More of Barcelona

I mentioned Antoni Gaudi yesterday. He was responsible for unleashing a wave of Modernist architecture on Barcelona. Contrary to what people might believe, the expression “gaudy” is not linked to this man, since the word’s origins go way back to the 16th century, well before Gaudi’s time. Many do, however, consider his works gaudy, but I guess it’s all in the eye of the beholder. Whatever you feel, his work certainly is unique!

His opus work the Sagrada Familia, which was started in 1882 and will still be a work in progress until 2026, is a sight to behold. With its whimsical spires and graffiti laden walls – OK, it’s not graffiti, but it sure passes as a historical version of graffiti - it truly proved that he had gone where no artist had gone before.

We thought we might go to visit the interior, which at 13 Euros is not a cheap admission, but the lineup, maybe because of Good Friday, was about 300 metres around the block – not today.

Another of Gaudi’s works that we saw included La Pedrera. I guess the most interesting views are on the roof, but with lineups approaching ridiculous, once again, not today.

This next one, Casa Batllo, is another good example of his work. The roof represents a dragon’s back and the balconies sculpted in the form of carnival masks are the skulls of the dragon’s victims. Some imagination!

The old town with its winding narrow streets is called the Barri Gotic. It began as a small Roman village in the 14th and 15th centuries and today has some beautifully restored gothic buildings.

Among many noteworthy building and squares, this area contains the Gothic Cathedral, which dates from 1298. Spain’s religious history goes back to the 6th century at this site.

I guess because it was a holiday weekend, this place had a party atmosphere going on. The bubble guy below had a horde of young admirers. Ella and Sadie would love these bubbles!

On Saturday morning, we once again boarded the Hop On bus as soon as it started running – 9:00 a.m. The weather was better today, which was good at the top of the open bus. Yesterday we had done the eastern side of the city, so today it was the western side. We immediately descended Montjuic, or Jewish Mountain, which afforded some amazing views of the city.

This mountain was the primary site for the ’92 Olympics so we passed many of the principle venues, including stadium, equestrian, tennis and swimming locations.

Coming down from the mountain back into the city, we passed between the columns of the Spanish Place, this site synonymous with the ’29 World fair here.

This city has more buses than cars. There are city buses, airport buses, Hop On buses and tour buses but Barcelona is most proud of the tram system, which significantly reduces their carbon output.

At lunch we met up with and spent the rest of the day with Walt & Carole Donaldson from the cruise. We took them down the still crazy-crowded la Rambla to what is considered the number one square in Barcelona, Place Reial. Buildings with arcades enclose this square; most housing restaurants and this is where we had lunch.

After lunch we strolled through the Gothic quarter and ended up in one of the markets. These places are always a treat for the senses, mostly visual and olfactory. As we fought our way through the crowds, we found ourselves commenting on the variety and manner of the displays.

After some slow time with the Donaldsons at our hotel room – and two bottles of crianza – we got dinner advice from our hotel staff and walked not too far up Aribau Street to a restaurant called L’Auca. We all agreed that this was some of the best food we’d had on this trip and that’s saying something. Whatever the case, it was a fabulous way to conclude our holiday.

So another trip is in the books and other than hailing a taxi for the airport tomorrow morning for flights to London and then Toronto, we can look back over the last 3 weeks and be truly grateful for having an opportunity to visit such amazing places. A good time was had by all!