Hopping On But Not Off

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Placa Catalunya.  This building looks normal.  The tree blocks the real story

Lorraine waits to hop on

"Bumble bee" taxis all over town.

I went to sleep on Tuesday evening firmly resolved to get up early and go exploring my temporary neighborhood in the cool of the day.  A late sleep put an end to that pipe dream!  I was out on the terrace for a 9:00 A.M. breakfast--fruit, juice, really not very good coffee, and pastries, ham, cheese, and yogurt.  it was ust enough to get the day started.  Mornings in Barcelona start late. 

La Rambla--pedestrian and busiest street in Barcelona

Some other Americans were staying at the same B & B.  One man came over and offered to sell us tickets to Casa Batllo, the Gaudi designed house. He'd inadvertently bought duplicates.    He is a designer and he and his wife love love love Gaudi and were most enthusiastic that we see this house. We thought, Why not, and coughed up 25 Euros a piece for our timed visit the next day.  The fact of the matter is that visits to unfamiliar places and venues are most often improved by a tour, whether it's a living breathing guide, or a set of headphones and a mini tablet.  It so helps to know what you're looking at.  Guided tours don't come cheaply, so choose wisely.  In this case, I think we made the very best choice.

Spire of the Cathedral

After breakfast and that one last bathroom visit before heading out for the day, Lorraine and I made our way to Placa Catalunya to get on one of the hop on-hop off open air tour buses.  I have, in the past, looked down my nose at these things, dismissing them as "touristy."  By golly, I would do my OWN tour.  But the thing is, unless you have done a great deal of advance research and planning, these tours are the best way to get a feel for a new city.  Neither Lorraine nor I had done nearly enough research into this trip, truth be told.  We planned to take the "Red" tour, which covered the western part of the city, but ended up in the wrong line, and made a spur of the moment decision to take the "Green" tour instead.  It's a little longer and covers the south and eastern parts of the city.  We had bought two consecutive days worth of tickets, so it really didn't matter whether we red-ed or green-ed.   Green it was.  

We passed the old cathedral on our way down one of the major boulevards headed to the port.  I plan to learn at the very least, the names of the major arteries of Barcelona.  It will make finding landmarks easier.  Soon enough we were at the port, and among high-rise, ritzy beachfront apartments.  It was then, as the guide rattled off the names of the designing architects, that I got my first inkling of just how important architects and modern buildings are to Barcelones.  My lack of knowledge is appalling, especially in the area of architecture.  (Yet another thing to remedy)  

From the port looking north

Doesn't it look precarious?

We went into the port, where millions of dollars in yachts are moored or in dry dock.  All of that money made me a little uncomfortable, especially when we went through the fishermen's neighborhood of very modest dwellings.  The beaches were clean and not overly busy this early in the season, although there were a few sunbathers and swimmers.  I understand that this area is very lively at night and I can well believe it.  My next trip there will include a seafood dinner seaside.  

We are at the beach!!

 

And there's always that ONE guy--the one who thinks the request to remain seated applies only to everyone else on the bus.  I kept telling myself that I should stop bitching; I was in Barcelona, for heaven's sake, and so what if he kept blocking the view.  I could always come back any time I wished, and it was apparent that HE didn't have that opportunity.  Fortunately he and his partner got off at Sagrada Familia, and the rest of us didn't have to contend with his big old frame blocking our sight lines.  

One building in particular was quite impressive.  It looks like a big bullet or cucumber standing on end.  At night there are light shows and this becomes multicolored  It's rapidly becoming another icon representing the city of Barcelona. 

Looming over the neighborhood

Kind of like a spaceship

Full of windows

Energy efficient?

Sagrada Familia through the trees

Ah, yes, Sagrada Familia.  Everyone, but everyone is SUPPOSED to go see this Gaudi masterpiece, and everyone is supposed to LOVE it.  I don't know if it is my natural disinclination to follow the herd (I promise you that if everyone is turning left, I most likely am going to turn right) or if I really don't like this monstrosity.  I can say that I understand the importance of it, but aesthetically, I am not buying it.  I told Lorraine that I didn't really want to go in, but we were able to get some good photos of the exterior from the bus.  It was simply over-run with tourists.  

Part of the exterior

Work is still in progress

Some of the facade

"Bones"  Tree trunks? for buttresses? 

Speaking of lines of tourists--nowadays, everyone goes on the Internet to buy tickets to these venues, because they want to "jump the line."  Well, if everyone already has a ticket to get in, there's still a line, isn't there?  And these tickets are not cheap--it's 15 Euros just to get in the door.  That does not include any sort of tour, which I need to do if I am going to learn anything.  For me the great advantage of having the ticket in hand is that it commits your time.  And that is also the great disadvantage, as it prevents impromptu trips that might interfere with your schedule day/time of visit.

Bartholomew?

I swear this reminded me of Lincoln

The bottom line is that we saw Sagrada Familia but did not go in.  Lorraine put it beautifully when she said that much of Gaudi's work reminded her of the landscape in movies like Lord of the Rings.  I find that kind of landscape/architecture slightly creepy.  And she also hit the nail on the head when she said that it looked like a big sand castle!!!   The drippy kind, not the sculpted kind.  I don't know, perhaps I will relent and visit it one day, maybe in the winter when lines won't be so long and I won't get jostled so by hordes of tourists. 

The towers

Help me, I don't know what this represents

Startlingly classical figure holding a rake?

Jesus carries the cross

The bus then wound its way through some more tunnels as we inched higher and higher.  Again, I didn't realize Barcelona was so tiered, and downright steep in some places.  We stopped at a building referred to as the Rotunda, near the place where the funicular takes people up to the top of Mount Tibidabo.   That ride too, have to wait until a later visit.  But I was fascinated by this building and the use of broken pieces of ceramics on the exterior.  In fact, this decorative style is everywhere, inside and out, and the shiny nature of the ceramics makes many of the building shine.  In fact there is a building-sized fish sculpture along Barcelona Beach that glows golden, which we got to see from the bus, but I was never at the right angle for a photo.  

The ROTUNDA 

Can you imagine this as your home?

Not paint--ceramic tile pieces

I will never again complain about French ornate-ness

One little angel outside the door

The tile gleams in the sunlight

We ended our trip back at Placa Catalunya, just a little after noon.  After all that sitting, it was time to stretch our legs on La Rambla (which I kept calling La Plancha--oh dear!)  So we set off down the busiest street in Barcelona and then veered off into the old quarter.