Adventures in Barcelona

Last week, Jan and I took a little vacation to Barcelona, Spain. What an amazing city! Full of history and culture from around the world, Barcelona is truly a global city.

Barcelona is the "capital" of Catalonia, an autonomous community in Spain, and is the second largest city in Spain. Contrary to what you might think, the predominant language in Barcelona is NOT Spanish, but rather Catalan. While everyone speaks Spanish, they choose not to when dealing with other Catalonians and when going about their day-to-day business.

The history of Barcelona (from Wikipedia):

The foundation of Barcelona is the subject of two different legends. The first attributes the founding of the city to Hercules 400 years before the building of Rome thus the name Βαρκινών; . The second legend attributes the foundation of the city directly to the Carthaginian Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal, who named the city Barcino after his family, in the 3rd century BC.

About 15 BC, the Romans redrew the town as a castrum (Roman military camp) centred on the "Mons Taber", a little hill near the contemporary city hall (Plaça de Sant Jaume). Under the Romans, it was a colony with the surname of Faventia, or, in full, Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino or Colonia Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino. Mela mentions it among the small towns of the district, probably as it was eclipsed by its neighbour Tarraco (modern Tarragona); but it may be gathered from later writers that it gradually grew in wealth and consequence, favoured as it was with a beautiful situation and an excellent harbour. It enjoyed immunity from imperial burdens. The city minted its own coins; some from the era of Galba survive.

Some important Roman ruins are exposed under the Plaça del Rei, entrance by the city museum (Museu d'Història de la Ciutat), and the typically Roman grid-planning is still visible today in the layout of the historical centre, the Barri Gòtic ("Gothic Quarter"). Some remaining fragments of the Roman walls have been incorporated into the cathedral. The cathedral, also known as basilica La Seu is said to have been founded in 343. The city was conquered by the Visigoths in the early fifth century, by the Moors in the early eighth century, reconquered in 801 by Charlemagne's son Louis who made Barcelona the seat of Carolingian "Spanish Marches" (Marca Hispanica), a buffer zone ruled by the Count of Barcelona.

The Counts of Barcelona became increasingly independent and expanded their territory to include all of Catalonia. In 1137, Aragon and the County of Barcelona merged by dynastic union by the marriage of Ramon Berenguer IV and Petronilla of Aragon and their titles were finally borne by only one person when their son Alfonso II of Aragon ascended to the throne in 1162. His territories were later to be known as the Crown of Aragon which conquered many overseas possessions, ruling the western Mediterranean Sea with outlying territories in Naples and Sicily and as far as Athens in the thirteenth century. The forging of a dynastic link between the Crowns of Aragon and Castile marked the beginning of Barcelona's decline.

During our stay in Barcelona we were lucky to stay in a wonderful guess house called Casa de Billy. Owned by an American and Mexican gay couple, it was a thoroughly fabulous place. From the time we arrived, Billy was a font of information and advise. He gave us a map of the city, showed us where all the interesting things to see were, and most hardily welcomed us. Our room, as you can see by the picture, was very comfortable and clean. If you ever find yourself in Barcelona be sure to stay with Billy and Joaquin.

I'm going to post a slideshow of the photos becuase there are over 300 pictures, and it would be incredibly time consuming to post all the photos individually. With that said, as the slideshow plays, click on any photo you want to see, and you'll be taken to my Picasa website. If you have any questions about the photos please leave a comment and I'll respond. Thanks, and enjoy!