Barcelona
Hello, we arrived in Barcelona this afternoon. Flew from Southend airport which was a delight.....even the tiny airport in Kefalonia fairs better!! We are staying in Gracia which is a district just below Parc Guell. It's really quirky and cool and away from the main city and feels like we are amongst the locals. We are staying in an apartment owned by a young couple who seem really nice. The room is small but there is a kitchen and an outside terrace, and we seem to have it mostly to ourselves. We explored Parc Guell this evening and it brought back memories!! It's hot still even at 6pm but not too hot for sightseeing. Tom absolutely LOVED it and we just wandered for ages and had a drink in the cafe near the mosaic benches. Tomorrow we are going to do a free walking tour of old Barcelona and then Las Ramblas and the port.
This evening we decided to find somewhere outside for that classic drink in the balmy air....we always say 'this feels like Barcelona' when we sit outside in England and have a drink and now we are here doing it :)Everywhere was really busy, but eventually we found a table outside in a sqaure, and I had a 3 euro glass of wine and we had some tapas. very continental. We couldn't work out how the Spanish do it though...a few people were sharing one or two tapas but most had nothing. Do they eat beforehand? That didn't seem to make sense as it was about 10 o'clock and we thought that was when the Spanish ate. Maybe they don't eat much in the evenings, or eat even later? Puzzling!!
On Tuesday Tom went to get croissants from the bakery and I made coffee and porridge on the gas hob in the int kitchen. We sat in the terrace to eat and then walked to las ramblas. We wanted to book ourselves onto a 'runner beans' walking tour which is free and you just pay at the end what you think not was worth. We got there a bit early so just wandered along las ramblas. The walking tour started at 11 and it was on the old city. Our guide was called g and was really engaging and full of energy. He showed us the church of the pine tree (named after the pine tree in the square which had always been there but the current one was a replacement) and told us about the history of Barcelona: how it was founded by the Romans and the story of how the Catalan flag came about. Wilfred the Hairy (I can't remember who he was exactly) was crouching over the injured body of his friend? Cousin? Who had defeated the enemy and realised he didnt have a symbol or crest so dipped 4 fingers into his blood and smeared it in 4 lines down his gold shield. The flag with he blue star is for independence and the star is taken from the Cuban flag. We then saw an icon of St Eulalia who was 13 when she was captured and refused to convert and so was tortured 13 times, the last being rolled in a barrel full of knives and broken glass. She was crucified and its said her naked body was covered in snow. She is buried in the cathedral. We went to see the government buildings, and saw shrapnel damage from bombing in the civil war which happened just after WW11. We also went into the cathedral cloisters and saw the 13 white geese (for st Eulalia) and stood at the highest point of the city which is called mount something and is only 12m above sea level! It was seen as a strategic point by the Romans. We also saw the old city walls and were told about the odd Catalan Christmas traditions: children feed a log which is covered i a blanket 1 week before Christmas, then just before Christmas Eve they start beating the stick and hen in Christmas Eve it poos out presents!! Also a Catalan phrase for going to the toilet is going to shit on the kings house who caused the Seige of Barcelona. We ended up at a church which was built by all the locals in a joint effort. On the tour we also learnt about the persecution of the Jews during the inquisition and saw the old Jewish quarter, and our guide pointed out buildings in which some stones had Arabic inscriptions as some Jewish gravestones had been used in the construction of the expanding city.
Tom and I went to the 'happy pills' shop which sells sweets in little pill bottles, and got lunch and sat in the square - we got shouted at for sitting in front of government buildings!!
We then went for another explore and went around a huge market in las ramblas and got ice cream: white kinder bueno flavour and cheesecake flavour- heaven!! After we walked to the beach and I made Tom walk as far as we could so i could revisit where we use to go as a family - past the red spider rope climbing frame and outdoor gym...but the restaurants weren't as i remembered. The water was a bit grimy bit we both went in seperately and lay in the sun. We watched police clamp down on people selling drinks and beer on the beach and one guy hid under 2 young attractive girls umbrellas and they looked disgusted! He got away with it though! We then went for a drink in a forest bar which reminded me of the rainforest cafe and then found a place for supper (after the lonely planet failed us again) and had calamari, paratas bravas and paella. I got another ice cream after - this time after right (yum) and dulce de leche (not so impressive)
On Wednesday we went to Port Aventura. We had to leave really early and get the metro to Passage de Gracia station and the ticket (train and park) cost 45 euros. We got to the park just before 10, the train was one hour 20 approx. the first ride we went on was the rapids - got v wet and not the most exciting! 'Shambhala' was our favourite - the highest in Europe. It only has a lap bar so felt very precarious going up and we kept on going! Then there was a vertical drop down! There was no upside down just loads of up and down and it was based in the Himalayas. Dragon Khan was good and so was 'Stampida' (the racing blue and red trains) and sitting at the front was best. Sitting at the back of Shambhala was the best too. We didn't like 'Furious Baco'....based on a theme of runaway barrels you couldn't put your feet on the ground and it was so bloody fast!! I thought I was going to be shaken to death and saw stars when we stopped! The pirate ship was good too. We ate lots of hotdog (real French bread) - well twice, and Tom got very tired and pale around 6! We stayed until just after 8 and in the way out Tom bought a yard of beer in a cool glass. We debated staying until the last train but wouldn't have gained much in an hour or so. The train seemed to take forever and we nearly got on the one going in the wrong direction! I was starving when we got to passage de Gracia and we found this posh looking restaurant which was actually surprisingly cheap and we had amazing fried Cod balls and hummus and pitta and they gave us fresh ciabatta. The wine was only around 4 euros for half a litre! It cost us 7:50 each! A good end to the day, and we got the tube wearily back.
On Thursday we got up early to go to Sagrada, but when we got there the queue was massive so we decided to either book online or turn up earlier tomorrow. We the walked to Las Ramblas for the Gaudi tour but they were full. So we decided to go to Mont Juic but looked in the cathedral first and got an ice cream (chocolate and Ferro Rocher, the chocolate tasted thick hot chocolate). Mont Juic was hot - we walked to the fountains and art gallery and went on the escalators and had a drink in a cafe with awesome views of the city and sea.
Then we did the Gaudi tour at 4:30 after having lunch from the same place as yesterday. I was so hungry and the chicken baguette, chips and patatas bravas we shared were very welcome. The woman was Australian and very theatrical. We first went to Palau Guell and were talked through the meaning of the sculptures and design - the first floor was most elaborate for the people to live in with the balcony and the higher floors were for servants. The Catalan flag was incorporated into the design and it was wrought iron to keep out 'dodgy' people. We visited the house beginning with B at passage de Gracia and it is owned by the family who owned chuppa chips (Dali designed the logo for chuppa!) but are bankrupt and that's why it's so expensive to go inside. It's debated if the design is based on george and the dragon with the dragons back as the roof and skulls and (nicknamed the house of bones) or whether the balconies are masks and its based on the carnival. The third house was supposed to be a copy of this house but was less impressive. But the roof was and its said the chimneys inspired Darth Vader! We ended up at Sagrada and learnt about Gaudi. He was run over by a tram and refused private help and died and is buried in Sagrada. he didn't care about his appearance and his clothes were held together with pins, and he was a recluse and went to church twice a day. He used real people, stillborn babies and animals to make his sculptures. He kept going over budget in a his commissions and with Sagrada again nothing was too elaborate. He only saw the navity facade finished in his time, the facade of Jesus' death was made by a different artist and the style is more abstract and Darth Vadery. Gaudi is in the scene, modelled from a photo. There is one facade - the passion facade - which isn't completed.
After we went for a drink and then for a meal at the place we went last night. The calamari were good with a squid ink dip and we had cava. He melted cheese wasn't so good, and the tuna was amazing and the white fish not so good. The white choc soup was disappointing - more yoghurt than chocolate. Tom and I had a disagreement about how you'd feel about having kids (he said you'd love them more than your partner) and we had a bit of a row In front of the gaudi house cafe!!
On Friday we got up very early for Sagrada. The queue went quickly and it had changed so much! It's a proper church inside now and is spectacular. It cost 16 for a student for the basilica and towers. The towers were as I remembered but you got a lift up and walked down (the spiral staircase was just as spectacular as I remembered and the height still freaked me out!)
We went to ramblas and got ice cream (Nutella which was like nutella and cheesecake in a choc covered cone) and then shopped a bit. I got upset as I was feeling quite blobby. We went for lunch near the marina and had loads of tapas, my fave were the ham croquets - they were so soft inside. We sat on the beach then got the tube back. Got the bus to the airport and Tom left our tickets in the apartment!! Had a picnic of tortilla and ham ciabatta and cherry toms on the plane and managed to get the 10:05 train back.
