¿Por qué me gusta Barçelona?

I guess mainly because I really find the architecture quite stunning. Then again, I’m not exactly well travelled so maybe every city in Europe looks like this. However, I’m pretty sure that those crazy, almost cartoonish Gaudi buildings are fairly unique. Love the tiny twisty roads in Barri Gotic (not quite as twisty turny as Albayzin but still fun). Seems like I find a new plaza everytime I walk through that barrio. Lots of interesting towers and statues all over town. Lots and lots of freakishly talented skaters. Lots of dogs.

I like seeing and hearing Catalan all over the place as it serves to differentiate the region and adds a bit of mystery (especially when trying to order food). To my untrained ear, the language doesn’t sound quite as smooth as Spanish. It seems like there are a lot of words that end with a hard T sound (“ciutat” instead of “ciudad” for example). And coincidentally, I have seen “catalonia no es españia” graffitti around town. After having noticed similar sentiment in the Canaries as well as Andalucia, this begs the question: “¿Qué es españia?”

Lots and lots of museums. Loved the Killing Machine exhibition at the contemporary art museum near the University of Barcelona. The Picasso Museum is a definite must see if only for the Las Meninas exhibit. Definitely need to buy a print when I get back. There is also an interesting history museum that goes under the city and lets you walk along the remains of the old Roman town that Barcelona is built over (Man, Barcelona totally ripped off the Seattle Underground Tour).

Lots of rabid soccer fans. I finally got to see one of the world’s most famous clubs, FC Barça, in one of the better soccer leagues, in one of the most famous stadiums in Europe (Camp Nou). Y ademas, ¡vi el jugador con una cara como un caballo en persona! The guy sitting next to me at the game was literally quivering with delight and making strange whelping noises every single time Barça made a positive play.

The city is along the water and I’m a big sucker for that. And, Barçelona is bike friendly to boot. I find that I generally tend to like cities that have bike lanes (well, in the US anyway).