View of Barcelona from Parc Guell

Between the years of 1910 and 1914, Antoni Gaudi‘s design for an aristocratic city-garden with wealthy family residencies came to fruition. Now aptly named Parc Güell, as the project was commissioned by the count Eusebi Güell and the Catalan word for “park” is “parc,” the property’s initial purpose has since been abandoned. Today, a person meandering through the park grounds would enjoy the beautiful gardens, original architecture and the breathtaking views, but would never know that the initially, the park was meant to be a residential area. This is due to the fact that after failing it’s original purpose, the park became a municipal garden, and was transformed into a public park in 1923.

Why did the park fail as a residential property? Evidently, Gaudi’s architecture was not popular among the elite during his lifetime. Thus, with limited interest, only two houses were built on the property (neither of which were designed by Gaudi), and the venture was a commercial failure. Interestingly enough, not even Count Güell was a fan. It was reported that Gaudi once said to Güell, “Sometimes I think we are the only people who like this architecture.” Güell replied, “I don’t like your architecture, I respect it.”

However, this initial failure was a blessing in disguise for the people and tourists of Barcelona. In my personal opinion, restricting the unique park to those wealthy enough to own residency would be a great loss to the city. The park has become an essential tourist attraction in Barcelona. I myself have visited more times than I can count, for I cannot allow anyone who visits me to miss out on one of my favorite places in the entire city. The sangria alone is reason enough to visit, for in my experienced opinion, it is the best in Barcelona. Furthermore, you enjoy it while overlooking the long, mosaic bench and a magnificent view of the city.

The bench itself is evidence of Gaudi’s creativity, not only in the final product, but also in its creation. Gaudi used the backside of a naked workman sitting in wet clay to create the curvature.

I am a big fan of Gaudi’s architecture. Living merely a block from his Sagrada Familia, I have become quite familiar with his unique genius. In my experience thus far in Barcelona, I have found that most agree with me on the beauty of his works. Though common of many artistic geniuses, it is unfathomable to me that he was not appreciated in his time.

 There is no mention throughout the park of its history or its creation. Consequently, and as discussed in the included videos, visitors tend to have a lot to say about the park, but nothing about its origin. In my opinion, Parc Güell’s history is of the utmost importance to fully appreciating its natural and architectural beauty. It was designed and created as a residential property, but simply fit better as a park, and has since become one of the top attractions in Barcelona as such. I find it fascinating that a work that was such a failure at its initial purpose is such a rousing success as something it was never intended to be.

Food: If you are an American traveling to Prague, you MUST go to Bohemia Bagel at least once during your stay. They have all of the bagels and diner-style food that´s impossible to find in most of Europe. However, don´t expect service with a smile or “the customer is always right” mentality. We were scolded for ordering more food, since apparently the kitchen is downstairs and it was tiring for the restaurant workers to actually deliver us our food. Regardless, the food made the experience worth it. Another great place I ate was called Pravda, but it was on the expensive side so I´d go with parents. I went with my best friend from home, Melissa´s family. Another restaurant I´d recommend is Radost. This place doubles as a nightclub, but has an amazing brunch menu.

Sites: Since we did not look into when most sites were open or not, we generally just viewed the structures from the outside. We saw the Lennon Wall, the castle, we took a boat tour down the canal, the Toy Museum, and the Charles Bridge.

Nightlife: Prague was the first city I´ve traveled to thus far with a nightlife rivaling that of Barcelona. My favorite place we went to, however, wasn´t even a club. It was the Beer Factory. It´s a bar where you buy a keg, and there is a tap on each table, so you compete with the table next to you in order to finish your keg. We also went to the clubs Radost, MishMash, and Karluvy.

However, this is all just a theory based on nothing more than speculation. Ultimately, the truth is the same: The internet and microblogging have provided a means through which friends and strangers alike can stay connected constantly. This has positive effects, such as an influx of information, but also potentially dangerous implications. Though we are told networks are secure, our internet activity is usually traceable if attempted by a skilled enough hacker. The more we use social networking sites, the more information we tend to give out about ourselves, which could pose a threat.

Media convergence allows the world to stay constantly informed. News is no longer restricted to newspapers and television, and not even to the internet. Instead, the same story can appear in print, on television, on the internet, on your cell phone, on your ipod, etc. The world is constantly connected, intertwined, and best of all, updated.

When my family visited last week, we decided to take a day trip to a small town approximately an hour and a half away from Barcelona called Figueres. Though it is a cute town with attractive squares and a multitude of restaurants, its main attraction is definitely the Teatro-Museo Dali. Dali, born in Figueres, was a Spanish Catalan surrealist painter, and in my opinion after seeing his work, was on some serious drugs. My favorite painting in the museum was probably The Persistence of Memory (which I refer to as the melting clock picture), probably just because I think it´s exciting to see a painting . Ironically, it is only in the Figueres museum for a short time on loan from MOMA, which is approximately a half an hour from my house in the U.S.

This past weekend we traveled to the freezing city of Berlin.  The flight there was almost as eventful as the trip itself.  We traveled via easyjet–my new favorite airline.  Aside from the mad dash to the plane, since they don´t assign seats, it was the best flying experience we´ve had thus far.  Our flight attendent looked eactly like my roomate, Emily Susser, if she happened to be a guy.  We drank a lot, ate a lot, and spent a lot of money on the plane, but it was well worth it.  When we arrived in Berlin, we went straight to St. Christopher´s Hostel, by which we were pretty impressed.  The bar was open 24 hours, and the bartended extended the kitchen hours to make us french fries.  Apprently this wasn´t enough for us and we then proceded to late night eat falafel.

Sites: Friday morning we took a free walking tour through the city. It left out of our hostel at 11am and lasted until 3:30. It was absolutely freezing but an easy, cheap way to see the entire city and get a lot of information. At the end, the tour guides definitely expect a tip of approximately €10. The tour began with a quick history lesson under the Brandenburg Gate.  We then proceded to see Hotel Adlon, where Michael Jackson held a baby out a window, Reichstag (housing the German Parliament), the Memorial to the Fallen Jews of Europe, a remaining portion of the Berlin wall, the former site of  Hitler´s Bunker (now a parking lot), Charlie´s Checkpoint, The Dom, and literally every other site in Berlin.