Day 71: Barcelona

October 19, 2024

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Dodie figured out that the America's Cup final stages, of passing interest to us, could be a big big deal for the town. And that could account for extra throngs in the streets and the extra hard to get and expensive hotel rooms we encountered. Undaunted, we joined the throngs today, and got on with it.

Barcelona is huge, and it is stuffed with things to see. So "getting on with it" is not all that obvious, in terms of what to do here. GPSMyCity lists 9 circuits, with 5 to 15 sights in each. These have names like La Ribera walk, Gothic Quarter walk, Picasso's Barcelona, Food Tasting, and Gaudi's Masterpieces. I am not saying that our approach was unsystematic, but we sure did not check out the perhaps 60 things listed! We did however see some things we had not been to when we were here last Spring, and we gained a bit more appreciation of stuff we had theoretically seen before.

We set off guided by our master Guiding Principle - go first to the Market. That's a few blocks up the Rambla, so we did see a thing or two on the way:

Just one day later, work has started to wash away the evidence of yesterday's demonstration.

Postcards at one of the many souvenir stands.

We arrived again at the market. Dodie points out that it is called La Boqueria. St Josep may be the street.

Whatever you call it, all these people have already found the spot!

Our actual idea in coming to the market was to gather stuff for a picnic later. Based on yesterday, we knew that ought to be empanadas, fresh fruit, juice, dried fruit, and something baked.

Like this, could we smuggle them home for Laurie?

We went in the end for croissants stuffed with pistachio creme. Visible in the middle distance here.

Juice like this won't do, we need it in a bottle

Yes, this is our lady! And it is super fresh!

and finally, but not for lunch, what a productive chicken!

From the Market, we wandered "off Rambla" past the Basilica of Santa Maria del Pi (Santa Maria of the Pine). It's in a square with a large pine tree, accounting for the name. Here we ran into something we found through the town - quite high ticket prices to enter buildings. We don't have a particular philosophic approach to this, like were are not mad about it, and maybe the money is needed for upkeep and maybe it's good, to chase away too many tourists flooding the town, and maybe it is a ripoff, supported by all the tourists around, but we do know that we can not be dropping 30 euros at every place we happen by! So Santa Maria - you are on your own!

That building by the basilica has nice balconies and decoration.

We looked down nearby streets - so narrow and interesting.

Off the basilica square we spotted a guitar shop. We know little about guitars, but Spanish guitars sound like a "thing" so we dropped in.

We liked these affordable picks - but we are not discerning customers and the degree of flex could be useless.

We are back out amid the squares and narrow streets. Oh my.

Here we are at the Placa Nova (New Square), which is by the Cathedral.

It's fun to watch the other tourists, with their photography. Most are using cell phones, but a fair number have replaceable lens models. This little lady was not fooling around.

She was just an ordinary tourist, though, and her subject (below) was Grandma, with the Barcelona lettering.

This gateway is a remnant of the Roman wall. It once led to the Forum.

Nearby was the building housing the municipal archives. This had a great atrium, that I captured from above:

Tiles on the stairway.

Some books were out in display cases. I wondered what they could be all about.

Google says it's something like this:

"Books of proof of lineage, life and customs of collegiates, 1632-1709. Shield and door. 5D104/C51-636 and 637. 2. List of collegiate and licensed solicitors, 1722. Handwritten nominal list of collegiate individuals. 5D104/C049-0621. 3. Concession to wear cloak and cap to court proceedings, 1766-1797. Compendium of regulations of the Association of Procurators on the clothing of its members. The request of procurators (1742-1797) to attend the judicial proceedings of the Royal Audiencia with a short cloak and cap was mirrored in the privilege granted by Pau Vi to the 24 individuals who made up the city's College of Procurators of Faenza, which was part of the Papal States. The request to be able to carry a sword in the same acts appears to be a claim of 1738 which was settled in 1742. 5D104/C002-0022." Good thing we are hanging on to this stuff?

Next, the Cathedral. I see someone added two fingers up to my photo!

Now, see what I mean about the building costs:

Also, at the nearby Tourist Information, what I considered a radical move - charging the tourists for the city map.

So off we walked, past so many gorgeous buildings, that could not hide their charms behind pay walls.

Now this gorgeous building was a strange one. It had been owned by a wealthy businessman, but in 1931 it became a police headquarters. It was much hated as the scene of incarcerations and torture.

Nearby, we found some seats - rare ones not owned by a restaurant - where we could sit and eat our picnic. This was just by a store selling "caganers", which are figurines found in traditional Catalan nativity scenes. Their thing is that they are all taking a poop, supposedly fertilising the land for the coming year. In recent times it has become a thing for famous personalities to have a caganer in their image. Of course, the store offers every personality you can think of.

Hilary and Kamala seem interchanged here. Hilary probably did not want to poop next to Donald.

In the shot below, we rather worrisomely see Trump as the number one best seller. Maybe the Europeans see him as full of it. Number two is Messi, ok, a tribute to the legendary Argentine footballer after his impressive World Cup victory. And then.. Yoda? Maybe this is just another meaningless poll.

Our next stop was the Palace of Catalan Music, a concert venue. This is in the Gaudi style, but not by Gaudi. It might even be said to out Gaudi Gaudi!

The inside is as spectacular as the exterior.

One corner outside features this statue. There is more glorious decoration down along that side, but it's hard to see because the adjacent street is so narrow.

We left our precious bench and set off again. (You can see the caganer.com thing in this photo of more beautiful buildings.)

Dodie thought this one was pretty unique - with all the suspended eyeballs?

Now we hit Catalunya Square, which is a huge central location, maybe the heart of Barcelona. It has a Cortes Ingles - the largest department store - and yes, a FNAC!

At one end is a building with unique orange turrets. This is Casas Antoni Rocamora, an apartment building, I think, built 1914 by some miscellaneous cuckoo Barcelona architects.

The square features statues and fountains and scads of people.

In the centre of the square, representatives of many local markets are set up, selling typical examples of their wares.

We passed then into Passeig de Gracia. This is famous for iron lamp standards, luxury brand stores, and then the 'Block of Discord", featuring three different ultra fancy buildings, only one of which is a Gaudi.

Just a "random" building on Gracia. It's called The Union and El Fénix Building

Just before the three "discord" buildings is this one, really nice too.

People are lining up to get into the shop.

The can buy shoes and bags like this:

But if the have a magnifying glass, they will see the price card in the corner, and start to unroll the 1000 euro notes!

Next on the block is Casa Amatller:

This is one you can go into, on the ground floor.

There is a chocolate shop and a cafe inside.

Finally we have the Gaudi one - Casa Battlo. It is the most popular with the tourists.

Again, the costs to get into a building. You can pay 49 euros each here!

We kept our 98 euros and trudged on home, past our beloved market. We would rather spend the euros on 18 litres of fresh orange juice! Tomorrow is a bit of a long slog down the coast - we might need it!

Today's ride: 14 km (9 miles)
Total: 3,640 km (2,260 miles)

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