www.theblisspages.com - travel: Spain
www.theblisspages.com - travel: SpainTo celebrate Chris's birthday, we decided at the last minute to have a short break in Barcelona - a city we have long wanted to visit. I popped into Thompson travel agents in Hove and found a very reasonably-priced trip for the exact dates we wanted.
I tried to pack the minimum, but other than an excess of books - I always have a fear of running out of something to read - the only unused items were waterproofs and swimming trunks.
Getting up at four in the morning was never going to be pleasant, especially as we only slept fitfully, but a cup of tea and some toast soon revived us, and the pre-booked taxi arrived five minutes early for an uneventful run to Gatwick airport. Security was very tight, with everyone removing coats and shoes amid almost-Dantean scenes of chaos. The flight, in contrast, was very smooth.
En route, I suddenly realised with horror that I had forgotten the travel vouchers for the hotel, but luckily, I had the name written down on a scrap of paper, so at least we knew where we were staying. Once we arrived in Barcelona, I went to the information point where a friendly official showed me the location of the Santa Augustus Hotel and gave me a map. We took the aerobus to the Plaça de Catelunya, and then walked down Las Ramblas to the hotel, which took only about ten minutes. We were surprised to find the weather so pleasant, with blue skies and shirt-sleeve temperatures - not what we expected in February.
La Rambla - often called Las Ramblas to reflect its divergent nature - is an important thoroughfare, running from Plaça de Catelunya to the waterfront. As well as the ubiquitous human statues depicting everything from the green goblin to Zeus, there are zones selling birds and other pets such as tortoises and iguanas (Rambla dels Estudis, or Rambla dels Ocells) and flowers (Rambla de les Flors).
Just off La Rambla is the Mercat de Sant Josep, usually called La Boqueria. This market sells everything from fruit and sweets to fish and meats, and is well worth a visit.
Our hotel was set in a 'quiet' square in front of the Sant Augusti church. At least, the brochure said it was quiet, and during the day, that was the case. After dark, it was a different matter, with drunks shouting to each other through much of the night until rousted by the local constabulary.
Other than this minor setback, the rock-like beds and the miniscule bath (about three feet long), the hotel was fine.
After an unfortunate experience in Bahrain, I always carry a compass, and it has served me well over the years.
We wandered around the Barri Gòtic area, and explored the cathedral, construction of which begun in 1298 and finished at the end of the 19th century.
Outside the cathedral, we saw many people circle dancing to live music.
There was a great atmosphere and everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves.
We went for a long walk and retreated to a Tapas bar on Carrer Montcada when a few large drops of rain fell - the only precipitation of the trip. We had a glass of white and red house wine, both excellent.
Chris had an excellent tuna salad while I had small fried fish, with deep-fried artichokes - delicious - and calamari. The fish were a little too large and bony to eat like whitebait, but were tasty.
We then explored Museu Picasso. I have never been a fan of Pablo Picasso, and this visit did nothing to change my mind. The museum has one of the largest collections of his works in the world - particularly his early works, which at least proved that he could both draw and paint tolerably well. Some of the paintings from his Blue period were reasonable whilst some appeared to be the licentious scribblings of an immature schoolboy.
I was equally unimpressed by the cubist period. Perhaps if I had seen some of his better-known works, I would have been converted, but I suspect not.
We indulged in some window shopping as we walked back towards the hotel and dinner.
Just opposite the Iglesia del Pi off Plaça Sant Josep Oriol, we found Taller de Tapas.
We loved this restaurant, and went back for another enjoyable meal on Tuesday.
Tonight we tasted a white wine, Palacia de Bornos Sauvignon Blank 2005, which was typical of the grape, with intense gooseberry on the nose.
To accompany the wine we ordered tomato bread, potato with mayonnaise and spicy tomato sauce, alongside chickpeas with fish, and tortilla.
We decided to spoil ourselves with Razorbacks, a shellfish I have never tasted before.
We chatted to the English couple on the next table, who had ordered a little more then they could eat, and were offered spicy chorizos, and country sausages cooked in cider with haricot beans. Delicious!
For dessert, I ordered Crème Brûlée with pineapple, which rounded off the meal admirably.
After a leisurely breakfast, we wandered up Las Ramblas past Plaça de Catelunya to the Illa de la Discordia, or block of discord.
This is a block of buildings with widely differing styles:
The Casa Lleó Morera incorporates Moorish and Gothic elements.
Casa Amatller has an information centre, with an interesting photographic exhibition.
Casa Battló completely blew me away.
Its architecture by Gaudí reminded me of some of the work of Roger Dean, who designed most Yes album covers.
See his website with examples of his architectural work.
I almost didn't pay to go round Casa Battló, but I'm so glad I didn't miss out. There was a very interesting audio tour included in the admission price.
I was mesmerised as soon as we entered the hallway and ascended the curved staircase to the first floor.
There was hardly a straight line anywhere. Sensual curves were all around.
Gaudí's attention to detail was astounding.
The balcony windows on the first floor were counter-weighted and would give a magnificent view.
The stone at the front looked more moulded than carved.
The interior courtyard has several fascinating features, from the wooden louvres giving controllable ventilation to the windows that get smaller on each floor to give an exaggerated perspective.
The tiles also get darker as they get higher, which serves to balance the increased amount of natural light they receive.
The view from the back garden is also interesting with the rippling iron of the balconies organically in tune with the rest of the structure.
We went upstairs to see the attics.
These clean white arches are breathtaking in their perfection.
We then went up via a spiral staircase to the roof.
We admired the chimneys, which are both functional and decorative, and I posed in front of the ‘dragon-spine’ that finishes off the roof.
Back downstairs, and we walked though the ‘Dragons-belly’ room that houses a hologram of the great man himself.
Overall, I was, as you will have gathered by now, really taken with this house, and highly recommend you take the tour.
We then turned east, and walked towards Sagrada Família, but by the time we got there it was too late to go in, so we repaired to Cachitos Cafe on the junction of Roger de Flor and Carrer de Valencia, where we had a couple of smoothies, which girded us for the walk back to the hotel.
We wanted to try someone else to eat tonight and Chris wanted paella, so we wandered towards Plaça Reial.
This square is not very salubrious, and always seems to have a few drunks wandering around, but there are many restaurants, and we were persuaded by a waiter to try Ambos Mundos.
We ordered half a litre of sangria, which was very pleasant, if a little sweet, and two Paellas, one with chicken, and one black paella. We assumed this was made with black rice, but when it arrived, it contained small squid cooked in their own ink. Chris wondered if the ink, designed to help them escape enemies, contained chemicals to instil fear. The dishes were both very salty, and by now the sangria was gone so we ordered another, this time made with Cava. It was also pleasant, but I worried - unnecessarily - that I would suffer later.
After a leisurely breakfast, we decided to visit Park Güell, and took the metro to Vallcarda station on line 3.
We were very grateful to see the flights of escalators to the park, saving an exhausting climb.
Gaudí spent fourteen years building this park, which was conceived as an urban garden city.
We first wandered up to the calvery, the highest point of the park, to admire the views. The Sagrada Família dominates the city, even in its unfinished state. The calvary was inspired by prehistoric caves containing rhinoceros and other fossils.
There are three viaducts, and we walked round the top one first, with agaves adorning the top of each column.
Looking it it from underneath is even more impressive.
The other viaducts are also beautiful.
The park has many changes in elevation and Gaudí tried to minimise gradients.
The columns of the Washerwoman portico were inspired by the shape of a wave.
The market area has been used for motor exhibitions (in 1908), dances and charity events, but not the theatrical productions Gaudí hoped would be held there.
The undulating bench is one of the most innovative and arresting of his creations.
Ergonomically designed to be comfortable, it used convex and concave shapes to allow both private and open areas.
It is covered by varied mosaics.
We then bought a combined ticket for the museum and the Sagrada Família.
After a walk round the house where Gaudí lived for twenty years, we left by the main entrance, passing the caretaker's lodge, looking like somewhere Hansel and Gretel might have lived, and walked down to the Sagrada Família.
The closer we got to the cathedral, the more we appreciated the grandeur, and the true scale of the building.
Gaudí spent over forty years working on it, the last fifteen years to the exclusion of all else, until his death under a tram in 1926. Work restarted in 1952, before I was born, and completion is scheduled for 2026, one hundred years after his demise. Chris and I hope to return then to see it in its full glory - the main tower will be 170 metres high, fully fifty metres higher then the tallest existing spire, but slightly shorter than the hill at Montjuïc, as Gaudí believed that his work should not surpass that of God.
It looks magnificent from the outside, both from the modern Passion western façade or from the more traditional Nativity eastern façade.
The interior is also very impressive and I felt I truly understood the importance of the building.
The interior space felt huge and I loved the way the columns branched organically like stone trees to support the weight of the roof.
We wandered around an exhibition which gave information about the different stones used in the construction of the cathedral, and admired some of the stained-glass windows.
I took the elevator up to the towers on the Passion façade and walked across one of the connecting bridges, reaching an elevation of 90 metres.
I don't mind heights, but admit to being unnerved by the last spiral staircase on the way down (426 steps in total). Perhaps it was the ink from yesterday's meal?
We left Sagrada Família in a state of exultation, but also of exhaustion...
...So we stopped again for drinks at Cachitos Cafe. I had another delicious and reviving smoothie whilst Chris had a Roiboos tea and we shared some decicious cakes, before walking on, invigorated.
We saw another interesting shop selling diabetic remedies, and I stopped to try some. The assistant made me up a mixture of herbs: borratja (borage), copalxi (I don't know what this is), trabalera (rough star-thistle), noguera (walnut), and salvia (sage). With our smattering of Spanish and the friendly and helpful assistant's smattering of English, we established that a tablespoon of herbs should be boiled for one minute, then infused for five more before being drunk. I plan to try this soon.
On the way back towards the hotel, we saw another of Gaudí's amazing buildings, La Pedrera, sometimes known as Casa Milà. We were too late to go inside, but could see one of the interior courtyards from a shop on the ground floor.
La Pedrera, which translates as the stone quarry, is extraordinary, with rippling walls and sinuous curves, and an extraordinary roof with Darth Vader-like chimneys.
On our last evening, we went back to Taller de Tapas.
To drink, we had a red wine, Castell del Remie gotim Bru 2004, which was very rich and fruity.
To accompany this, we ordered a slow-cooked lamb dish, ham and artichoke omelette, wild mushrooms, and sausages with haricot beans. We finished with manchego cheese with dried fruits, crema Catelana (also known as crème caramel) and coffee.
I highly recommend this establishment.
After another leisurely breakfast, we checked out, and walked to the Palau de la Música Catalana. This exuberant building is awash with colour and we would have loved to go in, but there seemed to be a children's event on. I noticed there was a performance of one of my favourite pieces of music three days after we left: Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez.
We walked down to the harbour at Port Vell, and took the cable car, built in 1929, from Plaça del Mar.
It is pretty high, but the views are great and well worth the walk. By the time we reached Miramar, we were getting short of time, so had to step out a little to the funicular station.
We only had to wait five minutes, then took the metro back to our hotel to pick up our cases, before walking back to Plaça de Catelunya where we caught the aerobus almost immediately, arriving at the airport bang on schedule.
On our way back to the airport, we passed Joan Miró's giant sculpture, Dona i Ocell.
At the airport, we didn't have to remove our shoes, but I did have to take off my watch. We had plenty of time for a coffee and to wander round the duty-free. The journey back was uneventful, and we were home by before eight, amazed at how much we'd packed in such a short time.
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: © Mike Bliss 2009