Early Barcelona Days

We've arrived, taken right from the ship to a quick 4 hour tour of Barcelona, dropped off at the apartment, checked in & by golly, here we are!

There are more ship photos but that part of the trip has taken on a "been there, done that" feeling so here we go.

B (my abbreviation for Barcelona) has much the same feel as Paris...old buildings, narrow streets connecting to busy boulevards, lots of shops/restaurants, people scurrying about.

The first difference is that while Paris is the city of many contributors, not only artists & writers, but Haussmann who planned it, B is the city of Antoni Gaudi, a late 19th to early mid 20th century architect who left his handiwork all over the city.

The most famous is the basilica of Sagrada Familia:

When construction started in 1882 (& Gaudi took over the following year) SF was in the middle of nowhere but the city grew up around it so it is difficult to get back far enough to take it all in.  But our trusty guide knew a place & here it is.  It is well known that even now it is unfinished.  The construction cranes are busy at work.  In 2015, the current architect projected a structure completion date of 2026 with the final decorative elements finished around 2030 - 2032.

One feature that sets Gaudi apart is that he likes to incorporate words into his buildings.

Check out the white area and on the steeples.  This is the rear of the church.

He also did a Park and apartment buildings around the city.  Here's one.

The style is very distinctive.  He obviously hated sharp 90 degree edges & corners but prefers curves.  Note the center balconies.  None of the five curves are the same.  This building is constructed of cement block.  But each block is distinctive; has to be designed & cast, then placed in only one position.  Here's a closeup of a balcony edge.

That's very expensive; wouldn't be done today.


His style doesn't resonate with me, seems like the structure is inflated from the inside.

I also like photos of people.  At the Gaudi designed park, this lad's DSLR is almost as large as he is:

In Paris we had a photo department called "Les Mademoiselles des Paris".  Perhaps we can start a collection of "Las Señioritas de Barcelona".   Here's the first candidate:

Barcelona tourist humor:

Susanne is a licorice-aholic.  She couldn't pass this place by.

 

OK, some throwbacks to Gibraltar.  I've never seen a shipload of boats. 

Take a look at the orange lifeboat.  How do they launch that thing?  Let it just slide off?  Ouch! when it hits the water.  Catapult it?  Can't believe that.  Or maybe swing it gently down as the lifeboat crane sets it on the water.  But what if the vessel is listing badly, or going down bow first?  The answer will have to remain a mystery.

Susanne says I wonder about the weirdest things.

Saw a statue of a man on a horse (Europe has lots of those, the US has a few).  A set of Roman numerals is probably his years of birth & death:  MLXXXII - MCXXXI.  1082 to 1131, right?  I guess back in those days just getting the years right was good enough.

B appears to be refugee friendly.  

English seems to be the common language of foreigners.  The other night we had dinner next to two 24 year old students going for their masters. He from Italy, she from Taiwan, conversed in English, attending classes at a local university, classes conducted in English.  The fellow wanted to know all about Donald Trump.  It's hard to explain that all of this hullabaloo is only on the Republican side and that volume does not equal strength.

My high school Spanish is being dusted off.  I figure in another 6-8 months, I'll get along just fine.  Trouble is, we're leaving in a couple of weeks.

Susanne & I are early birds, Barcelona is not.  The restaurants are jammed with diners at 10:30pm.  We're trying to fit in.  B'fast @ 9-10am, lunch (the heavier meal) @ 2-3pm, a light dinner, perhaps a few tapas @ 9-10pm, hit the sack at 11-11:30pm.

Enough for now.