Barcelona News: Two Graffiti Vandals Caught Red Handed

The following article was translated from El Periódico:

"Detinguts in fraganti dos grafiters per pintar dos vagons del metro de Barcelona

On the 21st of April, police officers caught two graffiti vandals defacing a wagon of the Barcelona metro, according to the Catalan police on Sunday. The police arrested two German nationals, aged 31 and 33, as the perpetrators of the vandalism and consequent disobedience to law enforcement officers. The incident occurred when two plain-clothed patrol officers saw three alleged vandals enter the subway through an emergency exit in the district of St. Martin Street.

When the police identified themselves the young men ran away and tried to get rid of their supplies in their backpack. The police managed to arrest two of the three young people, who all continuously resisted arrest and identification as well as causing minor injuries to the arresting officers.

The police officers later recovered the arrested suspects' backpacks and could see that they were full of spray paint and other graffiti equipment. In addition to the equipment, the police found a memory drive with a video of the vandals performing the illegal act, further proving how dumb some criminals really are.

The vandals incurred damages totaling 1,600 euros and were charged with vandalism, resistance and disobedience to authority. The suspects will go to court Friday as the judge ordered the guard of liberty charges."


I enjoyed reading this small article that demonstrated the fact that small petty crime occurs everywhere in the world. This example being how vandals were caught creating graffiti art on the Barcelona metro and how they were subsequently caught. It was nice reading about how the Barcelona police acted quickly and were able to catch foreigners who had come to their city to vandalize their public transportation. 

Barcelona News: Sant Jordí

On Sunday, April 23rd the city of Barcelona celebrated Sant Jordí, which is essentially the Catalonian version of America's Valentine's day. the day is marked by a festival of romance, roses and books all inspired by the legend of Saint George. Sant Jordí is the other patron saint of Catalunya alongside the  Blessed Virgin of Montserrat (see "Day Trip to Montserrat" blog post). The day of Sant Jordí is celebrated on April 23rd to commemorate the death of the saint in the year 303 A.D. The legend of Sant Jordí is that he slew a dragon in order to save a princess and subsequently picked a red rose for the princess from the rose bush, which had sprouted in the spot where the dragon's red blood had pooled on the floor.

You could see many forms of celebrating Sant Jordí in the streets of Barcelona, particularly on Las Ramblas. The street was blocked off from vehicle traffic and there were countless vendors of red roses and romantic books that went all the way down the street. Many other buildings throughout Barcelona put up red roses to commemorate the day such as the famous Gaudí designed building of Casa Batlló.

Leisure: Cooking

One of my favorite aspects of living in an apartment with some of my best friends is that we had the opportunity to have our own "family dinners." These family dinners happened when we all went to the Boqueria together and decided on what kind of meal we wished to prepare. We would all split up to go buy the different ingredients throughout the market and meet at the back of the Boqueria to go back home and cook together.

The most important aspects of cooking all the time is having the correct spices and cooking supplies so you do not have to make a trip to the supermarket or the Boqueria every time you wanted to cook. Below you can see pictures of our stovetop, which we used for every meal that we cooked. On top of the fumigator you can the the wide range of sauces and spices that we used for cooking. The other picture is how our fridge usually looked with all the foods we would use to cook for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Barcelona News: El Classico

This weekend was the annual Barcelona vs. Real Madrid football game and boy was it a huge game. The historic game occurred with Barcelona placed in second, only 3 points behind Real Madrid and the La Liga title is almost at stake. A win for Barcelona and they tie with Real Madrid at 75 points on the season but will take the top spot due to goal differential. With Real Madrid hosting the match, Barcelona was not favored to win. The game was exciting to say the least.

The first half was marked by Real Madrid domination; they had the majority of ball control as well as more shots on goal; 2 by Ronaldo which were saved by Ter Stegen. Real Madrid finally put the ball in the net at the foot of Casemiro in the 28th minute but Lionel Messi answered only 5 minutes later to tie the game in the 33rd minute.

The second half was one of the most exciting 45 minutes of football that I have ever watched, aside from the PSG-Barcelona second leg of the Round of 16 in this year's Champions League. The half was extremely aggressive with both teams receiving a number of bookings after Barcelona's second goal came from Rakatic in the 73rd to take the lead. The most notable booking was Sergio Ramos who performed a heavy slide tackle on Messi and was subsequently sent off, this definitely shifted the  tide of the game. The following minute Carvajal received a yellow and Kovacic received one as well for Real Madrid only 3 minutes later. Barcelona's hopes to sit at the top of the table seemed to be dashed in the 85th minute after a goal by James Rodríguez. The game was extended for an extra 2 minutes given by the referee and it was in the final 92nd minute that Barcelona charged down the field and found Messi who scored his 500th goal of his career to win the game.

Messi then took his jersey off and waved it in front of the Real Madrid supporters to show them who the king of football is; he subsequently received a yellow for excessive celebration but Barcelona still walked away with a well deserved win.

Las Ramblas Neighborhood Resume

Las Ramblas stretches for 1.2 kilometres (0.75 miles), and it connects Placa de Catalunya in the centre with the Christopher Columbus monument at Port Vell. La Rambla forms the boundary between the quarters of Barri Gotic, to the east, and El Raval, to the west.

Stereotypically known as a dangerous area by night, we have come to the realization that the area is safe and enjoyable, as the experience of living on this strip is what you make of it

Our Metro Stop - Liceu

Our metro stop is the last stop on Las Ramblas on the L3 line. We rarely take the metro because we are so close to school but every once in a while we will use it to go up towards Passage de Gracia area.

Boqueria

As I have stated in a previous blog post, the Boqueria is one of our most favorite spots in the Ramblas area. The pictures below show some of the selection of food at the famous outdoor market. We use this market to buy food for all our meals and have loved developing relationships with our favorite vendors.

Gran Teatre de Liceu - Opera House

One of the most historic places on Las Ramblas from the last 200 years is the Gran Teatre de Liceu, which has been the main opera house for the city of Barcelona since its opening. In the past, it used to be reserved for the super wealthy but nowadays its just a popular opera house that serves all the people in of Barcelona.

Library of Catalonia & Jardins de Rubio I Lluc

One of the most influential buildings in our area in my opinion is the Library of Catalonia. This is home to one of the largest collections of historical Catalonian texts, open only to the researchers who study them. Outside of the research library is a public library open to anyone who would like to read from their collection of books written in over 10 languages. Outside of the library is the Jardins de Rubio I Lluc, which is a courtyard in the center of the building where many young people study or just hangout.

These are some of the main attractions in the Las Ramblas area and it has been a pleasure living in this area for the semester.

Spain National News: El País

El País is the largest and highest-circulation daily newspaper in Spain and one of three Madrid daily newspapers considered to be national newspapers for Spain. It is headquartered in Madrid even though there are regional offices in Barcelona, Seville, Valencia, Bilbao, and Santiago de Compostela. They also produce a world edition that is available online in Brazil and in Latin America. The paper could be compared to the largest newspaper in the United States, USA Today, due to its size and influence.
One recent national news story that caught my attention ad the title of "Spain's modern-day slave trade," which detailed the expanding lucrative business of sex-slavery. The issue has seen an increase of about 5,000 identified people in the last 5 years as victims of sex-trafficking. The biggest problem with this issue is the fact that many of these victims have a lack of knowledge of the Spanish language and are unable to escape from their captors.

The article speaks about the difficult situation the women are in and how they are afraid to step out of line as their families are often threatened by their captors. Another thing that keeps them from escaping is the fact that the traffickers take their victims passports from them, which prevents them from escaping as they have no form of identification. While many people associate the slave trade with brothels and prostitution, there are many men that are forced to work at sweatshops, agriculture, kebab, or wok stores for no pay.

This other kind of slavery is harder to catch and prove in court because it is difficult to prove to what extend exploitation is truly happening in a situation. The reform of the penal code in 2015 has helped the government address the sex-trafficking situation and labor exploitation.

As for the El Paps newspaper, it is very similar to the newspapers in the United States and they address the news in a similar professional manner. It's interesting to see the many similarities between journalism in the United States and journalism in other countries.

http://elpais.com/elpais/2017/04/21/inenglish/1492756977_271906.html

Leisure: Runs

As I have mentioned in a previous blog post, it is really important to make sure that you stay healthy while studying abroad. Other than working out at DiR Claris gym my roommates and I would often go on runs to the beach from out apartment. We would usually choose a day when the sun was shining and it was around 60 degrees Fahrenheit so that we could relax on the beach after our run.



To make it to the beach from our apartment we would run down Las Ramblas towards the port. Once we reached the water front we would run all the way to the large lobster statue and turn the corner. We would then run along the few restaurants next to the port and run down Passeig de Joan de Borbó, which I have also heard referred to as "Gringo Street" because of the large amount of tourists who use the street to get to the beach. In order to get to the beach faster, we turn left halfway down gringo street and run through the apartment buildings of Barceloneta straight to the beach.
In the picture of the map above you can see the route (blue line) my roommates and I took in order to get to the beach on our runs.

Cultural: Day Trip to Tarragona

I spent many weekends during my semester in cities in different countries such as Amsterdam, Budapest, Berlin, or Dublin but one of my favorite trips were within the country of Spain. During our semester of Barcelona: Past & Present we learned a great deal about the history of Catalonia and Barcelona starting with the Romans. Along with the Roman city of Barcino (Barcelona) their other major city on the Mediterranean coast was Tarraco (Tarragona). We never spoke much about the history of Tarragona in our class so I took it upon myself to go out and see the city. During our spring  break I decided to take a trip down the coast of Spain and made the city of Tarragona my first stop.

The first piece of history that I had to visit in Tarragona was the ruins of the Roman Amphitheater. The Amphitheater is a piece of the old Roman town of Tarraco that historians do not know too much about due to the lack of historical records of its uses. It is assumed that the amphitheater was used for performances, town meetings, and even events that are similar to the massive coliseum in Rome such as wild animal fights and gladiators. After the fall of the Roman empire, the amphitheater went through many renovations and over time it was used for different purposes. At some point the Visigoths put a church in the amphitheater, which can be seen as the ruins on the lefts side of the picture on the left.





After exploring the amphitheater I relaxed and got lunch and looked over the park that sat just outside the amphitheater. That day was the Sunday before Easter and there was some sort of picnic going on in the park. There was a jazz band playing live music at the bottom of the park, while families with children and dogs sat on blankets and relaxed in the beautiful weather.

After relaxing for a little bit I walked throughout the small beach city towards the bus station. On the way to the bus station I ran into the Monumento a los Castallers. The Monument is a figurative sculpture depicting a castle made of people.

The whole scene is composed of 222 people carried out with great detail. 219 are figures in the castle, where both many of the faces include famous Spaniards such as Pau Casals, Pablo Picasso, Antoni Gaudí, Joan Miró and Joan Antoni Samaranch and several characters. Outside the castle there is a group of three musicians in a band, composed of two grallers and timbaler- and the head of the group. It is a very unique sculpture that fits in with the unique aspects of Tarragona.


I then took the bus to the other ancient Roman ruin that was within the city of Tarragona. This monument was El Pont Diable, which is the ancient Roman aqueduct. This monument was certainly a sight to see, as it is one of the greatest feats of engineering in history. The aqueduct pictured below would transport water from far distances, carry it over the valley in which it stands, and deliver it to the middle of the city for use. I was also able to walk across the top of it, which was a great experience.

Leisure: DiR Claris

Before coming to Barcelona one of my friends who spent the fall of 2016 abroad told me that I have to pay attention to my fitness. He gained a lot of weight while he was in another country and I knew that was something I did not want. I was happy to find that CEA was offering a promotion for their students at a local gym called DiR Claris.

The reason for the "Claris" monomer is due to the fact that DiR has many different gyms around Barcelona and this particular location is on Carrer del Claris, about two blocks west from Placa de Catalunya. Claris offers many amenities for its members including treadmills, stationary bikes, resistance machines, free weights, numerous exercise classes, a steam room, and a sauna.

I would try to go to the gym every day either before or after my CEA classes. I would see other students from CEA exercising or working out almost every time I went to the gym.

The gym had a fairly sophisticated method of entrance. They required two forms of identification, which came as a wristband seen in the picture to the left. After you scanned your wristband a machine read your fingerprint and allowed you entry into the gym.



The gym is open every day from 7AM-830PM and then on Sundays it is open from 9AM-2:45PM. The first time I tried to workout on a Sunday I was sad to find that the gym had already closed and I walked all the way across town for nothing. I loved spending my time at this gym because it had state of the art equipment, its staff was extremely helpful, and it kept me healthy during my time here in Barcelona.

Food: Pollo Rico

One of my roommate's and my favorite quick and easy restaurants is a little restaurant called Pollo Rico. Although this restaurant is not completely Catalan food or Spanish food, it was such a memorable part of my experience abroad that I felt it needed to be included. The restaurant is set up with a bar where many people sit and eat quick and easy but there are also tables on the second floor.

The restaurant is famous for its rotisserie chicken that cooks constantly throughout the day, making the chickens juicy and the skin delectable. One of the main reasons that this restaurant is so popular among my friends and other study-abroad students is that you can get half of a chicken with french fries for only 8 euros.

Food: Tapas

One of the first nights that my family visited we went on a guided tour of the El Born district to try different kinds of tapas and drinks at 3 separate bars/restaurants. The experience was amazing.

We started off at a bar not too far from Passeig de Columb and went to a bar to try our first tapas. Unfortunately, I did not take too many pictures as I was enjoying myself eating the food and spending time with others. Our first dish was boqueron anchovies with a glass of vermouth. All while enjoying our tapas our group leader was teaching us about the history behind each dish and the drinks that came with them. At the end of the first bar we all took turns drinking from a porron, which can be seen to the right. 

We then made our way to another bar down the street where we experienced tapas by the toothpick at a bar near the church of Santa Maria del Mar. At this bar we also got to taste cider from the Basque country, which was poured about a meter away from the glass, providing carbonation that does not initially occur in the drink.

Our last stop was my favorite restaurant as we were able to try many kinds of jamon iberico. Before getting a taste of the freshly sliced meat, we were given the opportunity to make our own tomato bread. 

Along with this tapas tour, my roommates and I have gone out numerous times to try the many different small dishes that can be found at the bars in Barcelona.

Food: La Boquería

Within a week of living in Barcelona my roommates and I realized that we would run out of money rather quickly if we went out to dinner every night. We live one block away from the famous Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, which is a large outdoor public market on the opposite side of Las rambles from the Gothic District.

 My roommates and I really enjoy cooking our own food so this was a great experience to have the ability to wake up, walk down the street, buy some ingredients, then head back home with enough food for a few days for cheap. We found ourselves coming to the Boqueria after our Barcelona: Past and Present course to pick up fresh dorado from our favorite vendor and cook a delicious lunch. One of the best features of frequenting the Boqueria is the task of finding the best prices and building relationships with the vendors.

 One of the first times I went to the Boqueria I tries to buy oranges and ended up spending about 4 euros for 3 oranges. This was way to high of a cost of so little oranges, so I learned my lesson and the next day searched for a lower price.. I found a vendor towards the back of the Boqueria selling much more oranges for a lower cost and I walked away with 18 oranges for 4 euros.

The Boqueria is one of my favorite and most memorable parts of living in Barcelona. It helped me learn more about the culture of Catalonia and the way people interact with food vendors over grocery store workers. The variety and the atmosphere make this place a must-go for anyone visiting or living in the area.

Cultural: Day Trip to Montserrat

Another cultural trip that I took was a day tip to the monastery in the mountains, the famous Montserrat. Out of all the trips I took, I was amazed by the sheer beauty of this place. Aside from the obvious thought of, "How did they manage to build a church in the mountains?" I was amazed that the church is still in use today.

When you arrive at the mountain, the first monument you see is a half circle of arches that overlooks the valley below the mountain. We arrived at Montserrat early in the morning so the fog was still rolling over the hills in the beautiful picture below. After passing the arches you head toward the actual basilica of Montserrat .

The areas surrounding the basilica use many of the architectural techniques that we have discussed throughout our class. The building contained a mixture of both Roman and Gothic arches due to the many times the basilica and its surrounding features were renovated throughout time.

The picture on the left is the facade of the basilica and the one on the right is the inside of the church. The Monastery is famous because a long time ago, a monk found a depiction of the Virgin Mary of Catalonia in a cave in the mountain range. After all these years they have preserved parts of the stone from the cave and incorporated it in a depiction of the Virgin Mary of Catalonia within the basilica.

Outside of the abbey of the basilica and surrounding buildings there are paths that lead to better views of the valley and even other churches. We decided to venture out to one of the highest points to see the cross of San Miguel which can be seen in the picture below.

Montserrat was a wonderful experience and I would recommend it to anyone visiting Barcelona as it contains some of Catalonia's oldest pieces of history.

Cultural: Parc Guell

One of the prettiest places I visited in Barcelona was Parc Güell. I saved the trip to the famous park for when my family came to visit me and I'm glad I did because experiencing this park was great to share with my family. The UNESCO Work Heritage Site designed by the modernist architect Antoni Gaudí is completely different from any park that I have ever been to.

Antoni Gaudí designed most of the facades throughout the park with broken shards of pottery, tile, and glass in order to create a mosaic look to most of the park. This explosion of color through the mosaics contrast with the monotone desert-esque landscape throughout the rest of the park. One of the best examples of the mosaic work of Gaudí is the sculpture of "El Drac" at the bottom of the main staircase.

When you move away from the center of the park to one of the tunnels on the side, it's easy to see how unique the park's design truly is. The tunnel is comprised of numerous columns that all look the same at first but when you take a closer look you can tell that each one is unique. This attention to detail makes the park extremely artistic and interesting to explore.

I'm really happy I was able to experience this place with my family as it was great to learn about Antoni Gaudí and more of his work.

El Raval

In the last twenty or so years there have been ongoing regeneration plans to alter the public spaces of the El Naval area. While the neighborhood is still very similar to the Gothic Quarter, i.e. narrow streets and old buildings, the rejuvenation of the neighborhood has created an interesting juxtaposition between the old and the new. El Raval was home to the many workers from the countryside who moved to Barcelona during the industrial revolution. Another distinctive characteristic of the El Naval area was its proximity to the port. The neighborhood was filled with sailors who had been at sea for months and the are closest to the port had a reputation for its bars, cheap hotels, and many prostitutes. This area became known as "Barrio Chino" although it did not have any Chinese immigrant population.

Much of the area has changed in the last 20 years due to public efforts to clean up and improve the El Naval neighborhood. The biggest transformation being the "Barrio Chino" where the government's rejuvenation plans were mostly based. In the 1980's the area above was widely used by drug dealers and prostitutes as heroin began to become more and more popular. The area became dangerous and home to petty crime, which threatened the area's safety. An example of the government's revitalization techniques can be seen in the park above. All the cheap hostels, restaurants, and abandon buildings were cleared out and restaurant and bar licenses were given to reputable vendors to open up shop. The rest of the square was demolished and replaced with the park that can be seen today, the park is also very close to a children's center. These public initiatives helped improve the quality of the neighborhood and fostered natural gentrification through the creation of public spaces and without the use of new modern expensive buildings. 

  

The El Naval neighborhood is also home to a large artistic and educational community, which is due largely in part to the location of the MACBA (Museu d'Art Contemporani) and the CCCB (Centre de Culture Contemporania de Barcelona) within the neighborhood. The MACBA (seen above) ignited the rejuvenation of the neighborhood as it brought art and design to a central part of the area. The streets have many examples of art as graffiti adorns many shutters and gates of buildings. There are numerous vintage stores, art and design stores, record stores, and skate shops. These stores are all coupled with many new restaurants and bars that serve the diverse population of El Naval. The combination of immigrants, artists, skaters, and overall youth influence has helped create a wonderful atmosphere in the neighborhood.