Eric’s Journal

Barcelona has welcomed us with its warmth, fabulous food market, and great metro. The pace here seems slower, but it could just be the heat. I love the fact that this is a port town, right on the Mediterranean, so our first visit was to the pier to enjoy the cool breezes. One place we have visited daily is the Mercat Boqueria, which sells fresh EVERYTHING!! The fruit is refreshing and is usually part of our breakfast, except for today, Sunday when it is closed. We´ve probably eaten the most fruit and veggies in this town than any on our trip. Actually, another nice constant is Starbucks, I know it is commercial, but it is quick, you know what you are getting, and who can pass on a frap?

Antoine Gaudi was a innovative architect/artist that has made quite an impact on this town. Yesterday, we set out to visit the major Gaudi sites, beginning with Parc Guell. We stopped by the Boqueria for breakfast and got some fruit, bread and cheese, and gummy candy for our lunch in the park and at the grocery store we picked up some Pringles. We took our frisbee thinking we may have a chance to stand on the grass and throw a few….NO Grass! Just dirt. However, the Gaudi creations are amazing, Heather was right. Many of the bridges/pathways seems like they belong in the natural setting. Others are magnificent creations with colorful tiles, especially the dragon-lizard fountain near the entrance. We loved wandering the park, eating our picnic while being serenaded by wonderful street musicians. (although they played the theme from Aladdin twice). Then we headed off to Casa Mila, and Casa Battlo on the block of Discord. Casa Battlo was built to look like a dragon, the tiles at the top look like scales and the balconies look like the gaping mouths of dragons.

We finished off our Gaudi day by visiting the Sagrada Familia. Gaudi spent the last 40 years of his life designing this massive project. It is still unfinished and surrounded by many cranes, and may not be completed for many years. It is a cathedral building project on the scale of the great gothic cathedrals such as Notre Dame, and when it is completed will have a central tower considerably taller than other cathedrals. Gaudi took his inspiration for this project, as always, from nature. The main pillars of the nave are inspired by the trunks of redwood trees, and the arches follow the parabaloid shape of whale ribs. We tried to take the lift to the top of one of the towers, but it only went part way. Then we had to subject ourselves to more spiral staircases to get down. The impact of the sculpture, art, and towers is breath taking. I hope I get to see it completed some day!

This morning, Sunday, we visited the city´s more traditional central cathedral. They keep 13 white geese in the cloisters in honor of the city´s patron saint who was tortured at the age of 13 by the Romans (though we could only count 11). At noon, the locals gathered in front of the cathedral for the traditional Sardana dance. We almost thought it wasn´t going to happen, then all of sudden a band arrived and several people formed a circle and began dancing.

Tomorrow, we will visit the Joan Miro museum and other attractions at the top of Montjuic.

Beret count = 16 (yeah, even in Spain)
Strangest food consumed = not sure, but it had tentacles
Coolest spot = our hotel room with AC and the ceiling fan cranked

PS – we posted two today, so continue reading for our post about Paris.

Update: view photos of Barcelona.

Filed by LeAnn at 10:33 am under Europe 2007
2 Comments