Adjustment

It's funny how quickly we have adjusted to living in Barcelona. Compared to the first day of arrival with the general culture shock and whatnot (smelly tap water, pickpocketers, non-refrigerated milk), now I don't even think of the fact that I'm living in Barcelona, or even being in Spain. I'm sure it's partly due to constantly being around familiar Clemson faces.

Four days before arriving in Barcelona I spent two weeks in New York City. It's interesting how navigating the two cities is a completely different experience. I love how Barcelona is way less concentrated with vehicle traffic, I don't think I've seen a road wider than two lanes within the city, while New York has 4-6 lane streets between buildings, and the really narrow streets completely designed for pedestrians in Barcelona are a great experience as well. It was also interesting to see major roads around here have separate lanes for buses/taxis, I've never seen that before. The metro system of the two cities is about the same I'd say.


Of all the buildings we've seen from our architectural sight seeing, I'd have to say Jean Nouvel's extension of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sophia was by far my favorite. The feeling of being within this huge structure, to the exposed beams, the delicate connection to the old building, down to the details of the table designs in the cafeteria, everything just seemed so cohesive. I am definitely going to do a case study on this or something.


I think everyone has mentioned enough about the differences of all the cities we've been to in Spain, but I have to say that during the end of our travel week I was getting a bit homesick for Barcelona. I'm glad to be back here. Oh, and it's A La TurKa. With a K. Get it right Kevin. Don't credit those Turca rip offs.