December 2012

Christmas in Barcelona

After a cruise from Italy to Greece to Turkey and back, Scott and Joelene, plus kids Michael and Andrew, spent Christmas week in Barcelona, where they rented an apartment. Patti flew there to join them for a quick vacation; here's her description of the highlights, or go to the slideshow.

Barcelona was delightful and really worth at least another week or two. And, I hope to return soon.

I loved the mornings most -- because of the coffee and rolls (all about the food...).  Somehow, the coffee never kept us from sleeping.  We ate a lot of tapas for dinner, never lasting until the usual 11:30 pm dinner time there.  The tapas, little plates of salmon, peppers, chicken, beans, were wonderful; and one night we washed it all down with a pitcher of sangria.  Even in the fanciest restaurant (which we did only once) the atmosphere was warm and friendly and they were lovely with the children.  Other times we sat outside under the patio heaters and grazed on casual tapas, with wine.

There's a famous walk called The Ramblas, where everyone strolls down towards the harbor.  Artists were always along this route, with their arts and crafts. Evening walks along The Ramblas are one of the required activities, and we dutifully strolled up and then down this long stretch.  The coffee picture is from the Boqueria market, along this route.  The guy serving coffee is famous from Rick Steves books.  We visited another similar market closer to our apartment and it was almost as delightful, unbelievable crowded with people shopping for the Christmas feasts.  We bought salamis, bread, fruit, can't remember what else.

In the evenings the sidewalks were full of people out for their evening strolls.  Here's a picture, with the boys, of an evening stroll up another traffic-free lane called Portal de L'Angel, a wide lane and lots of shopping.  It runs into the heart of the Gothic Quarter with tiny lanes, and the Barcelona Cathedral.  We did a tour of the Gothic quarter and then wandered with the boys through The Born, more of the old town where we were staying.  There were separate little parks for dogs and children every few blocks.  We saw the most delightful little spaniel sharing pastry with his human.  The dogs were well loved there, no stray pathetic pets, cats or dogs.  Barcelona no longer has bullfights.

We visited the  Cathedral of Barcelona (originally the site of the Roman temple of Jupiter), which is home to a sitting (not sure what that means) Bishop, but it's also referred to as La Seu.  One of the patron saints, Eulalia, is honored there with 13 geese, always 13 because she was 13 when she died.  The geese have their own pristine little pool in the courtyard, or cloisters.  It was lovely.  Oh, and the Native Americans that Columbus brought back from the Americas were baptized here.  We all liked the geese and the cloisters.

Daytime temps were high 50s and low 60s, moderated by the Mediterranean.  One day we rode around on top of the open air tourist bus, and nearly froze, but generally it was quite pleasant.  Another day on the tourist bus, where you can hop on and off, and I was alone, I rode in the enclosed lower level, giving up views for warmth.  That tourist bus was a good way to get to some Gaudi sights, outside of the city center.  We rode it to Parc Guell and to the Sagrada Familia Church (spent a lot of time there).  The metro, or even taxis, would have been cheaper but we liked viewing along the routes.  Barcelona is so pretty. Some of the streets radiating up from the old town have a center median with walking area, ping pong tables (and people playing ping pong), benches, etc.  The area around the harbor was reclaimed with the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and is no longer the dark lanes of Carlos Ruiz Zafon novels (at least those we saw weren't).

There were so many wonderful musicians playing all over the city, and mimes with elaborate costumes.  Parc Guell is all Gaudi mosaics, with a beer garden overlooking the city.  Exceptionally pleasant.  Until this trip, I associated Gaudi with bizarre and garish stuff.  No longer. His cathedral is stunningly beautiful inside, and the mosaics in his homes and parks are creative nature inspired delights.  He loved nature and was skilled in blacksmithing; so, aside from the mosaics, there's lots of beautiful nature inspired iron work, gates, grilles.

We could easily spend a couple of weeks in Barcelona.  The Picasso museum, with works mostly from Picasso's early years, was just a few blocks away from the apartment, and I felt a bit guilty about not getting to that or any of the other museums.  Further afield, was the Miro foundation, and nearer the apartment, a history museum, a museum of inventions, just lots of museums.  We were in at least three cathedrals.  There are visible Roman aqueducts and walls and you can see where the original city of Barcino stood; B.C., if I remember correctly.  Just walking around felt like a living museum.  I also wanted to visit a monastery, Montserrat, further afield, but it's now an excuse to return.  Lots of things still to do.

Catalan is nothing like Spanish, and may be an early Roman language.  The Romans historical presence was very much in evidence around Barcelona, old walls, writing, aqueducts. Catalonia struck me as very distinct from Spain, more northern European. Maybe someday they will again be an independent country.  Virtually everyone speaks Spanish though, because for years Catalan was not allowed to be taught in schools, although now it's the language of education.  Most everyone now understands English and many speak Catalan.  Communication seemed not to be a problem, real Spanish skills would have been nice, but pointing worked.