The most memorable thing about Barcelona

Barcelona is a popular tourist destination yet still retains its sense of style and native identity. Local Catalans as well as visitors from the rest of Spain and further afield know how to enjoy the city’s café culture and laid back charms. As a child I remember spending a day in Barcelona and it was the relaxed cultured atmosphere that really struck me.

However, there was something else that I really enjoyed. Back then I would have described it as the brightly colored swirly looking buildings.

Since then I have had conversations with people who have visited the city and they tend to say the same thing. My grandmother and favorite aunt went on a trip to Barcelona recently and told me all about it when they got back. Paula, my aunt, showed me pictures of those ‘swirly looking buildings’ and they are of course the work of the world famous architect Antoni Gaudi. Gaudi was a Spaniard from Catalonia, a part of Spain with its own language whose inhabitants often view themselves as a separate ethnic group. He lived from 1852 to 1926. In the photographs I could see the beautiful brightly colored buildings with their unusually rounded contours. I was also shown many pictures of my aunt and grandmother walking on cobbled streets and sitting in cafés.

Of particular interest to my relatives was the Sagrada Familia church, or the Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family in English. Designed and initially worked on by Gaudi, the building is still only half finished. It is a vast cathedral sized building with eight huge spires, although Gaudi intended for there to be eighteen. These were to represent, in ascending order of height, the twelve apostles, the four evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), the Virgin Mary and the tallest spire would then be Jesus. Paula, my aunt, was particularly impressed with the interior of the church though. She really liked the columns, which are a unique Gaudi design. Their surfaces change geometrically as you look up at them. For example, there is a column that is square at the bottom that becomes an octagon further up, then a sixteen-sided shape and eventually evolves into a circle. There are no flat interior surfaces whatsoever, everything is either smooth and curvy or jagged.

Parc Güell is another beautiful part of Barcelona that I remember well. It is a park with architectural structures designed by Gaudi. He also designed the entrance to the park and the buildings surrounding it. Here you can see beautiful rounded structures and brightly colored mosaic put together to create a unique fairytale landscape. Gaudi had four passions in life, architecture, nature, religion and his homeland Catalonia. The Sagrada Familia shows his passion for religion but Parc Güell is clearly inspired by nature. There are iron and mosaic dragons there and the columns and walls were designed in a way that complements the trees, birds and natural surroundings in the park.

Inspired by my family’s holiday I am now planning a city break in Barcelona. Whilst planning my trip I have found the Barcelona Travel Guide page on the World Travel Guide website incredibly useful. All of the Gaudi attractions are listed and there is even more on the ‘Things to do’ page. Practical information such as weather, travel, hotels and exchange rates are also on the website.


Roisin Evans is the author of this article on Barcelona Travel Guide. Find more information on Travel Guides here.