Yes, contrary to my inclinations, you can drink sangria with Chinese food. OK, it’s a bit weird but apparently quite common here, so we went along with the local customs. “When in Rome…“ as they say. But let me start back at the beginning of the day. Our goal today was to immerse ourselves in all things Gaudi (and, by the way, I learned today that the accent is on the last vowel so his name is pronounced gow-DEE -- learn something new every day, I guess). Anyway, he is my favorite architect. I know that architecture and sculpture have a great deal in common, but Gaudi’s designs blend the two to create a kind of functional sculpture, more so than any other architect I’ve seen. I may have only a 30-minute attention span in a museum full of paintings, but I can stare for hours at a Gaudi building.
We flagged a taxi and as we were driving through the city our first interesting sight was that of a friar, in brown, hooded robe with white robe belt, walking across the street carrying a large, wrapped painting. It pays to keep your eyes open.
Our first destination was La Sagrada Familia, which is the cathedral that Gaudi spent 43 years of his life working on and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2005. Lines are always long (about 3 million visitors a year) so we were up and out by 8:30 -- only bit of cheese for breakfast. By the time we arrived 10 minutes later (the church opens at 9:00 AM) the line for tickets was halfway around the block already. But luckily, once it opened the line moved fast so we were in by 9:10. Quick travel advise tidbit: we didn’t have breakfast but we did nibble on a couple of little bon bel cheeses before we left the hotel. They are the perfect non-sugary snack to keep you going if you skip a meal when traveling.)
Anyway, the building work on the cathedral is still in progress to this day and it will probably take another 50-100 years to complete Gaudi’s whole design. I was in Barcelona about 10 years ago and visited here and at that time the roof wasn‘t yet completed. It was wonderful then but the contrast between then and now was startling. Today the main interior is mostly finished, many stained glass windows are done, and some of the interior lighting has been installed, and work on additional towers is in progress. It is stunning. The entire design is organic, like being in a forest of trees with dappled sunlight coming through the leaves. All in stone and cement, decorated with amazing (and how I hate the overuse of that word nowadays but in this case it is truly an accurate description) mosaic work everywhere, especially on the ceiling, accented with brilliant, modern and abstract stained-glass windows. Gaudi carefully thought about and designed the light, making sure there was enough to illuminate and elevate one’s spirit but not enough to blind you to the greater purpose of the Christian message.
My sister and I wandered through all the information stops with our audio guides, but mostly we just stood and gawked -- spending most of our time tilting our heads as far back as we could to drink in as much of the upper regions as possible. We were there for 2.5 hours before we reached sensory overload and just couldn’t take in one more exquisite detail.
So we started searching for a restaurant, somewhere a bit off the standard tourist snack area around the cathedral. By this point we were both pretty hungry so we were focused on our goal until we happened to pass an intriguing optical store. We just had to go look. Mindful that on our Venice trip a couple of years ago, we each bought a pair of au courant eyeglass frames to take home, we decided to do the same here in Barcelona. After trying on many pairs, we each settled on something that was different from our current glasses, different from anything we’ve seen in the USA, and fun and flattering. It’s a great kind of souvenir, one that reminds me of a trip everyday.
By that time we were each very hungry and couldn’t find a restaurant. After wandering a few blocks, we spied a Chinese restaurant and decided that although it wasn’t really a Barcelona experience, we were too hungry to care. It turned out that the food was good (although I must admit that a Chinese menu written in Spanish just seemed a bit strange), the waitress was markedly listless and seemed unable to manage more than 3 syllables (in Spanish) in any conversation and even that was mostly swallowed so that we couldn’t understand her very well, and the beverage choices included sangria. But we enjoyed the meal and were sufficiently full by the time we left.
We walked back to the cathedral then caught a cab to our next destination, Parc Gruell, which is an outdoor park designed by Gaudi and commissioned by Senor Gruell. It has something of a fairyland look and was crammed with visitors, with Gaudi-esque gingerbread houses at the entrance crowned with white mosaic roofs that look like cake icing and typical, whimsical mosaic chimneys. One of the most famous parts is a very long mosaic bench that is in an undulating snake shape and that circles an upper platform in the park that overlooks the city. Every few feet of the bench is a different mosaic design and it is fascinating.
Did I mention that the park is built on a hill so that everywhere you go involves major steps up (and then down)? By the time we left, we were both exhausted and our knees and hips were definitely begging us to just give them a rest for awhile. But once again, the place is so fascinating that we ended up spending a couple of hours.
By the time we caught a cab back to the hotel it was 4:00 pm and we were way too tired for hot chocolate (how sad is that?) so we limped to our hotel room and simply crashed for 3 hours. After we revived, it took a couple more hours of puttering and a bit of time to do hand laundry before we were ready to forage for dinner.
We walked out of the hotel into a drizzle -- not cold and not a heavy rain, but definitely wet enough to require an umbrella. It was Saturday night and the activity on Las Rambles was not dampened by the weather -- vendors were selling cheap souvenirs, gelato booths were doing a brisk business, and lots of people were strolling up and down. This is a major pickpocket area, which several people warned us about as did all the guidebooks, so we are always extra careful when walking around. Anyway, we decided to return to the restaurant from last night, MataMala. Yes, I know, it isn’t as adventurous as one might hope, but it was so good that we wanted more. It turned out that we ordered completely different dishes this time and even a different wine -- a red Catalan wine made with garnatxa grapes (nope, I haven’t heard of it either) and everything was, once again, wonderfully delicious. One cute thing was that my entrée was described on the menu as cannelloni with cheese au gratin. Nothing like a little au gratin on your cheese! On the other hand, I loved sitting at a table with a couple on the left speaking Catalan and a couple on the right speaking Castillian -- I felt very much the world traveller. It was 12:30 AM by the time we left.
We didn’t feel very tired so both of us read and I worked on my computer a bit. By 3:00 AM we decided we needed some bedtime chocolate (note the word “needed,” don’t you love it?) so we nibbled on one of the chocolate bars I bought at the chocolate museum. We finally got to bed by 3:30 AM, somewhat dreading our full schedule the next day, but heck, that part of the travel experience.
Total score so far: 2 hot chocolates, 3 liters of sangria (shared), 2 bottles of wine (shared). I think we’ll try to bring up the hot chocolate count tomorrow.
Woke up at the quite decent hour of 8:30 AM, but by the time we got ourselves together and figured out what we wanted to do, it was almost 11:00 AM. Oh well, we’re on vacation. And my travel advice for the day is…..examine your hotel bathroom floor carefully. This particular hotel likes to install a lovely door stop so the door doesn’t bang into the tub -- and the doorstop is the same color as the floor which camouflages it quite well. How do I know? Ask my toes. I still have all 10 of them, but a couple are yelling at me.
Decided to start walking in the direction of one of the Gaudi buildings, hoping to find a restaurant on the way for breakfast. Our first fun discovery of the day was the boqueria, which is a huge, covered food market. And I mean huge. There are at least a hundred vendors: fresh fruit stalls, dried fruit stalls, nuts, produce, ham, fish, candy, chocolates, poultry, cheese -- you name it except for baked goods. Each stall is a work of art, with the wares arranged so attractively that I just wanted to buy everything. Fruits I’ve never seen before -- pig ears -- chickens with the heads still on -- cocks combs -- fish I’ve never seen before -- marzipan animals -- mushrooms I’ve never seen before. And kazillions of people. It was a wondrous place.
We continued down the street and found a nice place for breakfast/lunch with outside tables in a little alley off Las Ramblas. Ordered sangria again and discovered it is a great beverage for washing down my daily vitamin pills. My sister and I shared a salad (we decided that fresh lettuce was probably safe to eat), a chicken soup with a tomato base that tasted great, and a platter of mixed shish kabobs. Quite good. We finally pushed ourselves away from the table and continued on our way to the Palau Gruell.
The Palau Gruell (Gruell Palace) is a UNESCO World Heritage building, designed by Gaudi and built for the Gruell family in the 1890’s. And what an extraordinary experience to walk through it. They give out audio guides so we were able to walk through it at our own pace. The tour takes you through the entire building, from basement to the top of the roof (wouldn’t want to miss those incredibly recognizable Gaudi-style chimney tops), which means lots and lots of stairs up AND down. The huge house-restoration project was completed recently and it is a marvel. The family organ (quite impressive) is played every hour and it is delightful to hear the music of the day fill the whole place. But my favorite things are the ceilings and the chimney tops. Gaudi designed every aspect of the house, down to the intricate wood-carved ceilings with delicate iron-work decorations. The ceilings in every room are different and I would have been perfectly happy to just lie down on a rolling platform and spend all my time looking up.
We spent a good 2.5 hours at Palau Gruell and by the time we walked up and down 6 stories and stood around on hard marble floors, we were both walking like old ladies. Clearly, we needed a bit of chocolate to soothe our tired joints. So we wimped out and took a cab to the next chocolate place on our list, Museu de la Xocolata (love the way they spell chocolate). And wow!
We entered a big chocolate store and my sister bought the tickets for the museum while I stood at the turnstile waiting to enter. She handed me a candy bar, which I thought was a nice gesture and when I looked at her questioningly, wondering where the ticket was, the ticket taker grinned, pointed to the chocolate bar and said “ticket.” The candy bar WAS the ticket. How cool is that. Best ticket ever.
The museum was mildly interesting but the best part was still to come. We exited the museum part and sat down at a table and ordered hot chocolate and a brownie. They added free samples of their dark salted chocolate. OMG!!! Can I say that again? The hot chocolate was A+, maybe even A+++ -- very intense dark chocolate flavor, just sweet enough to counteract the bitterness of the cacao, and very thick. Absolutely beyond description and I think I’ve probably had the closest taste of heaven I’ve ever had. Of course I figured that the brownie was an afterthought, but not so. Quite an outstanding, milk chocolate, brownie, again not too sweet, with walnuts and some kind of faint spice that I couldn’t identify. Between the hot chocolate and the brownie I think I could be cured of most anything that ailed me. And then came the salted dark chocolate samples. Could life get any better? Well, yes, as a matter of fact. Intense chocolate, not sweet but not bitter, melt in your mouth texture, enhanced by the punch of sea salt. I really don’t think I’ve ever had chocolate this good before. I mean really.
I decided that I wanted to buy some salted chocolate to take onboard the ship, so I went to the counter where the ticket taker gentleman was standing and pointed to the free sample plate and asked him to show me which chocolate bar in the showcase was the salted one. He looked and looked and then gestured that they were out, whereupon I looked comically stricken and he laughed. Undaunted, I bought several other chocolate bars and then sat down. A few minutes later he came over and handed me a salted chocolate bar and said something that I didn’t understand, so I just blew him kisses as a thank you. Not quite knowing what to do, I went to the counter to pay for it, but the girl explained that it was the last one and he gave it to me as a gift. So in my enthusiasm I took his hand and kissed it. He walked away smiling and so did I. Life is definitely good.
Came back to the hotel for a little relaxation and reading (well, you know, reading with your eyes closed). Siesta time is truly a luxury.
By 10:00 PM we started walking up the Las Ramblas to a slow food restaurant, MataMala, that was recommended by the hotel. It turned out to be a gem of a place specializing in traditional Catalan food, all organic and locally grown. Our menu choices really required a decent red wine rather than sangria, so we were forced to drink a very nice cabernet franc. Had a cheese plate that provided a delicious variety and I had onion soup while my sister had leek soup. The presentation of my onion soup was interesting -- they brought me a very hot soup bowl with 3 separate piles of things in the bottom: shaved cheese, carmelized onions, and dark bread croutons. Then they poured the hot onion/beef broth on top. Very nice indeed and the flavor was wonderful. I was introduced to the slow food movement a few years ago by a guide in Tuscany and I’ve been a convert ever since. I highly recommend the restaurant -- right on Las Ramblas.
Total score so far: 2 hot chocolates, 3 liters of sangria (shared), 1 bottle of wine (shared). Of course, as these numbers get embarrassingly high I may need to stop announcing my total score just to protect my reputation. J
Getting up at 3 AM so I can arrive at the airport at oh-dark-thirty is just plain punishment. And being squeezed into an airplane for a zillion hours is near miserable and no way to start a fabulous trip. OK, now that I’m done complaining, the flight to Barcelona was remarkably smooth with the one exception of a really fun roller coaster ride as we descended for landing. My sister’s friend at the airline was able to get us exit-row seats so we had lots of room to stretch out and we were able to get some sleep on the plane. We flew a new airbus which was interesting but there is a bit of a design flaw in the bathrooms. The available/vacant indicator is so small that nobody could see it and I witnessed many people open a bathroom door only to find someone else already in there -- apparently the door locking mechanism is not that intuitive. On the other hand, they had a wheelchair accessible bathroom, which was great because it is a bit larger than the normal airplane bathroom -- not nearly large enough to accommodate a walker but an improvement nevertheless. Enough about bathrooms.
We arrived in Barcelona around 8:30 AM and took a cab to our hotel, which is about a half block off Las Ramblas in the gothic quarter. A fabulous location from which to head out to a number of great destinations. Our room was not available until after 2 PM so we dumped our luggage and headed out, wearing the same clothes we‘d been wearing for 24 hours already. As with any trip where we spend a few days in the same place, we have a quest -- it’s always a fun thing to have quest. This time, our quest is to find the best hot chocolate in Barcelona. A bit of background: Barcelona (and all of Spain) is known for its thick, intensely-flavored, not-too-sweet, hot chocolate. About as close to heaven as a person could possibly get. So, with a lovely map from the hotel, we walked to the closest hot chocolate place on our list, Dulcinea, which was only about a 5 minute walk. It was a little, tiny place but lovely and we sipped our first hot chocolate of the trip and ate churros (not as sweet as churros at home) and another Catalan pastry that is a lot like lemon-flavored lady fingers. YUM. Definitely an A- to an A in my rating book.
Thus fortified, we wandered down narrow alleys of shops -- there were many tile placques on the walls with various pictures of people and little proverbs very interesting. Discovered a shoe store that sold only one style of shoe but in hundreds of different colors. Loved it but was able to avoid the temptation of buying any. Discovered an earring store with literally thousands of earrings that were wonderfully unique, many quite humorous, but again was able to avoid temptation. We eventually found the main cathedral in Barcelona -- not the Gaudi one -- and went it and looked around. Very lovely stained glass windows and lovely gothic architecture. We decided against paying the fee to go into the choir section in the middle of the cathedral, only to discover as we walked around it, that we could see into it from the other end. The wood carvings are amazingly delicate and intricate. I wonder how they maintain that wood over the centuries -- I mean, how do they keep stuff like that oiled? With q-tips?
We wandered around a bit more and discovered an interesting lunch place, so we went in. Ordered sangria, of course. We both ordered “bean salad” as a starter and were served a hot bean soup that was really good. So much for translation. By the time we finished lunch and slurped up the last drops of sangria, it was 2:30 pm and the sangria (nap juice) was working and we both felt sleepy. So we went back to the hotel, shed our clothes and fell into bed for about a 5 hour nap. We read and puttered around a bit and when it started to get dark tried to turn on the lights in our room. No lights. We looked around the room with our flashlights (never, ever, travel without a flashlight) and found the thing by the door where you have to insert your room key for the electricity to work. Aha, we said to ourselves and rushed around to turn on the lights. No lights. We finally gave up and called the front desk. It took two people and a bit of complicated replacement of fuses, but we now have lights. While waiting for the hotel guy, we were serenaded by a large group of French men (just a guess on the national origin) lustily singing La Marseilles. Don’t know the reason -- perhaps a football game. They were clearly enjoying their adult beverages but the singing wasn’t that bad.
By this time, it was 11:00 pm and time to forage for dinner (remember, we’re on Barcelona time now) so we headed out again. Night time is when Barcelona comes alive.
We only got about a half-block away and discovered 3 interesting restaurants with tables outside. We settled at the tapas place and ordered sangria (what else?) and tapas. Enjoyed a plate of that famous Spanish ham (sliced tissue-paper thin and full of flavor) and several other things. (Well OK, my sister ordered anchovies in vinegar with green olives and she reported that they were quite nice, but I wasn’t about to go near that stuff.)
We ended the evening by walking up and down part of Las Ramblas -- lots of people out strolling and vendors and street artists. Great entertainment. We finally got back to the hotel by 1:30 AM.
Final score for the day: 1 hot chocolate, 2 liters of sangria (shared). Not that I’m counting, mind you.
