another reason to love barcelona: the eclectic cityscape. i saw plenty of beautiful buildings in france, italy and easten europe but the architecture in barcelona is refreshingly unique. that’s due almost entirely to one man: antoni gaudí. his quirky genius can be seen in modernistic wavy buildings around town, in his breathtaking masterpiece, la sagrada familia, and at the most stunning park i’ve ever seen, parc güell. (you might remember that this is where caridee and melrose stomped to the death in the final runway show of ANTM cycle 7).
one of the many, many highlights in barcelona is la rambla, a busy street in the heart of downtown. walking along the street you’ll see all sorts of strange creatures; from chinchillas and korean chipmunks sold in cages; to people painted like statues frozen in time; to a dancin’ and blues-singin’ mini skeleton.
on new year’s eve, i took a day trip to montserrat, just outside of barcelona. it’s a serene environment with breathtaking views, perfect for reflecting on the past year, and getting away from the hoards of annoying tourists in the city center. there’s a monastery built into the mountains where i heard the benedictine monks sing at mass. their voices are beautiful but overall, they’re a stern and joyless-looking lot. i guess celibacy is a bitch, huh?
i kept hearing about a “black madonna” at montserrat and i couldn’t help but imagine an african-american material girl wannabe. i would find out that the black madonna is, in fact, a statue of the virgin mary and people go on lengthy pilgrimages to visit her. i guess you could say i made my own pilgrimage from seoul (via italy, hungary, bulgaria, czech republic, england, belgium and france). she was lovely and indeed black. they said it’s from the varnish.
i rode up to the 2nd highest peak of montserrat and walked all the way down the mountain snapping pictures along the way. click here to view the photos.
i won’t be having a white christmas. i’m in sunny barcelona where the high temperature will likely be around 60 degrees F on the 25th. judging by all the holiday decorations, the locals love to party it up here. i’m always fascinated about how other cultures celebrate a particular holiday (like the 6-8 black men who accompany santa claus in the netherlands). barcelona is in the catalunya region where they celebrate christmas with a figure called “caga tió.” that translates into “shit log.” people fatten up caga tió the days leading up to christmas. then on christmas eve or christmas day, kids beat the shit out of him until he shits out their presents. (i shit you not.)
here’s a little more detail from wikipedia:
The tió does not drop larger objects, as those are brought by the Three Wise Men. It does leave candies, nuts and torrons. Depending on the part of Catalonia, it may also give out dried figs. When nothing is left to “poop”, it drops a salt herring, a head of garlic, an onion or “urinates”. What comes out of the tió is a communal rather than individual gift, shared by everyone present.
i'm suddenly susan. i grew up in new york city. my last home was in korea where i spent three years. i left in 2007 to travel the world, freelance writing to pay the bills. europe, jamaica, fiji, NZ, australia...and i'm still on the road, currently in cape town, south africa. follow me as i continue my journey across the globe.
