An Olympic Stroll

Since it was another gorgeous day, we decided to take a stroll through Monjuic Park --not the area facing the port that we had visited on the last trip, but the northern area.

We left the subway at Placa Espanya, and started up the hill toward the Palau Nacional.  The fountains at the base of the hill are the famous "magic fountains" (the nighttime light & water show set to music).

The palace sits near the top of the 567-foot hill. There are steps, but escalators go up to all but the last level, so we didn't put Scott's ankle to the test.

The Palau was built for the 1929 International Exposition, but today houses the National Museum of Catalan Art. 

Behind the Palau we found the Greek theater and the Olympic area, dominated by the 65,000-seat stadium.  The stadium was originally built to host an anti-fascist alternative to the Berlin Olympics, but the event was canceled due to the outbreak of the Spanish civil war. 

Olympic Statium

Palau Sant Jordi &Torre Telefonica

To the west of the stadium are some of the venues built for the Olympics, including the Palau Sant Jordi (gymnastics & handball) and the Piscines (swimming).  Towering over the plaza is a striking tower.  Initially, I thought this was the Olympic torch, but it turned out that it is a 446-foot telecommunications tower built to support the games.  It represents an athlete carrying the torch.











As you look down the hill from the Palau Nacional, you can see the Placa Espanya and, beside it, the former bull ring.  When we were here last, they were in the process of turning it into a shopping mall.  We had to check out the finished product.  About the only original thing left is the outside brick walls.  Inside is four levels of shops, restaurants, a movie theater, and exhibition space.  The rooftop deck provides panoramic views.

the original walls

standing in the center of the ring, ground floor

heading for the top

Placa Espanya

Sagrada Familia

In past visits we had seen the outside of the Holy Family Church, so this time we decided to venture inside.  The church was begun in 1882, but the real effort began in 1883 when Catalan architect Antonio Gaudi took over the project in 1883 and transformed it into a combination of Gothic and Art Noveau.  On his death in 1926, the project was less than a quarter done.  Construction was disrupted by the Spanish Civil War, and when partisans burned it in 1936, the original plans were lost. His friend continued the project, and subsequent architects have pieced together much of his plans and are trying to apply modern techniques while keeping to his original ideas.

It is being built relying entirely on donations, so it progressed slowly.  Designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and high levels of tourism in Barcelona have helped, and, by the time Pope Benedict consecrated it as a basilica in 2010 the project was 50% complete.  They are hoping to complete it by the centenary of Gaudi's death.

The outside is fascinating.  Eight towers are complete, and work is underway on the final five (the concept is a tower for each apostle + the tallest tower for the Holy Family).  The two facades are very different in style - the nativity façade was completed by Gaudi; a local sculptor, Josep Suribachs, completed the passion façade using a more modern style.

over the door, Nativity façade (Gaudi)



the Passion façade (Suribachs)

The first impression as you walk in is how bright and colorful the place is.  Stained glass windows let light in from every direction.  We were there at two o'clock, so the strong afternoon sun was pouring though the red west windows. 

looking toward the altar

light playing among the columns

Up around the altar are a series of alcoves.  Some are being used for A/V presentations about Gaudi, calling him "God's Architect."  Others are places for confession, prayers and contemplation.




provided in four languages -
Catalan, Spanish, English & French



alcove, with confessional

The interior was designed by Gaudi to be like being in a forest.  The columns are the trunks of the trees, and the decorations on the ceiling are like leaves.  It's an amazing effect.  The pictures don't do the place justice.

We had looked into going to mass there, and found out that they only use the church a couple of times a month... and you have to request tickets through the Bishop of Barcelona's offices at the old cathedral.  (It is sad to have such a beautiful church and use it so little.)  



The Lord's Prayer in Catalan. This sculpture is by the Eucharistic entrance.

La Ramblas

After a morning in Barri Gotic and Ciutat Vella, Scott's ankle was still feeling OK, so we walked down La Ramblas to the port.

Along the way we saw the Barcelona opera house, Teatre del Liceu.  Our timing is bad... a new production opens right after we leave next week.  No opera for us in Barcelona!

One of the things we remembered from previous trips were the human "statues" along the walkway.  Before, they were people who would remain motionless -- or choose a moment to surprise someone by suddenly shifting.  Today, there were fewer, and poor quality ones.  These tended to be guys posing for pictures with the tourists instead of the more creative ones from before. 

At the foot of La Ramblas is the Columbus monument.  Columbus points west. 


Around the base of the monument are statues and bas reliefs of elements in Columbus' efforts to convince the Spanish Court to fund his voyages to the new world and in his presentation to the court of his findings. 



trying to explain the world is round

one of the Indians he returned with

We lingered a bit at the port, watching a sailboat circle until the pedestrian bridge could be opened to let him get to the marina. 

We walked back to the apartment -- a real accomplishment since it was about a mile each way.  That's the farthest we've walked.  The pain patches that Scott's niece provided seem to be helping.  The ankle was stiff, but there was less pain.

Palau de Generalitat

South of the Barri Gotic is another neighborhood, the Ciutat Vella (old city). 

Here we found the Palau de Generalitat, the "palace" of the Catalan government.  This building is said to be one of the few medieval buildings in Europe that still function as a seat of government and houses the institution that originally built it.

The Generalitat was established around 1300, with its parliament, the Corts de Catalan, governing the region until 1714 when it was abolished.  Catalan had sided with an Austrian pretender to the throne against Phillip V of Spain.  When Phillip's side won, he shut down the Corts and turned the building into a Royal Apartment.

The Generalitat was reestablished in 1931, only to be abolished again in 1939 by General Franco at the end of the Spanish Civil War.  (He even court martialed the President, and had him shot to death at Montjuic Castle.)  The Generalitat was brought back to life again in 1977.

The reason I go into this history is that there is currently a movement to have Catalonia secede from Spain.  Around the square, the official Spanish and Catalan flags fly, but there are banners that show support for the movement.  We saw many of these banners as we walked the city.

the Catalan, Spanish and City flags

Barcelona City Council offices
across the plaza from the Generalitat

The Generalitat building was originally built in 1400, in an area that was the former Jewish Ghetto.  The current façade was added in 1596.  When the Generalitat needed more room, they acquired a nearby convent.  This arched bridge actually connects the official buildings.

The building has some interesting carvings, including this one featuring pelicans.

Barri Gotic

Our apartment is at the north end of one of Barcelona's oldest neighborhoods, the Barri Gotic.  This is the old city, a warren of narrow streets.

About three blocks away is Barcelona Cathedral, a Gothic church which was constructed between 1298 and 1450.  There is archaeological evidence that the original church on the site as built in the 3rd or 4th century, and a second, Romanesque cathedral was built on top of it in 1058.

looking toward the main altar

The current church is massive, and the interior decorations are impressive.  The choir stalls in the center of the nave are carved and painted.

the choir stalls

Chapels under each arch are dedicated to various saints...artwork is from the 12th to 15th centuries.  Many are gilded altars.













The Baptistery font was carved in 1433!

As we left the church, we found a historic marker on the corner that explained that the cathedral was built on top of the original wall from the Roman city of Barcino.  In this photo you can see the old wall and the newer (adobe) wall above it.  This corner was part of the Roman Gate.

We found additional areas where the Roman buildings had been supplanted by newer Spanish construction.  This is now the city's Museum of History.


the arches are from the old Roman aqueduct

On our way home, we found an old Roman graveyard... at the edge of a park.  We has passed this park earlier, and kids were swinging and playing.  We had not seen the path behind them that led down to an area where you could view the ruins. 

 

Rediscovering Barcelona

Since this is the third time we've been to Barcelona in the last five years, we didn't feel we had to jump right into sightseeing.  Our first priority for the week was to stock the refrigerator.  Luckily, one of the largest grocery stores in the city is right at the end of our block.  El Corte Ingles is a large department store facing Placa Catalunya, and the entire basement is food - a full service grocery, plus a chocolatier, a charcuterie, a pastry shop, a gelateria, a gourmet shop, a candy shop. It's foodie heaven.

Passeig de Gracia

After stashing the groceries in the fridge, we headed out in search of a sunny spot for a cup of coffee. We headed north up Passeig de Gracia, a wide, tree-lined boulevard that is a mix of shops and restaurants.  Sitting in a sidewalk café makes for some great people watching. 









From there it was back to Placa Catalunya -- to just take in all that this central plaza offers.  Scott made friends with the mounted police, trading stories of broken ankles.  


fountain, Placa Catalunya

the guy next to Scott broke his ankle three times...
Scott told him to wait 'til he turns 70!

We started down Las Ramblas, a largely pedestrian thoroughfare that extends from Placa Catalunya to the statue of Christopher Columbus at the port. This is probably the city's most famous street... and one of its most crowded. 

Las Ramblas

our street

We only made it about four blocks before Scott's ankle was starting to hurt.  We returned to our little street.  We are on Carrer de los Moles, a narrow street.  It's not totally a pedestrian street, but it is too narrow for most traffic.  Our taxi dropped us at the top of the street and we walked down to No 25.

Train travel

Santa Maria Novella Station, Florence

We have now completed our travel by train.  A few observations:

• Most comfortable seats - the Italo first class coach Venice-Florence
• Only place there was any security - Santa Maria Novella station, Florence
• Most interesting sight spotted - the Barilla pasta plant and IKEA distribution center in Parma
• Least inviting place for waiting - Venice (no chairs, only one cafe)
• Most complete station - Milano Centrale (well organized, full supermarket, metro station)
• Best waiting room - Valence TGV station (you have seats two stories above the tracks, where you can watch the high-speed trains go zipping by right underneath you)

our train pulling into Florence

business class, Florence to Milan

The trip from Italy to Spain

First Class Coach, SNCF TGV

French Alps

The most interesting thing we saw was at the border crossing between Italy and France.  The train was boarded in Italy by police officers (PAF Police aux Frontier) who announced they were checking passports.  As they came by us, when they saw the US passports, they waived us off and did not even open them.  But in front of us were a group of three blacks and two whites traveling together.  They were examining their passports with a magnifying glass, and asking questions.  When we got to France, the train was boarded by Duane officers (customs) who started asking people to identify their bags.  We expected to have to show them which were ours, but they called out a couple of names, then left.  We suspect that with the recent influx of refugees from both Libya (into Italy) and Syria (throughout Europe) that some borders are being more careful these days.  They did not pull the travelers off the train, so their passports must have passed muster.

The only notice when we crossed from France into Spain was that announcements were suddenly being done in Spanish, English and French.  (On the Milan high-speed SNCF TGV train, we had Italian, French & English; on the SNCF regional train from Chambery to Valence only French was spoken; and on the SNCF-RENFE TGV initially only French & Spanish.) 

vineyards south of Chambery

The tickets on the TGV "bullet" trains were in first class coaches, with assigned seats.  The short connection from Chambery was in second class, but it was still pretty good.  Our car had fold up seats at one end (with hooks overhead for holding bicycles) and racks for skis.  The route took us through some beautiful ski country, including a stop in  Grenoble.









Grenoble

the waiting room over the tracks, Valence TGV station

our train pulling into Valence TGV

It was after sunset when we reached the coast of the Mediterranean.  It had been gray and rainy, so the light level was low and it took a few minutes to realize we were seeing breaking waves.  A week earlier we would have had the advantage of daylight saving time and might have seen some of the coast.

We arrived on time in Barcelona, and got to our apartment before 9 p.m.   With help we got the bags up the two flights of stairs.  IKEA must be doing well here, too.  We recognized a number of pieces of furniture, plates, and silverware.  The apartment even has  a little patio...although we may not use it much since there is construction going on next door.