Day 5 Barri Gotic

I think that today's wanderings were my favorite. But before I show you where we explored, I have unfinished business..........

I forgot to include this picture from Parc Guell. This is the entrance once you get past the gate houses. The stairs go up to the columns in the market place and the serpentine benches are on top. Behind the greenery in the middle is the tiled lizard, where the crowd is gathered.
This is my cute guide and personal body guard and keeper of the coins.
All over Barcelona, we have seen these red and white bicycles. Apparently, you pick one up, ride it around and return it somewhere else. They are locked in and I'm not sure how you pay for them. But they are very popular and no one wears a helmet. There are bike paths everywhere....a special lane has been added to the major roads and on the walks where we were very careful not to stray .....rollarblades are also very popular on these pathways.
Today we explored Barri Gotic (the Gothic Quarter) located in the heart of the city. It is a labrinthe of narrow passage ways and medieval buildings (700-1500 AD) and gothic architecture. It was initially the site of a Roman walled city in the 3rd and 4th century. The Portal de l'Angels remain of the original wall. These are right next
to the entrance to the Cathedral of Barcelona in the heart of the Quarter. Built between 1350 and 1448 it is undergoing restoration so more cranes and scaffolding.
This is reputedly the darkest cathedral in Europe and I had to significantly edit the pictures. I tried with flash, without flash and using various adjustments and finally got the best result with the editing tool in iPhoto. It still isn't great quality but I didn't change
the color, just the brightness. The orangey glow was when I used a flash. Located around the perimeter are a couple dozen chapels dedicated to various saints. There are stained glass windows but mostly small
and they don't add much light.

I do like cathedrals altho when I toured Europe with my mother many years ago, they all started looking alike.
Leaving the church, we ambled along rough cobblestones and narrow streets.

There were some lovely shops and little restaurants that called to me. One was all ceramics, apparently a specialty in Spain. The Lladro shop guarantees their work for a year.....against breaking in your luggage ????
The Gothic Quarter was built over a Roman forum and these Corinthian columns were part of the Temple of Augustus built in the 1st century. They are below street level and hard to photograph as they are in a small , tall room. and yes , that is the color of the walls. There were a couple groups of students listening to their instructor but unfortunately, not in English..
Here is the square where Columbus was welcomed back in 1493.
This plaque was midway up a wall and has the date of 1636 inscribed.
Carrer del Bisbe is called one of the prettiest streets in the Quarter. The connecting bridge looks Gothic but was added in 1928.! We reluctantly left this area altho there was much more to see. We really needed some rejuvenation in these old tired bodies and headed out to a Starbucks on La Rambla.

This is not my picture, I copied it from a web site. La Rambla is a long and busy pedestrian boulevard. It is always busy and crowded and lined with vendors of all sorts. I especially liked the flower stalls. During weekends and holidays, it apparently is a colorful place with street musicians, mimes and towering pyramids made up of performers......and home to the professional pick pockets.
Located off La Rambla is La Boqueria, a market just so colorful and amazing and filled with every imaginable food.
It was busy but not mobbed as it seems to be. There are stands of cheese, mushrooms, fish (of indescribable shapes and sizes...not all so appealing) , many meat stands filled with unrecognizable animal parts and some very recognizable....like the small head WITH eyes and cow faces.....I would have taken a picture because it really was a blog worthy moment but I couldn't bear to look after the first glance. This was the egg stand. These are ostrich, emu and assorted large and small eggs. Who knew that eggs didn't need to be refrigerated ? We saw them on the shelves at the supermarket also.
I loved the fruit stands best of all.....the color was brilliant and each was prettier than the next. We did stop at a bread stand for a baguette but otherwise, didn't buy the pastries, nor any fruit and especially no cow faces.................. It was a good day, just like the previous ones in this beautiful city.

PS: All of these photos were taken with either a very expensive camera or an iPhone.....and no, I can't tell the difference either.

Day 4 Parc Guell

Probably the 2nd most popular site in Barcelona is Parc Guell (the l ls are pronounced as a y ...so it is something like Gway..... We took the Turista bus to the stop near by and then hiked up 6 steep blocks or so to the entrance. There is no charge to enter but a small museum does have a charge. Gaudi was commissioned by the Guell family to design a hillside garden community built over a covered market. Only two houses were ever built, one of which Gaudi lived in. This is one of two guard houses at the entrance. They have a gingerbread house appearance.
This was an exquisite fence with a look of palm designs. All of his work is very organic and nature oriented.
The picture is not crooked. I don't know what this passageway is but it was very different. The child is sitting in a small nitch in the wall, one of several spaced along the way.
Near the top is a lovely view of the city. (Click to enlarge) On the left you can see the towers of the Sagrada Familia. On the far right is the W hotel along the waterfront of the Mediterranean.
There are many many noisy green parakeets in the trees....I actually took a better picture than this but it was very very slow posting these pictures and I didn't have the patience to redo it.
This was an open snack bar area. We stopped for a refreshment and to enjoy the music from some nearby musicians.....and were unable to avoid the young couple at the next table, devouring each others faces......
These tiles were along a walkway....they are similar to the ones downtown that line the streets and are designed by Gaudi.
One of the most distinctive feature of the area above the columns that are in the market, is the serpentine tiled benches.
They are covered with beautiful broken tiles....it is not really a mosaic as they do not form a picture. They broke up tiles of color for the top and white for the base. It is just so imaginative and gorgeous. And when you sit, the brown line feels like a lumbar support and it's very comfortable....but a bit cool this time of year.
A close up of one area of the bench...,I have many many pictures of the details.
This was to be the market below the benches. On the ceiling are more tiles and the large colored circles are detailed mosaics of various organic shapes. Amazing.....and so beautiful.
Along the stairs near the entree is this tiled lizard. It is an iconic design, reproduced
everywhere. It was impossible to get a picture of it as everyone wanted a picture of themselves near it. I gave up and chose to take a picture of the most attractive person I saw waiting for her chance.
These broken tiles were a bit different. It looks like they took a tile, broke it up in pieces and then replaced it in its original form.

The other gate house at the entrance with the fanciful tower beside it. The entire park was quite large and paths descended upwards into a heavily treed area. I can see where it would be a nice respite from the hot summer Spanish sun.
Here is another Gaudi building in downtown. It is supposed to be quite spectacular inside as well but they wanted about $25 for a peek and we decided that we'd seen quite enough for the moment. By the way, Gaudi lived to be 74 and died in 1926 when he was run over by a tram. He laid in the street for hours as it was thought he was a beggar. By the time he was taken to a hospital, it was too late.
We have Christmas decorations on our street. The door to our apt. is on the right. We were worn out from our long day and chose to take the easy route for dinner and walk over a couple blocks to the Mexican restaurant again. We were the only ones there......we were told that most won't come for dinner until 8 or so....except that older people come earlier.! Our waitress ..Anna, and the entire staff, is from Mexico. They remind us that they serve authentic Mexican food, not Tex-Mex. They all speak perfect English and we had great fun with them. As we were finishing, two young families did come in but it was nice to have private dining while it lasted. We said we'd be back before we left. It is really good food and so convenient.

The city seems young.....Anna said that the older people tend to stay home or live in the hilly part of the city, which is more exclusive. There are 8 universities and we heard many languages on the street. We also heard familiar southern accents and more obvious American students. A popular fashion statement seems to be leggings or sheer stockings with very short skirts or shorts and boots. Boots and scarfs are definitely the most popular accessory for all ages. Not very many blondes around. I haven't seen any french manicures. IPhones and Blackberry's are common. Backpacks are ubiquitous among the young and old. Smoking is more common than I expected. I've seen a couple of chubby people but they did not look Spanish. I"m not really hung up on the thin or wide....it has just been very obvious. Compared to the crowds at Disney, this place is positively anorexic.

Time to call it a night. Tomorrow is La Rambla ......

Day 3 views

For those of you wondering how I "watch" football on the computer, here is a picture of the screen from www.nfl.com. It is a live version of the game....or as live as it can be while they get the little arrows posted after the play. I'm rather amazed at the Broncos season.....who would have hoped that it could look this good after the last few years.
We had good intentions of getting an early start on the Turista bus but didn't open our eyes until 10am. We are still are on some strange time zone, midway between here and there.
The buses travel around the city on the Blue route and the Red route. Each is about a 2 hour loop with headphones that continually give you information on the areas we pass. For 30 euros each, we can hop on and off for two days (about $43 each) It's actually a pretty good deal considering the helpful info we got and the up close and personal view of the neighborhoods and city highlights. We stopped by the Sagrada Familia again today. It is still almost impossible to get a good picture of this massive and unusual structure.

These are white birds on a tree midway up the side......the entire thing is very organic, which is a Gaudi trademark. I was surprised to see colored images scattered about....like fruit and flowers.

The cathedral has 3 different sides depicting the life of Christ. This is the nativity and it was done in Gaudi's time....

These two pictures are of the Crucifixion and done in a completely different style, more modernistic and widely criticized as not adhering to the Gaudi ideal.

We rode in the upper deck of the bus, up next to the windshield to get some protection from the light wind.
A view of the back of the bus......at some stops, it was completely full.
We passed someone moving into their apartment.....doubt a piano would fit on that lift.
Here is the symbol from the '92 Olympics.....
There is a Columbus Circle in Barcelona as well as NYC....he is supposedly pointing at the new world but in actuality, he is pointing towards the Mediterranean. The building is not that close.....just a lousy picture. We hopped off the bus in downtown and cheered on finding this nearby.....the perfect solution to cold hands. There is the ubiquitous McDonalds and Subway and an occasional Burger King. Starbucks seems limited to the very heart of the city. We could use one down near us. We are comfortable finding our way around, reading maps, using the Metro (a favorite) and even strolling after dark. We still have an extensive list of must see items but not sure we'll get to all of them. Tonight, we went to a larger market and bought frozen Buitoni pizzas and cooked in...not very gourmet but our feet needed a break.
Typical architecture around the city.
This is another Gaudi piece......there are many ......

What a nice way to end the day............

Impressions Day 2

Our apartment is quite nice and every wall has very interesting art work. The furniture and dishes are labeled IKEA and it all has that swedish clean-lined look about it. It is much larger than I had expected.

We started the day late, sleeping in and feeling lazy. After a light breakfast of coffee tea and fruit, we studied the maps and headed out. Our first challenge was the Metro system. We can cross that challenge off of our list....it was quite basic and important directions were in English. It was spotlessly clean, quick and efficient. Puts NY subways to shame ! The only drawback is not seeing where you're going. The buses would have avoided that but they looked very crowded and we read some warnings about them. There is a Turista double decker (open-air on the top) bus that stops all over the city at the top attractions and tomorrow we will use that to better view the sights.

Our main goal today was to head to the Sagrada Familia, a cathedral designed by Antonio Gaudi. ( I would try and link to it but all the sites come up in Spanish from either Google or Bing) He was an architect in the late 1800's who designed this as "a symbolic construct encompassing the entire story and scope of the Christian faith". I can never begin to explain it so if you have an interest, try Wikipedia. It was very
crowded and has been under continual construction since 1882. It is planned to be completed by 2026. Much of it is covered in sheeting and scaffolding and my pictures don't capture it well......There will be 12 of those large bell towers when complete ! We plan to return tomorrow and get better shots when , hopefully, the crowds have lessened......Paul was a bit wary of getting in the midst of it all (even the Metro gives warnings in English about the pickpockets) so we looked mostly from afar. I used my iPhone for some pictures but decided that I either need to use the camera or leave it behind....so look for more pics tomorrow.

After a bit more strolling , we felt the first signs of starvation set in. Our UNTOURS guide book recommended a place right near our apt as having the best Mexican food in Barcelona. It was a tiny place, tucked away on a small street. We had no reservation so they plied us with drinks while we waited briefly for a table.
We were laboring over the Spanish menu with our dictionary in hand when the lovely waitress came over and offered us the English version. I said we really needed to practice so we used one of each.
Paul ordered the tuna on guac with rice and I had enchiladas. Both were delicious. Interesting comparison between my portion of 3 small chicken enchiladas, a small side of refried beans and a light sauce with smattering of cheese, compared to the gluttonous portions we get at home.

My first impression of the population here was that they are all slender and today, that impression remained. I began my search for anyone even pudgy and failed . Most everyone was younger than us but there were a few elders around and they were slim as well. The families and the bicycles and the couples and the dogs were all out today. Audi, VW, Citroen and Hondas seem to be the cars of choice. Weather was sunny and about 60, nice enough but layers felt good.

And now I have to "watch" the Broncos on the computer play the Vikings. Buenos noches!.....

First impressions.....

is that flying in First Class is better than spending 8 hours in Coach seating......Not that most of us have a choice and far be it for me to spend that kind of money for a comfortable chair high in the sky. But, when the stars align and there are empty seats up front, we are sure glad that we got to partake. Somehow, dining well, drinking well and then curling up with a comfy blanket and pillow in a bed-like situation makes those hours just zip by. I do not particularly like flying altho it is getting easier the more I do it......but First Class somehow eases the anxieties just a bit.

As we came over the Pyrenees, bordering Spain and France, the sun was up and the views were spectacular. We descended quickly over hilly green country. The airport is shiny new and quite vacant. We were met promptly by a nice young man who has relatives in Orlando.

Our apartment is in the Port Vell area, along the harbor. This is our view from the 3rd floor balcony. After a much needed siesta and no idea what time it was in our brain, we headed out to walk along the marina. The Saturday crowds were out along with street vendors and musicians. Our driver said we were in an excellent location. We were met by the apt. manager (formerly from Long Island) who issued dire warnings about the pick pockets and said we should not carry anything in a purse or bag that is visible. Well, on our stroll later, everyone had a bag, backpack, messenger bag, large designer type purses....many on a cross body type strap but many just dangling off the shoulder. I took my bag and with its double straps , I was able to wrap one around my waist and one cross body so I feel secure....plus, we carry nothing with us except guide books, maps, water and my camera....it is insured and I'm not going to worry. Money and credit card goes in an inside pocket...no wallets. The apt is quite spacious with two bathrooms, very comfortable beds (twins together) and fast wifi. As the sun set and it got cooler, we stopped along the marina for
a dinner outside. I ordered the sole and was taken aback when an entire fish arrived....but the waiter deftly deboned and beheaded it and it soon looked like something from the seafood section of Publix. But very fresh and light and just what I needed. Paul , of course, had the salmon which he said was very good.

We enjoyed the promanade as we ate.....most everyone, young and old, is slim. Everyone, men and women, wear scarves (yes, Rian, I wore mine also and packed several). A lot of smokers, in and out of the restaurant (maybe just on the outside, hopefully). A large, large dog was also enjoying the dining. Dinner was about $70 without wine or dessert....one beer only. We did not order bread, but it came along with olives and little pickled onions and we were charged for it. It was good so guess we won't complain.

For those of you texters out there.....with the new iPhone upgrade, apparently we can text while on wifi. Not terribly convenient if one is out and about but if in a wifi setting , it works just fine while all the data is off and the plane is in airplane mode. We DO NOT want to get charged for data while in Europe.

Anyway, I did not mean to go on and on....pictures tomorrow or when I get around to it.....but first I have to take some.