Barcelona without a camera

I met Sue Levinson here last Wednesday.

Hopefully my camera is in the car at the Beziers train station. I wasn’t able to take any pictures in Barcelona but I have many imprinted in my brain. Such a beautiful city – Gaudi (and other architects of the day and into presents time) obviously had the freedom to be able to create freeldly using all their imagination. The result is amazing. The old, old medieval buildings and narrow alleys that create an endless labyrinth which trapped us every day, the “whimsy” gloriously odd shapes and colors of the Gaudi buildings, to be followed by modern day Barcelona architects that clearly embraces form over function. The result is a fascinating mix of artistic design and unencumbered creativity that includes the old and new equally into a single city.

This is a city of art and design that goes beyond just the architecture. Once you leave the touristy/tacky shops of the Rambla area, there are shops and galleries with beautiful clothing, interior design, sculpture, jewelry, paintings, etc. The general style is eclectic – not necessarily the most expensive or trendy. This is really what we found in the area called La Riberia. Another area that is vsoesy upscale and famous is Eixample and the stores there are the more familiar and exorbitantly expensive ones such as Cartier, Hermes, etc. We really preferred La Riberia.

We stayed in the Gothic quarter right across from the old Cathedral. Our hotel was new, very chic, clean, and convenient. Much nicer that the old place I stayed in last Fall in the same area.

We’ve had a great time here. A few of our experiences…….

1. Took the “walk” through the Eixample quarter that was in our guidebook. This took us past many of the best Gaudi buildings and ones by other architects who’d been influenced by hedim. We went into the Casa Battlo which is one of his best. Getting inside is essential in order to appreciate the beauty and complexity of the place. Beautiful colored glass in sea shapes in shades of pink and blue, blue and white tile chip mosaics forming the outside upper patio. Most rooms, windows, walls, have no right angles and their “lines” form waves of movement for the eye.
2. Visited the building and grounds of the University of Barcelona. We strolled through the beautiful enclosed garden where a number of students sat quietly reading in the shade of tropical trees beside pools with coy fish swimming. There were lots of feral cats hanging out there. Angel got thrown out of there (as she often has on this trip when we take her to churches, gardens, parks.
3. Sat in lots of sidewalk cafes , sipping cava (Spanish champagne) or café and watched “the world go by.” Ate way to many tapas and got very tired of them.
4. Appreciated many of the street entertainers including:
a. A very handsome dark young man who played the guitar like an angel. Sue bought a CD from him. He had recorded accompaniment on his boom box. Funny thing though, when he stopped playing to talk to a pretty girl he sounded almost as good as when he wasn’t actually playing himself.
b. A group of young men playing a variety of instruments, some quite unusual, with crazy rhythm in a style we’d never heard before.
c. A very pretty young blond playing the cello in a quiet space by the cathedral.
d. The elderly male opera singer that I heard last Fall who has a following of equally old local folks who sit on the steps and sing as his chorus as he goes through many famous arias (think the well known operatic drinking song).

5. Some of the street entertainers we didn’t appreciate so much:
a. Two guys producing huge bubbles with short rods and string. You kind of had to see it to understand it.
b. An entertainment duo that consisted of a really bad singer, singing really bad songs and a juggler juggling huge knifes that he kept dropping.
6. Something that was in a class by itself took place on Saturday evening in the square in front of the Cathedral. There was a large crowd of mostly elderly Catalans dancing their unique circle dance accompanied by a Catalan band (which you have to her to believe and its not exactly easy on the ears). The dance consists of a limited number of steps (four to the right, four to the left, and then kind of jump a few times).
7. Found a “budding artist” on the street. Young fellow from Argentina. He showed us his artwork which was somewhat bizarre but rather interesting. Suckers that we are we each bought an “original”. The ones we purchased were tamer than some such as “Venus rising from a toilet”.

Our last day we took the local train down the Coast to the town of Sitges (only 30 minutes away). It was pretty little seaside town with a beautiful sandy beach. We rented two chaise lounges and an umbrella and spent the afternoon enjoying the sun, the breeze, the view, and above all swimming in the beautiful Mediterranean.

We spent our last evening in Barcelona strolling through our favorite district, the Ribera, looking for the perfect bar, restaurant, and place to hear live music.

Update upon arrival at Abeilhan – found my camera in my luggage.