Field Trip 2: El Born

For our second field we went to a district in Barcelona called El Born, or the Born District. This is my favorite area in all of Barcelona so I was particularly excited to get toured around the area. We started at the Jaume 1 metro stop and walked through the tiny streets (definitely not built for cars) of el Born. There was some incredible architecture all around in the area, but especially close to the Picasso Museum. It used to be a very rich and affluent area for the bourgeois so there are very nice houses and apartments all around. After passing through this area we made it to the Jewish area, which was especially interesting for me given that I'm Jewish. We got to see the first synagogue ever built in Barcelona, but unfortunately we didn't get to go inside. The synagogue was smaller than I expected it to be, but given the treatment of Jews throughout history, I wasn't all that surprised. After the synagogue we headed over to the Mercat de Santa Caterina, which was very cool looking from the outside. The inside felt like a smaller version of La Boqueria. I liked La Boqueria better, however this one was definitely quieter and more tranquil. Getting to see the more hidden parts of the Born district was definitely really cool. I really am enjoying getting to know Barcelona.