Four or five years ago, my first trip to Barcelona, I was busy on writing a travel guide book. I never had any awareness of it before, by collecting data, reading some travel books, preparing map, holding big baggages with my photographer, from Berlin we arrived in Barcelona. At that time, it was necessary to race against time. As a result, we probably worked ten hours a day, visited the attractions including La Pedrera, La Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, Casa Batllo, Montijuic Peak, Miro Museum, Museum MNAC and the MACBA Art Gallery, Picasso Museum, the Concert Hall of Catalonia, FC Barcelona’s stadium, Mercat de la Boqueria, La Barceloneta beach … and a dozens of shops and interviews. Finally, a travel guide with 216 pages  was produced, within four months’ work. For me, the experience of Barcelona was so amazing, although everybody said that it was the worst hit cities of pick pocket. Fortunately, we kept awake all the time. But I remembered, when I left Barcelona on the last day, I said︰In the coming decade, I don’t want to be back … maybe it was just the influence of the guide book, or because the place was too complicated for me, too many pickpockets, I was extremely nervous, couldn’t relax for a day.

But You will never know. After five years, I came back to this place again. I met a friend K in Ireland, she asked me to bring a guide book back to Germany for her. At that moment, she didn’t even know the author is me, she said: it was your colleagues masterpiece! However, you should suggest to update the map ( Surely, it has been five years…), I told her with an embarrassed smile that I am the author.

Finally, I come with a friend this time and stay in Barcelona with my custom-made itinerary. Referring to the book, there are several designers’ stores, I encountered those people again. I felt so interesting, I sometimes doubt whether they would remember me or not. In fact, if you remember them, they would remember  you too.

In this trip, I am mostly surprised with the interior of the cathedral of the Holy Family, it was completely built! In 2010, the Pope visited and renamed it as Basilica.

But I still have a bad impression of Barcelona which has not changed, the problem of crime still made me nervous. In addition, I didn’t really have time to visit the beach. It is already autumn in Berlin, without any beach around, everyone wants to visit the beach of Spain. Maybe it is the reason of my re-visiting of Barcelona? I hope that the Holy Family Cathedral would be completed in my next trip.

special thanks︰

U magazine for Barcelona guide book on 2008-2009

Swiss International air lines for supporting on the guide book