Christmas in Catalonia — The Towering Travelers

First, Barcelona is a great winter holiday destination. The weather was 60s and sunny, only a couple of attractions were crowded, and we were able to get into almost all the restaurants and bars we were interested in. We immediately loved the city for its walkability, great food, and highly available specialty coffee.

Barcelona is in Catalonia, a region of Spain that identifies as having a unique language, history, and culture. There have been off-and-on movements to separate from the rest of Spain. If you’d like to learn more about that, Jason found some videos that explained some of the history: Catalonia’s Independence Movement, Explained and The History of Catalonia.

Photo of Nicole and Jason taking a self portrait in an elevator. — Our customary jetlagged-in-a-tiny-European-elevator picture (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a park with two tall buildings in the background and a structure with a golden chariot pulled by golden horses on top. — The view from our hotel room (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of two exterior walls, one colorfully painted and one covered with ivy. — A colorful corner in Barcelona (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a butcher stall in a market. — A butchery in a market (photo/Jason Rafal)

In our explorations of the city, we went up to Montjuïc, where we had lunch overlooking the city and then went up to the castle. I wouldn’t consider the castle a must-do, but there’s a beautiful walking trail around the outside of it, and the views from the top of the hill are lovely. We took the gondola back down into the city.

Photo of a path with grass on one side and wide, lumpy trees on the other. — The park at Mirador de Miramar (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of Nicole ducking to go through a tower door on the castle. — I’m too tall for this (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of the Montjuïc castle wall. — The Montjuïc castle (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also spent some time at Christmas markets, where we struggled to understand some of the local jokes.

Photo of a market stall with a figuring of a man pooping on the roof. — We kept seeing this figurine everywhere, in various sizes (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of the Fira de Santa Llucia. — The market (photo/Jason Rafal)

Black and white photo looking down a walking street toward the Arc de Triomf. — A nighttime view of the Arc de Triomf (photo/Jason Rafal)

I don’t usually go out of my way to recommend bars and restaurants, but we had a really wonderful experience at Two Schmucks, which is a top 10 cocktail bar in the world. It was pretty empty so we were able to chat with the very friendly bartenders, and the drinks were unusual and incredibly good. The decor was also very fun, and they sent us home with stickers and restaurant recommendations.

Photo of a wall in the Two Schmuck's bar, with writing all over one side. — The decor at Two Schmucks (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a light brown cocktail next to a glass of water. — A delicious drink with the longest ice cube we’d ever seen (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also had absolutely wonderful coffee, and we didn’t even make it to all of the places that looked good. The coffee shops were often adorable as well.

Photo of a small coffee trailer in an industrial space. — The adorable and infrequently open Skye Coffee (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of the inside of a small coffee shop with a stone and brick interior and a green espresso machine. — The equally adorable Xiloteca Coffee + Botiga (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also paid the entrance fee to go into la Palau de la Musica, which is just a very beautiful concert hall. The ceiling has a massive dewdrop of glass, and the entire thing is colorful and impressive.

Photo of an intricate ceiling with elaborately carved stairs going up in the background. — The staircase going up to the auditorium (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of two rows of colorfully tiled columns with Nicole in the background. — Beautiful balcony columns (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of an auditorium with stained glass windows on one side and a huge stained glass skylight in the center of the ceiling. — The inside of the auditorium at la Palau de la Musica (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of the the ceiling of the auditorium, with the stained glass skylight surrounded by carved roses. — Another shot of the amazing ceiling (photo/Jason Rafal)

On Christmas Eve we took a day trip out to Montserrat, which is wonderfully accessible by train and has great hiking around the monastery. The landscape is vast, dry, and full of giant lumpy rocks. It vaguely reminded me of the American southwest. There were many well-established paths (though the map was not as helpful as I hoped) and we took the Sant Joan funicular and climbed up to a viewpoint to see all the way to the Mediterranean Sea and watch the climbers on one of the giant rocks near us. It was a nice way to get some fresh air and see more of the area.

Photo from the inside of a cave looking out over a concrete wall and toward the landscape. — Our lunch spot at Montserrat (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of Nicole ducking to go under a rock overhang. — One of the more challenging parts of the trail (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo looking down a steep trail toward a small chapel. — Looking down the steep trail toward the Sant Joan Chapel (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a large rock wall with two climbers working their way up. — Climbers on one of the big rocks (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a building on a rocky outcropping with rocks and trees in the foreground. — The Ermita de Sant Miquel (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo looking down a mountain from a gondola, with the other yellow gondola coming up in the distance. — Taking the gondola back down the mountain (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of the surprises of the trip was how much we fell in love with Gaudí’s creations. We first went to Casa Batlló, where we were struck by the beauty, livability, and natural elements of the apartment. He prompts a sense of wonder and surprise that is missing from most (all?) other architecture, and it was so fun to walk through the rooms and see how everything was done.

Photo looking up at the facade of a building. — The facade next to Casa Batllo (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a curved ceiling with intricate skylights. — Skylights in Casa Batllo (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of an elaborate chandelier in the middle of a spiraled ceiling. — The spiral ceiling and chandelier in the living room (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of ventilation built into the ceiling. — Some of the ventilation in the apartment (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a door and two windows in a blue-tiled room. — Beautiful doors and walls in the central staircase (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo looking up through the central staircase area of the house. — The under-the-sea feel of the apartment (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a wooden door with a weird, curvy doorknob. — One of the doorknobs that Jason fell in love with (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of two artistic sculptures on the roof deck of the house, one similar to a cross and one to a ridge. — Some of the tiled work on the roof of the apartment (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also went to la Sagrada Familia. I’m not at all religious, and I regard most cathedrals as very pretty (I loved stained glass) but vaguely uncomfortable. It’s usually a 5-minute in-and-out experience. From the outside, the building is very weird but not very appealing to me - it’s a bit brown and lumpy, and there are lots of religious carvings.

Photo of the outside of la Sagrada Familia with a lake and trees in the foreground. — The current state of the outside of la Sagrada Familia (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of 6 spires, the central tower under construction, and a crane. — Some of the weird spires (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a carved facade of Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus with a pigeon roosting on the baby's head. — A pigeon rests on the baby Jesus’s head (photo/Jason Rafal)

When we walked into la Sagrada Familia, however, my jaw literally dropped. It’s one of the most incredible human feats I’ve ever seen. First, the scale is insane. Both of our necks hurt from looking up by the time we left. The columns, which I could only reach halfway around, reach impossibly high before branching like trees against the intricate ceiling. The stained glass, instead of clearly depicting scenes, is made up of abstract shapes, enforcing the feeling of being in a gigantic indoor forest. One side of the cathedral has cool shades of stained glass, mostly blues and greens, while the other has warm yellows, oranges, and reds. All of the stained glass brings in light that reflects off the columns and ceiling in a beautiful rainbow of light. Sainte-Chapelle in Paris has an impossible amount of stained glass, but the beauty and intentionality of la Sagrada Familia’s stained glass is like nothing I’ve ever seen.

Photo of the high, elaborate ceiling and upper stained glass in the cathedral. — The remarkable ceiling of la Sagrada Familia (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a corner between two walls of stained glass. — The cooler-toned side of the cathedral (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a dark figure between two columns in the cathedral. — A slightly ominous figure (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a corner of the cathedral with yellow and orange light pouring in and reflecting off of the ceiling. — The incredible warm wall of the cathedral (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of stained glass projecting a rainbow of colors onto a column. — I loved the rainbow reflections on this column (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of one side of a curved row of organ pipes with walls of stained glass in the background. — Some of the organ pipes in the church (photo/Jason Rafal)

Our third Gaudí exploration was Park Güell, outside of the city center. It’s a beautiful park, but it was quite crowded on Christmas, especially in the tiled areas. There are times in the morning and evening when it’s only open to locals, which sounds like a wonderful experience. It has a great view of the city, and more fun architecture throughout.