Diving into Barcelona

Buenos Noches Readers:

Wow - what a city! So many highlights today and I will try my best to capture them succinctly.

My morning started with a run through and around the Jardins de Joan Maragall (a park) in Montjuic. More a series of sculpture gardens, the park had me twisting and turning up a steep hill. The sites were cool, but not so ideal for a focused run due to the number of dead ends. Fortunately the run down hill was more familiar and even. Over breakfast back at Casa de Billy I shmoozed with a couple other guests while also mapping out my day. Right before I departed I thought to take a couple of photos of the guest house - good thing since I discovered the my camera's memory card was "write-protected." Having no idea what this meant I spent the next 20 minutes battling with my camera and memory card. I finally relented, asking the guest house proprietor for a referral to a photo shop. One block away and three minutes later the problem was solved (raise your hand if you felt like a goofball!).

To start the day I purchased a two-day pass on a double decker tourist bus ... the kind that goes all throughout the city with some amount of narration (choose your language and snap on headphones), allowing you to get on and off at your own pace. We started in Montjuic ("Hill of the Jews") and passed by the Fundacio Miro (a gift from artist Joan Miro), a few museums, the park mentioned above and one of the sport stadiums built for the Olympic Games in 1996. We then wrapped around towards the port, where cruise ships lined the marina and a small handful of interesting sculptures and buildings were located. I hopped off the bus in Port Olimpic, and walked over to the wonderful section of Barcelona known as Barceloneta, home to a beautiful beach, peer, marina and twisting cobblestone mini-town. By this point the weather shifted to a warm low 70's and, while the morning was rushed, I finally begane to feel like I was on vacation. I decided to try one of the seafood restaurants recommended in my guidebook - La Mar Salada - and was not disappointed. When I arrived, a couple of the staff were in the middle of a photo shoot featuring their food, which was interesting to observe. Over a delicious sole and glass of white wine I relaxed and began to read The Shadow of the Wind, set in 1940's Barcelona. Life was great.

I took a long walk along the beach back to the bus stop, and boarded the tour bus out of Port Olimpic and into Ciutat Vella (old city) and El Barri Gotic (the Gothic Quarter). I hopped off near the Palau de la Musica Catalana, Barcelona's fascinating Music Palace. The building stands out in this older district with its Moderniste architecture. It is a looming building with bright colors, great stained glass and elegance. I then walked further up into Eixample, marked by many architectural landmarks from Gaudi and others. As I walked up the Passeig de Gracia I passed the row of Casa Lleo Morera by Domenech i Montaner, Casa Amatller by Josep Puig i Cadafalch and Casa Batlio by Gaudi. I then walked a few more blocks to Casa Mila, a mansion also know as La Padrera by Gaudi. Here I purchased a ticket, signed up for an abbreviated audio tour and entered the mans. It was awesome - done in such an open, creative style. That Gaudi was really onto something. The highlight of La Pedrera is the rooftop, styled in a wavy manner.

To end the afternoon I walked back down the to pedestrian-type mall of La Rambla. This street is to Barcelona as 3rd Street is to Santa Monica and Ben Yehuda is to Jerusalem (or, better yet, as Rothschild is to Tel Aviv). Bustling with walkers, street performers and kiosks of pet birds for sale (yes, you read that right!), La Rambla is a happening place. If you head towards the bottom you can veer off into La Boqueria, a beautiful food market featuring stands with fresh produce, fish, meats, eggs, and ... juice! Yes, La Boqueria is probably one of the world's best juice bar markets featuring many combos in perfectly sized cups for about 1 Euro each (approximately $1.35). I feasted on a goblet of Blackberry-Banana juice that definitely hit the spot, purchased some produce and snapped many pictures. By this point in the afternoon I needed a bit of downtime, and walked back to Casa de Billy to catch up on e-mail and writing over some tea and fruit.

During the evening I met up with my new friend Natanya, with whom I connected thanks to Ramah-friend Jeff Zack. Natanya and Jeff met when they were on Nativ in the mid 90's, and Natanya recently moved to Barcelona from Northern California, and is teaching English, traveling and (re-)exploring her acting roots. With an insider in the lead, Natanya and I took a walk and settled into an outside table at a plaza resteraunt to drink wine, people watch and get to know each other. She was great - interesting and full of good tips. A couple hours later we resumed our walk, stopped in at a "speak-easy" type of private club and went our separate ways. Thank you Jeff!

Okay, time to crash!

For more photos click here.

Adios,

Zach