Spain and Portugal

Above, you know I like this stuff on the walls but we have been seeing such gorgeous walls, I get it why it doesn’t appeal to everyone.

We walked in a bit of a daze from the bus station where the Monserrat tour dropped us, in search of the Gothic Quarter. We headed out in the direction our guide from the tour pointed – go that way to find the Gothic Quarter. We tried.

We tried to go in the correct direction but first we came upon the totally engaging Parc de la Ciutadella and wandered through losing our orientation but wow, right, quite the thing to stumble upon with their Arc de Triumph at one of the many exits. This isn’t the Arc btw, I got a picture from the HoHo on day two.

Another one from Lill. There were a dozen of them and not a poop-pile in sight, tidy and welcoming like everywhere.

I was trying to guide us to the Catedral de Barcelona without much success although we did eventually spot it in the distance and were able to zigzag our way to the Placa de Sant Iu. Below you can see there was still some light on the walls, fast disappearing. The streets in the Gothic Quarter mostly look like this, without a clear turn anywhere.

The balconies and the floor to ceiling windows are so appealing.

Remember the churros and chocolate from before – it’s everywhere.

Still in search of the Catedral.

Here she is.

And then I tried to lead us to a particular restaurant. The gps kept changing her mind, go this way, no, turn around, no turn left not right, etc etc. I gave up so Lill and Marita both tried as we wandered back and forth through the Quarter until we all gave up. If you look at the map above you can see how the gps was always trying to find a ‘better’ route.

Let me buy us a TAXI! So we found a real street and hopped in. Through this whole trip, once finding a street with cars, we never had to wait even one minute for a taxi. The taxi dropped us off at another pedestrian area but at least there was only a couple ways to get to the restaurant from there.

You can see the restaurant on the map – L’Antic Bocoi del Gótic. It specialized in Catalan cuisine and we enjoyed having something different and delicious. Here are a couple of the choices we shared and there were a couple more. It was delightful.

Lill took this picture as we were leaving.

Back on the street, we walked home and I went in the apartment to put up my feet (having topped 15,000 steps already…) while Lill and Marita went in search of another bottle of wine like the one we drank at the restaurant. In the course of the week we all became fans of the local Rioja.

This is how we drink wine at the apartment. We each have a favorite style of glass different from the others eliminating confusion.

This was our Bon Voyage evening as Lill and Marita would be heading back to Sweden in the next day, and that next day I would do absolutely nothing, then move on to Madrid.

Above is the Basilica, and below is an internet aerial of the Abbey complex.

We took a tour by bus from Barcelona. Part of the tour is a cog train ride up the mountain to the Abbey complex which includes “the Basilica (home to the Black Madonna), the 11th-century Santa Maria monastery, the Escolania boys’ choir school, and the Art Museum of Montserrat. Other key structures include apartments, a hotel, a library, and other visitor facilities such as restaurants, a tourist office, and two cable cars.”

Montserrat means jagged or serrated mountain, derived from the Latin mons serratus.

Facing the Basilica.

A close-up of the Basilica entry.

The Black Madonna. You can see her prime position in the Basilica above the altar in the first picture.

We all were taken by these historic lamps.

The plaza where you disembark the train.

Notice that red square in the upper right. You can’t see it but there’s a cross out there. Lill and Marita did the hike while I did not do the hike but went to the easily accessed Montserrat Art Museum instead.

At the museum there was a wrap-around greeting mural that featured, as well as many others, the two pictures I picked out as two of the three I was most glad to see.

She’s by Ramon Casas (1866-1932) Madeleine 1892 and he’s by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) Penitent Saint Jerome 1605.

And this is by Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881-1973) The old fisherman 1895. He was fourteen when he painted this picture. Fourteen. He was 56 when he painted Guernica.

“The Black Madonna (La Moreneta) is housed in the Chapel of the Virgin (or Cambril de la Mare de Déu), located behind the main altar. This elevated, ornately decorated room is accessed from within the basilica, allowing pilgrims to visit her throne. The original 12th-century statue rests in a specialized silver altar.”

St George, the patron saint of Catalonia.

And here she is. You can touch her hand and the orb she holds. There’s an attendant at hand to keep the line moving.

I don’t remember why or where this was…

…or this either.

Leaving the Chapel of the Virgin you come to this place and of course we lit a candle and made a wish.

A view from the top, look at all those bridges.

We haven’t seen so much evidence of Spring but this guy was yelling for a picture.

The harbor cruise wasn’t much to speak of, 30 minutes out and 30 minutes back in very choppy waves, but what was interesting was the flotilla of sailboats heading out to run all the way to Gaza. It’s called the Global Sumud Flotilla. I read that they were delayed by the bad weather we were experiencing that day but that they did leave the next day and are still enroute.

This picture is mine. We thought they were going to block the entrance to the harbor before we got ashore and looked it up.

And this one is from the internet.

I can’t resist any view that includes La Sagrada Familia.

We enjoyed another tapas meal. You get much smaller servings when you’re having tapas in a bar but these restaurant servings are most generous, enough for us all to share.

Park Güell.

This is my last visit to a Gaudí masterpiece and I want to note that in all these places with the 10s of 1000s of tiles, not a single one was broken. I am so impressed by the tender care Barcelona is showing for these places of drama and beauty.

This lizard greets visitors…

…and everyone wants their picture with him.. even us!

It started to seriously rain just as we were leaving and by the time we got all kitted up with these ponchos Lill bought, it had pretty much stopped. We were so cute, walking the several blocks downhill to get a taxi, that little kids pointed us out to their parents.

The view out our balcony.

We had early morning tickets for admission and it was fantastic.

This is one of the UNESCO buildings and there is so much to say about it, if you’re interested I’m going to suggest you can read the Wikipedia article and google around for more information. If you’re ever in Barcelona you won’t want to miss it.

I wonder if this room is part of Gaudí’s original design.

Exit through the gift shop.

Lill and Marita went shopping this morning while I don’t remember what I did, probably just messed with my pictures.

Every morning either Lill or Marita go to the corner and bring back fresh bread and rolls and croissant for breakfast to complement this delicious spread we’ve kept in the fridge. Who’s going to bring me fresh bread when I go home?!

The view out my bedroom window, the best view in the apartment. Notice the bench by the tree with a sleeping man, that is actually a sculpture. We have plenty of windows and the light is fine but the view is mostly of the building across the alley.

Here are some pictures from our walk to lunch. I’m writing this after our last day here in Barcelona and you Would Not Believe how much walking I have managed, and double that for the other two. Our location was perfect for walking. In every direction we could find fantastic sights.

We chose this specialty paella place and everything we ordered was delicious.

We had extra time before the Flamenco show so we walked a couple blocks to La Pedrera (I wrote about it yesterday too) where a tout out in front lured us in with offers of a discount and we might have done it anyway.

Isn’t it cool how the painting on the ceiling flows into the trees at the window. The picture at the top is from here too.

Up on the roof.

OLÉ.

It got windy on the way home, and it was threatening rain.

A ride around town on the view deck of a HoHo bus is a nice get-acquainted opportunity.

Another HoHo making its way around the routes. There were many busses available and we have no complaints. We Hopped Off several times and the Hop On part went easily without much waiting.

I would often scan the horizon for La Sagrada Familia that appeared regularly, soaring above all else.

I asked her to please stand by the sign and look really sad. So she did this.

We Hopped Off to visit Park Güell which took a long slog up up up from the bus stop. Of course we should have known better than go up to this top-rated attraction without tickets. So right then we bought tickets for another day and decided to go back one stop to visit Sant Pau, a place that was not even on our radar.

“Sant Pau Recinte Modernista is the largest Art Nouveau complex in the world and one of Barcelona’s most stunning architectural hidden gems. Designed by architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, it served as a fully functioning hospital for nearly a century (1930–2009) before being restored as a museum and knowledge campus. 

“Unlike sterile modern hospitals, Sant Pau was designed as a “city within a city” with 12 (of an original 27) pavilions set in lush gardens. The architect believed that beauty and nature were essential for healing patients.”

A model of the original campus.

“He’s the renowned Catalan architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, a key figure in the Modernisme movement and best known for designing masterpieces such as the Palau de la Música Catalana and the Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona.”

Back on the HoHo, here’s Lill’s picture.

This was one of the spots where we could transfer from the Green line to the Orange so we got off and decided to take a break.

“Casa Milá, popularly known as La Pedrera (“The Quarry”), is a renouwned UNESCO World Heritage site designed by Antoni Gaudí between 1906 and 1912. It is famous for its undulating stone façade, seaweed-like iron balconies, and a fantastical rooftop with sculptural chimneys. It was Gaudí’s last civil work.”

We enjoyed lunch in the restaurant of this building..

..Marita and Lill having their first chocolate con churros.

We rode the entire route of both the Green and the Orange HoHo lines. It was good fun!

Just outside our apartment.

Lill’s pharmacy. Hummm, what would be good for tonight?

Lill and I flew all night arriving in Copehagen around 2:30p on the 8th. We took the train for about an hour to Eslov where Marita pick us up. We had a lovely dinner with Per, a good sleep, and in the morning took the one hour train back to Copenhagen where the three of us then flew to Barcelona. The plane was due to land around 2:00p and we were due to get a taxi, stop off at our apartment, and then hustle over to be at La Sagrada Familia at 4. This was cutting it close especially because we got distracted by the need to eat tapas.

So we were a little late for our ticket time but it was not a problem, everything went very smoothly and we spent the next few hours gaping at the views.

I think they did a good job with the tours. Everyone had a headset and the guides spoke quietly so the place wasn’t 1/2 as noisy as it could have been under different circumstances.

I took a pass on visiting the tower. There was a lift up but you had to walk 500 steps down, not so great for me. Lill and Marita enjoyed it.

We got back to unpack and Lill went off in search of food for breakfast. Everything worked out. I hoovered a bag of potato chips and slept for several hours before waking up to stare at the ceiling until morning.

I still don’t have time and/or energy to finish anything more but all is well! Much More soon😊