Last Day in Barcelona

For our last morning, we went to see Casa Batlló before it was fully open. It was great to be there when it wasn’t crowded. Casa Batlló was a private home designed by Gaudí. They gave us tablets so we could use virtual reality to see what the rooms looked like when they were furnished. It was really cool. 

After regrouping at the hotel, we made our way back to La Sagrada Familia. Before it was our time to go in, we watched a large gathering of Peruvians in front of the cathedral. They played New Zealand last night in a World Cup qualifier game that was held in Madrid. We don’t fully understand the connection between that and the cathedral but there were A LOT of them. We had tickets to go up in the nativity tower. I didn’t realize what that visit entailed but it sounded like something worth doing. We took the elevator up and got to go onto an observation area where we could see some of the features of the roof up close. We then walked down the stairs. The guide said it was something like 400 stairs. And they were spiral stairs. It was definitely worth doing I just wasn’t prepared to work so hard for it. 

After the cathedral, we took the subway to the beach area. The subway was crowded because it seemed like the whole city had the same idea. We didn’t go to the most popular beach area intentionally but there were still a lot of people around. We had lunch at a Gallician restaurant overlooking the marina and then walked over to check out the beach. We weren’t dressed to hang out but it was good to see the Mediterranean.

After the beach we did a little shopping then relaxed at the hotel. After dinner, we walked back over to La Pedrera for the Night Experience. We got a group tour through the building and then went to the roof for a light show. It was a great way to cap off the trip.

 

Montserrat

 Yesterday morning, we walked back to the tour office to meet our group for our day trip to Montserrat. We were a group of 8 plus our guide/driver so we piled into a van instead of a bus. Montserrat is about an hour from Barcelona. We were able to arrive in the town before it got busy for the day which was nice. Enrique (our tour guide), brought us through town and explained some history. He brought us to the cathedral but not inside because a mass was going on. 

After being released to free time, we took a cable car to the top of the mountain so we could hike down. The cable car looked like it ascended at an unnatural angle from the town square but it was closer to 45 degrees in practice. The trail for the hike was paved most of the way and was more like one long windy ramp than a hiking trail. 

We stopped at a small church that was closed to eat lunch In the shade, then continued back to town. By the time we got back the town was busy. We got a snack and did some shopping. There was a farmers market but it was about 6 tables of the same thing: cheeses, honeys and nuts. Nothing like the farmers markets Lindsay sells at. 

We reunited with our group a little after 2 then went to a winery for a tour. The name of the winery is Parés Balta. It has been active for about 400 years. The current family who runs it is in its 3rd generation of management. The two daughter in laws went back to university to study wine and now are the winemakers, while their husbands manage the vineyard. The tour was really interesting, the vineyard uses organic and biodynamic growing practices. After the tour, we did a wine tasting which was a lot of fun. Most of our group was primarily red wine drinkers, where I primarily drink white. We did order a few bottles to ship home and I found a wine store in Cambridge that sells this label. 

After getting back to Barcelona, we decided to do some shopping before most of the stores close for Sunday. We had a really good dinner near the theater again, then went back to the hotel. 

Barcelona Day 1

 Yesterday morning, we met our tour group about a 25 min walk from our hotel, near the gothic quarter. Our tour guide Gloria took us on a walking tour through the gothic quarter and Jewish quarter. We stopped in front of the Cathedral of Barcelona. We then got on a bus where we got to see more of Barcelona and went to outside the art museum which is on top of the mountain overlooking the city. Up on the mountain are a lot of the facilities that were built for the Olympics and are still used today. 

After the stop on the mountain, we went to La Sagrada Familia. This is a giant cathedral designed by Gaudí that is still under construction. The design is really unique and inspired by the forest. When the cathedral is done, it will be about 10 meters shorter than the mountain next to Barcelona because the cathedral can’t out do God. Gaudí died as a result of an accident so occasionally they have to use reverse engineering techniques to determine some design next steps. We spent a lot of time looking at the Nativity face which had elaborate carvings. The opposite side of the cathedral is significantly less detailed. The inside is what reminds you of a forest. Gaudí liked to be inspired by nature. There are stained glass windows but they are abstract designs, they aren’t bible scenes or saints. 

After a tour of the cathedral, we got a break for lunch. 

After lunch we got back on the bus to go to the Park Guell which was supposed to be a planned community on the side of the mountain. It was the brainchild of Gaudí and Guell. For various reasons the community didn’t work out and only one house was built and eventually they gave up and turned it into a public park. 

After the park, Gloria left us at La Pedrera, a house designed by Gaudí. The roof line is very interesting and there are giant sculptures on top. The 5th floor (of 6), is a preserved apartment from the time of the construction. 

After a quick break at our hotel, we took the subway a few km to meet our group for our market tour and Paella class. This paella did not use saffron because saffron was expensive, so traditional Catalan paella was made with cuddle fish liver as a flavoring agent….it was not gross. If I try to make paella at home not sure what I’ll do though. Apparently Asian markets will sell the liver and maybe help you cut it up appropriately to get the flavoring out, but not sure I’m that brave. The paella was really good, and it was nice to meet other travelers. 

Travel to Barcelona

 Yesterday was mostly a travel day. We got up, packed and did some last minute Seville shopping before being picked up for the airport. 

The airport wasn’t too hard to figure out and we got on our plane and to Barcelona without any drama. 

After checking into our hotel, we raced over to the Picasso museum. The museum was interesting. They really insisted you experience it in a certain flow. Parts of the museum seemed like an oversized gallery- no frills just very plain walls, but other parts of the building had a little more personality and reflected the old building the museum was in. It was nice to go to a more modern art museum. I think a lot of people know Picasso for his later work but his earlier stuff is more traditional. He started painting at a really young age. We saw some of his paintings from when he was 5, and it did not look like a kindergarten art protect. 

After the museum, we got an early dinner (for Spain) then made our way back to the hotel. Our neighborhood had Upper West Side vibes and there are a lot of designer shops nearby. We did discover across the street from our hotel is a homemade gelato place and they are based in Florence. I’m sure we’ll see them again later.

Granada

 Another morning began with a walk to the bus. Luckily yesterday, we only had one other stop before starting our day trip. 

Granada is about 3 hours by bus. We had to make a stop coming and going and the rest stop was unreal. There was a Burger King but the entire thing was so contemporary looking it seemed futuristic compared to the Thruway and Mass Pike stops we all know and not so much love. It was so clean and the staff we’re dressed more appropriately for a hotel restaurant than a rest stop. 

We got to Granada and were given almost 2 hours to wander and get lunch. Basically that’s a rushed lunch for Spain. The day before we got lucky and got street food so we could use our time for shopping. We found a restaurant and ordered a few things which came in enough time but we had to chase the waiter to pay so we could make it back to the bus. We ordered fried eggplant, gazpacho, solmorejo (a different cold soup), and pork Cutlets. 

After getting back on the bus we went up the hill (mountain?) by bus to the Alhambra. We spent 2.5 to 3 hours touring the gardens and then eventually the mosque (that was also converted to a church at one point) and the palace. Everything was gorgeous. It was interesting that the Moors who built everything originally believed that only God could be perfect so they would design imperfections into the spaces not designed for worship or to honor God. 

After the tour, we took another ride home with another stop at the rest stop and got to our hotel at 930 or so. We ran a few quick errands in the neighborhood and went to bed.