You will note there are no pics. Sorry. We are falling behind in our schedule and I don't have time to process and post pics for now. But read the text, and if you are interested come back. I'll process pictures later.
Saturday, April 30th
We picked up the Kesslers at their hotel, which is about a mile from ours, and headed down through the Barri Gotic, Barcelona's oldest neighborhood. Our plan was mainly to wander about in its narrow streets, and as we did so, we saw the old Gothic Cathedral, which, like all old Gothic cathedrals, is undergoing constant renovation and restoration both inside and out. It was free, so we went in briefly.
As the day went on, Bob began his collection of some of the city's amazing architecture. [Again, click twice on photos to capture some of the details.]
Next, we went to the Picasso Museum which was on a narrow alley way in the old section of the city. Although he was born in Malaga, he grew up in Barcelona, and this museum houses a great many of his early works. Because they're arranged chronologically, one can see how he progressed from a child prodigy of 12 doing incredible realistic paintings, on through many styles (impressionism, cubism, etc.) and into the 1950s.
Perhaps the most fascinating part of the collection is a series of painting he did based on Velazquez's Las Meninas, which some consider to be the greatest painting done by anyone anywhere ever. (This is the one that shows Velazquez painting something while the five-year-old royal princess, dressed in a white hoop skirt, is in the room beside him along with a number of attendants and a dog.)
What Picasso did was paint sections of the Velazquez painting in ever-increasingly abstract versions, showing his own view not only of the original, but also of how one might see the world from a different perspective. If anyone wanted to “understand” Picasso, this would be a good place to start! It will certainly add a dimension to our view of the original Meninas which we hope to view in a few days at the Prado in Madrid.
After lunch at a tapas bar that Fodor recommended, we wandered some more of the old city, and then we strolled up the famous central street of Barcelona, the Ramblas. It runs a mile or so up from the statue of Columbus at the harbor to Placa de Catalunya, the city's central square. Rambla means “stream” or ditch in Arabic, and in medieval times, it carried refuse to the sea. Now it carries tourists flowing past tacky booths selling everything imaginable. We did not linger.
The crowning event of the day (pun intended) occurred when Steward was flossing his teeth just before going to bed. Something hard bounced on the floor. It was a crown that had been attached to the screw of an implant for a molar. Later, he chatted for almost an hour on Skype with his nephew, Joe Jr., in Oslo, who, of course, knew someone who knew someone who might be able to arrange a visit to a dentist in Madrid next week.
Sunday, May 1st, May Day
Some thoughts on Barcelona. Almost all who've been here say this is their favorite city. It's easy to see why. Although the streets are noisy (especially scooters) and cars careen about as they do in most cities, this one has large numbers of wide boulevards lined with trees. The Diagonal, which we walk on every day when we go to meet the Kesslers at their hotel, has (from left to right) a two-lane road going west, a wide tree-lined walking lane, a four-lane east/west road, another tree-lined walking lane, and another two-lane road going east. This means that there are two wide lanes for strolling, each with a one-way east or west lane for bicycles. To cross this wide expanse, the walk signal stays on long enough for even slow movers to cross. So all these boulevards are designed not just for wheeled traffic, but also for people to walk themselves and their dogs and even to rest on benches. So civilized!
Between our hotel and the Kesslers' and all around the city are amazing buildings. A few, such as the one with large, reddish-colored blocks, are new, but most are turn-of-the-last-century, each designed to outdo the next. They're Barcelona's version of tasteful McMansions—ca 1901. A collage of photos illustrates the point.
Moreover, most boulevards and streets, even the small medieval ones in the old city, are washed clean and picked up. Rarely do you see graffiti or litter. In other words, Barcelona has all the bustle of a large city, but it takes pride in itself and its heritage, and it is far more people-friendly than most American cities, because our homage is paid to cars.
We mentioned that on our first day in town, we opted not to visit Gaudi's Casa Mila, a building designed to outdo all its neighbors, but the long lines dissuaded us. Then yesterday, we noticed that our Articket Barcelona card included Casa Mila, but under a different name. So off we went straight through the group/Articket entrance and took a lift to the roof. There amid chimneys that look like knights templar and other strange outgrowths were tourists snapping photos. Bob offered his professional services for several people and one returned the favor. He also took shots of the roof and the vistas including one down Passig de Gracia, the boulevard where the Kesslers' hotel is.
The house tour includes displays in the “attic” and below it, a “middle-class” apartment that rings a central courtyard. It has all the latest modern (pre-WW I) conveniences including a telephone and over a dozen small rooms including two bedrooms, a maid's room, a room for ironing and sewing, a well-equipped kitchen, two baths, and, of course, such necessities as a study, morning room, and dining room. That was a good time to be middle-class. Below this apartment and the street are several more apartments that are still occupied, though probably not by middle-class residents.
We ended our last day in Barcelona with a May Day bang: a rousing, all-Tchaikovsky concert played, appropriately if not all that well, by the Russian National Orchestra. It was in another of Barcelona's most famous, turn-of-the-last-century buildings, the Palau de la Musica. No, this one wasn't designed by Gaudi, but apparently you still have to get tickets at least a day in advance to tour it with an English-speaking guide—unless you go to a concert, which is sometimes cheaper, but not in our case. The final number was the 1812 Overture, so our ears rang all the way back to the hotel.
Monday, May 2nd
We caught the 9:00 am high-speed train from Barcelona to Madrid, which provided a good chance to catch up this blog. Our friend, Tosh Lee, from London, met us at our hotel around 2:30, and the five of us toured the beautiful Royal Botanical Gardens. Bob did not bring his camera, so we have no photos.
