A photographic look at the first leg of my four-part November trip to Europe: Barcelona and Girona in the Catalonia region of Spain
This past November, as I did in November of 2017, I took a trip to Europe. This one wasn’t quite a solo trip as my last trip had been – although I did spend lots time exploring on my own – but instead was a whirlwind of family, friends, and love. The first week of my vacation was spent visiting the Catalonia region of Spain with my mom and step-mom, and the second week was spent with my dad’s loud and boisterous family in Italy. And while I’ve learned so much and have had so many amazing experiences traveling Europe alone, I’ve come to realize that traveling with family can be just as much of a beautiful and eye-opening experience.
The way that I ended up taking this specific trip – Catalonia in Spain followed by Rome, Naples, and then the Amalfi coast – was born of a few different trips around Europe that my family was taking. It all started when my dad Joe and step-mom Nicole, who are part of the Ulster County Italian American Foundation, were told by members of this group about a trip they had taken to Ravello on the Amalfi Coast in southern Italy. I would call a this trip a “package deal” – an all inclusive (besides airfare) week in Ravello, with Italian language lessons in the morning, Italian cooking lessons in the evenings, and lots of excursions and experiences in between. I’ve been to Italy with my dad and our family 6 times now, and what started as trips that included only five of us have now turned into these huge excursions with upwards of twenty family members. So of course 13 of us immediately jumped on this too-good-to-be-true deal for Ravello. We had planned the trip for the middle of November and, out of what I can only call sheer good fortune for me, it turned out that my mom and her wife were planning on taking a trip to Barcelona in early November. It quickly became obvious that I could easily combine these two trips: a week in Spain with my mom and step-mom, followed by a week in Italy with my dad’s family. For me, it turned this European vacation into what I can only describe as the trip of a lifetime.
My first stop was Barcelona, where I met up with my mom and step-mom Debra. They had arrived a few days before me, and had already seen much of Barcelona, so we whisked right onto a train to head for Girona. Girona is a tiny but charming medieval town that lies just north of Barcelona, a quick train ride away. On our first night in Girona I was immediately immersed into Catalonia’s culture and food, and since my mom and Debra had already been there a few days they had lots of advice to give about the incredible food they had already experienced. The food in Catalonia might be my absolute favorite part about this region, although it’s certainly hard for me to say that with all of the amazing nature and art and architecture and culture that makes up this area. But there’s something about the food that I just absolutely adore; the beyond-fresh seafood, the rich sauces flavored with unique ingredient combinations, and just the simple principal of tapas (where you get to eat little bites of tons of different dishes) all enchanted me. I don’t mean to make anyone’s mouths water too much, but I want just to give an idea of some of the most memorable dishes I enjoyed in Catalonia: ribbons of fried artichokes that pop in your mouth, coffee rubbed smoked salmon that I (as a New York Jew) would say rivals any locks I’ve ever had, rich spreads made with almonds and fiery roasted red peppers, squid ink paella brimming with the fresh and briny taste of the ocean… I really could go on and on.
But if anything rivals the food of Catalonia, it’s the art and architecture. The Dali and Picasso museums showcase the work and life of two Spanish nationals that grew to be included in a small handful of the world’s most famous artists. In Barcelona, Gaudi architecture emerges around seemingly every corner, rising up out this by-all-appearances modern metropolitan city with rolling dragon-like forms and intricate kaleidoscopes of colored glass. And, at the heart of the city, the famous La Sagrada Familia cuts across the sky: the church that is Gaudi’s crowing jewel has been being built for the past 100 years, long after it’s architect’s death, and will continue to be built on for at least the next 20. As a person who never really considered herself to be very religious, I can honestly say that stepping into this church truly is a religious experience. And whether or not you believe in God, there is no question of this church’s relationship to what I’ll call the divine simply through construction that is so heavily based in nature. The columns and pillars of the central structure rise up as trees do from the earth, splaying open in jungle-like canopies that let sunlight in through dappled branches. If anything, this church simply leaves you in awe of the relationship between man and nature; how small we are in the scheme of the universe, and yet how capable we are of creating something that can provoke such a powerful experience.
And somewhere in-between all of this art and architecture and food lies the culture of Catalonia, a melting pot of all of these incredible sense-filling experiences. The famous La Boquireia market, where tourists dying for a taste of traditional Catalonian cuisine mix with locals buying fresh produce and seafood for their own kitchens and nearby office workers on their lunch breaks, is all held under an architecturally stunning open air iron canopy. The narrow streets of the beach district, dotted with drying laundry hanging off wrought iron balconies and hole-in-the-wall Catalan-speaking only restaurants serving up some of the city’s freshest seafood dishes, open onto sprawling ocean-fronts where smoothie shacks and fried-fish vendors sell to young people from who have come from all over to experience some of the world’s most beautiful beaches. Practically every corner, alley, and plaza if these gorgeous cities left me in complete awe, and there’s honestly no way for me to put into words to beauty of this region so its time for me to do what I always do: let my photographs do the talking.
Head over to check out Part 2 of my November 2018 Travels: Rome, Naples, and the Amalfi Coast!
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