And I mean relaxing! I visited three museums, but otherwise wandered, sat in parks, strolled along the Ramblas and stopped to sip a cool drink or three, accompanied by tapas, visited the beaches...aaahhh...
Day four was a bit of a washout, which meant indoor activity. I finally visited the Museum of Catalan Art (the view from it above will show you what a difference a day makes), which is really wonderful.
An entire section of the museum was devoted to Romanesque Catalan churches, the above just one of many.
In another part of the museum there were paintings, including work by Spaniards such as the "Apparition of our Lady of the Pillar" by Goya,
and "Christ and the Cross by El Greco.
But several painters from other European countries were also represented, such as this from Lucas Cranach the Elder of Germany, titled "The Ill-Matched Couple" (one of a series with the same name):
and Italian Giandomenico Tiepolo's "The Minuet."
These few works are meant to give you a taste for it, in hope that you will make it part of your trip to Barcelona. I love Gaudi and the Modernistas, but there is more to be seen than that style of art.
Oh, and in case you wonder what is under the dome of the museum, it is an area called the Sala Oval,
a huge space for meetings and concerts:
After a morning at the museum the rain had not stopped, so I decided to eat in the neighborhood, at the bullring/mall. I found a place inside - many, many eateries in addition to those on the rooftop - a place called Gusto's nothing special, a salad that was fresh, and a pizza that I would rank below frozen pizza from your local grocery. I like to post photos of the food I eat on these trips, but this one I'll spare you, except for the cutest thing about it, the placemat - remember the name, and skip it.
The wine, at least, was fine.
The interior of the mall is very high tech, particularly in the areas around the escalators. In the photo below I'm at the top of one, staring across at another. Even on a dull, rainy day there is a brightness about it.
And youngsters are kept busy and delighted. My still photo cannot do justice to the fact that the images are constantly changing, so the feeling of skipping from one rock to the next, trying to keep from hitting the "water."
I retired to my hotel early, had a nice nap and later a few drinks at the bar. A rainy day, but for the most part (don't forget Gusto's) not at all unpleasant.
On day Five the good weather returned!
First thing in the morning I embarked on a mission, at FC Barca (above). I'm not much of a sports fan, but my brother Phil is, and his 14 year old son Cameron is an avid fan. When I'm in Europe, which since 2012 has been at lest once, often twice a year, I find the shop - in this case it's title Megastore, and it lives up to its name - and find something, usually a jersey, I think he'll like and bring it back to him.
Above is some of the lower level, the ground level above is even larger - all things Barca can be had here. Below is another shot of the stadium.
Mission accomplished, I headed to the old town and, after the mandatory stroll on Las Ramblas.
La Boqueria is always tempting, but also always crowded.
As I'd sampled its wares on previous trips so instead I left Las Ramblas and not far away I found my museum du jour, in the Plaça del Rei, part of which you can see below, from the steps of the museum itself.
The museum du jours title is the Museum of the City of Barcelona, but you'd have to be interested in Roman Barcelona to really enjoy it. Located in the shadow of the cathedral, its sits above ruins, and much of it is underground looking down into the ruins in a very well planned and explained (via numerous explanatory plaques). I very much enjoyed my time there.
I chose poorly for lunch, so I'll show you only its entrance, so you can avoid it on your own visit.
From there it was only a few steps to a favorite spot of mine, the Plaça Reial, a real beauty:
This is where I "shoulda' et" but the eateries on it - and there are several - were packed. Ah well, another time perhaps...
And I came upon a really good Gelateria Italiana nearby.
so after a mediocre lunch I had a delicious dessert!
I am a real traditionalist, and I can highly recommend the gelato pistacchio e nocciola (pistachio and hazelnut) - yum! After my gelato I strolled contentedly through the old town, coming across streets large (relatively), such as the Carrer de Ferran,
and tiny, like the one below.
I returned to my hotel after my adventure in old town, as I needed to rest up before another kind of adventure, at night, the Fonta Magica, placed luckily less than two blocks from my hotel. along the steps up to the Museum of Catalan Art. I was told I should not miss it, so I did not. I was dazzled. You may recall a photo of the fountain during day from my first post on Barcelona. On certain nights of the week it becomes "magic" or at very least, surprising and colorful. I'll let a few of the many photos I took speak for themselves below
After this experience I hurried back via brightly colored tiny fountains
to my hotel room - it had been a long and very pleasant penultimate day of my trip to Spain.
My sixth and final day was if anything even more relaxed than my fifth. I headed toward the waterfront
1) because my museum du jour was on it, the Museum of the History of Catalunya. I loved it, but few if any of my photos turned out, so I can't prove it. You should give it a look. It is also housed in a historic building, the only one that remains of the old industrial port. And even if you don't like the museum, it is ringed by pricey restaurants...so you can't lose.
and 2) because I enjoy staring at the Mediterranean,
being at the beach, particularly on a day when sea sparkles,
and watching the people on it, no matter how odd - what ARE those two women doing?
- as well as the public art and fun walkways all along the waterfront.
Above, Gambrinus, by Javier Mariscal, and below La Cap de Barcelona, by Roy Lichtenstein
I love the long and wide pedestrian and cyclist paths at waterside. Then I returned to Las Ramblas.
There I was surprised by a parade
that I'm fairly certain commemorated the days from 3 -8 May 1937 in the Spanish Civil War, when factions in a shaky alliance on basically the same side (communists and anarchists vs the Republican government of Catalyuna) clashed repeatedly in the streets of Barcelona.
That day was 5 May, during which some of the bloodiest battles were fought. I thought at the time that it was rather light in spirit, but after some research I realized that it was a march in remembrance of an awful several days in Barcelona. If you're interested you might want to read George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia. He lived through it (and a good bit more of the civil war) and writes a brilliant if terribly disillusioned account of it. And on that rather somber note I end my account of this trip to northern Spain. I am in the process of putting together an account of one other trip I took to the Iberian Peninsula - to Portugal. Hope to have some of those posts published soon. Salud!
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