This weekend, I went on a hiking trip with some of my Spanish friends. Reus, the town I have been staying in, is situated fifteen minutes from the sea and a half an hour from nearby mountains. Thus, the people who live here are really active. My friends and I have had active plans for nearly every single weekend. And this weekend, we decided that we wanted to hike alongside a river to bathe in the midst of a neat waterfall.

Our hike’s trailhead was at a restaurant situated five minutes from a small town in the middle of the mountains. When we arrived at the restaurant, we parked and had some coffee and juice before starting on our excursion. The restaurant was really neat. It, and an old church, stood alone on the side of the road amidst the hills. From the doors of the restaurant, there was a view of the declining mountainsides, the cities below, and the small outline of the blue sea. After enjoying our drinks, we took off.

The hike reminded me of the Big Bear Mountains of California. Pine trees were scattered across the mountains, with their needles strewn across the ground. Many of the bushes were also similar to those in Big Bear. Some of the big differences, however, were the trail upkeep and ruins of older buildings. The trails were poorly conserved, forcing us to search around a couple of times to get back on them. But, the old, decaying buildings added an interesting aspect in our hike. We imagined what it would be like to live there, out of contact from the road and completely submerged in the nature. But, as we looked around for signs to find out the purposes of these buildings, we were left disappointed. There was nothing to help us figure out anything about these buildings. Much like the poorly kept trails, the buildings received no attention from people in an effort to preserve their history. We had to keep on hiking, never to know the uses of the buildings.

The end of the hike was absolutely beautiful. We looked down from the trail and could see the waterfall (a rather small one) hidden between two ravines, with a swimming pool at the bottom. Water streamed through at a steady pace, and created a tranquil, magical scene. After taking pictures (how could you not?), we climbed down to the pool, and took a swim. The water was so cold! But, it was great to escape the Spanish heat. We swam up to the bottom of the waterfall, and under it. From behind the waterfall, we could see out into the pool. Because the water was really cold, we only stayed in for five minutes. But, we relaxed on the outside rocks for more than an hour afterwards, taking advantage of a peaceful afternoon away from the noises of the default world.

After seeing the waterfalls, we hiked down the mountain. We had coffees again at the little restaurant in the mountains to conclude our hiking trip. And we drove back home. Thus, this concluded a spectacularly average day trip in the mountains of Catalonia.

Today, I spent the whole day in Barcelona. Much like a child’s trip to the zoo, this day trip to Barcelona filled me with wonder, excitement, and exhaustion. I saw so many interesting things, filled with both history and art, that I have been convinced that one day is not enough for this city. I must make another trip to let these sights sink in more.
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The first area of Barcelona we toured was the Palau Nacional Barcelona (Barcelona National Palace) and surrounding buildings. Near the palace stands an old arena which used to hold bull fights, but now has been converted into a shopping mall. In Catalonia, bull fights are illegal. But because the building was rich in both history and art, converting it into a shopping mall preserved both of those things. The outside of the building has seen no changes, only the foundation and the inside has changed. From the top of this building, you can see the palace, a grand fountain in front, and the surrounding buildings. The view was spectacular. I saw the palace in the background, rising proud and tall. In front of the palace were various large fountains. One of the most incredible fountains was placed in the middle of a roundabout furthest from the palace. This fountain was tall and had many statues, both big and small. After seeing this grand view, I could not wait to see the palace and fountains from a closer view, so my friends and I exited the arena and walked up to the palace. As I got closer, the size of these buildings really surprised me. They made me feel so small, in comparison to their boldness. After reaching the top of the stairs to the entrance of the palace, I found out that the palace now is used as an art museum. I really wanted to go inside, but considering that we had much more to see, my friends and I decided to save that adventure for a different day.

After visiting the palace, we took the metro to the Sagrada Familia church. Upon rising the steps out of the metro, we raised our eyes up to the massive church just next to us. I have never seen anything quite like it. Different than the Cathedrals I have been used to seeing, based on the Gothic style, the modernism of the Sagrada Familia took me by surprise. In the center of the church in front, a statue of a tree, encircled by dove statues, rose under a grand statue of a dove. To the sides of this tree, two spires rose erect, ending in crosses. On the sides of the church, more spires rose. But instead of ending in crosses, these spires held statues of fruit and other food. Along the sides of the church, various saints were honored in statues, not to mention the Holy Family (Sagrada Familia in English). On the other side of the church, an image of the crucifix was displayed in statues. But instead of Jesus’ face, a block of almost unshaped cement symbolized the unlimited forms of Jesus’ love in the world. Due to both our lack of time and the arbitrarily high entrance fees, my friends and I did not tour the inside. From both my friends’ descriptions and Google images, the inside of the church has definitely been placed on the list for the things I need to return to see.

Next, we walked along a wide street of peculiar looking buildings. I use the word peculiar because they truly were strange – unlike any buildings I have ever seen before. Modeling the modernistic style, these buildings had different shapes, decorations, and colors. We saw at least two more buildings from the same architect as the Sagrada Familia (Antonin Gaudi), named the Botllo and the Pedrera. The Botllo was my favorite because it was adorned in many colors, it had curvy balconies, and because it had an unusual roof. The Pedrera stood across the street. Named similarly to the word used for “precious stones” (pedrería), the Pedrera looked like it was carved out of one great rock with metallic balconies forged into the sides of it. None of the balconies were exactly the same, giving each apartment a unique feel.

After walking around this street, my friends and I took a break from the hot Spanish sun, and ate Tapas (appetizers) in a restaurant. We ate fried calamari, fried octopus, and patatas bravas (fried potatoes with a cheesy, vegetable sauce). Recharged from the food and the air conditioning, we were back outside in less than an hour, optimizing the empty streets during siesta time. We walked to a major street in Barcelona, where many vendors set up their souvenir booths and sold very much the same things. After walking down this broad road, we walked to the Plaza where supposedly King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella welcomed Christopher Columbus back from his journey to America. Around the corner, we saw the outside of a gothic Cathedral. Because of the same reasons why we did not enter the Sagrada Familia, we did not venture inside this Cathedral. But, it was neat to see from the outside. It was very large and reminded me of the gothic styled churches from Prague.
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After seeing the Cathedral, we took the metro again. This time, we took the metro to right above Parque Guell, another of Antonin Gaudi’s famous creations. We stood above the park, at a Barcelona look-out point, and climbed down into Parque Guell. Unluckily for us, we had to have purchased tickets to enter the park beforehand, so we could only see the park from the outside. What we saw was amazing, nonetheless. Strange statues rose arbitrarily through the park, covered in mosaics or flowers, waves, and designs.

Tired from all of our walking and sight-seeing, we dragged our legs to the nearest metro and sat speechless during the ride back to the car. I contemplated on all of the mysterious buildings I had seen that day. Barcelona surely deserves more than just a day of touring, and I am sure I will return shortly.

Sant Pere (Saint Peter) is the patron saint of my host town, Reus. Like the celebrations of Saint John’s feast day, this day is widely celebrated throughout the city despite the decreased importance placed on religion. On this day, June 29, many people from Reus gather in the town square to celebrate. I was lucky enough to attend a part of this celebration with some of my new friends.

When I arrived at the town’s main plaza at 9:30, a large crowd had already formed around the center of the square. Fireworks were set up in the middle, and the policemen peacefully controlled the mob from getting too close. A couple of minutes after arriving, a parade started, forming a pathway around the crowd on the opposite side of the fireworks. From my position, I could see the parade to the right, and the firework setup to my left. Here, I had a great view of this annual tradition.

The first part of the parade was the Camino de los Gigantes (giants). Giants from different cultures around the world led the way for the rest of the parade, signifying that Reus had its own separate culture which added something unique to the cultures in the rest of the world. There were Chinese giants, Indian giants, Northern European giants, African giants, Spanish giants, and more, including a Giant from the city of Reus. One person was in charge of wearing each giant costume for the parade. Also, each giant was led by a couple of people who helped with clearing a path in the crowd and making sure the giants walked in the right directions. Each giant was about 10-12 feet tall, making it easy to see them even for a shorter person in the crowd.

The next procession in the parade was the Baile de Palos (Stick Dance). Boys and girls, aged 12-15, danced in circles, hitting wooden walking sticks together to the beat of a tune. They were all very focused on their responsibilities for the dance, but at the same time, you could tell that they were really enjoying their time. Their faces were bright with the excitement of the night and the pride in their woSanrk.

After the Baile de Palos, the Van de los Barcos (translated as The Ships go) performed their act. Men dressed up as sailors put on a wooden ship costume and walked down the street, rocking the ships up and down as if the ships were actually sailing on the water. This dance celebrated the history of Reus with the Mediterranean Sea because of Reus’ proximity.

Following the dance of the ships, girls and boys with decorated wooden hoops danced a folk dance in the Baile de los Aros (Hoop dance). Much like the Baile de Palos, dancers in this dance were very proud of their city, and they reflected this sentiment on their bright faces. The boys and the girls traded off from dancing in circles around each other. And, when the parade advanced forward, this act moved in turns, skipping through the street in zig-zag fashion.

The last act was one of my favorites, the Torre (Tower). This tower consisted of seven or eight grown men, and a child. The strongest man stands on the bottom, supported by many other people lending their arms to add protection. Then, six or seven strong but lighter men stand on top of their shoulders, until the tower is about three stories tall. A child around the age of 12, with a helmet of course, climbs up this tower until the top, where he stands on the shoulders of the tallest man. This tower definitely ended the parade with a bang, not a whimper. The crowd went wild, cheering on the tower with claps and shouts of encouragement.

After all of the acts of the parade performed, people filled this street (the one to my right) in order to be closer to the fireworks and firecrackers. The mayor and councilmen of the city appeared above the square in their office building, and gave the sign of waving a white handkerchief for the lighting off of the works. As they did this, many from the crowd whistled at them, signifying their disagreement and anger towards the Spanish government (Read my Catalonian argument for reasons for this aggravation). After this sign, a domino of firecrackers lit off from the surroundings of the center, proceeded by fireworks from the very center of the square. It was, needless to explain in further detail, both loud and a bit scary. Pretty awesome.

After the fireworks, my friend and I went to a nearby restaurant to eat dinner, much like many others in the square. After dinner, people of all ages went to outside bars to drink coffee or other beverages, until around 3 in the morning, when public concerts started in one of the town’s plazas. As I had to work the next day, I thought it prudent not to go to the concerts and return home early. But for me, the rich culture displayed in the parade made my night. So many of the people participated in the parade by clapping and singing. Everyone seemed proud that they were Catalonians from Reus, and they wanted to show this pride in participation. It was a celebration that seemed very special because it was specific to this one city.

Initially, I did not really have a reason for choosing this city beyond feeling comfortable with my host family over Skype. But I am eternally grateful for having chosen this city because I have been able to witness a European city which has preserved its unique traditions and ways of life over many years.