Dad-Daughter European Trip: The Dynamic City of Barcelona “la Ciudad Condal”
Continuing with my series of photographs (finally!) from the most epic European dad-daughter trip of (probably?) our lifetime –
29 days from December 2023 to January 2024 via planes, trains and automobiles.
After three full days in Milan, we hopped aboard a Vueling Airlines flight and arrived in Barcelona on Friday, December 29th for the final 6 days of our remarkable European journey – Barcelona. We checked into the Hotel Barcelona Catedral located in Barcelona’s historic Gothic Quarter, a picturesque neighborhood in the very heart of the city.
BARCELONA
Overlooking the Mediterranean Sea on the northeastern coast of Spain, and famous for Gaudí and other Art Nouveau architecture, Barcelona is one of Europe’s trendiest cities. It is also a major cultural, economic, and financial center in southwestern Europe, as well as the main biotech hub in Spain.
The city itself was founded by the Romans who set up a colony called Barcino at the end of the 1st century BC. For over 200 years, Barcelona was under Muslim rule up until the Christian reconquest, a centuries-long process where Christian kingdoms in Iberia fought to regain territories from Muslim rule, concluding with the fall of Granada in 1492.
The city has become, (infamously?) one of the hottest tourist destinations in Europe. But (surprise!) it wasn’t always that way. From the 15th to 18th centuries Barcelona entered a period of decline, while it struggled to maintain its economic and political independence. In the mid-19th century, with the arrival of the development of the textile industry, a period of cultural recovery began.
But protesters have taken to the streets by the thousands over the past few years as the city grapples with the negative impacts of mass tourism: rising housing costs, the displacement of residents, the loss of local businesses, and tourist areas becoming overcrowded.
Why does this city of 1.6 million people attract more than 23 million visitors and tourists each year? That’s what we were here to find out. And we started at the Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia, also known as the Barcelona Cathedral.
Barcelona Cathedral
The Barcelona Cathedral, situated just down the street from our hotel, was constructed from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, with the principal work done in the fourteenth century. Although the actual Gothic church was already completed in 1448, the appearance of the church has been changed over the centuries through conversions and additions. The last major conversion was completed in 1913 with the completion of the middle tower.
Tickets to visit the cathedral will set you back €16.00 and include access to the terrace, which offers lovely views of the city. More photographs forthcoming in a future post…
Palau de la Música Catalana
Our next order of business was to pay a visit to the beautiful Palau de la Música Catalana, (just a six minute walk from our hotel!) to catch a New Year’s Eve concert by Carlos Núñez, a Spanish (Galician!) musician and multi-instrumentalist who plays the gaita, the traditional Galician bagpipe.
The Palau de la Música Catalana was built between 1905 and 1908 by the modernist architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The Palau, with its Catalan Art Nouveau architecture, is the only concert venue in this style to be listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The concert hall of the palace, which seats about 2,200 people, is the only auditorium in Europe that is illuminated during daylight hours entirely by natural light. More than half a million people a year attend musical performances in the Palau that range from symphonic and chamber music to jazz and Cançó (Catalan song).
And we also got plucked out of the audience and onto the stage for the grand finale! I just handed my Xiaomi 13 Ultra to a lady in the crowd seated in front of the stage and asked her to record me. I recorded from the stage with my iPhone…
Moco Museum
We visited several excellent art museums in Barcelona starting with the Moco Museum (just a 10 minute walk from our hotel), which houses an inspiring and enlightening collection of Modern and Contemporary art.
Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya
Located on the slopes of the hill of Montjuïc and built for the 1929 World Exhibition, the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya houses a vast collection of mostly Catalan art spanning the early Middle Ages to the early 20th century.
View the FULL GALLERY HERE
After exiting the museum, we saw preparations being made at the Plaça Espanya for the evening’s big event – New Year’s Eve…
New Year’s Eve
After spending New Year’s Eve in Lisbon last year, we braved the busy streets of Barcelona and took an Uber to Plaça Espanya for Barcelona’s best drone and fireworks display at the Font Màgica de Montjuïc. Despite arriving around 10:30pm, it was remarkably easy to walk through the plaza to get a good spot to see the show – and the crowd was very well behaved. One of the highlights of our trip.
Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família
Little did we know that the Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world, had been sold out for over a week(!). The church was designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, who took over as chief architect in 1883 and devoted the remainder of his life to the project. At the time of his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. He is buried in the church’s crypt.
Palau Güell
Having struck out at the Sagrada Família, we settled for the Palau Güell, a mansion also designed by Antoni Gaudí for the industrial tycoon Eusebi Güell. It was built between 1886 and 1888. It was Gaudi’s first major building in the city. There are a total of 20 distinctive chimneys designed by Gaudi which serve to ventilate the house. Check out the gallery below…
Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria
Simply referred to as La Boqueria, this is the oldest and most famous market in Barcelona, located along Barcelona’s touristy La Ramblas neighborhood.
Can I brag about my daughter for just a minute, please? After we purchased a bag of chocolate-covered strawberries, my daughter noticed this old woman hunched over a bench in the market’s dining area with her hand out asking for change. My daughter felt so bad for the woman, she went over and offered her a strawberry. She didn’t ask for a photo or even know I was taking one – my 105mm lens just couldn’t help itself. We walked by the woman on our way out and saw that she had peeled off the chocolate but was eating the strawberry. Proud dad. Brag over.
Museu Europeu d’Art Modern (MEAM)
Back in the Gothic Quarter, we took a six minute walk from our hotel to the Museu Europeu d’Art Modern (MEAM), one of the most remarkable art museums I’ve ever visited (and I’ve been to more than a few!). Their “Realism Now” Exhibit featurs some of the most amazing contemporary figurative art you’ll ever see. A MUST-SEE exhibit that runs until June 1st, 2025.
View the FULL GALLERY HERE
Favorite City?
Now, I enjoyed every city we had visited up to this point but Prague had been my favorite and I really didn’t think that would change. Then we arrived in Barcelona. I mean, I’ve been in several cities in Spain: Madrid, Santiago de Compostela, Córdoba, Sevilla, and others – but there was just something about Barcelona that made it stand out. It’s gritty and spirited and just has a certain energy about it, a NYC vibe, something you can’t quite put a finger on but it’s there. My (our) favorite city on our 29 day, 6 country trip? Barcelona.
That’s why the city attract more than 23 million visitors and tourists each year. Nuff said.
Epilogue
What can you say about spending 29 straight days with your twenty-something year old daughter while covering six countries – and every day being shits and giggles? What I can say is that I’m as lucky a father as there is on this great planet of ours. And that her mother and I did a bang-up job with this one here. Most importantly, with every trip we’ve taken, we’ve honored the memory of her mother, my wife, who passed away in 2018. Surely she’s looking down on us – smiling. And in so many ways during all the trips we’ve taken, letting us know that she’s still with us. We’ll see her again one day – but not yet…
View all galleries from our epic father-daughter European Christmas vacation HERE
