Poblenou: My Neighborhood in Barcelona

I was lucky enough to have lived in the Poblenou neighborhood in Barcelona.  I consider myself lucky to live here because this area is still developing into a residential area and I have been able to witness it first hand.  Poblenou used to be the industrial part of town for Barcelona during the industrial revolution.  It was a big open plot of swampland located just southeast of the Old City and near the Mediterranean. This was a prime location to build factories not only because of the openness of the land, but also because importing and exporting goods was a lot easier and more efficient given that Poblenou is right near the ocean.  Chimneys from the old factories are still standing present day in order to remember the roots from which this neighborhood grew from.

It wasn't until long ago that this area of Barcelona started to become more of a residential area.  Old factories are now being turned into office buildings, apartment buildings, restaurants, art studios, and even night clubs (most famously Razzmatazz).  Given that Poblenou is a "late blooming" neighborhood, it is a blessing in disguise because this has given the residents of the area the opportunity to make the neighborhood how they want it.  From living in this area it is evident that art is greatly appreciated and important to the local residents.  Everywhere I walk I see graffiti on walls and there are also many local art stores on the Ramblas del Poblenou.  There are also many music festivals and little concerts going in this area as well.  Outdoor activities are also prevalent in this area.  There are many parks for kids and dogs in this area and they are always being used.  On the way to the beach from my apartment there is a soccer field, a rugby field, and a skate park just outside the beach and on the beach you are almost always guaranteed to see people wind surfing and kite surfing.  Lastly, and most obviously, family and friends is very important to the residents of Poblenou.  It is rare that you will see locals in the park, eating or drinking alone.  They are always with their family and/or friends.  

Poblenou is starting to become a more populated area because of the recently installed Diagonal Mar, which was the fairgrounds for the Forum and now is used to more easily connect opposite ends of the city of Barcelona.  Poblenou is on the yellow line metro (L4) and has its own stop, thus showing it has now become a major part of the outer city limits of the Old City of Barcelona.  Not only is there a major metro stop for Poblenou, but there is currently a project underway to install a high speed train in the St. Martin district.  Poblenou resides in the St. Martin district and is one of the biggest and most influential neighborhoods in this district.  By installing a high speed train in this district, it not only shows that Poblenou and the St. Martin district is greatly growing, but also that residents of this area will be able to reach more destinations faster.  Poblenou is a neighborhood full of life, art, fun, and growth and I feel very fortunate to have been a "local" here for the four months that I lived in Barcelona.

 

Barcelona Dining: Bo de B

Like El Timbal is our usual dinner if we don't want to eat anywhere else or make our own food, Bo de B can be considered the same for our lunch plans.  If we do not want to make our own lunch, Bo de B is our fallback plan every time.  Bo de B is a small sandwich shop in the El Barri Gotic area.  It is off the Barceloneta metro stop (yellow line, L4) and is right near the Marina where the statue of Christopher Columbus is.  Walking up to Bo de B, you would not think it is anything special; it is a small walk up window where you order unless you are sitting there to eat your sandwich.  The inside only seats about 10 to 15 people comfortably.  Once you walk up to the window is when you realize that you are going to eat a great sandwich.  You see an assortment of fresh chicken, beef, rice, sauces, cheeses, and vegetables that can all go on your sandwich--nothing is touched until you tell the person what you want on your sandwich.  Once you say what you want on your sandwich you see it get freshly made right in front of you--I get chicken, cheese, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and all of the sauces on mine.  The sandwich is then served to you on a fresh baguette.  The best part about this sandwich is although it is made with high quality food, it only costs four euros!

After my friends and I all get our sandwiches we will either eat them on the steps of the post office right next to Bo de B or on the marina where we can look at all of the boats.  These sandwiches get a little messy and some of it falls to the ground, but not to worry because there are plenty of pigeons waiting around to eat what you drop!  I strongly suggest eating a sandwich at Bo de B if you never have before, you definitely won't regret it.

Barcelona Dining: El Timbal

El Timbal is in the neighborhood in Barcelona where I live, Poblenou.  It is about a three minute walk from my apartment and was stumbled upon by my roommates and I on our first night living in our apartment.  We wanted to eat somewhere local in order to not only get a feel for Spanish food and culture, but also for a general feel of what Poblenou is like as well.  We saw that El Timbal had a menu outside that displayed many options for Tapas, a famous Spanish dish, so we decided to try it.  All of us, however, did not feel comfortable or adventurous enough to try any of the unfamiliar tapas that were on the menu, so we decided to look at the sandwiches portion of the menu
instead.  From what we could interpret--the entire menu was in Catalan, not Spanish--a sandwich called "El Kiki" sounded appealing.  It is pretty much a toasted baguette with grilled chicken, a tomato spread, and another type of local spread, and it is delicious.  What made the sandwich taste even better was discovering that it was only three euros!  Our waiter suggested that we also try patatas bravas.  This was something unfamiliar to us all but we decided to try it anyways since we knew it had something to do with potatoes.  This was a great decision on our part because the patatas bravas tasted even better than the sandwiches.  Patas bravas are thin, circular sliced potatoes with all sorts of seasonings and mayonnaise on top.  Needless to say, we were all hooked after our first dining experience at El Timbal and became regulars there.  I have never gotten anything different when eating at El Timbal: patatas bravas and a kiki always.

                                                   Patatas bravas (in the back) and peppers

Local News: Catalonia Bans Bullfighting

When I think of Spain, one of the first things that comes to mind is bullfighting.  This, however, will not be the case for Catalonia anymore.  In July of 2010, Catalonia's parliament voted to ban bullfighting on account of animal cruelty.  This vote made Catalonia the first region of Spain to ban this traditional sport.

I have to say, though it is cruel to the bulls, I was excited to see a bullfight in Barcelona.  Upon arriving in Barcelona, the hotel CEA put us in for a couple days before moving into our apartment was right next to the Barcelona bullfighting stadium, El Monumental.  I telling one of my friends we should try and see a bullfight as soon as possible, just to gain a sense of Spanish tradition and to experience something that neither of us have before.  After asking around if others would want to come with us, we found out that the sport had been banned.  When I went to Rome to meet my family for a weekend, my other friends went to Madrid and saw a bullfight there.  After asking them how it was, none of them seemed excited about it and simply replied, "I mean, you literally watch a bull get killed seven times in a row.  It got pretty disturbing and old after a while."  After hearing that, I was glad I didn't have the chance to see a bullfight in Barcelona.  Though it is a huge Spanish tradition, it seems pretty cruel and even a bit boring after hearing my friends describe it.  I wonder if banning the sport will have any sort of negative tourist or economical effect on Barcelona.  If there is any, I doubt it would be very relevant, if relevant at all.

Barcelona: Traveling

A great thing about studying in Barcelona is that it has a big airport.  This is good because it makes traveling to other parts of Europe cheap and easy.  I was fortunate enough to see so much of Europe, I will never have an opportunity to travel as frequently as I  did while I was in Barcelona ever again.  The places I traveled to were Ibiza, Munich, the French Riviera (south of France: Nice, Eze, Monaco, Antibes, Cannes), Rome, Amsterdam, Paris, Seville, Switzerland (Geneva and Interlaken), and London.  People have started to ask me what my favorite place was that I traveled to and I never have a good answer for them, I loved every place I visited.  This is how I explain my travels to people when they ask:

Ibiza: Craziest time of my life, nothing comes close. The clubs there were huge and absolutely wild!

Munich: So much fun!  We went there for Oktoberfest and there was nothing like drinking a beer screaming world known songs such as "Hey Baby!" and "Sweet Caroline" under a tent with thousands of people from around the world.

French Riviera: Very pretty scenery and a lot of big yachts.  My dream is to make enough money to one day have a house in Monaco because I don't think I've seen a place as beautiful as that.

Rome: Such an interesting and factual city--there is so much history there!  I was able to see the Vatican, the Forum, and the Coliseum.

Amsterdam: A very "laid back" place.  It was very pretty there because the leaves were just starting to change into fall colors and it made the canals look gorgeous.  We also got to see the Ann Frank Museum and take a tour of the Heinekin brewery.

Paris: Hands down the most sight seeing I have ever done.  There was so much to see there it was crazy.  We visited the Louvre, which was huge, the Eiffel tower (also huge), Notre Dame, the business district, Arc de Triomphe, and many other places.

Seville: Such a different culture than the culture in Barcelona.  People there are a lot more low-key and not as wild and always dress very nice.  Not to say that people in Barcelona don't dress nice but in Seville I saw little kids playing in the dirt wearing khaki's and button down shirts with sweaters.  The architecture was also very different from Barcelona.  Overall it seemed to be a very charming place.

Switzerland: Absolutely gorgeous!  It was the exact opposite of Barcelona in the aspect of landscape.  We were surrounded by huge mountains, big open fields and little towns in Interlaken and Geneva.  There was also snow there which was the first time I had seen snow in Europe.  I got to go paragliding in Interlaken too which was awesome!

London: Awesome city.  We got to see Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, the Parliament building, and many other things.  We also saw the play "We Will Rock You," which is with music all by the band Queen.  It was a very fun show to watch.  I could see myself living in London to work during my early career in business.

Needless to say, I have seen a lot while abroad and consider myself very fortunate to have done so.  This is a trip I will never forget.  It was easy to get around to these different places because Barcelona has a high number of tourists coming in and out of it's city as well.  I feel like it would have been a lot more difficult to travel as easily as I did if I were studying in Granada or Seville.

                                                       Oktoberfest in Munich

                                                          French Riviera-- Monaco

                                                            Es Paradis-- Club in Ibiza

                                                                         Amsterdam

                                                                               Paris

                                                                              Rome

                                                                             Seville

                                                              Interlaken, Switzerland

                                                                          London

Barcelona: Parc Guell

Along with La Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell is one of Barcelona's main tourist attractions; but more importantly it is another example of Barcelona art and culture.  The original intention of this site in Barcelona was thought up by Count Eusebi Guell.  He wanted to make a housing location for the upper class residents of Barcelona--the location of Parc Guell was above and away from the industrial towns of Barcelona and therefore provided fresh air and an incredible view of the city.  This idea, however, failed and never became a reality.  Once again, famous local architect Antoni Gaudi was asked to design this housing development.  Though today this is a very cool and interesting park to walk around, it failed as a residential area because the upper class of Barcelona thought that Gaudi's designs and architecture for it was simply too weird to be living in.  Only two houses were built in Parc Guell, the Lerrard House and a show house; neither houses were designed by Gaudi.  Guell lived in the Lerrard House and Gaudi lived in the other.  The other house was built originally to be a show house, and once it was completed in 1904 it was put up for sale; however, nobody bought it and so Gaudi and his family moved into it in 1906 and lived there until 1926.  In 1963 this house was transformed into the Gaudi Museum (Casa Museu Gaudi) and in 1969 it was declared a historical artistic monument of national interest.  This allowed Barcelona culture to be further showcased to the world.

When I visited Parc Guell the first thing I saw was the famous dragon on the entrance steps to the park.  The curvature, bright colors, and unique tile design was a style of art that I had not been familiar with and it gave me a sense of what the rest of the park would be like.  This park is not only a lot bigger than I thought, but also a lot prettier than I thought.  The landscape and creativity used in the park was beautiful to look at and it also showed me another side of Gaudi's imagination.  This park is more expressive of Barcelona culture in general and is complimented perfectly by the amazing view of the entire city.  I thought that the Gaudi Museum was also very cool to see and walk around.  To be able to be in the same house that the genius architect once lived in was an incredible experience.  Not only did I get a sense of how he lived  his last 20 years of his life, but also I was able to see where he drew up designs for his other famous works such as La Sagrada Famila.  Visiting Parc Guell gave me a feeling that I had fully experienced Barcelona culture.  The art and design of the park expresses a fun and different way of life, and this is noticeably reflected by the people of Barcelona which I think is very cool and unique.  Not every city has a landmark that correlates so closely with the lifestyle of its people, but Barcelona does with Parc Guell.

Barcelona: Nightlife

When somebody mentions Barcelona, the average college student does not think about the famous architects, artists, or landmarks the city is home of, but rather the nightlife the city is home of.  Besides Ibiza, an Spanish island in the Mediterranean known as "the party capital of the world," Barcelona arguably places in a close second.  This city is full of beautiful culture, beautiful people, and beautiful clubs.  Though despised by a good majority of locals, famous clubs on Port Olimpico such as Opium, Shoko, and CDLC give Barcelona its reputation for great nightlife.  They are huge, spectacular looking clubs with great music and a great location: right on the beach.  It can't get much better than that.  The only problem is drinks are ridiculously over priced.  If you are to arrive at one of these clubs before 2am, you're early.  These places don't get going until usually 2:30am and can go well into sunrise.  The unique thing about Barcelona night life is that any night of the week there will be a club promoting drink specials or famous DJ's playing at that club on that particular night.

I have never experienced a night scene such as the one that I have in Barcelona.  There are not many, if any, clubs such as Razzmatazz, Opium, Otto Zutz, Shoko, or CDLC in my hometown back in the United States.  For this reason, I tried to take advantage of going to these places while studying in Barcelona... then my wallet got very thin very fast.  It was then that I discovered that the night life does not have to only consist of these posh clubs.  I discovered many different local bars in my neighborhood and around the city that are filled with locals looking to have just as good of a time as the tourists are in the major clubs.  Drinks are a lot more reasonably priced at these places, and the bouncers do not have a sense of entitlement thinking they are some sort of invincible god.  Overall, I have had a great experience of Barcelona nightlife and am confident that I will not be able to find anything like it anywhere back in America.