Barcelona

The Galleries. The Buildings.

Travelling for me, is such a strange thing. The organisation. The painfulness of airport security. The dehydration and complete haze felt when flying. Packing your bags. The disorientation experienced in a new place. It all seems very questionable as to why do it in the first place. This became clear very quickly during our trip to Barcelona.

While growing up and experiencing the height of the consumerist society, we often find ourselves struggling through the day-to-day cycle that we become locked in. We forget to educate, socialise and enjoy what has been and is to come. It is this very structured mindset that drives me to think outside the box. Why do we travel - that is, why do we travel apart from the surface value points like needing those picture perfect Instagram snaps, work or feeling like a holiday is the only way to cure complete exhaustion and an escape from your everyday grind? This mentality struck me in the strangest place… the toilets of the unique Picasso museum located in a small alley way in one of the central parts of Barcelona. I did warn you, it was strange.

Now let me paint the picture for you - the female cubicles, coloured this lightish burgundy red, were lined up in our normal modernised conveyer belt manner. The toilets ran like norm, a simple flush button and all was gone. The one element that removed my Western, civilised and technologically run mindset appeared as I exited the cubicle and faced me straight on. The surface that ran parallel to my body, which seemed to be 6 metres high, making me clearly feel like a tiny ant being only 154cm, was in fact an old sand stone wall that juxtaposed every modern surface you have every come in contact with. Realising that this sandstone not only ran through the three levels within the building, forming a very cohesive exhibition, but dated back from between the 13th - 18th century (depending on what part of the building) was an eye opener for me. It seems silly that a stone wall resulted in a significant moment, but coming face to face with a physical element dating so far back and that could be touched was really confronting.

Art, although ever changing and extremely personal, is a creative entity that should never be over looked. My two personal favourite art galleries in Barcelona were the Piscasso museum and the Joan Miró Gallery - for different reasons but they shared two. The artworks themselves have multiple dimensions to them that allow the audience to draw on different personalised meanings compared to very contemporary art forms. Also, both galleries incorporate the buildings and their location into the carefully designed exhibitions. The other private gallery that we stumbled over was The Blue Project Foundation. Housing works that were very interactive, being able to touch as well as walk through them, their space invites the contemporary art lovers to explore established as well as up and coming Spanish artists.

Now, I don’t mean for you to always want or expect an epiphany moment when sitting on random toilets around the world. But it is certainly interesting to see the world, to experience new things and challenge your everyday mentality so you can acknowledge the past, live in the present and look forward to the future.

Yashima, located in the more centralised business orientated neighbourhood, began a dining experience with a tour to our table below ground. Walking through the restaurant that transported you to an Japanese style oasis, we came to our table - a booth with a view of sushi bar.
Each dish offering a take on traditional Japanese food and influences of the modern culinary world, we were nothing less than astonished by owner, Rona Yamashita’s culinary art and dining experience. Pretty much all six dishes we tried were brilliant but there were three stand outs - the butterfish carpaccio with salmon roe and wasabi leak, the whole seasonal mushroom tempura with warm tentsuyu sauce and the dobinmushi dashi soup with shrimp and mushrooms.

Certainly there is no better feeling than experiencing something out of the gastronomical norms and capturing every moment as our Barcelona trip came to a close. Finishing with a bang was not what we expected but was sure what played out. Barcelona, you did us proud. You showed us monumental art, exquisite architecture and a culinary world of diversity and deliciousness.

— Cecile Vadas —