Barcelona 1st Day
June 5-6 , 2014
A Labrynth of Art, Museums and Music in Cataluña
I arrive in Heathrow Airport and thanks to I-phone texting
meet up with John in the HR bookstore where I am buying Malcolm Gladwell’s
latest book about Giants and David. Because John is in business class he can
spend our 4-hour transfer wait in the lovely BA lounge. We decide to ask if I
can enter. John makes a valiant effort
about wanting his wife with him while I offer to pay extra. A sensitive Muslim BA man
says if I stay in there the whole time and don’t come out to shop he will let
me in. Since his shift ends in 1 hour he can’t guarantee I will get back
in. John thinks this is great because I
won’t be able to shop and he can relax in this oasis with plenty of food.
Neri Hotel: On
the plane to Barcelona I sit next to a man from Italy who says he is Italian
but has moved to Barcelona because it is more beautiful than Italy. Since I am
an Italy fan and have traveled there many times, I cannot believe something can
be more spectacular than Italy. Apparently there are over 15,000 Italians in
this city. We arrive at the Neri Hotel, located in the Old City and chosen
after much research by John. It is a jewel of a hotel with 20 rooms in the
center of the Gothic Quarter. Our small, quaint room has all our needs provided
for including a Nespresso machine, Wi-Fi, soft towels, a balcony and dark
chocolate on our bed.
We awake the next morning to the sounds of children laughing
and playing in a school playground near our balcony. Suddenly a beautiful sound
emerges from the children singing.
 |
| Wings of Peace |
I rush down to the square (placa) beside our hotel with my camera. There I see over 100 children ages 4 to 10 years singing joyously, waving their arms in synchrony while a throng of parents are watching them and taking pictures.
Other children who have come from other schools
to be part of this performance stay for awhile playing .. what sport? Soccer of
course. I think I would like to be a psychologist in this school.
Cataluña: Barcelona,
a city of 1.4 million (like Belfast) but 4 million for the wider area is said
by our tour book not to be in Spain but actually in Cataluña. Historically the
Catalan language and culture were discouraged after the failure of the last
pocket of Catalan resistance against the military coup of the fascist dictator
Francisco Franco. However, by the mid 70’s (after the death of Franco) the
language made a come back and now all school classes are in Catalan as their
first language and Spanish their second.
We venture out at noon to find a restaurant called Academia,
which has been recommended to us. The architecture seems unique, funky and
playful with buildings that all seem to have beautiful, detailed ironwork
balconies.
We immediately are lost in a labyrinth of narrow streets (not big
enough for cars) and placas with churches.
John grumbles about the failure of his upgraded cellular data on the I-pad to show a map and the poor hotel map we were given because he can’t find where we are on the map.
Truly this area is the
maze of all mazes! Suddenly we arrive at
a placa that took us 20 minutes to get to (but is really only 5 min from our
hotel) where there is a poster in front of a church announcing a classical Spanish
guitar show that evening. John is
quickly revived by this news and we decide we will try to take this concert in.
However, John tells the ticket seller we won’t buy the discounted priced
tickets (before 6 pm) now because we aren’t sure we will be able to find our
way back here. She looks at us rather strangely and I imagine her thinking,
“why are these old people not on a tour?” However, she graciously helps us find
where we are on the map, which turns out to be in the exact opposite direction
of where John thought we were going to find the restaurant. Yikes, I chuckle as
John who always seems to have an innate sense of direction is experiencing how
I frequently feel. He responds by buying
another more detailed map.
We are finally successful at finding this delightful restaurant with tables out on the Saint Just placa. I order tuna salad and a prawns pasta while John orders the same salad and mint beef soup and tries to find out what is wrong with his I-pad data plan by calling them.
He
is disappointed there is no paella and I know we will be searching for the
restaurant with the best paella that evening. We are entertained with music
from a couple playing a guitar and singing as well as the church bells.
John comments that this is much better than
being on a tour because there is more of a sense of discovery. I wonder about this,
as he seems to have difficulty with the discovery process when his technology
doesn’t work.
We immediately are lost in a labyrinth of narrow streets (not big
enough for cars) and placas with churches. John grumbles about the failure of his upgraded cellular data on the I-pad to show a map and the poor hotel map we were given because he can’t find where we are on the map.
We are finally successful at finding this delightful restaurant with tables out on the Saint Just placa. I order tuna salad and a prawns pasta while John orders the same salad and mint beef soup and tries to find out what is wrong with his I-pad data plan by calling them.
Barcelona’s World
Class Museums
Picasso Museum
We have purchased a Barcelona Articket BCN online, which
gives entrance to 6 different museums. I wonder how we can visit all of these
in our time frame, especially given our propensity for getting lost. Despite
our new map we again get lost trying to find the Picasso museum by overshooting
the distance. Luckily we are able to bypass the long line-ups and enter what I
think is the most beautiful museum I have ever been in. Already I know I want
to come back and we don’t have enough time to see everything. This museum has
over 450 Picasso works and is the most comprehensive exhibit of the early years
of his youth, his art apprenticeship and his family. We start in the first room,
which shows paintings of his father who was also an artist and was his
mentor. There is a large wonderful painting
of a doctor (who has his father’s face) standing next to a young, poor patient
in bed, while a nun holding a baby looks on. This amazing painting called Science and Charity was completed when
Picasso was 15 years old! This is why
Picasso is known as “boy wonder” and I am astounded by his empathy at such a
young age. We proceed through the rooms starting
with the realistic paintings of his family and disadvantaged people painted in
his early years. The exhibit continues to 1904 where we see Picasso’s masterpieces
of the blue period, his melancholy period. We view some paintings from the beginning
of his creative period where his paintings are less realistic and more
geometric with simple outlines and almond eyes.
This is the beginning of his Cubism style. This collection illustrates Picasso’s early
genius but I think it also illustrates the power a father can have on a child.
We would have stayed longer except we had a reserved 4 pm time to visit La
Sagrada Familia and wanted time to get lost.
La Sagrada Familia
(Church of the Family) & Gaudi
 |
| East Side Entrance of La Sagrada Familia |
The building of this cathedral started in 1882 and the
architecture was taken over by Gaudi in 1883. It won’t be finished until
2026. Since we had reserved online for a
4 pm tour we found ourselves in a group of about 30 people and with a guide who
spoke Spanish as well as poor English.
It was a 2-hour tour, which took that long because of the two
languages. John reminds me that this is
why we don’t want to be on tours and I remind him that this tactic has resulted
in us avoiding the 1-hour plus wait in the very long ticket line. There are crowds of people despite the fact
this is not officially tourist season and children are not out of school yet. I
can’t imagine what this is like in tourist season in a few weeks.
 |
| Children Tour Cathedral |
 |
| John listening to tour guide |
Gaudi, the star of Modernism is probably the most famous
architect. Having descended from 4 generations of metal
and copper workers, he incorporated ironwork into his architecture to make jaw
dropping building designs that barely have a straight line. His modernistic
approach was influenced by the Catalan contemporary, Salvador Dali. So while Dali was creating unlikely photo-realistic
images (eg. dripping, wavy clock), Gaudi did the same with architecture.
Nativity Facade East Entrance of La Sagrada Familial
Nativity Facade East Entrance of La Sagrada Familial
 |
| Nativity Facade East Side of La Sagrada Familia |
 |
| Top of East Side Entrance |
On the east side of the La Sagrada Familial I am amazed with the many statues including
chameleons going down the side of the door, turtles and tortoises which are
said to represent permanence and seem fanciful and fun to me. 
 |
| Tree of Life |
The tree of life at the very top is adorned with colorful broken tile mosaics. There are soft wavy lines and ripples and towers topped with what look like candy balls.
 |
| Tops of Towers on Cathedral |
 |
| East Side Nativity Facade |
Additionally there are many statues depicting the celebration of the birth of baby Jesus with his mother.
While Gaudi died in 1926, he apparently had planned the
Sagrada Familia architecture and design for this entire church structure. He
worked on it for 40 years and even lived on site for many years. He was influenced by Catalan Gothic
architecture and later by Islamic style.
In the Spanish civil war in 1936 much of the church structure was burned
out, including his architectural plans.
It was opened again in 1947 but the interior was not finished until 2010. The guide tells us the architecture is more
or less what Gaudi wanted but there have been guesses about his plan.
Joseph Subirachs who died 3 months ago has been largely
responsible for translating Gaudi’s plans. We go inside the cathedral said to
hold 8-14,000 people and there are stained glass windows everywhere. While I
thought the outside was beautiful (although still under massive construction
and sandstone cleaning) I was blown away by the interior, which I found simple,
natural, and breathtaking.
Inside La Sagrada Familial
It is very different from usual cathedrals with its wide naves and spaciousness, bright light streaming through the stained glass everywhere, and tall granite columns that look like forests.
Gone are all the gold, statues and trinkets. Interestingly, John and I had different perceptions as he found the outside glorious while he thought the inside uninspiring.
Inside La Sagrada Familial
 |
| Inside Cathedral |
 |
| Forests |
It is very different from usual cathedrals with its wide naves and spaciousness, bright light streaming through the stained glass everywhere, and tall granite columns that look like forests.
Gone are all the gold, statues and trinkets. Interestingly, John and I had different perceptions as he found the outside glorious while he thought the inside uninspiring.
Our tour book said that at the time of his graduation from
architecture school, they were unsure if Gaudi was mad or if he was a genius.
Time has answered that question and I find it inspiring and liberating to think
about someone who successfully defies convention.
Passion Façade -Other side of La Sagrada Familia
We leave the cathedral through an entrance on the opposite side and find an outside facade that is very modern and in sharp contrast to the first entrance. It reminds me of Picasso’s transformation from realistic portraits in is youth to his modern looking Cubist paintings of triangular shapes.
On this side of the cathedral is a dramatic façade of the story of passion, death, resurrection and the ascension of Jesus. There is a beautiful door which has engraved in bronze the texts of the gospels of St. Mathew and St. John which recount the last days of Jesus’s life ~ “give us this day our daily bread” and in front of this door is a statue of Jesus in pain before he died.
We leave the cathedral through an entrance on the opposite side and find an outside facade that is very modern and in sharp contrast to the first entrance. It reminds me of Picasso’s transformation from realistic portraits in is youth to his modern looking Cubist paintings of triangular shapes.
On this side of the cathedral is a dramatic façade of the story of passion, death, resurrection and the ascension of Jesus. There is a beautiful door which has engraved in bronze the texts of the gospels of St. Mathew and St. John which recount the last days of Jesus’s life ~ “give us this day our daily bread” and in front of this door is a statue of Jesus in pain before he died. |
Suffering |
 |
| Crucifixion |
 |
| Death |
 |
 |
| Ressurection and Ascension |
I found this statue behind the scaffolding and screens and thought it was one of the most beautiful.
 |
| Passion |
Gaudi’s School House
Afterwards we went to Gaudi’s schoolhouse built in 1902. I found this to be the most interesting of all with a school roof that was like undulating waves and its spaciousness somehow portending the unimaginable things to come from this great man.
There was one classroom room for students and another showing his
workspace and study. On the blackboard is the statement by Gaudi saying, “When the building simply has what it needs
with the resources available, it has character or dignity which is the same
thing.”
Afterwards we went to Gaudi’s schoolhouse built in 1902. I found this to be the most interesting of all with a school roof that was like undulating waves and its spaciousness somehow portending the unimaginable things to come from this great man.
 |
| Current |
 |
| School Roof |
 |
| Original School |
 |
| Children Making Wavy Lines |
 |
| Gaudi's Desk |
 |
| Original Picture of Desk |
Cathedral of
Barcelona
On the way home we enter the cathedral just near our
hotel. It is dark and dingy with metal
doors covering the golden images and pales I think in comparison to Gaudi’s La
Sagrade Familia.
Spanish Guitar
Concert ~ Xaveri Coll
This beautiful concert was in a small church. We misread the
starting time, as 8 o’clock instead of 9 o’clock so were early. John got lost going back to the hotel to
change our dinner restaurants while I took this opportunity to peek in a few
shops. The streets were packed with
people young and old and with the music of buskers. John finds his way back and has some tapas
while we listen to two men playing the cello and violin before going to the
concert.
Xaveri told us about each of his guitars and played pieces
written at the time of the particular guitar. He began with the Guitara Vihuela
(16th century) and then the
Guitara Barroca, Romantica (18th century) and
Moderna. Of the 14 pieces he played John
had recordings of 11 of them and has played them often at home. This was a
wonderful gift to hear live classical, Spanish music in Spain in a very old
cathedral.
And we only found out about it because we got lost.
Paella Dinner
Ending a great and very packed day we go at 10 pm to a
nearby restaurant. Of course, John orders paella which did not meet his
standards (as defined by our friend Zanny in Seattle).
I eat half my spinach cannelloni which is also not inspiring. How could food even compete now with such a
fantastic day of different sounds and new visions?
