Sunday, In The Park, It Wasn't The Fourth of July!

The original plan was to have lunch in Park Citudella, which is my favorite urban park in the world.  Every time, including Sunday, that we've been there, the park is packed with people of various types -- families, elderly couples (yes, older than us!), people working out, people walking their dogs, families or friends playing basketball, couples dancing in a traditional way, guys using their bubble nets to create huge numbers of bubbles for tips, kids running after the bubbles to burst them, couples on a picnic date, and more.  

And the whole place radiates joy.  

There are many different areas of the park, including statues, grass fields, basketball courts, a church, the local parliament, a small lake with rental rowboats, playgrounds, and more.  But our favorite part is the incredibly beautiful fountain.  Antoni Gaudi played a minor role in the creation of the fountain very early in his career.  The Gaudi factoid a minor note about this park.  The park itself is the wonderous attraction.

This statue, and the one above, 

frames one of the entrances 

to the park.

Hard at work, holding up a birdbath.

Not even sure what this is, but it's cool

A very small pond, with

an interesting sculpture.

Close-up of the two hands.  I wonder how

the pinkie on the right hand came to be

broken off.

Palm trees abound.

When we got to the fountain, it was everything we had remembered. . .a gathering place for joy.  Off to the left is a closed-in gazebo, where a DJ was playing lively music (including a personal favorite by The Mavericks!) and people were dancing.  Others were waiting patiently for their chance to get out on the floor.  

In front of the fountain, several guys (not Five Guys though) were making money by using nets to create bubbles floating through the air to fascinate kids and adults alike.

The fountains were off -- and we noticed that other fountains in the city were off too.  We didn't know if it was a Sunday thing, or a pointless holdover from COVID.  Suddenly, as we were standing right in front of the fountain (and this is huge, as you will see from the pictures below), the fountains came on with a rush.  Perfect timing.  Turns out they turn on right at noon.

First selfie of the trip.  We are blocking

most of the fountain, primarily 

because the sun is so bright I couldn't

really see what the photo set up was,

so I clicked and hoped for the best.

It wasn't the best.  Oh well.

Up at the top of the fountain's superstructure (pictured above and below), music was playing and people were gracefully engaged in traditional Catalan dances.

All felt right.

I think I've outsmarted the the blog program that keeps putting the photos in backwards order.  Instead of separate posts with just photos, I am putting the photos into articles.  So far it is working.

One part of the fountain is shooting

water up, whilst the dragons have

water shooting out of their mouths.

Catalan dancing at the top.

There is a lot to this huge fountain.

Our Home Church

Santa Maria del Mar (Saint Mary of the Sea) became a touchstone for us in 2019.  The church, built between 1329 and 1383, is not far from the apartment.  We walked past it on most days and it felt like it was part of our Barcelona story.

No, we're not Catholic.  This is not about that.  It's about feeling connected in a neighborhood in which we did not have a car, and it was part of our rhythm of daily life.  It's a simple Catholic church, almost austere.  The stained glass is stunning, and we loved our tour up on the roof of Santa Maria.  Faithful readers know Sagrada Familia is our favorite cathedral in Barcelona.  Actually, our favorite in the whole world.  But Santa Maria del Mar is our local church when in Barcelona, even if we never attended a service there.

So, when we staggered out of the Picasso museum, dehydrated and over-arted, we knew we had to sit and have some water and a snack.  I suggested we go to one of the cafes in the little plaza out front of the church. 

(Editor's Note: "over-arted?"  Really, just making up words now?  Blogger, hey, it fits!) 

We wound down the tight streets (many really just modestly wide walking paths) to the front of the church where we had some water and cinnamon buns.  The water was nice and cold. . .Europe is getting better and better at chilling drinks/providing ice. . .whilst the cinnamon bun was underwhelming.  So many good pastries in Barcelona, and we had to eat terrible pastries.

Feeling rehydrated, we popped into the church.  Mass was over, so there were people wandering throughout.  It's what I call a ten minute church, although we lingered longer. 

My favorite item in the church is the carved wooden ship on the altar, emblematic of how important the sea was to an area of seamen and fishermen.  The stained glass is compelling, but overall, the simplicity of the church is striking.

We wandered around the church, and then headed back out into the bright sunshiny day.

  

Photos From Santa Maria del Mar

This is a bummer -- it seems the blog program is loading all photos backwards -- latest one at the top, earliest one at the bottom.  I'm not going to take the time to move them all around.  Alas, some aspects of the story-telling will be messed up.  I've contacted the company to see if there is a way to stop this from happening.  It's a tech company, so I don't expect an answer, or at least an answer I can understand!

Gargoyle on Santa Maria del Mar.

Rainspout is perfectly placed.

The eternal flame to the victims of fascism.

The front.

Love the two towers.

The Rose window.

The ship, Mary, and young Jesus.

A close-up of the ship on the church altar.

There is reno work being

done to the left.

At the church entrance.

It's A Big Wide World With A Million Shades of Modern Blue

In 2019, I had made lists of things we wanted to do in each Barcelona neighborhood.  The Picasso Museum, which we had visited in 2009, was on the list.  We never made in 2019, partly because I had been underwhelmed in 2009.  It wasn't high on Carol's priority list either, and at some point the trip had slipped away without getting.

(Editor's Note: "Some point" would have to be the end of the trip, no?)

So it really was to be first stop on our first full day, Sunday.  We had 10:00 am tickets, right when it opened.  This time we walked from the hotel -- it was a bit over a mile, so a good way to start the trip.

The museum is housed in a series of interconnected mansions on the narrow pedestrian street of Carrer Montcada, one of the coolest streets in Barcelona (it's a long list of cool streets).

This time, I enjoyed his more modern paintings more than I expected.  His blue period and much of his work after that was fascinating to me.  Am I becoming a fan of modern art?  Goodness, I hope not, but I didn't hate what I was seeing.  

After a while we were both getting dehydrated and getting a bit dazed with hangover from the trip the previous day, along with the usual "overstay in an art museum" glazed eyes.  We were also doing the "art museum stagger."

It was time to get out.  We actually covered most of the museum before bailing, so it was successful visit.  Heck, we even listened to much of the audioguide!    

Picasso Museum Photos

For some idiotic reason, a 

security guard chased us off

from here.  Imagine that, a photo

in a public space.  What a jerk.

On the last few trips, every so often, the

photos load backwards in order.  As did

happen on this post.  Anyhow, this is a 

courtyard in one of the mansions that

make up the museum.

I think this is from Picasso's Cubist period,

but this could be his Surrealism period.

Give him credit, he tried

many different painting styles.

I didn't like many of the more modern pieces

back during our 2009 visit to the museum, 

but I'm definitely more draw to them now.

His blue period.

This is called "The Dwarf."  Terrible

name for it -- it should be called

"The Pissed Off Dwarf." 

First Communion, starring his

sister and father.  An early

successful painting.

I believe Picasso painted this

at age 13.  Not too shabby.

Best Laid Plans

So the goal for Saturday night, our first night, was to go Dr. Stravinsky, list as one of the 50 cocktail bars in the world by some publication, for a pre-dinner drink and, at the same time, increase our all important coolness quotient, and then go to Bar Ramon, a highly-touted tapas bar.

We took the Metro to Jaume 1, which was one of the stops we used the most in 2019, and wound our way through Barri Gotic to Dr. Stravinsky.  It was great to be back wandering the narrow streets, turning left and right, passing by others going out for the evening.  Have I mentioned Barcelona is magical?  Well I haven't said it, it sure is magical.  And, if I HAVE said it, it sure is magical,

There was a line outside to get in.  We waited patiently in line for a time, and then we lost patience.  So we wandered around, and found a back-up bar to grab a drink at in Placa de les olles, We had a lunch at that bar, Cellar de la Ribera back in 2019.  

I was drifting off to sleep when Carol made the command decision for us to eat there.  We called and cancelled our reservtion at Bar Ramon. I had been looking forward to going there -- a place new to us, but Carol made the right call.  After dinner we went back to the apartment and crashed for the night.

 

The First Day

Because we had to fly through London, we got into Barcelona mid-day.  We took the metro from the airport.  We had a nice chat with a young woman from Amsterdam.  She is in Barcelona for work, but plans to do some sightseeing as well.  We gave her names of restaurants, and recommended some must sees while in the city for a brief time. 

She's has an interesting background.  She was born and raised in Iran for the first ten years of her life before moving to Amsterdam.  She loves the United States (her current and former jobs are with US companies), but because she has been to Iran, it is now harder for her to enter the US.  She needs a visa, which can be a hassle, apparently.

Eighteen stops later on the metro, we bid a fond farewell to her, and headed out into the warm sun to walk the half mile from our stop to the hotel for check-in.  The apartment is in a separate building from the Majestic Hotel (where we stayed for the three nights we all were in Barcelona in 2009!), but it's just a short walk away. 

We were able to get into the apartment even though we were checking in at 2:15pm.  That was nice, as we both needed showers and clean clothes after our trans-Atlantic flight.

Once we were cleaned up, we headed out for a late lunch.  Food is one of the pleasures of Barcelona, along with architecture, history, the beaches, the parks, the cathedrals, and, well, everything else!

Blogger & beer

Tapas and Sangria

I had remembered eating at a place just a couple of blocks away, so we walked over to Tapas Nolla and had some solid tapas and a drink each.  I had a Estrella Damm cerveza, and Carol had sangria.  It hit the spot.

I Went to Barcelona And My Mind Got Changed

So, we decided to squeeze in a trip between the election and Thanksgiving.  We are spending eight nights in what has to be our favorite large city in the world, Barcelona.

The opening lyrics of Rosanne Cash's song, "Modern Blue" is "I went to Barcelona on a midnight train." Another lyric is "Oh I went to Barcelona and my mind got changed."  That's how Carol and I feel about Barcelona.

(We didn't take a midnight train.  Instead we flew Washington Dulles to London Heathrow to Barcelona).

Faithful readers of the blog are probably tired of my constant references back to the 32 night trip we took to Barcelona in 2019, less than six months later the world turned upside down.  It's the best trip we've ever taken.  So when the opportunity to get an eight night stay at a two bedroom apartment with six of the nights free came available, I grabbed it.  

Our friends Don and Jennifer Minnis are joining us for six nights.  They spent a week with us here in Barcelona in 2019 during our month, and they loved the city as much as we did.  

In 2019 we rented an apartment in Barceloneta, a half mile from the Mediterranean Sea, and right at the edge of Barri Gotic and El Born neighborhoods.  This time we are on Passeig de Gracia in the Gracia neighborhood.  We are one block north of Gaudi's masterpiece, Casa Battlo, and one block south of Gaudi's masterpiece, Pedrera Casa Mila.

(Editor's Note: Is there anything built by Gaudi that is not a masterpiece?  Blogger: No.)

Barcelona is an incredibly walkable city.  We've been here a day and a half, and I've already got 37,000 steps in that time.  

If it's not clear already, we're thrilled to be back.  

P.S.: The elections didn't go the way I would have liked, but if this is the beginning of the end of Donald Trump's hold on the GOP, then it will be long-term gain (for the country and the party) in return for short-term pain.