The last day

My last day in Barcelona. I wanted to leave early but as usual it was around 11am by the time I had breakfast and left the hotel. I went straight to Las Ramblas since I'd not yet seen it during daytime. At Columbus Square there were barely any people but as I moved further along, the crowds increased to become the 'flow of humanity' that guidebooks described. There were plenty of street performers and in the beginning I gave them all a few cents. At some point I ran out of change and the street performers were cooperative no more, hiding their faces if photographed.

The flower market portion of it was nice and colorful but the bird market with its caged birds was sad and I had to look away when passing through. The roadside cafes were open and packed with tourists from all over the world (Judging by all the different languages one heard in passing). I saw the signs for a Museum of Erotica on one side of the street. Wondering if it was really a museum or a glorified sex shop, I enquired within to find out that it really was a bonafide museum and that a ticket would cost 7 Euros. Unfortunately though it seemed interesting, I really had no time to spare...
I went in search of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) designed by Richard Meier. After some wrong turns and wondering if Meier had changed his style, I accidentally turned onto the right street, and saw a building that screamed Meier's name. The classic off white, monumental scale that I had seen and loved at Getty centre, was here too and at first it seemed a bit out of place among the ornate apartment buildings of the old city. The longer I saw it though, the more I started liking it. I saw in it an attempt to create contrasts in different ways, in form, in scale, in material, in color and in reflectance. And everywhere there was space - space to walk around, sit and admire the surrounding buildings beautifully framed by this building. Unfortunately though, the same vast space also invited several homeless and poor people to call the square their home. I went in to ask about tickets, but realized that I didn't have the time to do justice to 8 euros or whatever high amount they were charging. So I contented myself to clicking some more photos of the building from outside before moving on.

My intention was to rejoin Las Ramblas but I realized that I hadn't seen Palau Guell yet. I heard that it was being renovated but figured I could get some photos of the exterior at least.
So I went back in the direction I came, taking smaller side roads in Raval instead of Las Ramblas. I discovered that some areas of Raval, particularly near the big hospital were teeming with Indians, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis. I saw quite a few Indian grocery stores, saree shops, cafes, shops selling cheap plastic goods and such. I even saw a Gurudwara. Some of these areas were dirty, full of garbage and generally seemed like really poor living conditions. Many people smiled as I passed by, acknowledging another person of their race. I had to wonder though - Did they really have a better quality of life here, than they would have had in India?

It was quite a long walk back to the area with Palau Guell and it was in vain, since the entire exterior was covered up for renovations. Following the lead of a couple of other tourists, I peeked in through the window grills and caught a couple of glimpses of a beautiful interior. Couldn't take any photos though.

At that point I figured I still had about 2 hours more of sightseeing time left and I was torn for a while trying to decide between going back to Montjuic to see the Mies Van Der Rohe pavilion or going to the beach and maybe the Forum buildings. The sea won over and I took the metro going to Barceloneta, after a brief stop midway where I wanted another look at the Palau Musica Catalana. Again, there was no time to go inside, but I did get to see the outside in a more relaxed way and admire the building. From there I went to Barceloneta. It was a long walk since I'd gotten down a stop or two earlier than I needed to and I was thirsty and hungry at the end of it. I saw the sign 'Forn La Pa' which I had come to recognize as little pastry shops. I liked these because they didn't seem overpriced, had good baked goods and generally didn't seem to have a glut of tourists inside. A croissant and some sitting on a roadside bench later, I walked in search of the beach, somewhat more refreshed. It was on this walk that I saw some of the more contemporary buildings in Barcelona.

Finally I reached the sea shore and sat down for a while, looking at the sea, enjoying the weather and pleasant scenery. There was some kind of air show put on by planes flying in formation. The beach looked nice, clean, tempting, but I didn't go into the water. I also saw the Frank Gery fish sculture nearby.
Soon it was time to go back to the hotel and pack since we had an early flight the next day.
After packing, my husband and I went on a nighttime bus tour of the city where we saw some of the prominent buildings illuminated beautifully. It was a good way of bidding farewell to a city that I'd fallen in love with.