Barcelona
For today’s blog, we will stay in Europe. Today’s city is home to one of the biggest soccer clubs: F.C. Barcelona. Before going further, I would like to say that I am more of a Madrid fan and that Ronaldo > Messi. It had to be said. Now that I have mentioned that Ronaldo is the G.O.A.T., we can move forward. Barcelona is the city that everyone I know has been there has told me that it has everything. Barcelona is a cosmopolitan city, having public beaches, unique cuisine, and culture. Barcelona is also very famous for its architecture. Barcelona is part of Catalonia, and they have their language. If you asked me, a native Spanish speaker, if I can understand a little bit of Catalan, I would say that mostly no. I only understand some words that are the same in Spanish. Even though that Catalan and Spanish are Romance languages, they are considerably different. It would be odd to visit because it is one of the few regions of Spain where they speak Spanish and another language. On another note, I am not very fond of the Spanish accent. For me, they sound weird. Is there an accent in your language you do not like?
Let us start with an interesting fact about this region. As I mentioned before, Barcelona is in Catalonia. Since the 19th Century, there has been a national movement in Catalonia seeking its independence from Spain. A brief and simple summary would be that Catalonia was considered an autonomous region of Spain, but later, Dictator Francisco Franco suppressed the region. After the dictator’s death, the region regained autonomy under the 1978 constitution. In 2006, a statute granted even more autonomy to Catalonia, almost describing it as a Nation. Later in 2010, this was reversed, evoking a sentiment of irredentism among Catalonians. Since then, the Catalonian parliament has been fighting for its independence. Now that I mentioned that quick fact about Catalonia. Let us start with the first things I would visit in Barcelona.
Sagrada Familia
It is no secret that Barcelona has one of the best architecture in the world. There are many places I would like to visit like the Catedral de Barcelona, Casa Batlló, Santa Maria del Mar, and Casa Milà. However, the one that I feel I am obliged to visit is the Sagrada Familia. It is one of the longest-running construction projects, having started its construction 130 years ago. When I see images of the church on the internet, its design mesmerizes me. It is an important monument to the Roman Catholic religion.
El Clasico
As I mentioned before, I like soccer. So, if I go there, I will make the dates of my stay be the same as a “Clasico” match. El Clasico is a soccer match between Real Madrid and Barcelona. It probably is the greatest soccer rivalry. On a sad note, I am very late to go and see Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Madrid and Lionel Messi for Barcelona. Still, I would like to experience the energizing environment the greatest rivalry in soccer causes.
Dow Jones Bar
There’s a bar I would like to visit in Barcelona. Its name is Dow Jones Bar. The prices depend on demand, fluctuating like a stock exchange. If a crash happens the drinks become cheaper.
References:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29478415
https://time.com/sagrada-familia-barcelona/
https://lp-cms-production.imgix.net/2021-07/GettyRF_1137803766.jpg
https://www.foreignbrief.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/catalonia.png
http://dowjonesbar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/IMG-20180314-WA0003.jpg
First off I have to be a bit annoying and slightly disagree with Ronaldo being the greatest of all time- not getting into an argument though I respect your opinion haha. I had the privilege of spending a few days in Barcelona and remember it being absolutely beautiful. We walked past the Barcelona stadium which was really cool; I would love to see a game there sometime. I think your accent question is super interesting though; accents in general have always stumped me. I often think about how I’d love to hear what Americans sound like from a non-American perspective.
I feel the same way about Spanish accents. I’ve been taking Spanish for a few years and find it much easier to understand Mexican accents- maybe because most of the Spanish-speakers I know are from Mexico.
Having taken Spanish language and culture classes since age 12, I have spent a lot of time hearing about Barcelona and how beautiful it is. Almost every teacher I have had since the sixth grade has been there, and told us how remarkable the sights are, especially the Sagrada Familia. I think the Dow Jones Bar is a hilarious concept, and I have never seen it done before. I think that would make for a fun evening with friends. I was also fascinated by the idea that catalan and spanish completely different; I had no idea beforehand. Great work on this blog!
Hi Andres!
I loved reading about why you want to visit Barcelona. I especially like your establishment of who the GOAT is in soccer. I also like the places you want to visit. I had no idea there was a Dow Jones Bar, but I absolutely love reading about one-of-a-kind places like that. I want to visit them all someday, and the Dow Jones Bar just made the list. Though it probably isn’t great, I’m sure people love that drinks are cheaper when the finances are worse. Great work on this blog!
Barcelona certainly seems like it does have everything, as you mentioned. While I’m not a huge soccer fan I can imagine that going to a game there would be remarkable, and the architecture especially the church you mentioned is absolutely gorgeous. I find it super interesting that you mention accents sounding different within the Spanish language. I think there’s definitely accent differences across the US, and obviously English here and in the UK sounds different. I’m taking Arabic right now, and it’s super annoying because I’m learning the Modern Standard language which is only used for academic writing and not conversation. In order to be able to truly converse, you have to learn a dialect, and the dialects are super different in every country, and some like Moroccan Arabic are not understood by any Arabic speakers outside the country. Linguistics is always super interesting to me, I think it really can demonstrate cultural and ethnic ties.