Barcelona

We arrived in 

Barcelona by bus on Thursday evening, had dinner at "La Fonda" and took a walk along the famous street, Las Ramblas. The restaurant was large (3 stories) with a romantic atmosphere. They served traditional Spanish dishes as well as other more diverse cuisines and seemed to cater to tourists and non-tourists alike. The prices were great for such a fine dining experience; we were able to order a 1/2-liter of wine for only 3 euros. The Ramblas were filled with people: tourists, street performers, salesman, and con-artists. Perhaps it used to be more elegant,  but we quickly decided that this "must-see" wasn't going to be one of our favorite sights.

However, along Las Ramblas is the large Mercado de Bocquería, which we loved! We walked through this market in the morning to buy fresh fruit to snack on later in the day. The variety of fresh food available is incredible - you really have to see it. During the late morning and early afternoon, when people are shopping as well as eating there, it is a place of more vivacity and liveliness than the street scene at night.  After this grocery stop we joined the rest of our group on tours of two buildings designed by the modernista architect Antonio Gaudí, La Perdera/Casa Milá, and the cathedral of the Sagrada Familia. Walking along the streets of Barcelona Gaudí's influence is ubiquitous. The lamp posts along the Gran Via are designed by him and there are apartments on every block of the city displaying the modernista style, some of them designed and constructed by Gaudí himself. 

The roof of La Perdera offers an incredible view of the city, including the Sagrada Familia. It is a unique roof because the design of the chimneys and ventilation shafts give it the feeling of a large playground for children. Inside the museum, one floor has been converted into a museum displaying models of other works by Gaudí, furniture he designed, and an explanation of his inspiration from the natural world. Another floor is set up as an apartment in the late 1800s might have been decorated (very art nouveau).

The Sagrada Familia has been one of the most incredible places we have ever been. Construction began in 1882 and the projected date for completion is 2030 (but only two years

 ago it was 2020, so we'll see...) Gaudí uses figures from nature, like fruits and seashells, as if to convey the idea of heaven in a way that anybody can relate to, rather than using the elaborate style and golden ornamentation of more traditional cathedrals. Some of the towers are topped by vegetables and grains, surrounded by the words "sanctus, sanctus.. hosanna", as if to offer these goods to heaven. Viewing this cathedral is like seeing something from another world; perhaps this was the goal of architects of every cathedral but we are so far-removed from their time that they now seem common. 

We began Saturday at the Picasso museum. After seeing some of Picasso's  master works in Madrid we had really been looking forward to seeing the development of this great artist. The museum contains landscapes and portraits that he painted at the age of 15 that demonstrate such a genius ability to realistically portray what he saw. It is no wonder he felt the need to experiment with more abstract forms later in his life. After a formal education in art Picasso went to Paris and picked up a lot from other painters on the scene at the time. The influences of Seurot, Cezanne, Toulouse-Loutrec, and Matisse can be clearly scene in many of his paintings. The museum also contains a collection of his 50-some variations on Las Meninas by Diego Velázques.  One last interesting note about this museum: most of the paintings were donated by Picasso himself, an artist who actually lived to see his works become famous.

After two weeks of sight-seeing throughout Spain we realized we had actually tired a bit of nonstop touring, so we took the rest of the weekend a bit more slowly. For lunch we returned to the Mercado and bought ham, cheese, and figs that were larger and more lush than we have ever tasted before. We had a lovely picnic in our hotel before taking a train to the area of Barcelona known as Montjüic. This is the old Jewish area of the city, on the top of a hill that gives another incredible view of this enormous city. We walked through some of the gardens, preferring this tranquility to the overstimulation that the many museums of art and history offered us.

We spent our last morning in Gaudí's Parque Güell. He designed an entire hillside to be a suburban-like residence area, complete with parks and a market area. Unfortunately, Gaudí was before his time. The idea of living in a "suburb" did not yet exist and nobody was interested in moving to this (previously) remote area of the city. Now it is a unique park, filled with benches and fountains decorated with colorful tiles and a few buildings in Gaudí's usual style.