Still Useful

I am amazed at how old much of this city is, especially coming from the US.  It still surprises me to see things like this electrical panel cover on the street that looks so old, but likely still serves a purpose.

This is a working water fountain where people fill up water bottles, or hydrate their pets, yet it's so old, beautiful, and artistic.

I feel fortunate to be in a city that is embracing its artistic and beautiful past, rather than trying desperately to modernize (although the remnants of those efforts can also be seen throughout the city).

Repurposed

As I've mentioned before, you can get a lot of stuff from the streets in Barcelona.  In fact, the majority of our apartment is furnished from the streets*.  We found this old chest of drawers which had woodworm, which I had to eradicate immediately.  Last week, we were walking and found this volume of books that have the perfect amount of wear and tear.  Our friend Manuela found a shoot of this plant laying in the street and she gave it to us with the instructions to put it in water.  We found this vase in the back of one of our cabinets when we moved in.  It's amazing what can be done with the stuff that no one else wants.

*Check out these blogs for other posts about this: Memory Board, Texas-Shaped Table, Ikea Book Shelf

The Passage Way

There is an old passage that connects Sant Pere Mes Alt and Trafalgar.  It is completely enclosed and used to be a place with Kiosks and shops.  Now there is a bar at the front of it.  There is something so retro about this picture and I really liked how it turned out.  I may be the only one.

Sadie attempted to guide us through it but didn't get very far.

The Small Things

I am always overwhelmed when I step into a cathedral in Barcelona.  It seems like any tiny piece of it is worthy of staring at for hours, but they are made up of thousands of things.  It's almost too much for the senses.  I can't figure out what to look at.  Is this what they had in mind when they were building them?  "Maybe if we can put in enough cool stuff then people will be focused on God, or won't drift off so easily."  Anyway, it brings up a lot of crazy questions that I don't want to get into here.  Here is the view of the Montserrat Cathedral as you walk in.

This is just one light hanging from the ceiling.  It's in the left side of the larger picture, but completely lost.  In and of itself, it is a magnificent work of art.

I wonder how many of the small things we miss in life because we're too focused on all the big things going on around us.  

Make Your Mark

As I said a couple of days ago, the people of Barcelona have a lot to say, and sometimes in a uniquely artistic way.  In Barrio Gotico, tucked back into the streets is this chalkboard.  People can write anything they want (and they definitely do).  Sometimes there is even chalk provided to write with...or I guess you could just bring your own.  I love checking out messages and the doodles whenever I'm down in the Gotico and need to get away from the crowd.

Sadie also liked the flowers out front and 'made her mark' as soon as we were done with the pics.

Cement Jungle

Barcelona is a cement jungle, much like New York or San Francisco.  Sure there are parks strewn about, but the majority of land is taken up by sidewalk, street, and buildings.  Yesterday we were walking near where Passeig de Colom meets the Rambla.  Tucked into the corners of the Delegación de Defensa En Cataluña building was this tree.  It is such a stark contrast between the grayness of the cement and the old dirt.  I love finding these spots of natural beauty in this city, where life is finding a way despite our best efforts.

Protest

Barcelona is a culture that has something to say.  It knows how to protest.  The graffiti contains political or life messages.


Large corporations such as Citibank, El Corte Inglés, and Starbucks paid dearly in property damage on the day of the General Protests due to their involvement in economical collapse as well as their unwillingness to close their doors while the rest of Barcelona was at war against the system.

What I'm learning, though, that while Barcelona has a lot to say and be angry about, as do many other cultures, countries, etc, the people aren't offering solutions.  Yeah, we understand that you don't want cuts to education, but how do you get out of deficit without some sort of sacrifice?  Surely there is some misappropriation of funds, etc., that leads to cutting valuable programs.  And some politicians (if not all) are protecting their own interests rather than those of the people.  But, how do we fix these issues?  Causing property damage costs the taxpayer and the consumer more in the end.  It's not a great solution.

We saw this last photo on a walk today.  What a reminder on how to live your life.  The acquisition of wealth does not exempt one from death.  It's all temporary.  But, as poignant as this is, it doesn't answer the question: "If I'm still going to die…then what?"  What do you do with this information?  OK, so you've called us out, but what's the alternative.  Where do we go from here.

I'm not going to attempt to answer these questions here, especially the political ones.  We all have things we can be angry about, but rather than just trying to rip the system apart, how do we move to positive change?  That's the challenge.