Streetheart Podcast

Studying abroad in Barcelona for the past 4 months had made me fall in love with the city—the street performers, food, laid-back lifestyle, history, people, art, and plethora of activities.

Every day I’m here Barcelona surprises and inspires me in a new way. Barcelona is like Paris, New York, or Tokyo—any major city in that there’s always something to do, and you’d need a lifetime to do it in.

But as tourists we don’t get a lifetime to see a city. We get a few days, maybe a week or two if we’re lucky. We see as much as we can before we move on. So for those with limited time, what can we do? How can we maximize our time in a place like Barcelona where there’s just so much to see? Well, seeing as Summer is right around the corner, I’ve created a sample itinerary for your Summer vacation in Barcelona to help you organize and maximize your time in this incredible city:

Day 1
Barri Gotic

This is Barcelona’s historic center and dates back to pre-Roman times. The area is a maze of tiny streets that turn around on each other and open into lovely squares and plazas. Highlights include:

Barcelona History Museum – Barcelona has one of the best city history museums I’ve ever been to. It does an incredible job of explaining the history and importance of Barcelona and has over 4,000 square meters of Roman ruins located beneath the museum that you can walk through. It’s spectacular. There’s a free, detailed audio guide and descriptive explanations of what you’re seeing.

Picasso Museum – While I’m not a huge fan of most of Picasso’s later work, with over 3,000 pieces of art, this museum has a lot to see, and even I was happy.

The Gothic Cathedral – Located in the heart of the Barri Gotic, this Gothic cathedral was built on top of an 11th-century church. You can take an elevator up to the roof for sweeping views of the surrounding historic area.

Lunch: La Boqueria – This is the famous central food market in the Barri Gotic and one of the best places to grab lunch in the area. (Watch out for crowds!)

Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art – In the Raval area of town is the city’s modern art museum. They have hundreds of exhibits, especially from Spanish artists. If you love modern art, it’s worth a stop.

Night 1

Parc de la Ciutadella

On the complete other end of the Barri Gotic (it’s a beautiful walk through the historic streets, so you’ll enjoy it) is the Parc de la Ciutadella. Gaudi designed the famous Cascada Fountain when he was an architecture student. On a warm day, I just like to sit and stare at the fountain. There’s also a zoo in the park and some short walking paths. Take a bottle of wine, grab some ham, and have a picnic.

Day 2
Food tour

Barcelona has some of the best food in Spain, and there’s no better way to spend your morning than learning about the food culture of the city. I strongly recommend Context Travel’s food tour, which takes you around the Barri Gothic and the food markets there to highlight the food history and delicacies of the region. One of the most informative and delicious tours I’ve been on in a while, it’s not the cheapest food tour in the city, but I got everything I paid for.

Beaches

No trip to Barcelona is complete without a visit to its famous beaches. After you’ve gorged on food, siesta all day on the beaches, work on your tan, and relax with all the locals who had the same idea. Day one was a busy one, so make day two relaxing.

Day 3

Gaudi

Gaudi is Barcelona’s most famous architect and is considered the father of the modernitsa architecture movement. His unique style, use of nature, and catalog of work draws a lot of attention and visitors to the city. You can find his work spread throughout the city, but in the Eixample area, you can visit these four big sites:

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Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, Casa Mila, Casa Batllo

Lunch – Take a breather (and a late lunch).

Walking tour– While still in the Eixample area, you can visit all the other modernista movement sites.While Gaudi was the most famous architect of the movement, Barcelona is full of modernista-style buildings by other great architects. You can identify the buildings by the red circle in front of them on the sidewalk. You can also take the Context Travel tour about the movement or simply download a mini walking guide (right) and do it yourself.

Night 3

Visit Placa d’Espanya at night (Thursday)

On Thursdays, the Placa d’Espanya has fountains and lights that line the street towards Montjuïc Hill. At the end is the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc, which puts on a spectacular light and water show. Afterwards, walk up the hill to the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya for an expansive view of the city. This is also a great place to take a date. Very romantic!

Day 4
Harbor Cable Car

The 1450-meter long harbor aerial tramway with red cars connects Montjuic and Barceloneta. It starts near the beach on top of the 78-meter tower and takes you all the way to Montjuïc Hill.

Montjuïc Hill – When you arrive on the hill from the cable car, you’ll be able to enjoy a good view of the city and visit the Castell de Montjuïc (a large 18th-century fortress), as well as gardens, a Spanish village, and some Olympic stadiums. There’s a lot to do here, so you’ll have plenty of choices.

Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya- The Catalunyas take regional pride very seriously. They’re Catalunyas first, Spaniards second, if at all. It was no surprise to me then to find a whole museum dedicated to art of the region. Since it’s high on a hill, you can use the museum’s patio to take pretty epic photos of the city.

Day 5

Relax

On your last day in Barcelona, relax and just enjoy the city. Every city visit needs a free day where you can just slow down and not feel rushed. Use this day to do whatever you want.

Suggestions:

Hit the beach again – work on your bronze a little more.
See anything you haven’t seen – didn’t get time to visit some other sites, museums, or walk through some neighborhoods? Spend your afternoon doing that!
Eat a ton – you can never have enough food in Barcelona.
Drink lots of sangria –every restaurant has its on take on Barcelona’s famous sangria. Try them all!

Other things to do:
Barcelona hosts many other activities beyond just the normal picture-taking sightseeing:

See a soccer match: The first football game I ever saw was in Barcelona. It was FC Barcelona versus Valencia. I still have the shirt I bought that day. Barcelona’s two teams are Espanyol and FC Barcelona (one of the top in the world).

Learn to cook – Since Barcelona is such a food-centric city, if the normal sights and activities bore you, take a food class. There are many one-day cooking classes offered.

Day trip to Figueres – This region is home to Dalí, and you can take a day trip to Figueres, where you can visit the Dalí museum featuring some of his most famous works.

For more suggested eating, check out these places:

• Cerveseria Catalana, Carrer de Mallorca, 236- http://www.yelp.com/biz/cervecer%C3%ADa-catalana-barcelona-2
• La Fonda, Escudellers, 10 – www.lafonda-restaurant.com
• Cal Pep, Plaça de les Olles, 8 http://www.calpep.com
• Allium Restaurant, Carrer del Call, 17 – www.alliumrestaurant.es
• Pinotxo, La Boqueria – http://pinotxobar.com
• Can Majo,Almirante Aixada, 23 http://www.canmajo.es

For your Summer vacation you could squeeze in the real highlights of Barcelona in two or three days, but taking five (or even six) for the above itinerary gives you enough time to gorge on Iberian ham, tapas, and sangria while not rushing around.

Studying abroad this semester in Barcelona, there are a few tips I wish I had known when I first arrived: Barcelona moves slowly—dinner’s at 9, you’re early to the bar if it’s before 2am, and everyone sleeps late and loves their siesta. And since this city moves slowly, so should you. Sleep late, take breaks, eat lots, don’t rush your visit, and just enjoy Barcelona—at a Spaniard’s pace!

I thought I’d save the best, in my opinion of course, for last. If you find yourself vacationing in Barcelona this Summer and are looking to see some incredible street art, there is no better way to  tour this vibrant city and its culture than a Barcelona’s famous street art tour!

Whether you want to see

Barcelona Street Art Tours: http://barcelonastreetstyletour.com

Street Art in Seville

Seville, as a street art enthusiast, is absolutely one of my favorite cities I’ve visited while studying abroad which, was a rather surprising realization. I was immediately drawn to the vibe of the city, a combination of typical Spanish features such as fabulous tapas bars, wine, and flamenco dance but also a vibrant young art scene which I initially noticed when I walked by a large wall by the Guadalquivir River filled with some of the most creative street art we’ve seen anywhere in Europe (below).

As I explored more, I  found myself surrounded by street art in Seville. Particularly graffiti is all over the the place. It is on walls, buildings, blinds, even the garbage containers in the street are full of graffiti and tags. I hadn’t expected to see any street art in such a quaint-looking city so i was thrilled by this discovery. I was so hungry for information about who the artists are and curious as to where exactly the art comes from in the very apparent, vibrant street art culture in Seville.

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Uniquely, Seville’s street art encompasses every single style and form of street art there is. Like the rest of the art world, there are different types of graffiti artists, some realistic, others like to incorporate history into their work, some prefer to make their artwork cartoonish, a few protest against the government in their art, and then there are the ones who just like to fill up space. Almost like a museum collection, you can find examples of every single type in Seville despite its small size.

Here are a couple more pictures I took of my very favorite pieces:

The art on this wall (above) has a little bit a Sevillian history in it. In the middle of each of the lamps is a famous building in Seville. From left to right: La Giralda, Torre del Oro, and Las Setas. The lamps signify the ones usually present during the Feria – a popular fiesta in Seville.

The art pictured above in this image I was initially attracted to because it stuck out with such powerful colors against a background of buildings of all the same neutral beige. Later, I was informed by my friend studying in Seville that there are about four graffitis of this exact unicorn around the city and it represents the artist’s resentment and retaliation against the Spanish government.

The street art has a very powerful way to modernize and add a new sense of contemporary art to an otherwise richly historical city. Seville is the perfect example of that impact. If you’re want to see exactly what I’m talking about, but don’t necessarily have time to visit Seville in the near future, I recommend you watch the video below to get a real taste of the incredible culture of street art in this magnificent city.

Street Art in Hong Kong: The Umbrella Revolution

A colorful “invasion” of Hong Kong that formerly brighten the days of passers-by has been suppressed by government workers taking orders to keep public areas free from street art. In the wake of Hong Kong’s “Occupy Central”,  government should embrace the upcoming cultural movement in accepting and celebrating more unconventional form of art such as the paintings on the walls that are repeatedly being painted over all over the city.

It all started on Sept. 26, when hundreds of students gathered in a courtyard in Central Hong Kong, demanding an end to Chinese oppression and control. China’s modern history with Hong Kong has been complicated, to say the least. For more than 150 years, Hong Kong belonged to Britain. Then in 1997 Britain handed the thriving metropolis back to China in a political deal called “One Country, Two Systems,” which allowed Hong Kong to maintain some of the freedoms and independence mainland Chinese people do not have, such as freedom of expression, press and the right to assemble.

But this summer China started to backpedal. It announced to Hong Kong that those elections could proceed only if the Chinese government selected all the candidates. To the people of Hong Kong, that meant they wouldn’t have much control over their own government after all.

Soon after this news, the students hit the streets, and thousands from Hong Kong rushed to join them in the days that followed. These protesters have come from all over China and all hold different, yet similar ideologies, all demanding seize of government suppression. Most recently the Umbrella Revolution has focused on spreading their message through various forms of street art. This street art is called the “invasion” and has been popping up all over Hong Kong. The government time and time again paints over these murals and arrests, tear gasses, or punishes any one involved. Such self expression that is celebrated and accepted in most modern societies is a major point of content in Hong Kong. Protestors against the removal of these murals have invaded the city under the Umbrella Revolution and their fight continues even now. It seems as though this will be a long road until street art or any form of true self expression prevails against China’s stifling government.

“Sometimes Hong Kong feels like a non-fun zone,” said student-citizen Every-Wortman. “Some restrictions make sense, because there are so many people here. But I hope slowly government can be not to be too strict on certain rules, and it will continue to change as people fight for public space and expression in said spaces.”

To understand how the protests have escalated to this point, click this link, so as we watch the conflict develop.