Catalan Culture Studies, El Raval and Shipyards

Last Wednesday was our second field trip.  The first place we went to was the MACBA Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona.  I have yet to go inside of the Museum but our professor mentioned that this area used to be really bad.  There were a lot of drugs and no one went here so Barcelona tried to get younger, wealthier people in the area by adding a museum.  And it worked.  While we were passing through there were a ton of people skateboarding and a lot of young people as you can see pictured below.

The funny thing about this is, well I am pretty sure, that skateboarding is illegal to do in Barcelona.  Someone told me that they had a lot of problems after the Olympics of people skateboarding everywhere and Barcelona became the skateboarding capital of Europe.

The next area we went to was a place where you could see the skyline of Barcelona.  At first I was skeptical because there is no hill in this area and I thought we might go to the top of some building.  But instead our professor took us to this building

The top of the building was slanted at an angle so that it would act as a mirror.  Apparently on a nice day you can see the ocean in the distance.  Then we walked past this sign

Since this was an area with a lot of crime and poor people, this sign was probably added to educate some people.  Raval is the name of the area and it is a verb but Google translate can not translate the word and I can not either.  This is quite a disappointment because I was curious of the meaning but I can ask my teachers.  This is also in Catalan because the I form is Jo not yo and the he is Ell not El. 

The next area we went to was the Medieval Hospital.  We only walked past the door and it is across the street from a library but it is where Gaudí died.  I think I mentioned how he died when I first learned about it but I will refresh your memory.  He dressed like a poor man and one day he got hit by a tram.  No one recognized him and he eventually got taken by a cab driver to this hospital.  It is a poor public hospital.  A few days later someone finally recognized him and he was rushed into care.  They offered him, Barcelona's hero, full treatment but he said No, I want to die here with the poor people.  I am very fascinated with this story and it shows a lot about the kind of person Gaudí is. 

We then walked to Rambla Del Raval where the street opens up and there is a central walkway like on Las Ramblas.  This was the first time I had been on this street and it is very nice.  There were lots of trees, cool shops, and what looked like some good food.

There was also this big mural on one of the buildings.  My host dad was talking about this one night at dinner and Xavi, our professor, kind of clarified what I was confused about when I first herd about it.  Apparently some buildings in this area are abandoned and squatters live in them without paying anyone.  This is where I got confused because it sounded like my host dad was saying squarters and people live there and don't pay.  Anyway, the squatters painted the mural since they live there and no one has kicked them out.

 

At the ocean side of this street were the shipyards.  They are now a museum but it was closed for some reason.  The shipyards used to be on the beach but now the port was built in front of them so the buildings are quite far from the water, but they are huge stone buildings held up by arches and big enough to build ships in.  Out front of the museum is also the first ever submarine.  

It was built by a Catalan man, whose name I forget, but he didn't have enough money and couldn't get a grant so he sold the idea to a rich person from London.  Here is a replica of the original submarine.  I thought this was pretty cool.  

We went into the museum entrance where they had a model of what the port looked like in the 1700's.  Xavi talked about the shipyards and why they were so important for a little bit and then the class was over and we went home.  The tour was actually quite interesting and I learned a lot.  I think it is cool when you can learn something in class and then go on an hour walk and see exactly what you had just learned about.  This is one amazing thing about Barcelona, that there is so much history and every building has a story to tell.  I have never studied in a city so this whole concept is new to me.  I enjoy it though.

On another note, I found an organic market where I ate lunch yesterday.  It is set up like the Wegmans dining section and the food was really good.  It was no Wegmans but it was good enough and moderately priced so I think I will be going back maybe once a week or so.