More Gaudi and more Basque food

Day 4     Barcelona     Monday, July 28, 2014

One of the highlights of the day was Park Güell, another gaudy Gaudi creation. It was our first adventure of the day, but we didn't even get started until 12:20. From the nearest subway stop, it was a long walk. Luckily we already had tickets because the line to get in was long.

The park began in 1900 when a Gaudi supporter named Eusebi Güell had him develop this hillside for wealthy residential homes. It turned out not to be viable (hard to get to, too expensive) so they abandoned it in 1914. The Güell heirs donated it to the city as a park in 1922.

This picture of Janet and the one above show the "Nature Square" where celebrations and sports events were held for the residents and friends. The undulating decorated bench (virtually all Gaudi artwork may be said to be "undulating"!!) around the entire square is made with tile-shard mosaic and pieces of ceramic.

In this photo of me you can see the mosaic bench a bit closer, as well as the tower from the Porter's House at the entrance and the sea way back in the distance.

Here's the very famous mosaic lizard in the middle fountain of the steps from the entrance to the columned section above. Both of our Barcelona guide books had this lizard on their covers. The mosaic style is called "Trencadis" tiling, whereby Gaudi used smashed-up ceramics and pieced them back together in mosaic patterns.

There are only two residences left at the park, one privately owned (the White House) and still lived in higher up the hillside, and this one (the Pink House) where Gaudi himself lived right up to his death in 1926. It is now a museum.

It would take dozens of photos to show all the interesting sights at Park Güell, but here is at least one more to show how they designed many of the walkways and terraces.

We walked back to the subway and went to the Palace of Music, which is not too far from the cathedral in the old town. We took a tour and this was definitely a Barcelona highlight for us.

This is the outside of the palace, which was built 1905-08 and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has hosted the top classical music stars and artistic performances of every kind. I took 14 photos of the interior and will post several of them here:

 

 

The signature piece is the stained glass ceiling. The story goes that the building needed more light due to the tall structures all around it, so they opened it up with light from the top. It is the only auditorium in Europe that is bright enough during the daytime without using any illumination. The concert hall is considered one of the most beautiful in the world, and we agreed.

Our next subway stop, late in the afternoon, was the Maritime Museum located very near to our flat by the port. Its highlight was this life-size replica of the 185-foot-long royal galley Admirals of the Juan de Austria. 

Here's a view from the stern, with all its paintings and decorations. It fought in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 in which the Turkish Armada was defeated. It was powered by 236 oarsmen (mostly slaves).

Our walk home took us past this section of the medieval city wall, which originally surrounded the Roman settlement but has been rebuilt many times over the past 2000 years.

Another highlight for the day and our entire Barcelona visit was eating dinner back at the Basque Restaurant where we had lunch two days earlier. It is most popular for its tapas section, but it also had a small sit-down section at the back where you ordered from a menu and had table service. Our waiter, Joseba, was Basque and he and Janet exchanged e-mails because he is interested in attending next year's Jaialdi Festival in Boise, ID.

We admired the Basque lauburu symbols on the plates, so Joseba secretly wrapped up two of them in a cloth napkin and handed them to Janet, saying "Don't tell anyone." We now have these cool souvenirs!

Of course, the food was incredible. We ordered the house salads, which turned out to be a series of samples of things that were all so good. We didn't think we'd have room for our entrees. Janet's entree here is lamb, and I had a pork dish.

I also had room for a homemade chocolate delicacy for dessert. All in all, it was a fun experience. Our secondary waiter also was Basque, so it added to the unique nature of Euskal Etxea.

This final photo for the day shows where we spent lots of time in Barcelona:

We took 15 subway trips in all, and got pretty good at navigating the system. Interestingly, on an earlier trip on Saturday, we were part of a pickpocket attempt. We had been sitting waiting for a train next to two men and a woman. When it arrived, completely packed, we crowded our way on, in front of the other three. The woman's hand rubbed against my pants at the back, and it made me think to grab where my wallet was, which was in my front pocket. As the train was rolling, a British man, right next to us, started challenging one of the men who had gotten on with us for having taken his wallet. Sure enough, a wallet dropped to the ground and he and his accomplices said something like, "Oh look, there is it, you dropped it. All is well." Everyone realized they were pickpockets and said other things to them to get off the train, which they did, but so did we because we were going only one stop. Once off, the three of them were talking in Spanish to each other, and another Spanish local said something to them and they swore at each other. The three then sat down, we guessed to wait for the next train to try again.

Other than that, all our subway trips were uneventful but usually very crowded. We went to bed that night knowing it was our last in Barcelona. In our flat over the course of our stay, we got to visit briefly with other renters from Poland, Croatia, Germany, South Korea, and Canada.

Touring with my German friends

Day 3    Barcelona     Sunday, July 27, 2014

These are the Engels, Benedikt, Hilde, and young Stefan. I met them a year ago on my Great Lakes bike tour. They are from Aachen, which is near the borders of Belgium and Holland. I have remained e-mail friends, and we suddenly realized a few months ago that we were going to be in Northeastern Spain at exactly the same time. They decided to drive the hour from where they were staying, in Gerona, to Barcelona for one day to see the city and to let us visit together again.

So great to see them and to have Janet meet them. Stefan spent the past school year in Pennsylvania, so he had not been home very long before this vacation for them. We walked along Barcelona's famous La Rambla from its start at Plaҫa de Catalunya. La Rambla is a city highlight, a pedestrian boulevard running 0.6 miles to the port where the Columbus Monument is. We diverted into the old city to see again the Cathedral and Roman walls. This time Janet got to go inside the Cathedral. Once back on La Rambla, we saw the Columbus monument up close with its many statues and commemorations.

The five of us walked all the way to the beaches of Barceloneta, beyond the port to the north.

Being a nice hot Sunday, the beaches were jammed. This next picture captures the throngs enjoying the sun:

They had sand sculptors, as well as quite a few women who must have misplaced their bikini tops. Janet joked about Stefan getting some of those views, but it seemed to fall flat and we just kept walking back to the port.

Once we reached the port, we found a cafe for lunch. As one would expect, the prices at those primo beach locations were extravagant, but we still enjoyed our food and the scenery. After that long walk, Janet's foot was hurting so we said our goodbyes and took the subway back to our flat for a rest. I learned later that the Engels continued on for a very extensive walking tour of the old city.

After a rest, we decided to try again on the funicular/gondolas now that we knew where the funicular start was located. It all worked great, and the views were fantastic.

Once at the top, we went inside the castle that was built in 1640 as a military fortress. The best part was seeing the old photos of Barcelona in the museum. But it was the views from up there of the port that was the best, including a Norwegian Cruise ship that we would see later in Naples.

Another view of the castle:

This Catalan flag flew atop the castle with a view down to the city and Mediterranean. There were posters explaining how in 1939, the troops of Franco took over Barcelona and they executed the president of Catalonia, Lluís Companys, in 1940. What they didn't mention was how the republicans up to that point had used the castle to lock up and execute right nationalists (Franco supporters). Course, everyone here and all the Basque people hate Franco, so that was okay.

 Here is the Catalan flag flying in all its glory!

Janet and I returned to the flat (another two gondola rides down and a funicular ride to the bottom of the hill) and rested again. Our dinner was at one of the many little restaurants that populated our area just down our street. We ordered tapas again, this time a Russian salad, little fried battered thingies, two little sandwiches, and of course cheap beer (the bottled local beer was 1 to 1.2€, or $1.50 to $1.80, so not bad!).

Just a few feet away was this theater:

I just HAD to take Janet's picture here because she was the El Molino editor-in-chief, which was our high school yearbook. The windmill blades were turning and everything! We were tired after a long day of walking and seeing this beautiful city, and we still had one and a half more days!

Exploring the old Gothic Quarter

Day 2     Barcelona       Saturday, July 26, 2014
 

Janet and I walked all over the old town (Barri Gòtic, or Gothic Quarter) seeing numerous city highlights. Just to the east was this Arch of Triumph, built as the entrance gate for the 1888 Barcelona World's Fair. Earlier in the Barri Gòtic we visited the Barcelona Cathedral (the REAL cathedral, which seats a bishop), the remnants of the old Roman walls and aqueduct, the Picasso Museum, an archeological site in the El Born section, and many others. But the most exciting point in the day was when we happened upon this:

A Basque restaurant! I had read about this in the guide book, but had no idea where it was. They sold tapas, which are small servings of ... anything they can create.

They had about 30 choices, and you just pick as many as you want during your time there. Each one cost 1.95€, which was about $3.40. When you're done they count the number of wooden toothpick skewers on your plate, and multiply it by 1.95€. Here's Janet, and my plate is there too. We loved it for lunch.

Getting back to the start of the day, we awoke so late that we didn't get going until 12:30 pm.The flat is so perfectly located that we needed to walk only about 500 meters and we were in the old city, originally Roman and surrounded by walls. The streets were narrow and charming:

We saw children's flamenco dresses in shops and bought one for Rylee. We used the tour book to read about the various sites where we were, and learned about the special history of Barcelona. It is located in a section of northeastern Spain called Catalonia, which in previous times was its own country. They have their own language, although they of course speak Spanish too. They actually would like to separate from Spain to again become their own country, much as the Basques in northwestern Spain would like. There is a separate Catalon government that declared they plan to separate this year - 2014. We shall see. But suffice to say, Barcelona is special for having the Catalon heritage and active language and culture.

Janet and I eventually we made it to the Barcelona Cathedral.

It was magnificent inside and out, dating from the 14th century. Janet did not go inside because your shoulders were supposed to be covered and she was wearing a sleeveless blouse. There were many vendors selling shawls at the entrance, but she didn't care enough to purchase one. (She got to go inside the next day when we returned with our friends.)

My favorite part was the choir (one side of it in this photo), whose seats had above them the original coats-of-arms of the knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

A side chapel contains a cross from a ship that fought at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Legend states that during the battle, the cross suddenly and miraculously shifted to the right to avoid being hit by a cannonball, a miraculous sign from God that the Ottomans would be defeated. (Two days later, we visited the Maritime Museum and they had a fabulous replica of a ship that fought at that battle. See the photos for July 28.)

This is a remnant of the Roman aqueduct. There were several portions of the original Roman wall in the Gothic Quarter. The cathedral is behind the building in this photo.

Another site nearby was Plaҫa del Rei, the King's palace:

It is believed that on the steps fanning out from the corner of the square behind Janet is where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella greeted Columbus when he arrived home from his first voyage to the New World. Underneath the square and the buildings they are excavating old city structures dating back 2000 yrs.

We then walked a short distance to the Picasso Museum. It focuses on his early work in which his style is "normal", which we liked more than his later famous style. It was as we departed that we happened to pass by the Basque restaurant for lunch. After that we wandered using our tour book as a guide. Something we hadn't read about was a large archeological excavation, under a huge enclosed building, that was the city prior to the siege of 1714 (on 9/11, and to this day they annually celebrate on Sept 11 the National Day of Catalonia).

There were explanation signs inside explaining this siege, which came at the end of the War of Spanish Succession. The forces of Spain's Philip V retook the city that had been under the power of Archduke Charles of Austria during the previous 12 yrs. Once the "outsiders" were defeated, it marked a 200-yr period of government that mirrored the centralization of the various monarchies in Europe. With the War of the Spanish Succession completed, Spain evolved from a de facto unified kingdom to a truly legal centralized one.

On our way back into the old city, we walked past the Castle of Three Dragons:

This impressive building was originally the restaurant for the 1888 World's Fair, but is now their Zoological Museum. We got to visit the Church of Santa Maria del Mar, built in the 14th century, with its spectacular stained glass windows. Then we scurried to the nearest subway stop since Janet's ankles were getting pretty sore by now.

After a rest back home, we decided to take the funicular and cable cars up to Montjuïc Castle for a tour and views overlooking the harbor. From the map, it looked like the funicular departed right by our flat. We kept walking up up up the hill waiting to find the station, but alas, it never came. About halfway up, a man said we could take a path to walk to the top, but when we tried to follow his directions we must have gone the wrong way. So, instead of making it easy on Janet's foot by taking a funicular, there we were walking up a steep, rocky hill to the mountain. Eventually we reached the funicular station, but they said the cable cars were about to close for the night, so we just took the funicular back down. Guess where the station was? In "our" subway station where we'd been several times! We had just never noticed the signs, but there they were in big plain sight. 

We decided to walk in a local neighborhood and look for a home-spun restaurant. In a plaza where there was a stage and performers getting ready, we decided to eat there so we could be entertained. Well, it's a funny story: It took forever for the performers to get ready, and more and more of them kept showing up. After we ordered our paella (again!) and were halfway done, they FINALLY started playing and we realized it was a ukelele group of 13! Well, one guitar, but 12 ukeleles?? 

There they all are. Their performance was pretty "average" (to be kind). And of all those people, they couldn't find a good singer -- he was "below average".

A short distance farther was our actual goal for the evening - to see the Magic Fountain display set to music - ala the Bellagio Hotel in Vegas (though not nearly as elaborate). It seemed that everyone in Barcelona had the same idea we did, as crowds overwhelmed the site. But somehow we were able to get pretty close, and it was great - except when the wind gusts blew water on us.

I had to steal this photo from the Internet because my still came out blurry, although I did get a super video of it. In the video it's funny to see everyone's cameras held high to get either a still or video too. The fountain was built in 1929, and the music was added in 1980.

We took the subway back to our flat, but right outside there was a street party so we partook for a while before going to bed. It was much better than the ukelele concert!

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!