I am going to give a, hopefully, a couple of posts about Barcelona listing places we visited and comments on same, and try and keep them as concise as possible, otherwise they will turn into War and Peace and this is a book blog after all. Photos will appear now and then under Photo of the Day so not to bombard everyone all at once, though I suppose it might be a good idea if I learned how to load photo albums on Typepad so that would be a problem solved. OK perhaps that will be my task for the weekend.
So here we go, Kathryn and I went for a stroll round the port and marina, see above, weather beautiful, early 70s, light breeze, wonderful. Decided to grab an ice cream and sunbathe for a bit which we duly did and then ambled further along the Paseo de Maritime and came across this wonderful sculpture, The Fish, created for the Olympics. Walked back to our apartment which was five minutes from Santa Maria del Mar in the Barri Gotic and full of little tiny fascinating streets, crashed out for two hours, and then sallied forth for our evening meal. Sitting outside, lots of tapas and wine, chilling, talking, bliss.
Saturday, off to Sante Maria del Mar, setting of Cathedral of the Sea about which I have posted. Walked inside, totally and utterly beautiful, simple, austere with soaring pillars and oh so quiet (not so the Cathedral about which more later). Then disaster, my camera's battery conked out. It is a permanent battery and I had left the charger at home. I could not swear bearing in mind where I was so borrowed Kathryn's camera for the rest of the weekend so photos will have to wait. Have this one so here it is.
Then a coffee break and off to the Picasso Museum which was simply amazing. All his early works were there (which of course I much prefer to his later output), but fascinating to see how much he changed his attitude and style of painting throughout his career. Two hours there and totally engrossing. Visited shop on way out and bought a mug (of course) which will later appear as Crock of the Day. Then lunch at a super cool creperie next door and had the best crepe I have ever eaten, Serrano ham, Brie and red onion marmalade. Just sat drooling.
Siesta and off to Park Montjuic, full of museums and galleries, all of which were closed by the time we got there in the evening, but simply beautiful to walk through. There was the stunningly grand palace of Eugenie and Alfonso dominating the view down into the city and in front of it the main reason for our visit - Font Magica, designed for the International Exhibition of 1929. Here is what the guide book says "as darkness descends, countless jets of water are choreographed in a mesmerising sound and light show. When the water meets in a single jet it can soar o 50ft. The extravagant finale is often accompanied by Freddie Mercury and Caballe's Barcelona (it was!) as the fountain fades from pink to green and back tow white before silently and gracefully disappearing". It was wonderful, park was full all ooohing and aaahing and when Barcelona came on the loudspeakers great cheers and hollering.
OK enough for now: next time - Gaudi, the Cathedral and more.
I am currenlty watching Manchester United play Barcelona..
