From Gothic to Gaudí: Walking Tour of Barcelona

We have been in Barcelona for a week now and have realized that things get much busier starting on Fridays. Because of this we did our field trip on Wednesday this week. We took a walking tour of the city and it was so fun! After our walking tour in Lisbon, we knew this was something we wanted to do while we were here. Our tour in Lisbon was enjoyable, but the one today was spectacular! Part of that was because our tour guide was phenomenal. The other part was because in my opinion, Barcelona is just a more interesting city.

We did the guide through GuruWalk and would highly recommend it. The tour included an audio guide which was amazing. We didn’t have to strain to hear our guide and she didn’t have to try to yell over all the street noise. It’s mandated in Barcelona that all tours have an audio guide which I think is a smart move.

Gothic Quarter

The first part of the tour took us through the Gothic Quarter. I mentioned before that this is the oldest neighborhood in the city and the area Alexis and I stumbled upon during a walk. It was interesting to learn more of the history behind this area. We walked around the outside of the Cathedral of Barcelona and went inside what was once the house of the executioner.

It was extremely interesting to hear how much the city changed in preparation for the 1992 Olympics. For example, the Bareloneta Beach didn’t exist at all prior to the Olympics. The sand was brought in from Egypt and the palm trees from California. Also, the extremely beautiful facade on the front of the Cathedral of Barcelona was also created in preparation for the Olympics. They built the facade directly onto the existing structure.

From here we walked to the Plaça del Rei which is the courtyard of the former Royal Palace. I didn’t take very many pictures of this area, but here’s Braxton soaking up all the history our guide shared. She was such an entertaining story teller.

Coffee Break and a Local Story

One of the fellow travelers on our tour asked the guide if we could make a quick stop at a McDonald’s or a Starbucks for them to get coffee and use the restroom. Our guide politely said, “No, but I’ll take you to a local place”. I knew I liked her before this, but this solidified it! I successfully placed our order and asked for the restroom all in Spanish. Definitely a step above counting on my fingers back in Costa Rica. The rest of the family is still miles ahead of me in their Spanish skills though.

As we waited for everyone in the group to be ready to move on, our guide shared a story behind a figurine we have seen sold in stores here. They are called Caganers, which translates to “little pooper”, and are a part of Catalan Christmas tradition. Our guide said there are numerous legends, but she shared her favorite. The short story is that when baby Jesus was born, after the three wise men gave their gifts, it was the shepherds turn. Being poor, they had nothing to give. So, they dropped their pants and left an offering as a demonstration of their abundant harvest, and to give a wish for a great harvest. She said that within Catalan culture it’s very common to ask about bathroom behavior in the same way you would ask how someone’s day is going. So strange!

These figurines are often hidden within a nativity scene and are considered a good luck charm thought to bring prosperity, fertility, and good fortune to the household. We briefly considered buying one for my mom’s nativity scene back in Colorado. Don’t worry mom, we didn’t get one!

Passeig de Gràcia

We then took the metro two stops to the newer more upscale area of town. Here we got to see two of the amazing buildings created by Antoni Gaudí. The first building was Casa Batlló, which was built between 1904-1906. The entire building was designed based on the Catalan legend of Saint Jordi slaying a dragon that terrorized the streets of Barcelona. The roof represents the fallen dragon’s scales. The balconies look like skulls, and the pillars like bones, representing the people the dragon killed prior to being slayed.

Our last stop was at Casa Milà. This was built between 1906-1912 and is said to be a metaphor for the mountainous character of Catalonia. The theory is that the organic facade was inspired by the rocky landscape of Montserrat, a uniquely shaped mountain in Barcelona.

A Perfect Way to End the Day

We finished our day with dinner out at a restaurant we’ve walked past several times and wanted to try. The kids each got pizza and were surprised when they had to cut it themselves. Apparently that is common in a lot of European countries. They served us a complimentary limoncello shot at the end which was a nice touch. Everything was delicious!