I Didn't Like Barcelona. Not at First. | On Expectations, Disappointment, & Slow Travel
I didn't like Barcelona. Not at first.
It didn't help that my first day there was completely grey and overcast. I'd booked at LATROUPE Poblenou, a hostel a distance away from the city centre, for the alleged proximity to the beach.
The neighbourhood looked gaunt and stark, the streets nearly empty. This was a far cry from the coastal photos I'd seen.
Even the beach disappointed me that first day. I'd taken the train from Madrid in the morning (where it was infinitely sunnier and hotter) and was hoping to catch some rays before an early bedtime.
The beach was windy and cold, the palm trees almost a mockery of their setting.
Not the best look for Barcelona.
I actually told someone later that the beach looked like someone had taken a load of sand and dumped it in the middle of the city – concrete asphalt that bled into grainy particles with no warning – and they told me, bemused, that that's exactly how it was created.
As I'm writing this, a quick search online revealed to me that Barcelona's beaches were specially constructed for the 1992 Summer Olympics, including the ones that had me scratching my head in confusion that first day – Platja de la Mar Bella and Playa de Bogatell.
In a way, parts of this city were barely older than me. Perhaps that's why the atmosphere of Barcelona felt young, hip, and trendy – not exuding the type of historic grandeur that Madrid did.
I wasn't the only one who felt the dissonance. Something didn't align. Everyone I've met so far who's traveled to both has said they prefer Madrid over Barcelona.
In essence, I just didn't understand the city.
As a relatively seasoned solo traveller, I knew the expectations of destinations often differed from their reality, but this was the largest gap in ideation I'd experienced so far.
Certainly, mass tourism didn't help win the case for Barcelona. Sagrada Familia was a shocker for me because here I was, at the base of this marvel of Gothic Revival and Catalan Modernism – with its surprisingly quirky design – and all I could see were the literal piles of trash surrounding the block.
