Yes, the title is another lyric from Rosanne Cash's brilliant song, "Modern Blue." And yes, when we were having a glass of wine at night at the apartment after dinner, this song always came up first on my iTunes shuffle (okay, I always played it, but it's the best song I know with Barcelona in the lyrics).
When we would tell people we were going to spend a month in Barcelona, we got a lot of "whys" from people (clearly, they had NOT been to Barcelona!).
In response, Carol half-joked that this would be her Study Abroad, as she graduated from American University in just three years and never spent a semester overseas. I would point out that we will likely never live overseas, as much as we would like to, but the realities of life make it not an option.
So, spending a month immersing ourselves in a city seemed the next best thing. We were considering London or Paris, but two years ago, I was struck by the notion that we love Spain so much, that we should go to Barcelona (sorry, Madrid is over-rated).
If you have couldn't tell, the trip exceeded our expectations. And we had HIGH expectations for it. We loved it so much, sometimes we would look at each other in disbelief on how well it was going. Barcelona is an amazing city, we had a great apartment with a fabulous location, and we enjoyed 95% of what we did.
The beaches, the bars, the tapas, El Born/Ribera, Barri Gotic, modernisme, Gaudi, the churches old and Sagrada Familia, the Fire Walk, the human towers, going to an FC Barcelona soccer match, day trip to Girona, the Cathedral, Montjuic, the two monasteries, the Priorat wine tour, La Boqueria, La Ramblas, the weather, and so much more.
Faithful readers of the blog know that my daughters christened me "the Iron Tourist" years ago. I wear that moniker with pride. This trip was probably peak Iron Tourist. Before going, I had typed up pages for each neighborhood in Barcelona with things to do and restaurants to try. We probably only hit 90% of the stuff on the list, and I'm okay with that. The goal was never to do 100% of the list, but it was to never be at a loss on what to do on any particular day. Feel free, if you are going to Barcelona, to request my lists -- you'll find them very, very helpful.
There's no more fun restaurant experience than a great tapas bar. It wasn't go-go-go all the time. We wiled away plenty of hours at our beach side Chiringuito bar. Even when we had no plans, just getting and wandering the cobblestone narrow streets of El Born and Barri Gotic was a thrill. Going five different times to Sagrada Familia led to new discoveries each time.
I'm not sure we could ever top, or even match this magical month in Barcelona. And that's okay, because we're going to darn well try. Thank you Barcelona. Living the Barcelona life was living our best life.
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Barcelona Riffs -- Volume 2
We never got tired of Modernisme architecture. Whether it is a Gaudi house, church, a Domenech Palace of Catalan music, or a Cadafalch house, it's all grand. And, obviously there were more than the leading three architects.
When I think of the confluence of great architects all feeding off one another, I reminded of lyrics from Hamilton, and wonder if these greats in Barcelona had similar thoughts:
Barcelona is a city of dogs. Remarkable dogs at that. Many of the dogs go unleashed, but stay by the side of their owners, not reacting to other dogs, kids, or people. Some dogs stray a bit from their owners, especially in the park, but always zoom back over to them, and never bother them.
Yes, some dogs are on leashes, and some dogs are even wearing muzzles. . .I think more to keep them from going after other dogs than people. There are a multitude of dogs here, and I just wish their owners would carry water with them so they could wish off the dog urine from the street or buildings when the dogs take a whiz.
There are a lot of homeless in Barcelona. It's very touching to see them with their dogs sleeping by their side. The dogs seem to double as companionship and protection. Not every homeless person has a dog, but a high percentage do.
The homeless are quite polite -- there would be five or six sleeping under the overhangs of our apartment building and others nearby. They wouldn't go to bed until 11pm at the earliest, and most were up and gone as daybreak arrived. They seem different than NYC homeless for instance -- not harassing people for money, pissing in the street, mentally disturbed. I felt safe around these homeless.
The Metro in Barcelona is what public transportation should be. We easily took a dozen or so round trips on the Metro. It's clean, on-time, and runs often. The longest wait I ever saw was five minutes, with most averaging two minutes between trains (rush hour) and four minutes (weekends).
The only three complaints I have about the Barcelona Metro is that underground transfers were far apart, but at least the walk was VERY hot! (Note: "at least" denotes sarcasm). Pickpockets. And last but not least, some of the lines were well laid out, while others (such as our yellow line) pretty much meant transfers were needed. Still, it blows away subways in the United States for cleanliness, on-time performance, and frequency of trains.
And, there was no graffiti on the trains. But, changing topics from below ground to above ground, that was the biggest disappointment about Barcelona. The amount of graffiti. Look, I grant you that some of the graffiti looked like amazing public art, and should be counted that way. But, 90% of graffiti is terrible crap.
The good people of Barcelona seemed nonplussed by the graffiti, but it's definitely NOT a plus. Most of the stores have the pull down metal doors, and all of them, nice neighborhood or not, have been tagged. And it's not just on the metal doors.
Walking through the city in the morning before the shops open, you are met with a cacophony of silent screams of the graffiti junk. Clean up your act!
Growing up, as my dad had irregular hours running his small business, he would say as we sat down to a late meal, "the rich eat late, and so do we." The first time we went to Spain, the girls were 7, 5, and 3 years old respectively, so we were usually the first ones in a restaurant, and left long before they got crowded.
Well, now we're able to take full advantage of the Catalan proclivity to eat late. Twice on the trip we had dinner reservations for 10 pm. Other times, 9 pm or 8:30. We occasionally made our arrival to certain restaurants as early as 7 pm, but that's because we wanted to be certain to get a table or counter stools as they opened. Obviously, those were popular restaurants, because they were full from opening to closing.
Free public bathrooms should a basic human right. That might not be a hill to die on, but having to pay 50 cents or a Euro to use a bathroom is annoying. It's not as endemic as it used to be in Europe, but it's still annoying. And while they are solving that problem, the next two things to work on are larger bathrooms, and hand dryers that actually blow air!
I wish we had markets in America like the ones in Europe. La Boqueria was a treat every time we went to it. The variety and freshness are incredible. And they are fun.
So, the smoking rate in Spain is 34%, but when we are sitting at an outdoor table in Barcelona, the rate of nearby smokers automatically goes up to nearly 100%. Come on people. You think you are better than Americans at health, but 34% is ridiculous. I see more people smoke in Barcelona in a day than I see in America (where it is 14%).
There was this weird streak of "Amsterdam Air" and then no Amsterdam Air. It's that sickly sweet smell of marijuana. The first week or so we were there, we smelled it everywhere. And then we didn't smell it hardly at all for a couple of weeks.
The difference was much more enjoyable (sorry dope smokers, the sickly sweet smell of your drug of choice is pretty gross -- although not as disgusting as regular cigarette smoke. If I sound like I'm anti-smoking, I am. Then, our last week in Barcelona, we started smelling Amsterdam Air, although not as often as the first week. Weird.
We only used taxis to go to dinner at further away, nice restaurants. We didn't want to be dressed nicely but sweating in the Metro stations. It's not a complaint, it is just a fact of life. Some of the cabbies were great, but one night, with Don and Jennifer along for the literal ride, we had two crazy drivers. I usually appreciate aggressive driving cabbies, but I thought for certain we were going to have about ten collisions, and kill at least one bike rider that night.
By the way, Uber no longer operates in Barcelona, because of course the lefty government screwed their own people by passing draconian regulations.
The weather was sublime during our time in Barcelona. It was like living in San Diego for a month.
When I think of the confluence of great architects all feeding off one another, I reminded of lyrics from Hamilton, and wonder if these greats in Barcelona had similar thoughts:
What are the odds the gods would put us all in one spot
Poppin' a squat on conventional wisdom, like it or not
Barcelona is a city of dogs. Remarkable dogs at that. Many of the dogs go unleashed, but stay by the side of their owners, not reacting to other dogs, kids, or people. Some dogs stray a bit from their owners, especially in the park, but always zoom back over to them, and never bother them.
Yes, some dogs are on leashes, and some dogs are even wearing muzzles. . .I think more to keep them from going after other dogs than people. There are a multitude of dogs here, and I just wish their owners would carry water with them so they could wish off the dog urine from the street or buildings when the dogs take a whiz.
There are a lot of homeless in Barcelona. It's very touching to see them with their dogs sleeping by their side. The dogs seem to double as companionship and protection. Not every homeless person has a dog, but a high percentage do.
The homeless are quite polite -- there would be five or six sleeping under the overhangs of our apartment building and others nearby. They wouldn't go to bed until 11pm at the earliest, and most were up and gone as daybreak arrived. They seem different than NYC homeless for instance -- not harassing people for money, pissing in the street, mentally disturbed. I felt safe around these homeless.
The Metro in Barcelona is what public transportation should be. We easily took a dozen or so round trips on the Metro. It's clean, on-time, and runs often. The longest wait I ever saw was five minutes, with most averaging two minutes between trains (rush hour) and four minutes (weekends).
The only three complaints I have about the Barcelona Metro is that underground transfers were far apart, but at least the walk was VERY hot! (Note: "at least" denotes sarcasm). Pickpockets. And last but not least, some of the lines were well laid out, while others (such as our yellow line) pretty much meant transfers were needed. Still, it blows away subways in the United States for cleanliness, on-time performance, and frequency of trains.
And, there was no graffiti on the trains. But, changing topics from below ground to above ground, that was the biggest disappointment about Barcelona. The amount of graffiti. Look, I grant you that some of the graffiti looked like amazing public art, and should be counted that way. But, 90% of graffiti is terrible crap.
The good people of Barcelona seemed nonplussed by the graffiti, but it's definitely NOT a plus. Most of the stores have the pull down metal doors, and all of them, nice neighborhood or not, have been tagged. And it's not just on the metal doors.
Walking through the city in the morning before the shops open, you are met with a cacophony of silent screams of the graffiti junk. Clean up your act!
Growing up, as my dad had irregular hours running his small business, he would say as we sat down to a late meal, "the rich eat late, and so do we." The first time we went to Spain, the girls were 7, 5, and 3 years old respectively, so we were usually the first ones in a restaurant, and left long before they got crowded.
Well, now we're able to take full advantage of the Catalan proclivity to eat late. Twice on the trip we had dinner reservations for 10 pm. Other times, 9 pm or 8:30. We occasionally made our arrival to certain restaurants as early as 7 pm, but that's because we wanted to be certain to get a table or counter stools as they opened. Obviously, those were popular restaurants, because they were full from opening to closing.
Free public bathrooms should a basic human right. That might not be a hill to die on, but having to pay 50 cents or a Euro to use a bathroom is annoying. It's not as endemic as it used to be in Europe, but it's still annoying. And while they are solving that problem, the next two things to work on are larger bathrooms, and hand dryers that actually blow air!
I wish we had markets in America like the ones in Europe. La Boqueria was a treat every time we went to it. The variety and freshness are incredible. And they are fun.
So, the smoking rate in Spain is 34%, but when we are sitting at an outdoor table in Barcelona, the rate of nearby smokers automatically goes up to nearly 100%. Come on people. You think you are better than Americans at health, but 34% is ridiculous. I see more people smoke in Barcelona in a day than I see in America (where it is 14%).
There was this weird streak of "Amsterdam Air" and then no Amsterdam Air. It's that sickly sweet smell of marijuana. The first week or so we were there, we smelled it everywhere. And then we didn't smell it hardly at all for a couple of weeks.
The difference was much more enjoyable (sorry dope smokers, the sickly sweet smell of your drug of choice is pretty gross -- although not as disgusting as regular cigarette smoke. If I sound like I'm anti-smoking, I am. Then, our last week in Barcelona, we started smelling Amsterdam Air, although not as often as the first week. Weird.
We only used taxis to go to dinner at further away, nice restaurants. We didn't want to be dressed nicely but sweating in the Metro stations. It's not a complaint, it is just a fact of life. Some of the cabbies were great, but one night, with Don and Jennifer along for the literal ride, we had two crazy drivers. I usually appreciate aggressive driving cabbies, but I thought for certain we were going to have about ten collisions, and kill at least one bike rider that night.
By the way, Uber no longer operates in Barcelona, because of course the lefty government screwed their own people by passing draconian regulations.
The weather was sublime during our time in Barcelona. It was like living in San Diego for a month.
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
A Good Walk, Unspoiled
After oddly weird Casa de les Punxes tour, we wandered down the famous Diagonal Avenue to Palau Baro de Quadras, another one of Cadafalch's works. It's closed on the weekend, but the outside is worth checking out (and it's free!) on both the front and back of the house. It's very cool on the outside.
A brief description from Wikipedia:
It was nice to see it again (earlier in this trip), so we vowed we would try to get back to it. (Editor's Note: "Vowing" and "trying" is not exactly an impressive promise. Writer: It wasn't exactly a hill to die on!).
Our final lunch in Barcelona was good, and so we decided to walk back to the apartment from there. It's a pretty long walk, but this way we could finish out our time with a stroll through some of our favorite parts of the city.
We also decided to it Family Circus style, so we did not go the direct route. First we walked back over to Passeig de Gracia, so we could be blown away once more by the facade of Casa Batllo. That also meant we passed by a few other Modernisme houses.
Our next arrival was to Placa Catalunya, the pulsating heart of the city. Not only was this where the Spanish Civil War's first battle in Barcelona occurred, but it is a lively part of town. Then we detoured through some narrow side streets to El Quattro Gats to get a better look at the building.
Then we wandered past the Santa Caterina market, and over to the Cathedral for a little more souvenir shopping and a bit of reminiscing. A bubble guy was there, and he was delighting the kids and adults a like with his massive bubbles. It was like the first day in Parc Ciutudella. I
Feeling nostalgic, I dropped a one Euro coin into his change cup. He was quite appreciative, but he was wrong. I was the appreciative one -- appreciative for the whole city.
We stopped at our gelato place, Gelateria Giovanni, on Career de la Argenteria. We took our gelato and sat on the fountain across from Santa Maria del Mar. It wasn't our last taste of Barcelona, but it was close. We went out in style.
A brief description from Wikipedia:
"The Avinguda Diagonal façade has one of the most impressive Gothic revival balconies seen in Modernista architecture. The artisans Alfons Juyol and Eusebi Arnau used carved stone for their design.
"The rear façade, facing Carrer Rosselló, has floral motifs extending horizontally and vertically along the three balconies and down the four floors."
The front facade.
Gargoyle. It looks like a cross between a
deranged chipmunk and a small water dragon.
His cousin.
Sant Jordi. And his dragon.
We see them a lot. (Spoiler
alert: It doesn't end well
for the dragon.
Top of the back side of Palau Baro de Quadras.
Our next stop was De Tapa Madre for lunch. A tapas restaurant a few blocks south of Diagonal and
east of Passig de Gracia, this restaurant will always hold a place near and dear to our hearts. A lot of Barcelona restaurants close down for August (which is also a very touristy time). Several of the restaurants we had wanted to go to in 2009 were closed, so the concierge recommended this one. I was worried we were shunted off on a lousy restaurant, but we had thoroughly enjoyed it. It was nice to see it again (earlier in this trip), so we vowed we would try to get back to it. (Editor's Note: "Vowing" and "trying" is not exactly an impressive promise. Writer: It wasn't exactly a hill to die on!).
Our final lunch in Barcelona was good, and so we decided to walk back to the apartment from there. It's a pretty long walk, but this way we could finish out our time with a stroll through some of our favorite parts of the city.
We also decided to it Family Circus style, so we did not go the direct route. First we walked back over to Passeig de Gracia, so we could be blown away once more by the facade of Casa Batllo. That also meant we passed by a few other Modernisme houses.
Casa Batllo
Gate at El Quattro Gats.
An original winged monkey.
A dude.
Looks like an old Seahawks logo.
I think this is a person hanging
out with an alligator.
Werewolves of Barcelona.
Stop dragon my heart around.
I'm not lion, he's ferocious.
Our next stop was at the Palau de Catalan Musica. We had gone to a performance with Don and Jennifer at this UNESCO World Heritage site by Domenech, but that was at night. We had not really looked at the outside until today.
We went into the lobby. We decided not to take the tour for two good reasons. First, Carol wanted to get to packing. (Yes, she packs for both of us, because she thinks I do a poor job of packing. She's under that impression primarily because I DO do a poor job of packing!). Second, we had just missed the last English-language tour. I don't get as much out of the Catalan or Spanish tours.
Carmela, by Jaume Plensa
This cool sculpture is just
outside the Music Palace.
The Palace of Catalan Music.
Cool ticket window.
This is a bust of Bach, who was
definitely not a bust, even bach then.
Staircase in the Palace
Then we wandered past the Santa Caterina market, and over to the Cathedral for a little more souvenir shopping and a bit of reminiscing. A bubble guy was there, and he was delighting the kids and adults a like with his massive bubbles. It was like the first day in Parc Ciutudella. I
Feeling nostalgic, I dropped a one Euro coin into his change cup. He was quite appreciative, but he was wrong. I was the appreciative one -- appreciative for the whole city.
We stopped at our gelato place, Gelateria Giovanni, on Career de la Argenteria. We took our gelato and sat on the fountain across from Santa Maria del Mar. It wasn't our last taste of Barcelona, but it was close. We went out in style.
The Gaudi-inspired roof of Santa Caterine market.
The Cathedral.
Probably the last photo
on the Barcelona blog!
Getting Punked At Casa de les Punxes
I wanted to see one more Modernisme house before leaving, so when I saw that you can take limited tours of Casa de les Punxes, I purchased tickets for noon on Sunday.
It was an audioguided tour, and it was weird. Unlike the modernisme houses we had already been through, there is nothing special about the inside (well, some of the ceilings, I suppose), but there is on the outside.
So, we ended up wasting 20 minutes of our lives watching some poorly done rip-off of the Princess Bride, moving from room to room as a "movie" told of the legend of St. George (Sant Jordi), the Princess, and the Dragon.
It was hokey, a waste of time, and dreadfully out of touch with today's world. It struck me as pretty sexist and tone-deaf for our time, and if I felt that way, think what a young woman would think. I mean, (better sit down for this) I'm not the most woke person around, and I was annoyed. But at least it was cloying.
When she was in Barcelona, Maddy scoffed at the legend of St. Jordi and the dragon. She tried to rely on "facts" and "science," cynically noting that there was no such thing as "dragons." She claimed it was all "myth!" So, Sunday, I did quip to Carol that this "movie" would have convinced Maddy about the St. Jordi and the dragon story!
Then we shuffled into a few rooms that were modestly interesting, mostly because we could step out on to one of the balconies with beautiful grill work. Casa Punxes was designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch. He was perhaps the third most influential Modernisme architect behind the great Gaudi and the impressive Domenech. Cadafalch never designed a building that is a UNESCO World Heritage site, but he did design El Quattro Gats, which is a very cool building for a restaurant.
He also designed Casa Amatller, which we had visited earlier in the week. Cadafalch definitely had a bigger budget for Amatller than for Punxes.
Cadafalch is a definite Renaissance man -- along with being a top Modernisme architect, he was a strong Catalan patriot, an elected official (city council, Spanish Parliament, and was the President of Catalan for seven years, and Catalan historian. Franco banned him from doing architecture.
The tour redeemed itself to an extent when we took the elevator up to the rooftop. The "castle" look of the rooftop is what makes the building visually stunning, so getting to wander into the tops of the castle towers was pretty cool.
The tour went from terrible to very good. I would not recommend going, unless you are in Barcelona for a month OR are a huge modernisme geek and have been tomost all of the other modernisme buildings.
It was an audioguided tour, and it was weird. Unlike the modernisme houses we had already been through, there is nothing special about the inside (well, some of the ceilings, I suppose), but there is on the outside.
So, we ended up wasting 20 minutes of our lives watching some poorly done rip-off of the Princess Bride, moving from room to room as a "movie" told of the legend of St. George (Sant Jordi), the Princess, and the Dragon.
It was hokey, a waste of time, and dreadfully out of touch with today's world. It struck me as pretty sexist and tone-deaf for our time, and if I felt that way, think what a young woman would think. I mean, (better sit down for this) I'm not the most woke person around, and I was annoyed. But at least it was cloying.
When she was in Barcelona, Maddy scoffed at the legend of St. Jordi and the dragon. She tried to rely on "facts" and "science," cynically noting that there was no such thing as "dragons." She claimed it was all "myth!" So, Sunday, I did quip to Carol that this "movie" would have convinced Maddy about the St. Jordi and the dragon story!
Then we shuffled into a few rooms that were modestly interesting, mostly because we could step out on to one of the balconies with beautiful grill work. Casa Punxes was designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch. He was perhaps the third most influential Modernisme architect behind the great Gaudi and the impressive Domenech. Cadafalch never designed a building that is a UNESCO World Heritage site, but he did design El Quattro Gats, which is a very cool building for a restaurant.
He also designed Casa Amatller, which we had visited earlier in the week. Cadafalch definitely had a bigger budget for Amatller than for Punxes.
Cadafalch is a definite Renaissance man -- along with being a top Modernisme architect, he was a strong Catalan patriot, an elected official (city council, Spanish Parliament, and was the President of Catalan for seven years, and Catalan historian. Franco banned him from doing architecture.
The tour redeemed itself to an extent when we took the elevator up to the rooftop. The "castle" look of the rooftop is what makes the building visually stunning, so getting to wander into the tops of the castle towers was pretty cool.
The tour went from terrible to very good. I would not recommend going, unless you are in Barcelona for a month OR are a huge modernisme geek and have been to
One of the six pointed towers.
You guessed, another of the
six pointed towers giving it
a castle look.
Initial of Angela Terradas Brutau, one of the three
sisters the house was built for -- it was actually
three conjoined townhomes.
Beautiful work.
Admire the forge detail.
The main tower.
The famed Neuschwanstein castle
in Bavaria is said to be the
inspiration for Punxes.
Sant Jordi and the dragon. The myth
also served as a rallying cry for
Catalan pride in the late 1800s/early
1900s.
Sundial.
One of the facades,
with the main tower.
Can I Get An Amen?
So after another midnight return home after an incredible dinner, Carol was not in the mood to pack Sunday morning, which was our last full day in Barcelona. Really, it was our last day, because we planned to cab to the airport at 9 am (we actually left 30 minutes earlier).
I had hoped for sunny mornings because I wanted to capture two sets of photos -- a sunrise over the Med, and bright sunshine on the Nativity facade. I had some great sunshine photos of the Passion facade, but not of the Nativity facade. Yes, I've posted lots of pictures of that side, but none with the sun from the east.
Once I decided I needed those photos, we hit an October gloom in the mornings. Even on days that turned nice, it wasn't until early afternoon that we saw Mr. Sun in all his sunbeam and rays of happiness.
Well, if Carol wasn't going to pack, then it was time to try for the best. We Metro'd up to Verdaguer, walked the six blocks to Sagrada Familia, and started shooting away (with the camera). I focused on the Nativity side, and specifically on areas I had not photo'd before. We walked behind the pond for some distance photos.
All in all, it's always a joy to be at Sagrada Familia, even if you are not going in.
A UNESCO World Heritage site.
The tree of life!
The onlookers to the birth of Jesus. The star of
Bethlehem is at the top middle, with the trail of
the star below it.
Okay, this is part of the Glory facade,
but who can resist photographing
such brilliance.
Angels we have heard on high.
I never noticed this before.
The next few creatures you see are
on the north side of the church.
The eyes almost look like
Kermit's eyes, amiright?
Big lizard.
Happy snake.
Good karma-karma-karma
chameleon!
Yes I can!
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