Two Weeks Through Barcelona & Madrid in Summer

Barcelona

Sonar Festival

This was my second time to Spain.  The first was to Barcelona back in 2014 for spring.  Barcelona is good no matter what time of year, but to come in summer, for a festival, and meeting up with friends was definitely making the most of it.  Sonar festival was born here back in the 90’s and since has then, has gained a solid following of fans of electronic and the experimental music scene.  The German crew I met up with was here for many of the side parties and the general summer vibe of Barcelona, so I was in good company. 

The German Crew

Sonar Festival’s “Diynamic Outdoor” @ Instagram

EDM is especially HUGE in Europe, which has summer festivals all over the continent and unites tens of millions of people from all nationalities, ethnicities, and creeds like no other force. Music and dance are the medicines of healers. Deejays are like shamans... they got that beat for your funk and that drop for a cure....

Barcelona's Beaches, Food, and Wine 

Barceloneta Beaches

Serious convo over Merlot at Born's Food and Wine Festival

The best seafood tapas spot in BCN

It’s always nice to kick it with a crew for some days when traveling solo, but after several days with a crew of nine, the individual needs of everyone can begin to get exhausting. The good thing is I had been to Barcelona before and seen much of the city as a tourist.  This time, I had a less hectic schedule of "must do", rather, just enjoy a few festival events, hit the beach, and eat some Mediterranean seafood (shout out to one of the best seafood tapas in Barca – Bar Celta Pulperia).  

aftermath

However, I’m glad I made time to go inside the Sagarada Familia, which I had only seen from the outside on my first trip to BCN.

Sagrada Familia @ Instagram

Sagrada Familia still under construction since 1885. Gaudi's vision was to build a bible in stone and watch it climb upwards to eternity. He envisioned a church encrusted with vegetables, fruit, animals, trees, leaves, people, and even insects on the facade. Bible verses permeate in every nook and cranny. A master deejay of manipulating light. Just look at those beams of rainbows 🌈 flooding in like tsunami waves. "Let light shine out darkness. I have come to the world as light... as truth!

A true visionary who saw possibility in the impossible. 

This is a monument to GOD, built by the people who see themselves reflected in it. The first time I came to Barcelona I just visited the outside because I though once you been in one church you been in them all. This time I decided to pay a visit inside this House of God and I'm glad I did. One of kind. Like a church you'd find in Avatar. 

After five days in Barca, the Germans returned, and I decided to take the high speed train for Madrid.  I couldn’t believe how expensive it was to purchase a roundtrip ticket the day before.  $275!!!  Last minute purchases will get you every time.

Madrid

My first trip to Madrid seemed much more manageable and less touristy than Barcelona.  Don’t get me wrong, there are loads of tourists, but not near the scale you experience in Barcelona.  In Madrid, locals still seem to out number the tourists.  I often hear Spaniards prefer Madrid and the tourist prefers the beaches of Barcelona and after a week in Madrid, I began to understand why.

might be one of my favorite photos of all time

I don’t know if I’m just getting lazy, but the motivation to push myself to see all the major tourist sites with the long lines in summer was unappealing.  Rather, I decided to spend most of my days lounging in public spaces, people watching.  It was in Plaza Mayor, where I met Abraham and we chatted for some time about his life in Madrid.

An African Immigrant in Madrid @ Instagram

As a tourist visiting a foreign place we often have a conscripted version of what we want to see. So, here I am in Madrid, Spain.  Capital city of tapas and sangria, flamenco beautiful Spanish architecture, siesta and of course the "spanish" people's zeal for life. But if you look closer, you'll notice those who are the most discriminated and marginalized in nearly every society in the world.

Meet Abraham from Nigeria and the thousands like him who arrive to these shores illegal and undocumented, leaving their homeland and families in search of a better life. They often end up being invisible to all, except the harassment of police or the right wing who often demonized them for no other reason as their "otherness". Before you judge, understand, our nature is survival. There is man's law to maintain order, safety, capitalism, and class order, but when marginalized and deprived of basic resources, man's law is always trumped by the law of nature. Survival and democratic ideologies have inspired western societies to overthrow monarchs and dictators for democracy and basic human rights. These motivations are universal and will always act as a beacon for those that come from the developing world to improve their lot in life. 

They will make perilous attempts to cross deserts, oceans, mountains, barbwire fences and walls. They will pick your organic fruits and vegetables, work in deplorable factory conditions, sell you your next knock off, sing and dance for you in the street, braid your hair, massage out your aches and pains, sell you your next high, makes your bed at your 5 star resort, watch your children, cut your grass, cook you your favorite ethic foods, and clean your toilets while on holiday.

Parque Retiro @ Instagram

I often don't know where exactly I will find the most fascinating places when backpacking. I sorta, just go out, explore with the curiosity of a child, and cherish the simplest pleasures that the good earth has afforded me. Looking at the world with a fresh pair of eyes and my iPhone. Going to places where people are in their element, where they go to escape, where they do their hobbies, and where they are most happy with others. We are social creatures, meant to connect with our bodies and nature. I love the active life. I relish in being outdoors. I love the many kinesthetic classrooms, and the many forms, environments, and disciplines they manifest. Of all the parks I've strolled through, Parque de El Retiro in Madrid is incredible when the day turns to night. It's the Harvard of city parks, the Woodstock of festivals, the playground I want to play in, from the cradle to the grave... this is it! 

Toledo

I’ve always associated Toledo with Ohio, but like many New World cities in the Americas, the names are often associated with Old World towns. Less than an hour away, one can get away to the picturesque ancient city of Toledo.  Many of the tourists that come here only come for the day, so if you can spend at least one night here then you’ll be in for a real treat.  It felt like like you had the whole old town to yourself.  So many cobblestone ally ways that were empty of people.  It’s the kind of place, as a solo traveler, you can easily connect with other travelers and genuinely connect over a local meal or beer.  It’s touristy, in the sense that the locals all survive from your business, so don’t expect to get personalized encounter with the locals.  The whole town is centered around tourism, so it’s the kind of place you’d just come to appreciate the medieval architecture and it’s rich history of Visigoths, Roman, Moors, and Catholics who all made this place home at one time or another. 

Ancient Toledo @ Instagram

Obviously, Spain has many historically beautiful cities, and everyone has their favorite, but I can't imagine one more well preserved than Toledo. It is remarkable to walk through the city with it's narrow streets, cobblestones, and high stone walls. But to see this fortress of a town, divine in all its splendor, with walls and a natural moat of brackish muddy river water wrap around it like a slithering serpent and the sun setting on the horizon is one of the sweetest sunsets I'll remember. 

San Joan’s Festival of Lights – Barcelona

After nearly a week in Madrid and Toledo, I had to return to Barcelona for my flight to West Africa.  It turned out that a friend of mine from Egypt was passing through Barcelona on her way to Ibiza, so we made it a point to link up coincidently on summer solstice.  It was no ordinary weekend for those in Barcelona.  June 23 is the longest daylight of the year, known as Sant Joan and celebrated religiously in Catalonia, but with the ferocity of an all night rave.

Last year, I happened to celebrate summer solstice in Cusco, Peru… known by the Incan as the Festival of the Sun.  Through my travels, coming upon these pagan festivals indicated the change of the seasons, which was critical to stability and making sense of the their world.  As Christianity colonized these pagan cultures, the Catholic Church replaced these holidays with holy days dedicated to Catholic saints, which now seems more hedonistic than religious by the people who come out to commemorate the day.

Today, Barcelonans mark the night with a massive organic party concentrated along the strip of beaches along Barceloneta.  Groups of friends and family arrive after sunset to get their drink on, bbq, and eat tapas picnic style on the sand.  There are street musicians, and performance artists drawing the attention of the crowds of pedestrians walking along the boardwalk.  Beachside clubs pump electronic, salsa, and hip-hop into the night.  South Asian men hustle cheap beer through the crowds, as mischievous kids throw black cats at each other.

One of the main traditions is when revelers light hot air paper lanterns near the waters edge and seal their wishes between lips as their lanterns disappear into the darkness.  The night’s sky illuminates periodically in an array of color, accompanied by the boom of fireworks all throughout the night until the new day breaks off over the horizon on the Mediterranean side.