Bruce and I were in Barcelona for 4 1/2 days. What a fantastic city! Rivals Paris in beauty - and the weather is probably better! The amazing architecture, the history, the ambiance, the food, the sea, the warm weather, the cleanliness, the feeling of safety, the liberal politics - it all combined to make for an absolutely delightful destination. We love to explore a new city on foot and this city is so walk-able, with broad sidewalks, well-labeled streets, and beauty that just doesn't quit. There was an outdoors culture, with tables on every street corner, great for people watching, and others in hidden, quiet little plazas where you could get a coffee and just muse. Lots of theaters. Lots of outdoor sports. The city had its origins as a Roman town, and vestiges of the Roman presence can still be seen, as well as all the other eras since then. There must have been an enormous building spree around 1890 - 1910, as there are so many grand, ornate buildings from that time period.
Pleasant sidewalk eating on a beautiful sunny day.
The waterfront, a lovely place to relax or skateboard or sail.
Our accommodation in Barcelona was interesting. Because Europe is so expensive, Bruce came up with a slightly funky but, as it turns out, delightful arrangement. We stayed in an urban B&B in someone's apartment. This young couple, he Argentinian and she Dutch, have an apartment with a couple of spare rooms that they are using to run a B&B. Actually, I would call it a "B": no breakfast unless you pay extra, which is fine. It gives you an option. The building was one of the elegant old ones on the main drag, Gran Via, with an antique elevator which slowly climbed to the 5th floor apartment. Our room was clean and cheerful and definitely had a woman's touch in decorating - and it had wifi, an essential for us these days! There was only one shared bathroom for the guests, as well as Luis and Melanie, but it worked out fine. (Kinda like the farmhouse in Devon.) Luis was very helpful with suggestions for the city.
Bruce, ready to enter our antique elevator, to lift us 5 floors.
Our pretty room in Luis and Melanie's "Si Si Claro" B&B
We spent our days exploring the city, going one evening to the beach, where I dipped my toes in the Mediterranean, another evening to a sports bar to watch Spain play Ireland (successfully), another day on a guided walking tour of the oldest area of the city. After a few days to get our bearings, Bruce and I went our separate ways one morning and met for lunch at a favorite little sidewalk cafe, run by a Chinese family but serving Spanish food. I was eager to see the Gaudi buildings, and he was eager to not be "herded" anywhere. I happily zoomed around for 3 hours non-stop, guidebook in hand, tracking down addresses, viewing the most remarkable architectural creations. What a playful and creative genius Gaudi was! He was not the only "modernisme/art nouveau" architect, but he is the most famous and the most outlandish. One of his apartment complexes is on the UNESCO Heritage List. (I just learned that Spain has the 2nd most sites on the list, after Italy.) I had a peek into the interior courtyard of La Pedrera apartment building. It rose up in undulating shapes with purple sparkly surfaces. It made you smile just to see it.
Gaudi's Casa Batllo with its beautiful mosaic facade and amazing scaled roof & tower.
One afternoon we walked over to the Joan Miro Park, where a giant Miro sculpture, in typical bold primary colors, overlooks one corner of the park. Instead of the expected grass lawn, the surface of the park was hard sand with palm trees casting interesting shadows and small pools offering the soothing sound of running water - and a children's library! Inside the library, my eye fell on a book on display by American children's author, Jeanette Winter, whom I was familiar with. I was intrigued to find an American author featured on a shelf in Barcelona and picked up the book called The Librarian of Basra. It is a true story about a librarian who saved thousands of books by hiding them everywhere, as the Iraqi war with America began to rage. I was touched to find this story, translated into Spanish and offered to the children of Barcelona, emphasizing the love of literature that knows no political boundaries.
Shadows in the Joan Miro Park.
Towering Joan Miro sculpture in the park named for him.
Child reading inside the Joan Miro Library.
Barcelona is the capital of the Catalan area of Spain. Catalonia spread up into France, encompassing the southern area where we had lived in 2006. The Catalan language is the second language, officially, in Barcelona, and everything is written in both Spanish and Catalan. It seemed to me to be a melange of Spanish and French, as the word for exit, which is salida in Spanish and sortie in French, is sortida in Catalan. The Catalans are very proud of their culture and language. It's interesting how many places are trying to hold onto an ancient, now minority, language, as with Gaelic in Scotland and Tamil in southern India - and Downeast in Maine (?). Ayuh!
On our last day in Barcelona, before we caught a late afternoon train north to Perpignan, just over the border in France, Bruce and I took the metro to Gaudi's renowned Park Guell, where his imagination had run rampant! It is an amazing place, with whimsical buildings and all manner of rock and cement overhangs, made to look natural. It's hard to believe that one man could have orchestrated all of it.
One of Gaudi's whimsical buildings in Park Guell.
Some of Gaudi's rock & cement natural look-alikes in Park Guell.
Ooh, I do love lavender - the plant, the color, the scent!
Our few days in sunny Barcelona flew by - with Bruce wondering what it would be like to spend the winter there. He wonders that about a lot of places. I guess that even after 10 months of travel, he still has some wanderlust left.
We're now settled into a medieval home in the sleepy southern France town of Montlaur, not too far from the town where we lived for 6 months in 2006. We'll be here for 3 weeks, taking a break from all the arranging of hotels, trains, rental cars, packing and unpacking, banking in strange places, etc. Nothing but good wine and cheese, baguettes, fresh salads, lavender blooming on the terrace in the warm sun, and quiet days punctuated by the sound of church bells and birds and excited children just released from school. Ahhh. We'll be missing Peggy and Roger's magical solstice party in their garden but will think of you all as the official start of summer begins. Enjoy!
Our accommodation in Barcelona was interesting. Because Europe is so expensive, Bruce came up with a slightly funky but, as it turns out, delightful arrangement. We stayed in an urban B&B in someone's apartment. This young couple, he Argentinian and she Dutch, have an apartment with a couple of spare rooms that they are using to run a B&B. Actually, I would call it a "B": no breakfast unless you pay extra, which is fine. It gives you an option. The building was one of the elegant old ones on the main drag, Gran Via, with an antique elevator which slowly climbed to the 5th floor apartment. Our room was clean and cheerful and definitely had a woman's touch in decorating - and it had wifi, an essential for us these days! There was only one shared bathroom for the guests, as well as Luis and Melanie, but it worked out fine. (Kinda like the farmhouse in Devon.) Luis was very helpful with suggestions for the city.
We spent our days exploring the city, going one evening to the beach, where I dipped my toes in the Mediterranean, another evening to a sports bar to watch Spain play Ireland (successfully), another day on a guided walking tour of the oldest area of the city. After a few days to get our bearings, Bruce and I went our separate ways one morning and met for lunch at a favorite little sidewalk cafe, run by a Chinese family but serving Spanish food. I was eager to see the Gaudi buildings, and he was eager to not be "herded" anywhere. I happily zoomed around for 3 hours non-stop, guidebook in hand, tracking down addresses, viewing the most remarkable architectural creations. What a playful and creative genius Gaudi was! He was not the only "modernisme/art nouveau" architect, but he is the most famous and the most outlandish. One of his apartment complexes is on the UNESCO Heritage List. (I just learned that Spain has the 2nd most sites on the list, after Italy.) I had a peek into the interior courtyard of La Pedrera apartment building. It rose up in undulating shapes with purple sparkly surfaces. It made you smile just to see it.
(here & below:)
Gaudi's La Pedrera apartment building, a UNESCO Heritage Site
One afternoon we walked over to the Joan Miro Park, where a giant Miro sculpture, in typical bold primary colors, overlooks one corner of the park. Instead of the expected grass lawn, the surface of the park was hard sand with palm trees casting interesting shadows and small pools offering the soothing sound of running water - and a children's library! Inside the library, my eye fell on a book on display by American children's author, Jeanette Winter, whom I was familiar with. I was intrigued to find an American author featured on a shelf in Barcelona and picked up the book called The Librarian of Basra. It is a true story about a librarian who saved thousands of books by hiding them everywhere, as the Iraqi war with America began to rage. I was touched to find this story, translated into Spanish and offered to the children of Barcelona, emphasizing the love of literature that knows no political boundaries.
Barcelona is the capital of the Catalan area of Spain. Catalonia spread up into France, encompassing the southern area where we had lived in 2006. The Catalan language is the second language, officially, in Barcelona, and everything is written in both Spanish and Catalan. It seemed to me to be a melange of Spanish and French, as the word for exit, which is salida in Spanish and sortie in French, is sortida in Catalan. The Catalans are very proud of their culture and language. It's interesting how many places are trying to hold onto an ancient, now minority, language, as with Gaelic in Scotland and Tamil in southern India - and Downeast in Maine (?). Ayuh!
On our last day in Barcelona, before we caught a late afternoon train north to Perpignan, just over the border in France, Bruce and I took the metro to Gaudi's renowned Park Guell, where his imagination had run rampant! It is an amazing place, with whimsical buildings and all manner of rock and cement overhangs, made to look natural. It's hard to believe that one man could have orchestrated all of it.
Our few days in sunny Barcelona flew by - with Bruce wondering what it would be like to spend the winter there. He wonders that about a lot of places. I guess that even after 10 months of travel, he still has some wanderlust left.
We're now settled into a medieval home in the sleepy southern France town of Montlaur, not too far from the town where we lived for 6 months in 2006. We'll be here for 3 weeks, taking a break from all the arranging of hotels, trains, rental cars, packing and unpacking, banking in strange places, etc. Nothing but good wine and cheese, baguettes, fresh salads, lavender blooming on the terrace in the warm sun, and quiet days punctuated by the sound of church bells and birds and excited children just released from school. Ahhh. We'll be missing Peggy and Roger's magical solstice party in their garden but will think of you all as the official start of summer begins. Enjoy!
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