El Mercado

The other day I visited the Boqueria market in depth for the first time.  I has walked through the market before but I never really took the time to notice all the interesting and unique things in the market.  I love all of the stand that sell different thing but at the same time seem extremely similar...i guess you have to be a native to know what the real difference is between one butcher and the next.  The Boqueria market is really a trip for the senses.  The vibrant colors or the fruits, the horrible stench of fish and the people yelling at each other in Spanish...it truly is a Catalan experience.

I really enjoyed visiting the market however I wasn't brave enough to buy anything.  I am a huge food lover but for some reason I couldn't get up the courage to buy some strange food at the market.  one thing that kept catching my eye was this white spongy looking thing that all the butchers had.  People seemed to be buying piles of it and I couldn't figure out what it was.  A few days later i found out its tripe...stomach. Eww gross! Now i have a desire to eat it after its been cooked just because i love to try new and exotic foods. I really loved that at some of the seafood stands some of the shrimp and the fish were still alive...thats freshness for you!! Visiting the market made me want to go to all the markets in Barcelona and compare them to each other...maybe my next blog post will be about this.  Or maybe it'll be about my experience eating tripe.  

I didnt take many pictures just one...i was too distracted by all the cool foods and pretty colors to take my camera out. 

I really liked these Giant lollypops in the market!

1st field trip

This past week our class visited the Museu d'Història de la Ciutat de Barcelona.  It was a really interesting and fun museum.  I especially enjoyed walking around the Barri Gotic. I loved the mixture of old and new and how the city has just grown on top of roman ruins.  The museum was extremely interesting and i thought exploring the ancient roman ruins under the museum was really cool.  I think it is so cool that Barcelona has such a historic past that a lot of people don't know about.  I think that museum had a lot of interesting historical information that most tourists would never know or learn when the visit the city.  I am definitely going to take my parents back there when they come to visit! 


During the tour we saw the old roman columns which i thought were cool but i wish you could get a closer look of them...it was hard to get a detailed view of them from so far down.  It was shocking how big they are.  I think its interesting that they are just like stuck in some little alcove in what looks like someone's front entry to their house. The romans were really an incredible civilization and the fact that they could build things like this is crazy.  


While at the museum we saw lots of roman artifacts that were sort of similar to objects we use today.  I think the coolest one though was the tic tac toe board....the fact that such a simple game that everyone knows has such an ancient history is crazy.  We also saw mosaics, wall paintings, graves and a pool (i think thats what it was), excavated remains of ancient structures, and washing and dying areas.  I think the coolest artifact that was downstairs and still partially intact was the wine storage vessels.  WOW thats a lot of wine!! Although they weren't the best roman ruins I have seen it was still really cool see these things under the city that you honestly would never know were there.  I just wish they could dig up the rest of the city to see what was underneath it.  

Outside the Cathedral...i thought that the thing thing that looks like a star was beautiful!

Mixing of old and new?

I like the gargoyles and the light on the palm tree

funny sheep thingy

What is that circular thing on the corner of the building

Roman columns

Pretty lights on the museum when we were leaving

I think the gothic windows are really cool looking when they are lit up at night...are they gothics?

I really enjoyed this field trip and i think the greatest thing that i gained from it was a better appreciation and understand of the history of the city.  I never knew that Barcelona was a roman city until this class and i'm really happy that i learned about this and was able to see the museum.  

FCB Barcelona Game

This week I went to FCB Barcelona game with my boyfriend.  It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed seeing what all the hype was about.  I love sports and soccer so it was an awesome experience for me.  It was fun to compare it to soccer games i've been to in the united states.  It was completely different in the fact that well the stadium was full, everyone smokes at the games here and the crowd wasnt as lively as I had expected.  The fans at DC united games are absolutely nuts (probably because they are all drunk) but everyone at the FCB soccer (should be calling it futbol) game were pretty low key.   The game was amazing but I think it's the place in Barcelona where everyone goes to smoke. Why are people still allowed to smoke at the soccer stadium but no where else in barcelona? Was it just the section we were sitting in Everyone either had a cigarette or a cigar so I smelled awful after the game but it still was still an amazing time! My boyfriend was in heaven...he loves sports! I also thought it was interesting that there were families...this is not as common in the US for a whole family to go to a sporting event together. I really liked all the little ids dressed in their FCB outfits, and jerseys. I really got a better understand of why Barcelona and Catalonia are so proud of their soccer team.  The team is amazing and FCB is on the top of the list of Barcelona icons with the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi and las Ramblas.  I didnt take a lot of pictures but here are a few i've posted.  

At the fubol game! GO BARCA!

i love the writing on the seats...Mes que un club

Mini street sweeper i thought was funny...we dont have these in America

Stretching!

BARCA BARCA!!!

First Cultural Experiences

I have had quite a few Catalan cultural experiences in the past few weeks however one stood out in in my mind. Last weekend I went on a field trip with IES to Montserrat.  After a horrible winding bus ride and feeling a little green after I wasn't too sure about being there anymore.  It was beautiful but it didn't look like much was going on.  We took the Funicular to the top and my opinion completely changed.  Wow!! the view was incredible and the mountain was so unique looking.  I also really enjoyed our tour guide who explained to us the history of Montserrat and all about the hermit's who lived on the top.  I can't imagine living there for so long.  No running water or anything.  Living on the side of a cliff doesn't sound very comfortable.

We then hiked around the mountain and back down to the little town.  The tour guide took us to the Art museum which was interesting and had some cool paintings but after the hike i was getting exhausted.  We had a few minutes left and I wasn't going to leave Montserrat without seeing the famous black madonna.  The line was long and we only had a few minutes left or else we were going to miss the bus.  Well i decided to wait in line and WOW it was soo worth it! It was really not what I expected and the church was so simple (as compared to some other churches I've seen) but the Madonna is amazing.  I also really enjoyed learning why it was black.  I touched the Orb and took and picture (see below).

such a pretty view

Montserrat Monastery 

can you see the elephant?

los Pyrenees

Cathedral

Candles out side the Cathedral

Black Madonna

Catalan Cultural Studies Blog

For the next semester in semester in Barcelona i will be keeping a second blog for my Catalan cultural studies class.  I'm going to be blogging about class field trips, cultural activities, fun things I do or notice, and what I eat.  I'm of course going to include lots photos as well!  This blog is just going to be my overall reaction to Catalan culture in general.