Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Loving Barcelona!
We are still in Barcelona and loving it! This city is wonderful! Yesterday
we started out with bagels for breakfast. Bagels are not a big thing in
europe I guess but there is a pretty good restaurant here so we went there
it was a nice change from our usual croissant and latte breakfast. Then we
ran a few errands in the morning. We had to send a money order to the hotel
that we reserved in Paris, that was a pain in the rear but I think we
managed it. There were some very helpful people at the post office (believe
it or not!). Then we went on a bike tour. That was fun and a little scary.
Mostly we were on pedestrian streets, but I am not sure that was less scary
than the roads with cars because people walking are less predictable,
especially in tourist areas where they spend a great deal of time looking up
or out or at books than watching where they are going. Still we saw a lot of
cool stuff, and heard some interesting stories and history. Our tour guide
was originally from
California. We saw the Sagrada Familia church, designed originally by
antonio gaudi, the back part was designed by a different architect after
gaudi´s death and so the front and back could be two different buildings!
The Gaudi front looks sort of like a drippy sandcastle that kids make at the
beach, all curvy and stuff, and the back is cubist! AND it is still under
construction and only about 30 percent done. The Spanish people like to
think it will be done in like 30 years, but supposedly experts say more like
100!! Still it was amazing. I am not usually into architecture, much less
modern architecture, but I found that I really like Gaudi. He was part of
what started the art noveau and art deco movements in paris and new york
respectively and I like those styles too. We also saw the music theater that
he designed which was just amazing with color and nature inspried motifs.
Finally we saw a fountain that he designed while still a student for a
world´s fair or something. It was
gorgoues! Since he was still a student his style hadnt totally devolped
yet and he used more classical greek and roman themes, but instead of
incorporating the nature into the structure like he would later in life, he
added it right on top by planting all these plants and mosses to cover
certain parts of the fountain. It looks partially like the fountain is part
of the landscape and partially like some ancient oasis that has been
overtaken by plants.
We also stopped by the beach and learned how there was no beach in barcelona
until the 1992 olympics when they created one. After the bike tour we took a
siesta before going out for dinner. We decided to try this restaurant that
was recommended in our guide books and also by the tour guide as really
cheap good catalan food. Only problem is that they dont open until 8:30 and
they dont take reservations so there is always a line when they open. So we
went to a sort of local tapas / sidraria bar that was recommended by rick
steves. It was kind of dead when we were there but I suspect it would pick
up later, and it was definitely a local type place. Sure they probably get a
bunch of tourists now becuase it is in that book, but it was kind of rough
around the edges and on a back street. We shared a bottle of homemade sidra
(apple wine, or cider) and the bartender even showed us how to pour it.
There is a half of a barrel sort of in front of the bar and you hold the
bottle up about chest
level and the glass tilted and down just below your waist then pour it, so
that it gets a lot of air in it. (that is why the waiters and the bar we
went to the night before were pouring it over their heads) I didnt try but
seth really got the hang of it, so much that the bartender commented on it
being good. he only spilled a little too! (even the bartenders were spilling
a little each time so that is ok.)
After that we went back to the restaurant to stand in line. When we got
there 20 min before opening there were maybe 30 people in front of us. But
the place was pretty big so we got a table. Seth had the appetizer sampler
which I thought was brave since it included baby squid and cuttlefish and
other stuff. I had a shellfish soup. His was better though, I even tried the
baby squid even though I could hardly look at it, but it was really tasty!
they had flavored it really well. And there was this little slice of onion
pie that was really good. We had sangria to go with it, but it was a little
sweet for my taste. Sangria is always a little sweet but I think they added
a lot of sugar to this. Then for dinner Seth had lamb stew that came with
what we thought were potatoes but turned out to be pieces of assorted fruit.
It was good though. I had meatballs in some sort of special sauce. Again I
made a mediocre choice, it tasted like stroganoff.
Today we went around to the places that we had not seen yet mostly other
gaudi works since I found that I really like his stuff. We had to buy some
postcards though becuase it is hard to get good pictures of the buildings
becuase there are trees and cars and stuff in the way. Then we made
reservations for the train to madrid and for our hotel there. I called the
hotel and the guy didnt speak english so I managed to book the whole thing
in spanish and he even said my spanish was ´´muy bien´´ which I thought was
crazy since I havent spoken any spanish really since high school and I was
never really any good at it. But I guess it is passable, at least for making
hotel reservations. It still cracks me up!
Tommorrow we leave for Madrid.
Meg and Seth
we started out with bagels for breakfast. Bagels are not a big thing in
europe I guess but there is a pretty good restaurant here so we went there
it was a nice change from our usual croissant and latte breakfast. Then we
ran a few errands in the morning. We had to send a money order to the hotel
that we reserved in Paris, that was a pain in the rear but I think we
managed it. There were some very helpful people at the post office (believe
it or not!). Then we went on a bike tour. That was fun and a little scary.
Mostly we were on pedestrian streets, but I am not sure that was less scary
than the roads with cars because people walking are less predictable,
especially in tourist areas where they spend a great deal of time looking up
or out or at books than watching where they are going. Still we saw a lot of
cool stuff, and heard some interesting stories and history. Our tour guide
was originally from
California. We saw the Sagrada Familia church, designed originally by
antonio gaudi, the back part was designed by a different architect after
gaudi´s death and so the front and back could be two different buildings!
The Gaudi front looks sort of like a drippy sandcastle that kids make at the
beach, all curvy and stuff, and the back is cubist! AND it is still under
construction and only about 30 percent done. The Spanish people like to
think it will be done in like 30 years, but supposedly experts say more like
100!! Still it was amazing. I am not usually into architecture, much less
modern architecture, but I found that I really like Gaudi. He was part of
what started the art noveau and art deco movements in paris and new york
respectively and I like those styles too. We also saw the music theater that
he designed which was just amazing with color and nature inspried motifs.
Finally we saw a fountain that he designed while still a student for a
world´s fair or something. It was
gorgoues! Since he was still a student his style hadnt totally devolped
yet and he used more classical greek and roman themes, but instead of
incorporating the nature into the structure like he would later in life, he
added it right on top by planting all these plants and mosses to cover
certain parts of the fountain. It looks partially like the fountain is part
of the landscape and partially like some ancient oasis that has been
overtaken by plants.
We also stopped by the beach and learned how there was no beach in barcelona
until the 1992 olympics when they created one. After the bike tour we took a
siesta before going out for dinner. We decided to try this restaurant that
was recommended in our guide books and also by the tour guide as really
cheap good catalan food. Only problem is that they dont open until 8:30 and
they dont take reservations so there is always a line when they open. So we
went to a sort of local tapas / sidraria bar that was recommended by rick
steves. It was kind of dead when we were there but I suspect it would pick
up later, and it was definitely a local type place. Sure they probably get a
bunch of tourists now becuase it is in that book, but it was kind of rough
around the edges and on a back street. We shared a bottle of homemade sidra
(apple wine, or cider) and the bartender even showed us how to pour it.
There is a half of a barrel sort of in front of the bar and you hold the
bottle up about chest
level and the glass tilted and down just below your waist then pour it, so
that it gets a lot of air in it. (that is why the waiters and the bar we
went to the night before were pouring it over their heads) I didnt try but
seth really got the hang of it, so much that the bartender commented on it
being good. he only spilled a little too! (even the bartenders were spilling
a little each time so that is ok.)
After that we went back to the restaurant to stand in line. When we got
there 20 min before opening there were maybe 30 people in front of us. But
the place was pretty big so we got a table. Seth had the appetizer sampler
which I thought was brave since it included baby squid and cuttlefish and
other stuff. I had a shellfish soup. His was better though, I even tried the
baby squid even though I could hardly look at it, but it was really tasty!
they had flavored it really well. And there was this little slice of onion
pie that was really good. We had sangria to go with it, but it was a little
sweet for my taste. Sangria is always a little sweet but I think they added
a lot of sugar to this. Then for dinner Seth had lamb stew that came with
what we thought were potatoes but turned out to be pieces of assorted fruit.
It was good though. I had meatballs in some sort of special sauce. Again I
made a mediocre choice, it tasted like stroganoff.
Today we went around to the places that we had not seen yet mostly other
gaudi works since I found that I really like his stuff. We had to buy some
postcards though becuase it is hard to get good pictures of the buildings
becuase there are trees and cars and stuff in the way. Then we made
reservations for the train to madrid and for our hotel there. I called the
hotel and the guy didnt speak english so I managed to book the whole thing
in spanish and he even said my spanish was ´´muy bien´´ which I thought was
crazy since I havent spoken any spanish really since high school and I was
never really any good at it. But I guess it is passable, at least for making
hotel reservations. It still cracks me up!
Tommorrow we leave for Madrid.
Meg and Seth
