Our final soirée in Spain was in Barcelona. Upon reading one of the dozens of tourist
guidebooks filled with “insider secrets”, we learned that Barcelona once attempted
(unsuccessfully) to cede from Spain.
Good Ole Franco apparently told them who was boss, and kept Barcelona
for his own empire. And why not? The architecture, food and topography here
are amazing. Unfortunately; as a last
undying act of defiance, Barcelonians speak Catalan. Think of it as a mix of Spanish, French and
Greek, but more difficult. Those who
speak it “eat” more of their words than they speak; turning “el restaurant esta
a la esquerra” into “e resto ‘sta l’sqera”.
Nevertheless, we managed to find our share of gems in
Barcelona, and we were thoroughly impressed with the city.
Our first full day started with a walk through La Boqueria;
a vast covered market that sells fresh produce, seafood, sausage, pasta, baked
goods, candies and fresh-squeezed juices.
Pushy vendors practically shove samples down your face, and watch your
response with intense anticipation. It’s
hard to leave without a bag of fruit-shaped candies, chocolates or at the bare
minimum a papaya/strawberry juice.
Our next stop was Gaudi’s Casa Batllo. A neo-classical (not my wording) masterpiece
with a liquid-looking façade and intense naturalistic architectural
features. We skipped the tour at Casa Batllo
and opted for the larger Casa Mila. The
tour starts from the top and works its way down. The roof is interesting with oddly shaped
chimneys and water tank enclosures and the views were pretty awesome. The inside left something to be desired; only
a few staged rooms and the attic.
Probably should have skipped it…
Day two was all about Sagrada Familia. We loved the inside
of this church. It was really something
unlike anything either of us has ever seen.
Gaudi’s vision was to have the church serve as a natural-looking
shelter, like the canopy of a forest.
Standing in the center of the church and looking upward, it’s fair to
say his vision came to life beautifully. Stained glass windows work like a
kaleidoscope, dyeing the pale limestone and marble in ever-changing shades of
blue, red and green. It was a very
memorable experience and definitely the best church we’ve seen so far.
The food in Barcelona was really awesome. Our last night in
Barcelona we had dinner at a very authentic Tapas restaurant. No menus, just a
bar with various ingredients like fish, cheese, bread and vegetables. The
bartenders chatted with each other, filled beers and magically transformed the
ingredients we ordered into delicious plates of tapas. Although the food was great, watching the locals
debate (politics? Soccer?) was almost as much fun. It was a fitting end to our trip.
We leave Spain for now and make our way to Istanbul, Turkey.
See you all there!
