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As the second largest city in Spain, Madrid being the largest, Barcelona is a true world class giant. This was our fourth visit to this Catalonia gem on the Mediterranean coast. The city dates back to the Neolithic times and founded by the Romans at the end of the 1st century. Barcelona is unique due to the landscape diversity of beautiful Mediterranean beaches to the east, cosmopolitan city in the center and lush mountains to the west all within a short driving distance. Our first time there, a number of years ago, we stayed for a week in a large condo apartment along one of the narrow street veins at Placa de Reial which is directly off the famous La Rambla. On this visit we stayed just west of La Rambla in the L Eixample neighborhood on Carrer d ‘Aribau. We had good access to local busses and cabs when our feet were too worn out to walk. The L Eixample is the home to some of the city’s finest Modernist architecture, the neighborhood has many bars and restaurants, as well as designer and high-end shopping. Our apartment was right next door to the oldest bookstore in the city, Libreria Alemana Fabre. The quaint shop was renovated into a children’s book and toy store. The owner, a German man, accounts for books not only being in the Spanish but German as well. We found a creative little toy for our younger grandson and the E.T. book, in Spanish, for our older grandson. He is in a Spanish emersion program in school and we thought this would be a perfect read for him.
Barcelona is broken up into ten districts with each one having barrios (neighborhoods) within. One thing you can find in everyone of them is tapas. With that in mind, you would never find yourself hungry and not be able to find a place to satisfy your appetite in the city. The cost vs quality of the tapas is nominal and tasty. That means for a few Euro you can eat and have some wine and a beer without denting your wallet. Quality and presentation leave nothing to be desired. We usually stay away from tapas in the States due to high prices for so so tiny eats on your plate. Multiply that by additional high prices for libation and it makes a lot of sense to wait to have your tapas until you get to Spain and Portugal. Our diet, while staying in Barcelona, consisted mostly of tapas, wine and beer. The pastries and gelato are also splendid, but we were really good and limited our consumption to avoid physical expansion. Speaking of wine, Spain has some of the finest wine varietals being the third largest grower and producer in the world. The country, as a whole, boasts over two-million acres of vineyards. We drank wine, both red and white, from many of the regions in the country. Spain currently has 70 government approved wine regions such as Catalunya, Rias Baixas, Ribera del Duero, Priorat, Rueda, Jumilla, Bierzo, Cava and Jerez. Popular indigenous red varietals include Tempranillo (which has many local derivations), Cariñena, Garnacha, Monastrell and Mencia. Popular indigenous whites include Albariño, Verdejo, Macabeo, Xarel-lo and Paralleda (the latter three comprising the ingredients to sparkling Cava), Moscatel, Godello and Airèn. Palomino and Pedro Ximinez are the primary grapes of Sherry. Now, we could have, but, we did not sample all of these varietals! Our favorites were the Monastrell, Garnacha, Tempanillo and Albarino. Everywhere we were you could get a nice glass of Rioja for about 3 Euro. Sure beats 9 bucks plus here in the States. If a cold brewskis is your pleasure, Estrella Damm is served everywhere. It is the oldest commercial beer in Barcelona, established in the 1800’s. Like most places in Europe breakfast is not the typical eggs, bacon, potatoes and toast as served in the States. Over the top pastry, fruit and coffee are the breakfast of champions. Not to forget mentioning is the cheese. Spanish cheese-making traditions go back thousands of years and range from creamy raw cow’s milk, Arzúa, to the sharp aged blends of sheep’s milk in cured Manchego. Spanish cheese runs the gamut of texture and taste. We delighted in jumping into the gamut pallet first as we paired these wonderful cheeses with wine, crusty fresh breads, Iberian ham which is the gold standard in Spain and Portugal. Just remembering the explosions of flavor is making us hungry. When you speak of Barcelona you have to include Antoni Gaudi i Cornet, a Spanish architect known as the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernism. Gaudi’s works have a highly individualized, one-of-a-kind style. Most are located in Barcelona, including his main work, the church of the Sagrada Familia. Gaudi’s work was influenced by his passions in life: architecture, nature, and religion. He considered every detail of his creations and integrated into his architecture such crafts as ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging. You see expressions of his work throughout the city with the Sagrada Familia, a magnificent church, being one of the most visited attractions in the city. We had been there on a previous visit and did not go this time around. We did go to Casa Batlo, the Gaudi House Museum, for a tour. It was crowded and interesting. Not our favorite architectural style but visually impressive none the less. Being more into geometric sharp lines the extreme roundness and angles of the structure outside and out left us with expressions of wow. No doubt, he was a brilliant artist with a surreal style leaving us with somewhere between a LSD trip and an over exposure to tequila experience. Hey, that’s why in art there is a style for every personal taste, bravo Gaudi. The architecture that melted our butter and does wherever we travel is ”old world” style and Barcelona has plenty of it. Catalan Gothic and Modernist architecture captured us like cheese in a mouse trap. The detail and geometric angles are what does it. Combining that with the extremely narrow streets in the Old City in Barcelona, The Ciutat Vella, is enchanting. Wandering the streets brings you back to centuries gone by. Listen carefully and breath deeply along the way and magically you are there with the artisans and populous of by gone times. Occasionally running our hands across the exterior of a building and the cobblestone beneath our feet inject old world energy into the experience. If you pine to see the Mediterranean Sea, take a ten-minute city bus ride to the playa (beach). The beaches in Barcelona are white sand and wide with the brilliantly colored Sea beckoning swimmers, waders, surfers and onlookers to take it all in. The beach area was people watching heaven. People get around on foot or on very popular electric two wheeled scooters. If a more relaxing ride is your fancy, you could flag down a bicycle driven rickshaw. These men and women will peddle you all over the place. Imagine, you’re totally relaxed, a canvas canopy over your head, the wind blowing through your hair, or lack thereof, a drink in hand as your imagination slowly drifts. Lulled into peaceful submission by your calming senses, thoughts of where life’s mysterious adventures will transport you next materialize in smile inducing vignettes.
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About UsTravel is living life to its fullest. Sharing our journey and adventures create memories that live on as we truly enjoy the passage of time Archives
October 2022
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