay, but you have to be Catalan to really get into it