There are endless things to do as a visitor to Barcelona and, unlike many of the places we have been, we don't tire of doing them. We continue to visit sites that Gaudi built. Is Parc Guell ever deserted? His designs are so brilliant; could today's architects bring light into a building, use curves and pleasurable colours? PLEASE. Why the Casa Batillo gift shop even had the long searched for orange watch,BUT still Yvonne won't buy a watch. The watch probably would not have helped when, unknown to us, the time changed and Barcelona "fell back " an hour.
For such a major, trendy European centre, buying groceries, having a coffee or a beer in a cafe and most essentials are reasonably priced so it makes staying here for a long time easy.
My visit to the hairdresser for instance, cut and dye (25 Euros), she also alters clothes; shortening pants, putting in a new zipper, a secret pocket and working on the sleeves of 4 shirts (20 Euros), A whole huge bag of vegetables and fruit from San Antoni market (12 Euros), 10 rides on the subway (7.50 Euros), our rent for a month (13o0 Euros), Two chocolate croissants (not as good as those Greek ones on Amorgos) (2.40 Euros), A baguette, (. 80 Euros), A large bottle of Xibeca "cervesa per compartir" (beer to share), (1 Euro), good wine any shade (3 Euros), great wine any shade (8 Euros), Cava good (4 Euros), Cava great (7 Euros). The best thing is that if you need to take a cab they are all metered, very reasonable and do what is expected!
Our biggest expense is paying fees for entering museums/galleries and, as always, eating at restaurants. Yvonne wanted to try "THE BEST SANDWICH IN THE WORLD" which according to the New York Times was served at The Viena Cafe; an appealing , modernist diner right on La Rambla; with a super cute counter. The sandwich, "La Flauta d'Iberic" consisted of a baguette, a little tomato, flavourful cheese and Iberian ham; basically a ham and cheese sandwich. Yes, good, but the best sandwich in the world; I am unconvinced. Yvonne has recently revealed that, according to another foodie guru, the best sandwich in the world is now to be found in Uruguay. Good thing we are headed there.
By far we have done the best eating in Barcelona. Yvonne bought "Catalan Cuisine" a cookbook and has been making delicious meals. I discovered I love sardines, they are so fresh, not having been inside a can for eons. Anchovies too are more delicious than I ever experienced before. Chick pea and tuna salad improvised for a Canadian palate, has become a staple. The most delicious thing though has to be the famous Paella Negro, a seafood paella that is black because of the squid ink which greatly enhances the flavour.
In the lands of Euros, one does accumulate a lot of small change. I have taken to calling it "musician's change" and keep it in a particular purse so I have it on hand. Musicians play in the subways; actually in the subway cars. To avoid the authorities, because this is strictly guerrilla, they set up, play a song or two between stops, collect change and get off . The first experience we had of these musicians was with, who else "the Ecuadorians". They are everywhere and have been mentioned before, see blogs from Istanbul. They did an amplified pan pipe song and then came around, I was ready with my change purse but he took one look at my offerings, covered his can with his hand and walked away in disgust. I was at once shocked, insulted and humiliated. Since then my "musicians change" purse has been getting heavier and heavier; I am afraid to insult another musician with my offerings.
Perhaps one of the talented sand sculpture engineers would appreciate my change. On weekends down at the city beach you can walk along later in the day and admire the work of expert sand sculptures, the architecture is amazing. I think I need to make a return trip with my change.
The African fake bag sellers are here in Barcelona too. They experience the police shake downs, like in Naples and we have seen them on the run a number of times. They have devised and ingenious solution that puts them miles ahead of their colleagues in Naples. They use coloured cloth, tied at each corner to heavy cord that meets and is joined at the triangular peak with a round handle. This cuts down the time needed to bundle before running and also makes a nicer display than the plain white, sheet version.
One Sunday, we visited the Monjuic Cemetary, located on the east slopes of Montjuic it offers a splendid view of the working harbour and a stunning setting. Barcelonians joke that you have to die to get a view of the sea in the city. The cemetery is massive with many memorials and famous graves. The graveyard is full of dramatic sculpture and I have never seen more beautiful angels than here.
The city is peppered with sculpture, some particular pieces we have sought out like the giant Miro "Women and Bird" and others we have just come across in our wanderings. Miro's paintings, those that resembled the "Women with Bird" colours reminded so so much of Inuit Art; but I preferred his sculptures made with found objects. We were at the Fran Daurel Museum where we saw a small version of Dali's "Alice in Wonderland" which spurred me to have a look at his other sculptures on-line. They seem to be in major centres all over the world. On the Rambla of Raval, there is a big, bronze, fat cat. Yvonne and I were lunching there the other day and so many people stop to admire the cat, climb on the cat, have their parents lift them on the cat, get photographed with the cat, run and slide on the cat; very interactive and engaging; people just love that cat. In the Placa Cataluna there is a woman on a horse holding a sailing schooner way above her head,
"myboatin myarmswhileonmypony" I like to call it.
Both Yvonne and I have recently read Iidefonso Falcones, "Cathedral of the Sea", set in 14th century Barcelona centred around the building of the Maria del Mar Cathedral. With that book in mind as well as Carlos Ruiz Zafon's "Shadow of the Wind" (maybe I'll finally finish that book now) we set about searching for traces of old Barcelona wandering the Ciutat Vella (Barri Gothic) and along La Rambla. We discovered a distribution point for those fake bags, and the still magnificent gothic Maria del Mar cathederal. During the civil war, the anarchist's, in an demonstrative anti-clerical period, set a fire that destroyed all he art inside the church. It looks all the finer unadorned; the focus on the sweeping curved arches way above you and the stunning architecture.
Given our current state of perpetual tourists in the world this year; it was very instructive and entertaining to see a brilliant show at the Disseny Hub of Barcelona called "The Souvenir Effect": Travel fetishes, beyond the cliches/ Tourism. Spaces of Fiction. I really appreciated Michael Hughes video: photos illustrated him holding a postcard over the site that the postcard portrayed. Check it out on his Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/michael_hughes/sets/346406/
Everywhere we go we hear people say "vale", I am not familiar with this word from studying and sometimes speaking Spanish but WOW you can't help but have it burned into your mind from hearing it all the time. Vale means "OK" and "I am following you" and "no problem" and "no worries" and "of course" and "sure" and "I can do that" and "I get you" and "your welcome". It is such a great word expressing "everything is possible", "things are going well" and "lets keep this thing going on". Such a great word for Barcelona and the way we feel about being in Barcelona.
What we are reading:
The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Muriel Barberry
Cathedral of the Sea, Falones Ildefonso
The Girl who Played with Fire, Stieg Larsson
Knots, Nuruddian Farah
Homage to Barcelona, Colm Toibin
Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanisi, Geoff Dryer
Catalan Cuisine, Colman Andrews
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
Coming soon:
Audio book: The Basque History of the World, Mark Kurlansky
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