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Late October 2000 we went for a long weekend break
to Barcelona. Barcelona is a wonderful city; it has style, culture,
history and beauty. The Catalonians are very proud of the image
both they and the city portray.
The city is full of stylish buildings, cafés
and people. There really are lots of things to do in Barcelona.
We visited The Olympic Stadium, Parc Güel, nearly all of Gaudi's
buildings (some you can get inside) and Mont Jüic. We also
visited the monastery at Montserrat, only 40-minute trains ride
from Barcelona.
Even if you have no desire to see any of the sights whilst in Barcelona
just wondering up La Rambla, checking out the bars and cafés
is enough to keep you busy.
Tapas are a traditional type of Spanish snack; all
roads around the harbour and La Rambla are littered with them. We
thought the best to be on Passeig de Gràcia just to the north
of La Rambla.
We were in the city for 4 days, we had a packed busy
day every day of our stay. We rose at a sensible hour (for a holiday)
and had some breakfast in a little local café. For me that
usually consisted of Expresso, Tortilla, croissant and fresh squeezed
orange juice (zumo) Lizzy would normally have Tea, croissant and
zumo.
Now back to those sights we visited.
Antoni Gaudi
Parc
Güel
Gaudi built Parc Güel for a wealthy barcelonian business man,
Don Eusebio Güel, for whom he had built several buildings,
the most famous being The Palau Güel. Parc Güel was supposed
to be an experimental community. However only two houses were actually
ever built on the site, one of them occupied by Gaudi himself, before
he moved to live on site at Sagradia Familia
The park is a marvel of odd Gaudi shapes and strange angles juxtaposed
with beautiful gardens. There is a structure in the park that was
intended to be the market place for the community. The pillars on
the outside of this building are strange in so much that none of
them are vertical, nor parallel to each other! The whole park is
rather reminiscent of Hansel and Grettel.
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Casa Milà
Between 1905 and 1911 Gaudi worked on the Casa Milà.Its rippled
facade is supposed to have been inspired by the mountain of Montserrat.
Although the building is actually occupied by tenants there is a
show apartment and museum open to the public. The most interesting
thing however has got to be the roof, a work of art in itself. All
the windows you can see in this picture are actual windows to apartments
where people live.
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Casa Batllò
Number 43 Casa Batillò is another of Gaudi's buildings. This
was actually a building he gave a face-lift to in 1907. Salvador
Dalì later compared the building to "The tranquil waters
of a lake" Once again this building has an amazing roof, unfortunately
all the apartments in this building are occupied. A sign just inside
the doors reminds you of this fact.
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The most famous of any of Gaudi's Building is the Sagradia Familia.
Due to the enormity of the building and the project itself I have
dedicated a separate page to this Wonderfully odd church.
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Parc de la Ciutadella
This park is amazing. Apart from the monumental fountain, the Cascada,
and the lake (designed by Josep Fontserè, the assistant to
Fontserè was a young Antoni Gaudì). The park boasts
the Zoo, Parliament buildings, modern art museum and a beautiful
open space with many coffee shops etc.
Other places to visit
Font Màgica
Font Màgica is in front of the Palau Nacional which itself
is just below the Olympic stadium. All of these and everything around
the area is worth a visit. We spent a day there. Returning after
nightfall for the Font Màgica show. The water, light and
music show is amazing, after seeing one, stay have a beer or coffee
and wait for the next. We saw three shows. One was to Classical
Music, one was to Film and TV themes and one was to Cheesy 70's
and 80's music - Brill'yant!
I suggest you find your way into the Olympic stadium, be warned
though the concessions are amazingly expensive! Have a look around,
try to imagine the atmosphere of an Olympics that was at the time
THE BEST EVER, and was not surpassed until Sydney 2000. As a point
of interest many of the Team who organised the Barcelona Olympics
helped with Sydney and have been hired for the 2004 games in Athens.
Lizzy and I are actually thinking of going to Greece for the Olympics!
The main stadium does have a museum of the Olympics,
unfortunately we went on the weekend, and true to Spanish form the
museum was shut. Check it out - let me know what it was like!
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You will not be able to avoid La Rambla, everything leads to and
from the main street of the city. All the posh restaurants are here,
the opera house, the opera cafe. The street vendors are interesting
- selling budgies?????? as well as magazines, papers maps and tourist
tat.
La Rambla is the hub of the city, if its gonna happen
it'll happen here. La Rambla leads from Plaça de Catalunya
to Port Vell. You should really check it out after dark, sit in
a cafè, have a beer and watch the people pass.
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Port Vell is right at the bottom of La Ramla. Over the last couple
of years it has undergone a major transformation. The highlight
being the start of 'The Race', on New Years eve 2000. A no Rules
dash around the world for the fastest ocean going sailing boats
EVER.
The greatest white-knuckle ride in Barcelona is the trip in the
cable car across the harbour. Although scary, it has to be done
as the view is amazing.
From the harbour at Port Vell you can take a trip on this catamaran.
She is about 80ft long and takes you for a trip up and down the
coast just off Barcelona. I recommend this trip, being a sailor
I loved it, we went out in a force 5 and we FLEW. I should imagine
that what ever the weather the trip will be worth it, the view of
the city is unique. I seem to remember that when we went (November)
it only coast £5 per person, the trip lasted nearly two hours.
Outside of Barcelona
The Mountain
and Monastery
of Montserrat
- Quote from 'The rough guide to Barcelona' - The mountain of Montserrat,
with its weirdly shaped crags of rock, its monastery and its ruined
hermitage caves, stands just 40km Northwest of Barcelona, off the
road to Lleida. It is one of the most spectacular of all Spain's
natural sights, a saw toothed outcrop left exposed to erosion when
the inland sea that covered this area around 25 million years ago
was drained by progressive uplifts of the earth's crust. Legends
hang easily upon it. 50 years after the birth of Christ, St Peter
is said to have deposited the image of the Virgin carved by St.
Luke in one of the mountain caves, and another tale makes this the
spot in which the knight Parsifal discovered the Holy Grail. - end
quote
The monastery is only 40 minutes by train from Barcelona, then you
have to go up the side
of the mountain in a cable car. This was one of the scariest
trips I have been on - worth it though. Although the area at the
top of the mountain is horribly exploited with shops and cafès
galore. Once away from the hustle and bustle, the mountain is beautiful.
Walk or take a funicular part way up or down the mountain and explore.
The funicular does take you to caves where things were supposed
to have been found in the past, but once past these the area is
amazing. Lizzy and I walked around the side of the mountain and
hardly met another person.
Most people come to the mountain of Montserrat to view the 'Black
Virgin', the icon supposedly hidden by Saint Peter (and curiously
reflecting the style of sixth-century Byzantine carving) which is
responsible for the monastery being built here. Personally I found
the opulence of the Monastery quite offensive!
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