Monday, March 26, 2007

Barcelona Blues



I have a love hate relationship with Barcelona. It is a beautiful city with so many textures that I am constantly in awe. The problem is while in "awe" you are always in danger of having your pocket picked or bag stolen! My sister caught a man with his hand in her pocketbook on the metro. I saw a man put his shopping bag down to light a cigarete and in that brief second another man picked it up from behind him and casually walked across the street. Finally while waiting for the bus to go to the airport my husband walked a few yards away from me and a "team" surrounded me an made off with the one bag I couldn't physically sit on! Very scary - a big scream scattered thm but my carryon bag went with them. They ran into a covered parking lot - not a place I'd chase anyone.

Up until then it had been a very good trip. The buildings are fantastic. Everything from modern through gothic and everything in-between! We didn't get in until late so after having a glass of wine with my sister and her husband at the guest house we went straight to bed. The next morning we went on a double-decker bus tour. It is a good way to get an overview of the city. We went up to Park Guell to see some of Gaudi's work. It is wild. The window in the photo is a small example of his work. The small circles are made up of tile mosaics. His work is very rooted in natural lines and uses very organic materials. I loved it my DH was very disturbed by it! I used my sketch book a lot. So many inspirational designs all around...unfortunely the book was in the bag...hope they liked it. (not!)



That night we went out to a tapa bar with my neice who is going to unversity in Barcelona. We were all very hungery and the table was covered with lots of small dishes. My favorite of all was the little warm chocolate volcano we had for dessert!


The next day we continued on the bus tour. This time we spent a bit more time appreciating other Gaudi buildings. We also went to the Picasso museum (interesting note - he was a contemporary of Gaudi and really disliked his work.)

Across the street was a Textile museum that looked very interesting but we were too hungery to stop....After the museum we had lunch near a church called Santa Maria del Mar. Food in Barcelona was very good.


There is a trio of buildings that showcase Barcelona modenista. We must have gone back to them a half a dozen times. Dh couldn't decide if he loved or hated them. The photo on the left only got the one by Gaudi. It is covered by different colored green - blue broken tiles. As the light changes the building seems to change color as well.
Well blog has decided I've posted enough photos! more later.


11 comments:

Fiona said...

I am envious, Barcelona is one of those European cities I've always wanted to visit but never quite got there. Sadly, I think pickpockets are at large in most cities these days.

Unknown said...

Barcelona was the one destination DH and I didn't make with our travelling friends group as we were just back from France and had absolutely no money - it's on my to do list - he has been since but only briefly with work. Fiona is right pickpockets are prevalent in lots of large cities but I must say I've never heard storied as bad as the one about your bags - kind of puts you off doesn't it - suppose the moral of the story is take one very big bag and keep hold of it at all times

Tonya Ricucci said...

Hmm, maybe that explains something: I LOVE Gaudi and hate Picasso. Thanks for the wonderful pics and glad your trip was generally wonderful. So sorry about your carryon bag tho - hope they didn't make off with anything irreplaceable. I know Paris is thick with thieves as well -not good.

Lois R. said...

Barcelona sounds wonderful -- except for the thieves! So glad you had a good time aside from the lost baggage. The tile work is beautiful!

Quilts And Pieces said...

Wow! The pictures you took are wonderful! How beautiful those buildings are. Wow, how scarey about the pick-pockets though - it is a shame.

CONNIE W said...

Thank you for the interesting 'tour' of Barcelona. I'm so sorry that 'they' made off with your bag...how awful for you. I've been told to be watchful when visiting Rome as well. At least you were not harmed.

Mrs. Goodneedle said...

I understand the love/hate thing... conflicting feelings torment me sometimes; had a similar experience to yours in Milan a few years ago. Glad you're OK. Loved your photos, thanks for taking us along!

Clare said...

I could have sworn I posted a comment but it seems to have disappeared. Is Barcelona all Gaudi and Picasso, or is there any Dali? Only wondering as he didn't live that far away. Thanks for the tour and the lovely photos. Really sad about your bag. Funnily enough, I feel safe in Bordeaux.

Shelina said...

I agree with you about Barcelona.
We had a team who took my friend's purse, but that was in Madrid. Barcelona is such a gorgeous and interesting and unique city though and well worth going to.

Unknown said...

Very interesting article. I really enjoyed reading. I visited Barcelona once. The works of Antoni Gaudi dominate the city of Barcelona. Though the city is both modern and cosmopolitan in nature, it has a rich history in architecture and the arts. The Sagrada Familia is probably the most well known of Gaudi’s works, and is known as a symbol of Barcelona across the entire world.
Barcelona has a good infrastructure and welcome for tourists. . Also I liked that Barcelona hotels is not expensive and offering free transfer from airport.
There 7 beautiful beaches and a lot of parks, which I liked very much. It is really amazing city with it's own magic atmosphere!

Unknown said...

Very interesting article. I'm also going to visit Barcelona. And I read a lot of information about this city. I know that almost whole of Barcelona is 'made by' one architect named Gaudi. His inspiration of shapes from the nature made him put all his ideas into buildings, making almost the whole Barcelona looks amazing. His masterpieces are really great and become visit card of Barcelona.