Barcelona, Briefly

Most people go to the cottage, a short local trip or to visit relatives for a long weekend. Marie and I? We go to Barcelona.

I had been watching for a seat sale for Vancouver (which we did get to the following weekend) to go to visit friends there and watch the Senators play the Canucks when I also saw an incredible one for France and Spain. We could fly from Ottawa through Germany to Barcelona and back cheaper than a return flight to North Bay, Ontario! So how could we say no? Not that we don't like North Bay, we do, but Barcelona just seemed more exotic (with apologies to my family in North Bay). Also Marie had colleagues whom she worked with on a previous contract who live in Barcelona. So on a Thursday evening, we left Ottawa, flew to Toronto, then overnight to Munich and finally to Barcelona, arriving early Friday afternoon.

After arriving at the Barcelona airport on a sunny Friday morning, we got our luggage and headed to the hotel shuttle bus location. Within 20 minutes we had arrived at our hotel which was located in a light industrial area near the airport. A major Catalan brewer, Estrella Damm, was just across the street from our hotel - but this had nothing to do with us picking our hotel location. Marie's hotel points did, though.

We showered and cleaned up from the overnight flight and Marie made arrangements to meet David and Ofelia, her work colleagues, later that evening at a cafe in the the Placa da Catalunia (Catalonia Square), which is considered the centre of Barcelona. That done, we wandered downstairs to talk to the hotel concierge. Our hotel offered a free shuttle to downtown (to the bottom of Las Ramblas) at 5 p.m. so we made arrangements to be on it. Our concierge suggested some places we should see and we got a map from him.

Perusing the City Map

After chatting about Barcelona's sights for a few minutes, I asked him where we could get a refreshment while we waited for the shuttle. He of course suggested the hotel bar, but we wanted to be outside. He told us there wasn't much in the way of restaurants in the area, but pointed out a small place across the street. We took our map and some notes I had made before the trip and sauntered across the street to the local cafe for a drink, to plan out the rest of the day, and to soak up some of the warm Spanish sun.

Montjuic Cemetery

Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, one of 17 autonomous regions of Spain. Catalonia has its own language which is taught in schools along with Spanish. Catalonians are proud of their language and culture and promote these throughout the city as we were soon to see. It was about a fifteen minute ride on the shuttle to the drop off point downtown. After getting on the highway, we passed by the shipping Port of Barcelona on the right side of the highway and railway yards and the Montjuic Cemetery on the other. The cemetery is an interesting sight as the graves are stacked in what appear to be apartment flats up and down the sheer cliff face. This is quite common for cemteries in Spain. Apparently over a million people are buried in Motjuic. We thought of visiting the Montjuic area (many 1992 Olympic events took place on top of Montjuic (the name could be attributed to Mount of Jupiter from Roman times, or Mount of Jews from medieval times) but we did not have enough time to fit it into our itinerary so had to be content with passing views from the shuttle and distant views of the hill as we travelled around Barcelona.

Gondola

The shuttle bus dropped us and another couple from Britain who were staying at the hotel before going on a cruise the next day, at the Placa da la Carbonera. This is a busy traffic circle at the foot of the wharf that is home to the World Trade Centre of Barcelona and to ferry boats to the Balearic Islands (i.e. Mallorca, Ibeza), Sardinia, Citavecchia, Genoa and Livorno in Italy, Tangiers in Morocco and other Mediterranean ports. This area of the city fronts Port Vell (Old Port). We could see the gondolas overhead that travel from La Barceloneta (a nearby section of the city) across the harbour and Port Vell to the top of Montjuic and we made a mental note to add a trip on the Port Vell Aerial Tramway to our itinerary for the day we were to visit Barceloneta so we could at least say we made it to the Olympic site. Alas, this was not to be as we shall see later in this blog.

Columbus Monument

Getting our visit to Barcelona started, we walked about 200 metres east along the Passeig de Colomb, passing the Reiais Drassanes complex on the left. This Gothic styled building houses the former Royal Shipyards which date back to the rule of King Jaume I in the 13th century when Catalonia was the major Mediterranean sea power. It is also the site of the Maritime Museum. The bays where ships were built are now glassed in but used to be open to the sea. On our right, we walked beside a large building which houses the tax collection office. This side of the road is a very busy spot with lots of people queuing up as many city buses stop beside the tax collection office - probably because people cannot afford another means of transportation after visiting that building.

It's Over There!

We soon reached the Placa del Portal de la Pau, a smaller traffic circle that contains the sixty metre tall Monument to Christopher Columbus. It was built in 1888 as a reminder that this is the spot to which Columbus returned from his first voyage to North America in 1492 to report to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, his benefactors. He only came to Barcelona because the King and Queen were in residence at the time; he actually stopped first in Lisbon Portugal and this is when the world learned that he had found 'India' or so he thought. People in Barcelona joke that Columbus was lucky to find North America because the statue's pointing finger is actually directed towards Algeria in Africa! I could see, however, that Columbus takes this ridicule in stride as a close-up look at his pointing finger revealed that he was 'flipping the bird' at his detractors. He of course 'knew' that he had to head south first to catch the winds necessary to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

No caption necessary

Unlike Columbus, we had a map and knew where we were going, so we went in the opposite direction from Columbus's pointing finger and started to walk up La Rambla (aka Las Ramblas), the most famous street in Barcelona.  La Rambla, Spanish for 'intermittent water flow" derives its name from a small stream that used to flow here just outside Barcelona's Roman/Medieval city walls. Convents and other buildings were constructed at intervals along the stream and when the area filled in with newer construction, the names of these buildings and major activities they housed remained in a series of short connected streets that followed the course of the now dried up stream. The actual streets that make up "Las Ramblas" in the almost 2 kilometres from the Christopher Columbus Monument to the Placa da Catalunia are: the Rambla de Santa Monica; the Rambla dels Caputxins; the Rambla de Sant Josep; the Rambla dels Estudis; and finally,  the Rambla de Canaletes.

La Rambla de Santa Monica

There is another Rambla, a wooden boardwalk that extends into the sea called the Rambla del Mar, but it is a new addition having been added in the 1990s. The old streets blend together in a wide, plane tree lined pedestrian boulevard with narrow one way side lanes for traffic.  Kiosks selling souvenirs, flowers and other merchandise, as well as continuous rows of outdoor patios line the edges of the pedestrian area. Mimes, buskers and other 'artists' are spotted here and there along the street, trying to attract the attention and the money of passersby. Outdoor art, embedded in the walkway's stones, or on buildings, as well as old iron lamp posts and fountains add to the festive air of Las Ramblas.

Outdoor Fountain

With all this activity, and as a major thoroughfare for pedestrians, it is no wonder that tourists and locals alike congregate on Las Ramblas in the evenings and weekends. Which also means pickpockets and scam artists also concentrate their activities here. Indeed, Marie's friend David had his wallet picked on Las Ramblas a month before we visited when he stopped to help a girl who had 'fallen' on the walkway. So be cautious when walking here. My advice for anyone planning to visit any large city is to check on websites such as Tripadvisor.com to read up on scams and areas of the city which might be hazardous to tourists.

Placa Reial North View

The first part of Las Ramblas heading north from the Columbus monument is not the most beautiful, at least to each side of the pedestrian area, as some establishments and hotels that are located here tend towards those found in 'red-light' districts of cities. But there are only a few of them and they are soon passed by. We didn't ramble very much farther before we noticed a short alleyway on the right hand side of La Rambla dels Caputxins (the section we were now on) that led into a large plaza, the Plaça Reial. We popped into this delightful square that was built in the late 1800s on the site of where a Capuchin convent once stood (thus also the name of this section of Las Ramblas). The large square, with its central fountain, tall palm trees and intricate light standards (which I learned afterwards were designed by Antoni Gaudi (more on him later)), is surrounded by what once were townhouses of the rich. I suspect one would still have to be rich to live in the apartments because of the location. Some of the former townhouses are now hotels. We also noticed the several stores, restaurants and bars on the ground levels of the buildings that ring the square so decided to check one of them out.

There is a hotel bar in the corner

It was still pleasant temperature-wise, so we sat at an outside table and ordered refreshments and soon struck up a conversation with another man who was sitting alone at a nearby table. He had overheard us talking about hockey (why Marie and I were discussing hockey in a square in Barcelona I don't recall). He was from Boston and after discussing the Bruins at length and the city of Boston, we talked about various travels we had been on and Barcelona itself as he had been in the city for a couple of days already. After we bid him goodbye (he had to leave to catch up to his travel group) we watched a group of buskers who stopped nearby to entertain us and other diners/drinkers at the nearby tables. A group of young, inebriated local men also entertained us as one of them fell into the central fountain while posing on it for his friends.

La Rambla Treats

It was still fairly early in the evening when we finished our drinks, and we had an hour or so before we were to meet David and Ofelia so we returned to Las Ramblas and slowly headed up towards the Placa da Catalunia, checking out the shop windows on each side as we went. A multi-coloured display in a candy shop was a particularly interesting window shopping experience. When we got to Catalonia Plaza (a huge square where everyone in the city seems to meet and mingle) we immediately found the Cafe Zurich where we to meet David and Ofelia, but as we were still a bit early, we wandered into the centre of the plaza to check out the floodlit fountains that changed colour under the various lights beamed onto them. The lights playing on surrounding buildings, including the huge El Cortes Ingles department store, add to the congenial feeling one gets at the Placa da Catalunia.

Catalunia Plaza

We returned to the sidewalk and outdoor patio in front of the Cafe Zurich and after a couple of minutes of waiting, snagged a table that had just been vacated (this was a busy spot as the Cafe is located at the top of Las Ramblas on the Plaza's southwest corner right at a major Metro entrance/exit). We ordered drinks, then sat captivated as we watched hordes of people swirl around us as they headed to and from the Metro stairs, or up from and down to Las Ramblas, with quite a few stopping off at the Cafe for refreshments. People were hugging and kissing in greeting since this corner seemed to be the meeting spot. We heard languages from around the world as tourists passed us by, many of them young people from northern European countries hauling rolling suitcases that clattered noisily on the paving stones of the sidewalk. Adding to the din of the pedestrians, conversing drinkers and the hum of traffic cruising by were buskers trying to get people to buy this year's European fad, the blue, LED lit bird like contraptions that buzzed and tweeted as they were fired high up into the air with elastic bands.

Colleagues

It was not long before David, Ofelia and their daughter appeared and joined us. Marie had not seen David and Ofelia since her contract in Buenos Aries and Frankfurt a couple of years ago (where I had first met them and also last seen them). In the interim, David and Ofelia had married and moved from South America to Barcelona. So we had some catching up to do. After we had compared notes on what we all had been doing over the past couple of years, we asked David and Ofelia for advice on our list of must sees that I had put together for the little time we had available on our extended weekend. They confirmed most of them, but added Parc Guell (Guell Park) to our list. And we were to find out later that it was an excellent addition indeed.

Barcelona night walk

They then invited us to walk through the old part of the city, the Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter) which is where Barcelona started as the Roman city of Barcino. We skirted the south side of Catalunia Plaza and walked down the very busy and crowded Avenguida del Portal de L'Angel. There were lots of people out walking and shopping on this pleasant evening. The bottom end of this avenue, which gradually narrows as one goes south, spills out into the plaza in front of the cathedral and this is where the real Gothic Quarter starts. The well preserved medieval city which grew inside the Roman walls is now a fascinating area of the city with its narrow passageways, palazzos, churches and mansions.  The golden hued lighting on the ancient stone buildings lent an air of mystique and wonder to our evening tour. As I passed by the ancient stone buildings, I anticipated what it would be like to explore this area in daylight.

David and Ofelia eventually led us towards an area of the old city where restaurants and nightclubs lined one of the wider lanes. They had a favourite restaurant here for Tapas and we soon found ourselves seated at a table where we (or more precisely, David and Ofelia) ordered several different kinds of Tapas over the next hour or so, all of which were excellent.

After finishing our meal, it was time to say our goodbyes. David and his family left to catch the Metro and Marie and I hailed a nearby taxi that took us back to our hotel. So ended our first day in Barcelona.

La Bouqueria Market Entrance

The next morning, we again caught the shuttle downtown, this time arriving shortly after 10 a.m. As it was Saturday, sunny and warm, many of the locals were out shopping. Even though we were not shopping (at least for groceries), our first stop as we walked up Las Ramblas was La Boqueria market. This market has been around since the 13th century and for years was located just outside one of the city's gates (La Pia de la Bouqueria, from which the market got its name) as the market was too large to be hosted inside. La Rambla was already becoming the pedestrian mall it is today, so the market located where people traffic was heaviest. As the market grew, farmers from nearby towns were prohibited from selling in the 'Barcelona' market so two competing markets sprung up. With competition getting fierce to the point of fights, city officials finally merged them into one. The market remained an open air affair as the various sellers began to build permanent stalls along developing small streets. As neighbouring buildings were razed, the formal market was planned and grew over the years until the current large building with its metal roof was finished in 1914.

Vegetable Stall

Dried Fruit Stall

Today's market, which won an award as the best market in the world at a market convention (who knew that markets had conventions) in New York City in 2005, is a bustling warren of hundreds of stalls selling meats, fish, vegetables, fruit, preserved foods, olives and olive oils and specialty foods. It was packed with shoppers, so navigating the narrow corridors was a somewhat claustrophobic and slow, with quite a bit of body contact adventure. As a result, we only saw about a quarter of the stalls before deciding to head back outside. One of the stalls near the entrance, that sold large hams, drew our attention to the price -  some approached 70 euros a kilogram.

Catalonia Square

Emerging back unto Las Ramblas, we continued our walk north, retracing our steps from the night before. We were on our way to see the famous Sagrada Familia, the church designed by Antonio Gaudi. But first, we had to cross through Catalonia Square again. In the daylight, it was not as magical as it appeared the night before. The fountains were even turned off and different groups of protesters were organizing their banners and signs for their day in the square. Most of the buildings around the square were nondescript except for a turreted one on the north east corner which is where we were headed as we exited the square on our way to see Gaudi's most famous work.

Barcelona Street

The walk from the Square to the Sagrada Familia did not seem far on the map, but it turned out to be about 2 kilometres. Thank goodness this area of Barcelona is fairly flat, with only a slight uphill climb, so the walk was an easy and pleasant one. I took note of the fact that many of the streets were wide thoroughfares, but these were interspersed with narrower, one way side streets that were tree lined. Small shops were located on many corners and a few people were out shopping or walking dogs. The buildings, mostly apartments, were usually not taller than four or five stories. Surprisingly for Europe, the sidewalks were fairly wide. As we got closer to the church, the crowds (and tourist shops) increased. And then after turning a corner, we arrived at one of the strangest looking churches I have ever seen.

Sagrada Familia

The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família (Basilica of the Holy Family) as it is known in Catalonian has been under construction for 129 years. The completion date is forecast for 2026 (100 years after Gaudi's death), so the church exterior is framed with construction cranes. Oddly enough, the cranes do not detract from the often bizarre design, even though they are rectangular while most of the exterior is comprised of curved lines. When the church is completed, there are supposed to be 18 spires, with one of them being the tallest church spire in the world.

Doorway Portico

Gaudi got involved with the church in 1883 and his Gothic/Art Nouveau design became the basis for construction from that point forward. This style of Gaudi's evolved over his lifetime as he broke away from traditional Gothic and Baroque architecture and started to blend in natural lines and a more modern look. While Gaudi remarked that his client was not in a hurry for its completion, the lengthy construction period can be attributed to the fact that the church relies exclusively on private donations. As well, the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s resulted in damage to the church as well as the destruction of Gaudi's plans and this also slowed construction. The plans have been recreated and where necessary, new architects have used Gaudi's style to design missing parts.

Sagrada Familia

When we arrived at the church just before lunch, the line up to enter already circled the large block where the church is located. Marie and I discussed whether or not to get into the line, but frankly, neither of us cared much for the design of the church and Gaudi's style - at least as expressed here. It is hard to say why - perhaps it is the inclusion of fruit on some of the spires and the facade, or the colour of the stone. To me, it just seemed too 'busy' a design which makes nothing really stand out. The strange architecture just wasn't our cup of tea. However, the church attracts over 2.5 million tourist visits (inside) a year so it does appeal to many. And because of its unique design, the Sagrada Familia has been declared part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site called the Works of Gaudi, and in 2010, Pope Benedict, consecrated it as a minor basilica. I found out later that tickets, which are only valid for a one hour visit, cost 15 Euros each (or about 22 dollars). They can be purchased online which, if you are inclined to visit, would be the best option to forego the huge line.

Barcelona House

As it was a beautiful sunny day, we decided to strike out towards Parc Guell so we left Sagrada Familia and started to walk uphill as that is where the park was located. We stopped briefly at an Internet access point and while Marie checked for and sent out messages, I asked the attendant how much further it was to the Park. He said it was too far to walk (at least another half hour, all uphill), but that we were on the bus route which would take us there. So we crossed the street to the bus stop and jumped on when the next bus came by. After about a 15 minute ride, we arrived at the drop off point for the Park and entered into this interesting site built on the hill of El Carmel high above the city.

Roadway Support/Walkway

Originally designed after the English Garden City Movement to be a housing development for Barcelona's upper class, Parc Guell is also an Antoni Gaudi creation and is part of the World Heritage Site. Hired by Count Eusibi Guell (thus the park's name), Gaudi oversaw the park's development between 1900 and 1914. There were to be 60 triangular building lots in the complex, so Gaudi's job was to develop not only house designs, but also the road system and entrance area to the complex. Although the housing development never transpired (only two houses were ever built, neither designed by Gaudi), to me, this Gaudi project is a much more pleasing example of his work, ideas and designs than the church was. Many of his creations here blend into the hillsides and natural features of the former rocky hillside (Muntanya Pelada or Bare Mountain). For example, the roadways are built on top of viaducts and other structures made from the park's stone so that the roads blend into the terrain.

City Vista/Church

When the housing development never materialized, the city turned the project into a municipal garden. We had entered the park near one of the houses that actually was built, called Trias House. It loomed over us as we walked deeper into the park along a road that fronted one of the 'viaducts' designed by Gaudi to support the road that climbed up to the house and the park's upper reaches. From this road, beautiful vistas of the city and Mediterranean sea loomed below us through the palm trees. Parakeets could be heard singing in the palms although we never did see them.

Plaza Bench

There was an even higher point of the park that featured a large cross (like Mont Royal in Montreal) but we decided to descend the stone staircases towards the park plaza and entrance buildings below us. As we did, we passed a group of local musicians who were busking along the trail. We walked out onto the large stone plaza or terrace that is directly above the main park entrance. This plaza is ringed by Gaudi's famous 'serpent bench'. A wavy bench, the back of which is covered in colourful tiled mosaics, it was designed so that people could have private conversations facing each other while also taking in the view of the city. Many people were taking advantage of this fact on the part of the bench that was not fenced in for repair.

Market Columns

We continued our climb down to the 'market' under the plaza. Filled with 86 Doric columns that support a colorful and fanciful ceiling, this area leads out to a split staircase that descends to the two gate houses and to the Gaudi Museum (one of the two houses built for the complex and actually lived in for a time by Gaudi). The split staircase flows around the 'dragon' fountain which, at least while we were there, was covered by tourists getting their pictures taken. This area of the park is the busiest, so if you want to see it without lots of tourists, get to the park when it first opens in the morning. The tour buses with their hordes of people start arriving shortly afterwards.

Parc Guell Entrance

Now a bit tired and hungry, we exited the park and grabbed a cab at the stand in front of the park and started a very fast ride down into Barcelona. We asked the driver to take us to Catalonia Square because we now wanted to visit the Gothic Quarter in the daylight and we also wanted to find a place to eat. We zoomed through the streets, careening down the hill until we got close to the Square and that is when the driver slowed down to a sedate 60 kph. But we made it OK and got out on the same corner of the Square that we had left a few hours before.

Cathedral Square

Crossing the Square, our journey took us into the Gothic Quarter, following the same route as the night before with David and Ofelia. When we got to the Placa de la Seu (Cathedral Plaza) we headed left to the Placa de Ramon Berenguer El Grande behind the History Museum and happened upon the Gloria bar/cafe's outside tables. We ordered beer and seafood paella and while waiting for our food, we watched street buskers in the Plaza as they made very large bubbles with soapy water and strings that were connected to sticks.  The bubble in the photo below is not an illusion, it really was that big.

Lunch Entertainment

The paella's soon arrived - lots of different kinds of seafood chunks in a tomato rice mixture, all steaming away in a large, black iron (and very hot) skillet.  It was very good, but we probably only needed to order one of them as there was a tremendous amount of food in each skillet.

Wall and Towers

After we had finished eating, we thought that we would go visit the Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia, Barcelona's main cathedral which was "finished" in the 1800s. Construction started in 1298 CE (it must have been a government contract to last so long). However, a significant charge to go into the cathedral changed our minds, so instead we decided to wander down through the Gothic Quarter lanes and small streets, crisscrossing our way towards the harbour. We headed east to the end of Cathedral Square where we had walked the night before to arrive at a large brass sculpture that spells out the name of the city marks the end of the plaza.

Carrer del Bisbe

We started down the Carrer del Bisbe, a very narrow street for pedestrians only. This street was once one of the two main streets of the Roman colony of Barcino. Part of the Roman wall is visible in the base of the two wall towers as you leave the Cathedral Plaza and head down Carrer del Bisbe towards  Placa de Sant Jaume, the former Roman Forum and centre of the Old City. This is an enchanted area of the city with the old stone walls of the Cathedral complex on one side, an overhead passageway to the Archbishop's complex on the other, and the small shops with their eclectic merchandise further down the street.

Old Quarter Shops

A street busker, taking advantage of the echoes in the passageways, was singing arias from operas as we passed by. She was dressed for the opera, but she could have done with more echo chambers in my opinion. But I have to admit that singing for your supper sure beats begging. Indeed, we saw no beggars in Barcelona; just lots of buskers.

Building Corner

We emerged into the Placa de Sant Jaume which is framed on one side by the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya, (Palace of the Generality of Catalonia) the seat of government for the region of Catalonia. On the other side of the Plaza is city hall. The President of Catalonia has had offices in the Palace since the 1300s with only two interruptions, one which started after the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714 but lasted until 1931 when the Palace was the King's Palace and then again after the Spanish Civil War from 1939 until 1977 during the Franco regime. The Placa de Sant Jaume is where celebrations, protests and other major events are held. The palaces on either side of the plaza, as well as the other buildings on each end are ornately decorated with sculptures and other fancy stonework.

Gothic Quarter Street

From here we spent an hour or so exploring the narrow laneways of the Gothic Quarter. The buildings themselves are fascinating, but what also makes this district a delight to explore are the small shops, clubs, artists quarters and building adornments that proliferate here. Other than the fact that we were walking in the area in the 21st century (and the streets were clean), the place probably looks much like it did 600 years ago. Strangely enough, there were not a lot of people walking in this area. A few tourists like ourselves were wandering about, taking photos and examining the building fronts, doorways and other structures but the inhabitants were strangely absent - taking siestas maybe?

Three Stooges?

Unfortunately for many tourists, they tend to congregate in the northern part of the Gothic Quarter near the Cathedral and the City History Museum area and thus miss the interesting and unexpected discoveries that an exploration of the streets closer to the sea revealed to us. For example, tucked away in nooks and crannies of the buildings that flow one into another are old fountains, religious carvings and small chapels behind wrought iron doorways, old wooden doors of various sizes and shapes, lots of sculptures, mosaics and even paintings on the walls.

Port Nou Sign

It was getting on in the afternoon when we emerged from the alleyways of the Gothic Quarter onto the Passeig de Colomb right in front of the Port Vell (Old Port), one block from the Post Office. Two chairs at an outdoor table in front of a bar beckoned to our weary feet so we sat down and ordered two mugs of beer. Literally, the beer came in large clay mugs that kept it cold while we sipped and watched the people who were drinking, talking and laughing at tables around us and the traffic passing on the road behind us. We spent an enjoyable hour here and the warm, late afternoon Spanish sun and the cold Spanish beer made us want to share this experience with others. So I called my brother in Nova Scotia as he was probably the only relative up back in Canada and let him know what we were up to and where we were. He was not overly amused when he found out where I was calling from.

Our Lady of Mercy

After finishing our beer, we decided that we were too tired from jet lag and from wandering kilometres around the city to stay downtown until it was time to eat (Barcelonians, like many Europeans, eat much later than North Americans). So we decided to catch the late shuttle back to the hotel and set out to catch it. Rather than just walking down the Passeig de Colomb, we headed back into the Gothic Quarter, turning left (west) at the first street we came to. It led us to a small plaza (Placa de la Merce) in front of La Nuestra Senora De La Merced (Our Lady of Mercy) church where we met up with a wedding party that was getting ready to enter. We peeked inside, but since the wedding was imminent, we of course did not enter. I wonder how many weddings have taken place here, considering this late Gothic Church was built in the 13th century, then renovated in the 1800s in the Baroque style.

To Placa Reial

Since we still had about an hour before the shuttle would pick us up, we headed a bit north from the church plaza after leaving the wedding party behind to do their I dos or whatever one says in Catalonian. After about a five minute walk up yet another narrow street, we could see what looked like a rather large plaza ahead through a covered walkway. We soon discovered that we had been here the night before, almost at the very spot where the covered walkway emerged into the plaza. We were back at the Plaça Reial. At this time of day, the plaza was full of people shopping at the stores and boutiques on the ground floor stories of some of the buildings. The hustle and bustle of the shoppers echoed in the the plaza's confines.

Waiting Patiently

Not everyone was moving about, however. One poor soul had picked an interesting, if somewhat precarious place to sit while waiting, presumably for his better half to return with yet more bags full of merchandise. I was drawn towards him, like a kindred spirit, as I too had been in a similar position, albeit on a more comfortable chair, many times before.

In fact, the area of the plaza where he was sitting seemed to be the waiting area for men to guard the spoils of the shopping excursions for there were several others, more comfortably seated, all looking towards the east for some reason. Perhaps there was a particularly good sale over on the east side of the Royal Plaza? Although Marie was not in a shopping mood, just in case, I gently steered her to the west and out of the plaza, onto Las Ramblas.

Shuttle Stop

The sun was now low in the western sky and its rays were casting a particularly golden glow on the stone of the buildings on the east side of Las Ramblas as we turned south towards the Columbus Monument. We circled the monument again, this time going in the opposite direction from the morning walk past. Columbus, I noted, was still pointing towards Africa. Apparently the bird that had been on his finger that morning had taken direction from Columbus, for it was nowhere to be seen this evening. As we rounded the corner onto Placa da la Carbonera, I noticed the same family waitng at the shuttle stop who had come downtown with us that morning. With the child's stroller now filled with shopping bags, the young boy (perhaps 4 years old) was sitting on a traffic barrier with his father beside him. His mother had found a better seat on the base of an advertising sign. The child still had some energy left, but his parents looked pretty tired. Marie entertained the child with gestures and sounds that soon had him laughing until the shuttle bus came to get us.

That evening, after a short rest, we decided to eat in the hotel bar. First though, we went to the lounge for platinum customers and had some wine and tapas. The young woman who was serving us was from Bucharest, Romania so she and I had a chat about her country. The hotel was advertising a 'football' special that included a beer and a personal pizza in the bar as the Spanish national team was playing the English national team on television. We met an English businessman in the bar and we invited him to join us to watch the game. England won the match, much to our companion's surprise, so of course we had to celebrate with him for an hour or so after the game ended. So ended our second day in Barcelona.

The next morning was sunny with some clouds building in the east, but we knew that it was supposed to rain at some point today, according to the weather forecast. So we had planned to get as many outside activities and visits done as possible, leaving museums and other inside activities should it rain. Again, we took the shuttle downtown for our last day in Barcelona.

Barcelona Tax Collector

Having read about the Parc de la Cuitadella (Citadel Park) and its zoo and other attractions, we decided to visit it first. It was about a kilometre walk away from the shuttle stop, straight down Passeig de Colomb. As we rounded the Tax Collection office, we stopped at a small Sunday market that was taking place in the space behind the building. There were about 10 stalls set up where people were selling small antiques, collectibles, coins, stamps, books and records (the vinyl kind). We perused the stalls as we passed along side, but we did not see anything interesting to buy.

Dog Walker

Continuing past the Placa del Portal de la Pau and our now very good friend, Chris Columbus, we headed down the large walkway that runs between the Passeig de Colomb and the Ronda del Literol, the latter a sunken road that acts as a bypass for traffic crossing Barcelona along the sea. This whole area, including access to the Old Port, the marina and the convention centre was developed for the 1992 Olympics.

A few people were out walking, running and cycling (Barcelona has bicycles available for its citizens stationed strategically throughout the city - a membership card can be bought to get access to them if you are a citizen. If you are not a citizen and want to cycle, there are cycle rental shops available). A young man on rollerblades, and his partner on a bicycle, were even exercising their dogs.

Down by the Station

We left the walkway at the western entrance to La Barceloneta, where the Passeig de Colomb becomes Avenguida del Marques de l'Argentera. As we passed by the Railroad Station, I popped in for a look at their public facilities as the morning's coffee had done its thing and now wanted to be liberated. The station was not very busy; there were only a couple of trains waiting to be boarded and very few passengers about.

A hundred metres or so past the station, we arrived at the Parc entrance. As the City Zoo is located in this park, just inside the entrance where we were, and it being Sunday, lots of parents and young children were lining up at the Zoo's entrance to our right. Apparently this is a very good city zoo; it was established in the 1890s and is currently being completely modernized. Over 7,500 animals are on display, representing over 400 species. Admission for adults was 17 Euros when we were in Barcelona. It may be worth a visit if you are in Barcelona for an extended period.

Watch the Birdie

Just a few metres past the entrance to the zoo we could hear parakeets crying out, just as we had heard them, but not seen them, in Parc Guell the day before. This time, we could see some of them perched high up in the tall palm trees.  Citadel Park is full of birds, both terrestrial and aquatic. It also has a couple of other surprises in the fauna department as we will see shortly.

'Desconsol'

The Citadel was built over a three year period starting after the War of the Spanish Succession when King Philip V of Spain captured Barcelona in 1714. At the time of its completion, it was the largest fortress in Europe. To build it, he razed much of this part of town known as La Ribera. We paused in front of the Catalan Parliament Building, the former Citadel Arsenal.  It is one of only three surviving buildings from the Citadel, the others were destroyed when Catalonia recaptured Barcelona in the late 1800s. A reflecting pool in front of the Parliament Building contains a sculpture of a woman in distress, called Desconsol. Perhaps she was one of the displaced citizens of La Ribera. I could see why she was upset; she literally had no possessions left - not even the clothes from her back.

There are several other sculptures in the park done by Catalonian artists.  In 1869 the city decided to turn the old Citadel area into a municipal park, a much better use than a fortress. The area was redesigned with public gardens, buildings and other features added for the Universal Exhibition of 1888 and has been a favourite weekend and evening excursion spot for locals and tourists alike ever since.

Feeding Frenzy

Continuing our circumambulation of the park, we headed towards the small lake that is in the northeast corner. This proved to be a popular spot today as many people were happily ignoring the signs that said not to feed the ducks and other waterfowl (the sign was in Catalonian, Spanish and English, but apparently the people busy feeding the birds spoke other languages). Children and adults alike took delight in the many birds that flocked to the crowd gathered on the path that wound around the water. Late fall flowers bloomed around the perimeter of the lake, and deciduous trees changing colour added some contrast to the pea soup green coloured water and darker green foliage of the park.

Mammoth in the Park

Leaving the birds and the illiterate behind, we headed towards the north west corner of the park, as our map portrayed that a large fountain was located there. As we walked, Marie told me to watch out for the mammoth hiding just off the path to our right. Thinking she was referring to the size of the fountain, I looked through the trees, only to be startled by a real mammoth staring back at me. Another sculpture, this one had attracted a couple of small kids and their parents. The kids were playing tag in and around its legs, laughing as they chased each other while their parents happily watched.

La Cascada

Just past the mammoth, we came to the large fountain depicted on our map. Calling it a fountain is an understatement. In Catalonian, it is called La Cascada, which when translated into English as The Cascade or Waterfall gives a better idea of its size.  It is a massive, Baroque sculpture and fountains, built for the 1888 Universal Exhibition by Josep Fontseré. It is supposed to be patterned after the Trevi Fountain in Rome. I grant that both fountains are done in the Baroque style, but having seen both, I did not see a great resemblance. In any event, La Cascada is massive and  impressive. The rocks, or at least their placements, were designed by Antoni Gaudi who at the time was a student working for Fontseré while completing his studies. When we were there, the fountains were not operating so the surface of the small pond in front of the archway was quite still and reflected the sculpture on its surface.

Cascada Staircase

A golden chariot tops the arch which can be reached through two curving staircases, one on each side that are supposed to resemble crab claws. I am not sure about this, but perhaps climbing all the stairs to get to the top can make one crabby.  From the archway at the top of the sculpture, a panoramic view of the park is possible, although trees block some of the view of the city beyond the park's boundaries. Venus, with her proverbial clam shell, is the centrepiece of La Cascada and she is located just below the arch, with horses, dragons and other creatures placed in front of and to her sides.

Zoology Museum

After descending back down the other side of the monument, we started back towards the entrance of the park, passing by the current Museum of Zoology located in a building that resembles a castle. It is a holdover from the Universal Exhibition and at that time, housed a restaurant. We walked back down the large main path to the park exit, passing by a small orangerie before exiting back onto the street. Just outside the park exit, we watched some women playing petanque for a few minutes. Probably from the neighbourhood, they were a mix of young and old, enjoying an outing together.

Petanque

Marina

Then we started to head towards La Barceloneta, a working class (fishing) district that was built for the citizens displaced from La Ribera when the Citadel was built by Philip V. To get to it, we doubled back past the train station and turned left to cut alongside the station and then to Passeig de Joan de Borbo, a main thoroughfare that is the main street of  La Barceloneta. This street has a long line of bars, restaurants and stores all along it on the left hand side as you walk deeper into the neighbourhood. On the other side, is the Catalonian History Museum located in an old red brick building designed as a trading place and which is all that is left of the old port's facilities. From here for a couple of hundred metres, a marina with its luxury yachts lines the quay. On the day we were there, an exhibit on energy conservation was being held in a couple of large tents in the square just past the museum so Marie and I wandered in. We did not stay long however, as we could not read the exhibits nor understand any of the videos playing on screens inside the tent. We were handed a couple of canvas bags by the exhibit's sponsor, however, as we exited, which we can use when we go grocery shopping so I guess in a way, we did benefit from the conservation message.

Christmas Cheeses?

Also lining the Passeig de Joan de Borbo on the quay side was a small Sunday market with kiosks showcasing specialty foods from the Catalonian region. Several were selling cheeses, olive oils, nuts, hand made chocolates and fruit. As we walked beside them, we felt the first drops of rain start.

We continued towards the Aerial Tramway station, our destination so we could take a ride to Montjuic, but never made it, because as we approached the road that led to the Tramway, the blackening sky opened up with a torrential downpour. We had our umbrellas, but even they could not keep us from getting wet with the wind blowing, so we headed towards the stores on the other side of the road and huddled underneath an overhang with a couple of local people and watched the rain come down. After fifteen minutes, it did not seem like it was going to stop anytime soon, so we dashed through the rain to a small restaurant located at the end of the street just before the beach and went in to eat.

Sailing in the Rain

We shared a table with three young women from Germany. While they ate chicken legs, Marie and I ordered some tapas from the daily menu. The food was delicious and the atmosphere of the small place, with the owner and his wife circulating around the tables, calling out to friends and neighbours as they entered for lunch, made for a pleasant interlude in our day.

Building Art

With the rain still coming down, although not quite as hard, we headed around the corner of the restaurant to the beach to see what was happening. La Barceloneta Beach is supposed to be one of the best urban beaches in the world. It was really hard to tell that day however, because of the weather. There were lots of people surfing in the rain and way out to sea, barely visible through the rain, several sailing ships looked like they were engaged in a race of some kind. We could see that the clouds were not going to clear and that a ride on the aerial tramway was not going to happen that day.

Balancing Chair

So we cut up through the narrow back streets of La Barceloneta and headed back towards the Gothic Quarter of the city to visit the City Museum as it looked like our outdoor activities were done for the day. Walking back through the Gothic Quarter streets, with the rain and the dark skies casting a gloomy look and feeling to the cityscape, there was little of colour to brighten up the dark building facades. But when there was, it stood starkly out against the dark background of stone and wood.

I can't say enough about the Museu d'Història de la Ciutat.  When we arrived, the person at the admissions desk told us that if we waited an hour, the museum would be free for the rest of the day. However, since it was raining heavily outside and we had already eaten, we decided to pay the admission price (a reasonable 7 euros each which included an English recorded guide) and go in. Lockers were provided for our wet umbrellas and my backpack, so after dropping these off, we started our tour.

Roman Winery

It began with an elevator ride. But instead of going up, you go down, just a few metres under the ground to the Roman City of Barcino but all the way back in time to the 1st century CE.  This area, which was close to the centre of the small community of Barcino, has been excavated and walkways take you through the well preserved Roman ruins. It helps to have the tour audio recorder to explain what you are looking at; there is a laundry and vats for dyeing clothes, a butcher shop, a fish factory for making garum, a fermented fish sauce made from fish intestines that flavoured Roman food (the smell from making this was the real reason for the fall of the Roman Empire), and a winery among other industries. Because the lighting is dim, and photographic flashes are prohibited, it is difficult to take photos of this area.

Counts of Barcelona

After touring through the streets of Roman Barcino, the walkway starts to climb back towards the surface and also ascends through the history of the city. Early Christian Barcino is replaced by Visigoth Barcino. You are now walking around the year 400 CE when Barcino was alternately a Visigoth capital and major provincial centre. The name of the city changed as well to Barchinona. Continuing the climb, you pass through the Moorish occupation from around 700 CE (the Moors called the city Barshiluna) which lasted less than a century, thus the fact that very little of the Moorish influence is found in Barcelon.  Next come the beginnings of Medieval Barcelona and the Counts of Barcelona, leading up to when the kingdoms of Aragon and Castille united to form early Spain.

Salo Tinell

It is at this point that you emerge from the ground into the Palau Reial Major, which was the palace of the Counts of Barcelona who came to power in the 800s during Charlemagne's rule. Guifré el Pilós (Wilfred the Hairy; 878-97, so named because he was supposed to have hair on the soles of his feet) conquered this region and is known as the founder of Catalonia. Much of the palace that exists today was built in the 15th and 16th centuries for the Kings of Aragon, but it incorporates parts of the Roman walls and Visigoth structures. Within the palace is an amazing banqueting hall, the Salo Tinell. It was supposedly in this palace that Christopher Columbus reported back to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella after his first voyage to the New World and presented to them natives whom Columbus had pretty much kidnapped. Thus the reason for the Christopher Columbus monument in Barcelona.

Chapel of Santa Agatha

The other magnificent structure inside the palace complex was the Chapel of Santa Agatha with its altar piece dating from 1465. This chapel was built for the Aragon Kings, who stayed in this palace whenever they were in town. I am guessing they could always get reservations no matter how many tourists were around.

To take photos in both the banqueting hall and the Chapel, I placed my camera on the floor as I did not have my tripod with me and used a time exposure as the lighting is quite subdued to protect the paintings. Interestingly, a fellow tourist saw me do this and because he only had a point and shoot camera, he lay down on the floor to get a similar angle and also to better steady his camera.

Senoritas at Court

We emerged from the Reial Major into the courtyard, about 100 metres from where we had entered the museum and 2000 years later in time. A photo shoot was taking place in the courtyard and the models in their brightly coloured skirts were just ducking back into the palace when I managed to get a quick photo of them. They kept popping in and out of the doorway, like cuckoo birds announcing the time. I am not sure if the goal was to keep from being photographed, or they were just camera shy (strange behaviour for models).

Counts' Palace and Watchtower

The darkening gloom of the late afternoon and the glistening wet courtyard stones certainly enhanced the medieval look and feel of the palace and this area of Barcelona. The walls surrounding the courtyard are fairly tall, but the extra 5 stories of the watchtower with its many windows (there must have been lots of nosy people in the palace checking things out) would have been quite the imposing building to reinforce the power of the king to the citizens of the 15th and 16th centuries. It still is an imposing and magnificent building in the 21st century even though the power of the King of Spain (Juan Carlos) is now only ceremonial.

Courtyard Gothic Quarter

The rain had finally stopped, but it was now late in the afternoon and time to start to head towards the shuttle bus stop.We reentered the museum to get our belongings from the locker and then headed back out into the streets, heading west toward Las Ramblas. We passed another courtyard on the way and I stopped in to have a look. This one was not as stark as that of the Reial Major, nor as big, but it nevertheless was interesting.

We soon found ourselves back on Las Ramblas. We had about an hour before the shuttle bus was due to arrive, so with the rain starting up again, we ducked into La Cava Universal, a bar located just past the Wax Museum for a beer. This bar, according to photos on the wall inside, had been serving cervezas and other beverages since 1858. We sat on tall chairs at a table in the window and watched the people passing by on Las Ramblas in front of us. It was quite a fashion parade passing in front of us (look for short shorts with tights beneath to return to North America next summer for young women (I have no idea what young men will be wearing)).

Ships Ahoy!

After finishing our beers and once a break in the rain occured, we left the bar to go to Carbonera Plaza and the shuttle stop. But this time, instead of turning right when we got to Chris Columbus, we walked another block south to the Rambla del Mar. With the weather threatening more rain, however, we decided not to head out on the Rambla which goes to the Aquarium and boutiques in the old harbour. Instead, we walked west along the quay and looked at the ships that were moored in front of the World Trade Centre. They were a study in maritime transportation. A yacht, a clipper style sailing ship, and a coastguard cutter were tied up in front of us.

And so we now come to the end of our brief sojourn in Barcelona. Even though it was a quick trip, it was worthwhile because Barcelona is certainly a beautiful city, so if you are ever in the neighbourhood, drop by and check it out. You won't be disappointed.