Barcelona 22nd - 26th Sept 2014
We flew from Madrid to Barcelona and settled in for five nights at the centrally located Hotel Principal. The 'La Merce' festival to honor the patron saint of Barcelona was in full swing and our first night we had great seats at a free full classical concert at 10pm in front of the cathedral.
It was absolutely fantastic and the Spanish fire came right through their music. There must have been over 80 musicians on stage, a combination of the Barcelona Symphony and the Catalonia National Orchestra. They received a lengthy standing ovation.
We were super lucky as the website said it started at 9pm and we got there and found 2 great seats when nearly all were gone and then we found it didn't start until 10pm and by then there must have been several thousand people stacked in every aisle, on the steps of every building all around and in front of a separate big screen. Even had 2 NZ's sitting next to us to chat to while we waited.
We visited some of the famous buildings of architect Antoni Gaudi (born 1852) including paying e21.50 to tour Casa Batllo an amazing privately owned apartment style building. Possibly a few too many photos of the Batllo below but the building and its design was so interesting! Gaudi was way ahead of his time.
La Sagrada Familia is one of Gaudí's most famous works in Barcelona. It's a giant Basilica that has been under construction since 1882 (that's not a typing error!) and it's not expected to be completed for some time yet and we are looking forward to returning to view the finished product.
We mastered the metro system to visit markets and highlights of the town and figured out we could buy a T10 ticket for e10.30 and then both use 5 tickets each by passing the ticket back.
We had an early start to watch the mighty Hawks win the AFL grand final made all the earlier as AR has to get up a couple of times in the night to do our Saturday horse bets. The Philharmonic (English Pub) had it on a big screen and 200 lively supporters arrived from 5:30am to see the Tassie Hawks dominate. The entry fee was e5 which included a pint and it seemed weird to be having a beer so early in the morning.
Barcelona is in the Catalonia area and many flags are flying as there is a movement to secede from Spain. Very sad that Barcelona is our last stop in Spain. Goodbye Spain and thanks for a great trip.
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| View from our hotel balcony - notice the yellow Catalonia flag - on some building there are heaps pushing for a referendum to split from Spain |
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| 50 meters to the back door of the huge La Boqueria market meant super fresh fruit for breakfast |
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| Fantastic classical concert in front of the cathedral |
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| Our great concert program |
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| Another of the La Merce festival music acts - a great swing jazz band with hundred of people dancing and sweating in full sun |
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| Architect Antoni Gaudi (born 1852) Casa Batllo building |
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| Staircase like a dinosaur spine |
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| Heating alcove with double 'lovers' seat at one end and a single seat opposite to accommodate the chaperone |
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| Not a straight line in the whole building anywhere - notice the skylight just near the stained glass window - natural light channelled in |
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| Great ceiling and light fittings |
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| This folding door was a serious design to join two rooms together |
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| Note the ventilation system under the window |
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| This window and ventilation system opens into the light/stairwell in the centre of the building |
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| Looking at the back from the courtyard |
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| Courtyard art |
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| Dining room opened onto courtyard and strangely had two pillars right in the doorway |
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| Even the pillars are a work of art |
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| The light well and stair well had lighter colored tiles towards the bottom and the effect was that the colour was uniform due to the amount of light and also notice the windows are larger at the bottom as the light is harder to catch |
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| Some of Gaudi's furniture designs |
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| This was a hallway and the natural light made it seem much wider than it actually was |
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| Audiovisual showing the design and explaining some of the dragon scales etc. built into the building |
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| Rooftop - notice the chimneys - Gaudi channeled them to exit in groups to make artworks of them |
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| Christian cross on the top |
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| View down to the street |
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| Gaudi's Basilica La Sagrada Familia is one of Gaudí's most famous works in Barcelona. It's a giant Basilica that has been under construction since 1882 (that's not a typing error!) and it's not expected to be completed for some time yet. |
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| The Spaniards love having pig legs hanging everywhere in markets, shops & restaurants |
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| The foundations below the History Museum have been excavated to reveal 2000 years of buildings layered on top of each other |
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| Vats used for making Garum (fermented fish sauce) in Roman times |
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| Clothes washing baths |
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| Wine vats from Roman times |
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| Barcelona was a walled town that then had two wall extensions and recently has reclaimed a large area from the sea |
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| Didn't know New York was once New Amsterdam |
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| Barcelona's Gothic cathedral |
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| Even some birdlife in the cathedral |
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| And a drinking fountain |
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| Crypt |
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| Palace of Music another magnificent building |
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| Neat marketing to make a bottle stand out and stop the drips as well |
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| Another day another concert |
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| Didn't know what these are in the fish market and found this story via Google - We ordered navalles, or razor clams. I really like these. Fat, fleshy tubes of shellfish, fresh as you like, slathered in garlicky olive oil, which I mop up with a slice of pa amb tomàquet. This, a simple preparation of bread rubbed with ripe tomato, drizzled with oil and sprinkled with sea salt, is emblematically Catalan. |
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| Erotic museum had a live Marilyn |
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| Front entrance to the market |
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| Lots of these selfie sticks are popular - they hold your phone while you pose in front of everything |
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| A whole street of artists to paint your picture |
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| Footbridge spins open to allow access to the marina |
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| Restaurant had a thong artwork |
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| Gothic cathedral now the festival has finished and stage removed |
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| Cool light fitting |
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| AFL Grand Final on the big screen - that is our table right in the middle with Sandy and my new best friend from Perth who shared his table with us |
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| Massive flee market Els Encants - this was just the ground floor part then long walkways went up a few levels with gradual inclines so no need for lifts/escalators |
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| Our local bar - it has 8 tables over the road near a fountain for light meals too |
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| Not sure what these guys were up to in the metro - we had watched similar guys running from police earlier in the day - they set up shop on a sheet selling handbags, sunglasses or t-shirts and then if the police approach they roll it all up in the sheet and run away - maybe they are going back to the Mr Big on the metro or maybe they are hiding. |
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