A Fine Lunch, A Wander, And Our Friends Arrive

The original lunch plan had been to get sandwiches and have a picnic in the park.  After all that walking around, however, Carol wanted a proper restaurant lunch.  I couldn't blame her, so we decided to walk towards the Cathedral.

In a stroke of genius, I remembered Els Quatre Gats (the four cats) was not far from the cathedral, so we headed there.

Yes, the restaurant is touristy, but the food IS good, and having a meal in such an amazing Modernisme building is pretty cool. We have eaten here all three trips to Barcelona (2009, 2019, and now 2022).

The bar at The Four Cats

Dragon above the doorway

After lunch, we wandered around the area around the old cathedral, including stops at a beautiful fountain that used to mark the outskirts of town.  It was the last fountain for watering your horses when leaving town to the north.

The fountain

A window display in the

store next to the fountain

From there we wandered into the cathedral square, by the old city gates (which has mostly been rebuilt) as well as the "Barcino" sign, representing the old Roman name of the city.

We walked over the cathedral, which had no line to get in.  It's November, so it made sense, compared to the often long lines back in Sept/Oct of 2019.  It made more sense when the guard said entry tickets were 15 Euro.  Three years ago there was no charge.  I'm guessing the new fee is COVID-related, but 15 Euro is kind of steep.  If they were looking to make up for lost revenue, setting the price at 5 Euro would probably entice more people to come.

Besides the high cost to get in, we also figured that as soon as we bought tickets, we would get the WhatsApp text from Jennifer that they were in the cab on their way from the airport.  

And, literally as we walked toward our next stop, we got the text.  

We quickly hit the Roman columns, the martyr's square, and the very cool mailbox, all pictured below.

The remaining Roman columns.

A spire on the old cathedral

Killed by Napoleon's French army.

Every mailbox should have three

birds and a turtle on it.

From there, we walked back up the road, through Plaza Catalunya, past Casa Battlo, and to the hotel, where we met Don and Jennifer and took them to the apartment.

Casa Batllo at night, from the

Hotel Majestic's rooftop bar.

Although it is a tad unfocused,

this picture of the Casa Batllo 

balconies shows off my Zoom

 lens, as it was taken from

the same spot the above pic

was taken.

After they freshened up, we headed to the Hotel Majestic rooftop bar, across the street from our apartment.  It affords fabulous views of the city, and is an enjoyable place to hangout.

Then we walked the 15 minutes to dinner at La Mala Vermut & Tapas, a locals small place.   Barcelona is famous for Vermut bars (or used to be), as we never found one in our month here in 2019 (we weren't looking every day, but we did strike out the night we went to find one I discovered on the internet).  

I had never had Vermut before -- it was fun to try, but it won't be added to my drink list.  The tapas were good, and the atmosphere of the place was better.  It was a good first day.

Not Paris's Arc de Triomphe, But Still A Pretty Good One

Barcelona's Arc de Triomf is just outside of the park.  It may even be part of the park, I'm not sure.  It certainly feels like an extension of the park.

Along the walk to the Arc, there were many bubble nets, with kids running around popping the bubbles.  I threw a Euro coin into one basket, appreciative of the entertainment and joy they are providing for kids and adults alike.

Being a Sunday, the place was thronged.  Being November, it was not summertime thronged.

The Picasso Museum was interesting, but the beauty of the park and the arc, the happiness of the people, the joy of being around such interesting places, and the energy of being outside made the park and the arc a wonderful first full day visit. 

(Editor's Note: Nice rhyme of park and arc.  Writer: Got lucky, I suppose).

The feeling we had reminds me of one of my favorite song lyrics -- "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, those are good days."

(Editor's Note: Classic Ray Wylie Hubbard).

Enough of my waxing rhapsodically, let's get to some photos:

Better selfie. . .I could actually see!

Bubbles!  Photo by Carol/iPhone.

Guy making a huge bubble with his net.

One last pic of the mass of bubbles!

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!