Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

Sagrada Familia

Barcelona

Sagrada Familia is Gaudi's unfinished majestic masterpiece.  It's very difficult to describe this massive work besides jaw-dropping.  We got neck cramps from just looking up.  The church is as big as a city block and just towers over everything in the area. 

Note the art deco-y religious reliefs. 

As you can see from the scaffolding, work is still ongoing to this day.  (Wikipedia says that work begun in 1882!)

Xamfra Gaudi, Barcelona

Xamfra Gaudi

C/ Valencia, 443

Barcelona

We were quite hungry after our jaunt at Montjuic.  However, we decided on one more spot to visit, the famed Sagrada Familia.  Xamfra Gaudi was luckily just a few blocks away, and we enjoyed a few tapas with our beer.  This cafeteria/cerveseria/tapes/torrades joint was quite bustling that day and everything on display looked really good.

Potatoes with pimiento peppers in tomato sauce.

We sat at the bar and essentially pointed at a couple of things that we liked.

Anchoas (I love anchovies!).  Foreground is  bread with tomato sauce.

Patatas bravas, or fried potatoes topped with ketchup and mayo.

Pulpo.  The guy behind the counter actually just gave this to us gratis, when one of our orders took too long to heat up.  The pulpo was tender and tasty.

Fundacio Joan Miro, Barcelona

Fundacio Joan Miro

Centro d'Estudis d' Art Contemporani

Parc de Montjuic

08038 Barcelona

http://fundaciomiro-bcn.org/

Joan Miro (1893-1983) is DJKung's favorite artist.  There are a couple of his works in the permanent collection in MOMA that are hung prominently.  I confess that I never really had a deep understanding of his work.  I merely saw bold, childlike lines, elementary shapes and deep colors --- without really picking up what he was about. 

Fundacio Joan Miro is a museum/library dedicated to his work.  It is situated on Montjuic (quite close to where our apartment was, actually) and has, in essence, an encyclopedic collection of this work: paintings, tapestries, sculpture, ceramics, mobiles (he was good friends with Calder, the mobile dude). The museum is housed in a gorgeous all-white mid-century building.  The roof and the grounds have some sculptures about.  There are two floors, with a part of the first floor devoted to special exhibits.  The museum is not too big and not too small, and you can cover everything in about two-three hours.  Definitely take the audio tour.

Miro, like his contemporaries, really believed in the modernist movement.  But I think he was unsatisfied in the way that it was too cold and abstract, and so struck out on his own to find his own voice. You can tell that his work is unlike other modern pieces.  His is funny and playful, with birds and stars and suns.  His sculptures have a very warm and organic feel to them.  I think that's what good art is, developing your own identify.

This one looks like a woman with her arms outstretched.

Here's Superfatty next to the boy sculpture outside.  I love how he captured the wide eyes and waddling gait that toddlers have!

It is too bad that we could not take pictures inside.  There were quite a few massive and jaw-droppping works (there is a two-storey tapestry hanging by the entrance) that I do not think get to travel around to other museums. 

The special exhibit that they had at the time was an expertly-curated collection of Frantisek Kupka (1871-1957).  This was a loaner from Centre Pompidou, Paris.  DJKung and I were blown away by this awesome exhibit.  You've probably seen his work in museums elsewhere, but taken together, you get a real sense that he studied and grappled with his convictions as to what modern art should be about.  He was one of the pioneers of the abstract movement, but later broke off to explore his own styles. 

So this exhibit traces his roots as a fresh newbie from Bohemia who moved to Paris to be an artist.  At the time, Fauvism was popular, so you see that in his work.  It seems that he was a very curious, perhaps even obsessive, painter.  Over almost six decades, he developed distinct lines of study, I think there were about eight--- movement in space, biophysics, and sound among them.  Towards the end of life, he tried to unify all these theories.  This exhibit has fantastic examples of all of his different periods. 

Bicing Barcelona

Bicing

(Bike rentals in Barcelona)

Barcelona is a great biking city and has a lot of designated bike lanes. We saw a lot of these rental bikes.   I think because of it was winter, not many were in use. 

It looks like you get a prepaid card which allows you to use the bikes.  You tap your card on the screens and one of the numbered bikes gets unlocked.  The are many pick-up and drop-off locations on the street, so it is pretty convenient.  Some areas are more popular than others, so once in a while, Bicing vans pick up surplus bikes to deliver to bike-less areas.

Parc Guell, Barcelona

Parc Guell

Barcelona

Antonio Gaudi (1852-1926) is, I believe, Barcelona's favorite native son.  According to Wikipedia, he's part of the Modernist/Art Nouveau style.  I guess the best way to appreciate his work is to consider that for his time, his work was really revolutionary and quite "out there."   Another way to look at it is the fact that his designs were rather advanced for the technology they had back then (i.e., no design software, no computers).

Gaudi has other works scattered about town and you can easily spend a day or two visiting his work.

Parc Guell was initially designed as the rich crowd's pleasure park.   It is situated quite a ways from the downtown area and is on top of a hill, which gives it a great vantage point from which to view the city.  Nowadays, it is open to all and admission is free. 

His work is really either-you-like-him-or-you-don't...  What we saw here at Parc Guell was at turns whimsical, visionary,idiosyncratic, impractical, nightmarish, trippy, bizarre and elegant.  We'll leave it up to you to decide.

Detail of the three-dimensional cross.  Note the mosaic surface.

Roof detail.  See how wavy the crenellations and the roof surfaces are.  I like the crinkly appearance on the left.

Does this not look like a gingerbread house?

This vaguely reminds me of an underwater castle, something Neptune would have had.  I think the wavy lines and the trickling fountain in the center brought this image to mind.

The cut-off lizard to the right is Gaudi's mascot here.  You see this mosiac lizard in magnets and tchotchkes in the tourist shops downtown.

Going up the steps.

Inside the "temple" are a whole bunch of columns.  There is a cool illusion that makes the outside columns look like they are standing at an angle.

Where I am standing is the roof of the temple.  It is actually a large plaza with a sandy floor and plenty of mosaiced benches to sit on.

This structure is very cool, and appears to be solely made up of rocks mortared togather.  IT has a very scary effect.

This is the roof part.  The rock columns support planters of cacti, which adds to a primitive/paleolithic effect.

Parc Guell is massive and we were only table to take in a very small portion of it.  This looks like a lovely place for a picnic or a date when the weather is nice.  Despite the chilly weather, there were loads of tourists about.

Around Barrio Gotic (Barcelona)

Taverna del Bisbe


Sagardi
Argentina, 62
08003 Barcelona

+34-933-199-993


Barcelona, and the rest of Spain in general, is thought of as a summer destination. From the way the city is set up, it looks like it gets flooded with visitors seeking sun, fun and shopping.  


Christmastime is also a fun time to visit.  I think that you get a more intimate experience this time of the year. The city gets really involved for the holidays, and you can tell that they do it not just for the tourists, but also because they have a long tradition of sponsoring arts and cultural events.  And because it's Christmas!  There are a lot of outdoor stages with scheduled performances (the schedules and venues are well-advertised), not just in the touristy areas, but in the local shopping areas too. 


By the Sants area, we strolled around Christmas stalls and watched live belly dancing (out in the cold, no less).  The Ramblas/Barrio Gotic area, which is the historic section, gets decked out in pretty lights and has tons of craft shops, food shops and shows as well, so it was great walking around and taking in the festive atmosphere.  There were loads of tourists, and loads of locals doing their Christmas shopping.


After walking a bit, we stepped into Taverna del Bisbe for a quick beer and a light snack. 

DJKung ordered the bacalao, cod on a bed of tomatoes and olive oil.  

Window shopping is a lot of work!  After browsing at chess pieces, shoes at Tascon and candy-like jewelry at Majoral, we were ready for refueling.

Sagardi is a very cute place that serves tapas, hors d'oeuvres style.  The term they use is "pintxos donostiarras" and I was unable to come up with a good translation of this. 

After employing our rusty Spanish (Catalan is spoken here in Barcelona) and a few pantomined gestures, we figured out that you just help yourself from the plates in front of you. In the end, they count the number of toothpicks on your plate. 

Here's one of the selections.  It looks like crabmeat topped with a cherry tomato and a pickled pepper.

The entire bar had plates of these tapas and the lighting was simply gorgeous.  The top one looked like mozarella cheese and roasted pepper; the bottom one looked like tuna topped with a blade of chive.

Here's a trio that we got: pickled fish topped with lemon zest; jamon; chorizo.  Despite the bite-sized portions, they were remarkably filling washed down with some beer. 

I think DJKung is enjoying this too much.

After this light repast, we continued to stoll about and made it as far as Barcelonetta, which is the area close to the water.  It was a bit chilly out so we ducked into one of the old churches in the area, Catedral de Sta. Maria de Seu.  This is an old gothic-style church (circa 15th century, I think) with soaring pillars and stunning arches.  This church was just spectacular, and according to the guidebooks, the best church here in Barcelona, architecturally speaking. 

Not only did we get to warm ourselves in the church, but we also lucked out and got to see part of a live choir, with full-on orchestral music accompaniment.  It seemed that this was a really special performance because the church was packed and the event was being filmed for the evening news.  

Afterwards, we ducked into a small nondescript bar for dinner.  The food here was surprisingly good too. 

Squid legs in tomato sauce.  Very full of flavor, and I this this was canned squid too.

Fried little fishies.

Patatas fritas. 

Superfatty havin'a drink.  Yum!

Eatin' in La Boqueria (Barcelona)

Bar Boqueria
Inside La Boqueria, Barcelona

Was it still breakfast? Or lunch?  One of the great things here in Spain is that you can pop by a tapas bar and grab a quickie bite that is just enough to stave off hunger yet not ruin your appetite for later. 

I f anyone asks me to name a great tapas bar in Barcelona, I'd have absolutely no clue.  There are sooo many to pick from, in all price levels.  The beauty of it is that you can sit and have a bite, and if it is not to your liking, move on to the next place.

Bar Boqueria in La Boqueria (of course) serves a nice array of tapas in the medium price range.  Due to its location, there are tourists, of course.  It was nice to sit down and have  beer and a nibble.

Various tortillas on top, salads in the display case.

DJKung got an order of choricitos, which are tiny sausages the size of your pinkie finger..  He said that they tasted a lot like the Philippine spicy longganisa. 

II must have been craving breakfast food because I got eggs.   Here's a picture of my spinach tortilla. I wonder how many eggs go into making it?  Almost wanted to ask for ketchup, but did not dare.   The bread had a nice tomato and oil puree drizzle.

Strollin' at La Boqueria (Barcelona)

La Boqueria
Off of Las Ramblas, Barcelona
http://www.boqueria.info/

One of the best things to check out when away on holiday are the local markets.  You get to see a lot of locals going about their own business.  The markets also give you an idea of what people like to eat, which I think says a lot about them. The market is also a reflection of how vibrant the local economy and the local environment is in terms of the variety and quantity of produce offered. 

Barcelona has La Boqueria, a large covered market that has a lovely assortment of a lot of very gorgeous food. La Boqueria is extremely difficult to miss, being smack dab in Las Ramblas, the big tourist strip downtown. 

Entrance to La Boqueria.  There's just loads of people here, and I think it is quite prudent to be mindful of your belongings.

Jamon and various other cured meats.

Candy.

I love how these fruits are stacked up... so pretty!

School kiddies on a field trip.

Fruits and juice.

We saw about two of these egg stands.  I did not see those big white orbs in the left of the picture--- I wonder what they can be?

Wild mushrooms.  They also had some dried morels, which cost a fortune back home (if you can find them).  I was very tempted to sneak some of these guys back.

Cured meats and cheese.  The cheese selection here is  very different from what we saw in Borough Market (London), more semi-hard and hard cheeses.   I was expecting more of the runny and stinky cheeses given Barcelona's proximity to France. 

We stopped for some coffee at one of the small stalls.  DJKung got the hot chocolate (no churros because it was late).  See how thick it is!

Jamon, jamon, jamon. There were so many grades of this stuff and the array was just bewildering.  I wouln't mind sneaking back home a hoof r two.  It's going to look really nice in my kitchen and the furs I'm sure would love it.

Skinned goat heads.  I guess they use it for soup?  These reminded me of a food stall Jemma L'Fna in Marrakesh, whose specialty was goat brains (that stall had a display of goat craniums sliced open to show the innards)

Whatta load of tripe!  I think that's a nose on top?

Eatin' our way thru Placa de Sants (Barcelona)

Fo Bar

Placa de Sants

Bar S.OMY

Placa de Sants

So we started our days in Barcelona with an excellent cup or two of cafe con leche.    It's awesome espresso coffee with steamed/frothed milk.  We tended to end up in  Fo Bar, a cozy spot in Placa de Sants where students and locals like to hang out.  Nothing so chi-chi, no fancy airs, just good coffee. 

It's really true what they say about the cafe culture here in the continent... people do relax with their coffee, and just sit and talk, maybe read the paper.   The coffee is cheap, fresh and invariably excellent--- no fancy names, no thirty different variations to choose from, no marketing jabber.  I love it!

We've been dying for some chocolate y churros too, but we always woke up around noon, so we never got to have any.  Sigh. 

Two cups (demitasse) of cafe con leche and some excellent croissants.

Inside Fo Bar.  They do serve a couple of small bites too, mostly light snacks and sandwiches.

Another place we tried here at Placa de Sants is Bar S.OMY.  Unlike Fo Bar, this was a smarter, sleeker place.  The place was pretty quiet that night we went.

Murphy's Irish Red.  Harsh and gassy, did not like at all.  Beer in general did not seem like Barcelona's strong suit.  Not many places had San Miguels, which I think is the most decent local brew.  Most places only carried one type of beer on tap.

I liked how the tapas of the day was handwritten in a little scrap of paper. 

Breaded and fried camembert drizzled with a balsamic glaze.  It was crunchy on the outside, gooey on the inside.  Interesting combination of flavors.

Patatas S.OMY.  There was some meat-based filling in it.  DJKung liked it a lot.

DJKung got the hamburger.  It was actually quite small, but rather tall too.  Look at how lovely the crackle on the top of the bun is!  DJKung quite liked the hamburger and said that the meat had a lot of flavor.