Barcelona Beginnings

Day 1     Barcelona       Friday, July 25, 2014

Janet and I arrived in Barcelona at 9am after flying overnight via Charlotte. Waiting for us as we emerged from getting our luggage was our host, Ramon. We stayed five nights in his Airbnb apartment, and he was most wonderful. On the way to his flat, he went into Montjuïc Park overlooking Barcelona for some good views. The photo above is one of them, looking down on where his flat was located. The port is to the right, but you can't see it in this picture.

Ramon also stopped briefly at the Olympic Stadium, where my parents were for the 1992 games. I tried to impress Ramon by telling him that a sprinter from OUR high school won the gold medal in the 200 meters (Mike Marsh). I think Janet was more impressed than Ramon was. We then drove to his flat and luckily there was an elevator to his 2nd floor (third level, since in Europe the level above ground is first). Ramon had my name on our door, and was helpful in explaining the subway system and where all the bests sights were.

Our first touristy adventure was to see Barcelona's most famous attraction - the cathedral La Sagrada Familia (Sacred Family). It is not a true cathedral (where a bishop resides), but is cathedral in size.

The lower front looks a bit like fresh mud has been slapped on, doesn't it? We had purchased tickets online a few days earlier for a 3 pm entrance. We departed two hours early thinking it might take lots of time to figure out purchasing subway tickets and who knew what else, but the whole trip took only about 20 minutes. (The subway stop was only 100 yards from our flat, and buying a 10-trip ticket was easy, and of course the subway was fast. As you can see in the photo, the subway stop was right next to the cathedral.) We asked if we could go in early, but we couldn't. So, we hung around the park across the street in the shade.

It was hot and humid. I went off on an explore, and wandered in an air conditioned mini mart checking out the local food products. It finally came time for our tour. Below is a photo I took from Montjuïc at a later time showing how it stands out in its environment. Very noticeable. The cathedral was begun in 1882 and is still being worked on; it's expected to be completed by 2030. Right now it has eight of its eventual 18 spires, which will represent the sacred family of the 12 apostles, the four Evangelists, Virgin Mary, and Jesus. The Virgin Mary spire will be much higher than any of the existing ones, while the one for Jesus will tower at 560 feet, higher than the Washington Monument in D.C. It will make the cathedral the tallest church building in the world.

La Sagrada Familia was designed by Antoni Gaudi, whose creations are all over Barcelona and his name almost represents his artwork - gaudy. He died in 1926, but work on the cathedral went on. Here you can see they were busy working the day we were there:

The two side entrances are completed, one representing Christ's birth (Nativity) and the other his death (Passion). It was certainly impressive inside. Not your typical Catholic church, but the headset tour we rented and the signs explained the symbolism and geometry behind everything and that made it interesting and understandable. All in all it was amazing.

We returned on the metro and walked to the port, a short distance from our flat. We watched a group of cyclists ride by and later saw them celebrating the end of their week-long ride from San Sebastian (you can imagine the first thought that entered my mind: "I want to do that!"). Here's a photo of the port:

You can see the sky bucket tower that takes people from the far side of the port to Montjuïc. You can also see a large hotel (the W) that looks like a sail. The big building is their World Trade Center. Behind Janet was the iconic Christopher Columbus monument, 197 feet tall and built in 1888. The sun wasn't in the best spot to take a close photo, but you can see it from this photo I took later on Montjuïc:

They honored Columbus because - don't forget - King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, who funded his New World voyages, were from Barcelona. He is supposed to be pointing to the new world he discovered, but since that would have been back toward the city, he's actually pointing out to sea toward Algeria. Hahaha We then walked a little farther and saw a funny sight of a pedestrian bridge open for boats. The number of people waiting to cross in both directions became overwhelming, and when they finally closed the bridge the mass of people looked like this:

Janet and I waited until the mass of humanity lessened, and we walked over there too and eventually on around the peninsula to the left. We enjoyed all the sights of the harbor on a Friday evening, including the sidewalk vendors and street performers.

There were many people out jogging, biking, and walking on this pleasant evening. Here's a photo of some of their unusual sculptures there:

The lobster in the front is recognizable, but The Head behind is harder to visualize as to its title. Eventually we walked back into the old town with its narrow walkways and many restaurants. While wandering around waiting for our tour of the La Sagrada Familia, I noticed that many restaurants offered paella, and THAT's what I was craving. We finally chose one, and it was pretty cool-looking inside:

There was a Picasso-like painting, and the 3D ship on the wall. And the paella was pretty good! Couldn't taste any saffron, but it was still yummy. We then walked on back to our flat and hit the hay at 9:30. We slept until 10:45 the next morning!