Spain and Barcelona
The blog site has a regular stream of visitors from Spain - a country I know very well - better even than France.
In fact I know so much about Spain - I would find it impossible to fit my thoughts into just one small post.
So here's starter for ten - a pen portrait of one of my most favourite cities in the world - Barcelona.
I wrote this piece some years ago for one of the newspapers - I forget which one - and a few things have changed since.
Sadly Snowflake, the famous albino gorilla, has died - but on the other hand the Sagrada Familia is finally taking shape - inside and out.
I dont know how I managed to write this piece without mentioning Barcelona Football Club - but their Nou Camp Stadium is well worth a visit - and is only a short metro ride from the city centre.
Barcelona
Barcelona is a magnificent city: modern, sophisticated, rich with history; yet down to earth, hardworking and unpretentious. The capital of Catalonia may lack the bourgeois splendour of Paris, but more than compensates with a can do attitude and fierce determination to succeed. Barcelona has fought hard to win a place on the world map; its people are Catalan first and foremost, with an independent spirit and culture, immensely proud of their city and its achievements.
Built on a wide plain rising up from the sea, Barcelona is dominated by two steep hills on either side: the Tibidabo with its famous gold statue of Christ, and Montjuic, site of the 1992 Olympic games, which provided an opportunity for the city to find new admirers, with a little help from Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe.
The place to be is La Rambla, one of the city’s main thoroughfares. At one end is the Place de Catalunya, full of shops and people, at the other a grand monument to Christopher Columbus, only a stone’s throw from the sea. La Rambla is a hive of activity, day and night, the centre section being reserved for pedestrians. Locals and tourists amble along until late into the night, enjoying the sights, watching the world go by, admiring the street entertainers-artists, musicians, fortune-tellers, human statues and so on. Along its length are restaurants and bars of every description; fast food vies with traditional tapas for supremacy.
A fantastic place to shop and eat is Mercat de la Boqueria, (Rambla de Sant Josep) a market with a truly spectacular display of fresh food: a huge variety of fish, octopus, squid, crabs, amazing fruit and vegetables, local meat and poultry, specialist cheeses and hams. Everything is sold from stalls that resemble a railway carriage cut in half, lengthwise.
Best of all are two tapas bars inside the market that serve food to die for, at prices made in heaven. Forget the expensive restaurants in the guidebooks and try something different. Local dishes of salt cod and potatoes (bacalao), simple and tasty stews, amazing seafood, tortillas, roasted vegetables marinated in olive oil (escalivada), rice with romesco sauce and eggs, wonderful salads, all washed down with an ice-cold beer or glass of wine.
Barcelona has some great sights to see which can help to work off a pleasant lunch. The Olympic stadium is worth a visit and the separate outdoor swimming pool is a good place to cool down on hot days. Both are located on Montjuic, the hill overlooking the city from the southwest. A day is not long enough to appreciate everything Montjuic has to offer: tranquil parks, Poble Espanol (a showcase of Spanish architecture built for the 1929 world exhibition), the National Art Gallery and a museum celebrating the great Catalan artist, Joan Miro.
At the top is the Castell de Montjuic a stronghold of the Spanish military, which has seen better days, used as a political prison by the Franco regime. A furnicular railway goes half way up the eastern side of Montjuic and cable cars complete the journey. The views from the ramparts are magnificent and confirm Barcelona’s status as a working city and one of the busiest ports in Europe. Cruise liners and container ships jockey for space, loading and offloading their precious cargos, an impressive sight requiring incredible organisation.
The whole port area has been extensively redeveloped and has a lot of visitor attractions: a modern aquarium, Imax cinema, world trade centre, boats trips, beaches, nice walks and a state of the art interactive museum that brings the history of Catalonia to life. Another cable car connects the harbour attractions with Montjuic offering more spectacular views of the city from the east.
The city’s Gothic quarter (Barri Gotic) is just off La Rambla and traces its roots to medieval times. Many of its narrow streets are little more than alleyways and there are lots of good, non-expensive places to eat and drink. Budget accommodation is plentiful and there the area is full of young people enjoying life and having a good time. Ancient Roman fortifications can be found rubbing shoulders with Barcelona cathedral and the city hall.
Barcelona’s Picasso museum should be on your ‘must do’ list of places to visit. Situated in the north of the city, the surrounding area is charming and pleasant to stroll around, with narrow streets and interesting shops. The building is well laid out and exhibits thoughtfully presented. Though few of Picasso’s greatest works are on display, there is much to learn about his life and loves. Even those who agree with Tony Hancock that Picasso couldn’t do faces will enjoy themselves.
Head due north from the Picasso museum and you run into the Parc de la Ciutadella, site of a huge 18th century fort (La Ciutadella), symbol of rule and oppression from Madrid. The site was turned into a park for a world exhibition in 1888 and will reward a full day’s sightseeing. All around are interesting sights both inside and outside the park’s boundaries: the national museum of modern art, the Catalan parliament (Generalitat), the city’s modernista Arc de Triomf and Cascada. Barcelona zoo is also nearby with its most famous resident, an albino gorilla called Copito de Nieve, or Snowflake in English.
Ten minutes walk away is another must see sight, La Sagrida Familia, a church conceived in the 19th century by a wealthy publisher, Josep Maria Bocabella, worried about the spread of revolutionary ideas in Barcelona. His solution was a new church to occupy the minds of the masses with less worldly things. In 1884 a young modernista architect, Antoni Gaudi, took over the project that ultimately became his life’s work.
Love it or hate it, La Sagrida Familia is stunning piece of architecture, parts of it appear to be carved from a single block of stone, so ornate is the decoration. Despite swarming with tourists from every part of the globe, the church is an incredible sight. Gaudi died in 1926 with the project only partially completed, a recluse, obsessed with his dream, a vehicle for communing with God. Since then Gaudi’s admirers have raised money privately to complete La Sagrida and the work remains in progress to this day. On present estimates it will be finished in another 20 years.
Barcelona’s modernistas set out to create a uniquely Catalan form of architecture, inspired by the region’s medieval history, marrying together Gothic, Islamic Byzantine and Roman influences. Many of its leading proponents, such as Gaudi, were Catalan nationalists. Some of the best new wave architecture can be seen viewed in L’Eixample, an amazing area of civic regeneration from the 1920’s and 30’s, only a short walk from La Sagrida Familia.
Children are welcome everywhere until late. If the little darlings are streetwise enough, you can also send them off for the day. Port Adventura is a Universal Studios theme park 100 kilometres south of Barcelona that will guarantee adults a well-deserved break and time to pursue their own interests. The park is divided into different kingdoms with the kind of rides and attractions familiar to visitors to Florida or Disneyland Paris. The good part is that a bus will pick up at 8am and drop off again at 10pm for an inclusive price of £21.00.
Why not end your visit in style with a horse drawn carriage trip around the city? Price is around £30 (after some serious negotiation) and starts at the bottom of La Rambla up to the Place de Catalunya, across to the Sagrida Familia and down to the Parc de la Ciutadella before returning along Columbus avenue. Journey time is approximately 45 minutes; sit back, chill out and enjoy!
In fact I know so much about Spain - I would find it impossible to fit my thoughts into just one small post.
So here's starter for ten - a pen portrait of one of my most favourite cities in the world - Barcelona.
I wrote this piece some years ago for one of the newspapers - I forget which one - and a few things have changed since.
Sadly Snowflake, the famous albino gorilla, has died - but on the other hand the Sagrada Familia is finally taking shape - inside and out.
I dont know how I managed to write this piece without mentioning Barcelona Football Club - but their Nou Camp Stadium is well worth a visit - and is only a short metro ride from the city centre.
Barcelona
Barcelona is a magnificent city: modern, sophisticated, rich with history; yet down to earth, hardworking and unpretentious. The capital of Catalonia may lack the bourgeois splendour of Paris, but more than compensates with a can do attitude and fierce determination to succeed. Barcelona has fought hard to win a place on the world map; its people are Catalan first and foremost, with an independent spirit and culture, immensely proud of their city and its achievements.
Built on a wide plain rising up from the sea, Barcelona is dominated by two steep hills on either side: the Tibidabo with its famous gold statue of Christ, and Montjuic, site of the 1992 Olympic games, which provided an opportunity for the city to find new admirers, with a little help from Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe.
The place to be is La Rambla, one of the city’s main thoroughfares. At one end is the Place de Catalunya, full of shops and people, at the other a grand monument to Christopher Columbus, only a stone’s throw from the sea. La Rambla is a hive of activity, day and night, the centre section being reserved for pedestrians. Locals and tourists amble along until late into the night, enjoying the sights, watching the world go by, admiring the street entertainers-artists, musicians, fortune-tellers, human statues and so on. Along its length are restaurants and bars of every description; fast food vies with traditional tapas for supremacy.
A fantastic place to shop and eat is Mercat de la Boqueria, (Rambla de Sant Josep) a market with a truly spectacular display of fresh food: a huge variety of fish, octopus, squid, crabs, amazing fruit and vegetables, local meat and poultry, specialist cheeses and hams. Everything is sold from stalls that resemble a railway carriage cut in half, lengthwise.
Best of all are two tapas bars inside the market that serve food to die for, at prices made in heaven. Forget the expensive restaurants in the guidebooks and try something different. Local dishes of salt cod and potatoes (bacalao), simple and tasty stews, amazing seafood, tortillas, roasted vegetables marinated in olive oil (escalivada), rice with romesco sauce and eggs, wonderful salads, all washed down with an ice-cold beer or glass of wine.
Barcelona has some great sights to see which can help to work off a pleasant lunch. The Olympic stadium is worth a visit and the separate outdoor swimming pool is a good place to cool down on hot days. Both are located on Montjuic, the hill overlooking the city from the southwest. A day is not long enough to appreciate everything Montjuic has to offer: tranquil parks, Poble Espanol (a showcase of Spanish architecture built for the 1929 world exhibition), the National Art Gallery and a museum celebrating the great Catalan artist, Joan Miro.
At the top is the Castell de Montjuic a stronghold of the Spanish military, which has seen better days, used as a political prison by the Franco regime. A furnicular railway goes half way up the eastern side of Montjuic and cable cars complete the journey. The views from the ramparts are magnificent and confirm Barcelona’s status as a working city and one of the busiest ports in Europe. Cruise liners and container ships jockey for space, loading and offloading their precious cargos, an impressive sight requiring incredible organisation.
The whole port area has been extensively redeveloped and has a lot of visitor attractions: a modern aquarium, Imax cinema, world trade centre, boats trips, beaches, nice walks and a state of the art interactive museum that brings the history of Catalonia to life. Another cable car connects the harbour attractions with Montjuic offering more spectacular views of the city from the east.
The city’s Gothic quarter (Barri Gotic) is just off La Rambla and traces its roots to medieval times. Many of its narrow streets are little more than alleyways and there are lots of good, non-expensive places to eat and drink. Budget accommodation is plentiful and there the area is full of young people enjoying life and having a good time. Ancient Roman fortifications can be found rubbing shoulders with Barcelona cathedral and the city hall.
Barcelona’s Picasso museum should be on your ‘must do’ list of places to visit. Situated in the north of the city, the surrounding area is charming and pleasant to stroll around, with narrow streets and interesting shops. The building is well laid out and exhibits thoughtfully presented. Though few of Picasso’s greatest works are on display, there is much to learn about his life and loves. Even those who agree with Tony Hancock that Picasso couldn’t do faces will enjoy themselves.
Head due north from the Picasso museum and you run into the Parc de la Ciutadella, site of a huge 18th century fort (La Ciutadella), symbol of rule and oppression from Madrid. The site was turned into a park for a world exhibition in 1888 and will reward a full day’s sightseeing. All around are interesting sights both inside and outside the park’s boundaries: the national museum of modern art, the Catalan parliament (Generalitat), the city’s modernista Arc de Triomf and Cascada. Barcelona zoo is also nearby with its most famous resident, an albino gorilla called Copito de Nieve, or Snowflake in English.
Ten minutes walk away is another must see sight, La Sagrida Familia, a church conceived in the 19th century by a wealthy publisher, Josep Maria Bocabella, worried about the spread of revolutionary ideas in Barcelona. His solution was a new church to occupy the minds of the masses with less worldly things. In 1884 a young modernista architect, Antoni Gaudi, took over the project that ultimately became his life’s work.
Love it or hate it, La Sagrida Familia is stunning piece of architecture, parts of it appear to be carved from a single block of stone, so ornate is the decoration. Despite swarming with tourists from every part of the globe, the church is an incredible sight. Gaudi died in 1926 with the project only partially completed, a recluse, obsessed with his dream, a vehicle for communing with God. Since then Gaudi’s admirers have raised money privately to complete La Sagrida and the work remains in progress to this day. On present estimates it will be finished in another 20 years.
Barcelona’s modernistas set out to create a uniquely Catalan form of architecture, inspired by the region’s medieval history, marrying together Gothic, Islamic Byzantine and Roman influences. Many of its leading proponents, such as Gaudi, were Catalan nationalists. Some of the best new wave architecture can be seen viewed in L’Eixample, an amazing area of civic regeneration from the 1920’s and 30’s, only a short walk from La Sagrida Familia.
Children are welcome everywhere until late. If the little darlings are streetwise enough, you can also send them off for the day. Port Adventura is a Universal Studios theme park 100 kilometres south of Barcelona that will guarantee adults a well-deserved break and time to pursue their own interests. The park is divided into different kingdoms with the kind of rides and attractions familiar to visitors to Florida or Disneyland Paris. The good part is that a bus will pick up at 8am and drop off again at 10pm for an inclusive price of £21.00.
Why not end your visit in style with a horse drawn carriage trip around the city? Price is around £30 (after some serious negotiation) and starts at the bottom of La Rambla up to the Place de Catalunya, across to the Sagrida Familia and down to the Parc de la Ciutadella before returning along Columbus avenue. Journey time is approximately 45 minutes; sit back, chill out and enjoy!
