The sun does not rise until 8 am in Spain. I am looking at the reflection of the sunrise in the windows of the high rise towers miles down the coast. The some of the buildings are monstrous; I would hate to stay there. Here, across the bay, the hillsides are white with houses and apartments. They are like white blossoms on a bush, not much else can be seen on the slope, except some greenery from brush in between the condos. It is pretty in a way, but one cannot believe how many people must be here when the season is high? I am thinking I will go down to the bay below me and swim tomorrow morning; I have not made it into the water in any location in Spain this year. I’d like to say I swam in the Mediterranean Sea four years running. But tomorrow is my last chance.
We must leave early for Barcelona. I am not too excited about the day. First, we must drive an hour to Figueres. Find the train station there.Then take a fast train into Barcelona. Probably a 2.5 hour effort. I am concerned that we will be overwhelmed in Barcelona. It is big and the sites are spread out. We will only have until 7:30 p.m., when our train returns. I have decided that the main reason to take on Barcelona at all is Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia Basilica. We will consider the day a success if we meet our commitment to see the Sagrada Familia, which is like seeing the pyramids.
We make the train, but are glad we practiced the trip yesterday and bought our tickets in advance. Slightly less pressure. This is the first high speed train I have been on. Ana notices a sign that says it is going 200 km per hour…over 100 mph. You do not feel the speed. Though when we do see cars driving on a nearby expressway, the train is shooting past them.
While the ride is smooth and quiet, and the longer views are fine, but looking at the objects passing close up tends to make you sick. The novelty of the trip quickly wears off and I turn to a book I am reading to kill the time.
The train station is easy enough and we get a cab without problems. The ride to the Sagrada Familia is quite long. I am very glad not to be at the wheel of the car, as the traffic is fast and constant. The cab jerks along the buildings fly by. Vespa drivers weave in and out, cheating the cars and betting their lives as often as possible. We arrive very early as planned and have an okay lunch at a cafe several blocks from the church. Lunch is a good way to kill the time, as we need to be at the entrance at 1:15 p.m. sharp for our tickets to be honored so we need to do something but can’t go far.
The crowds are massive, even under control. The church gives you an audio guide, so you can go at your pace bumping elbows with others as you go. I have seen many cathedrals, but all are relatively ancient and are impressive in that way. This one is truly different and not gummed up with lots of old statues in side chapels that have come to bore me completely. It is refreshing to see a “modern” approach to an old subject. Gaudi is traditionally religious, portraying the life of Christ throughout the exterior and interior of the church. But it is nice to see a new take on the architecture of a cathedral, including two spiral staircases leading to a massive choir loft high above the church floor.
The rococo splendor of the older cathedrals is missing, but the elegant forest of support pillars, designed to feel like trees is truly special. Surprisingly, the stained glass is simple in design, though extremely colorful, with hot orange tones to the west and cool blues to the east. Light filters in far better than most of the older churches. The Sagarada Familia is a bright and open place, and that seems to lift the ceiling skyward. The exterior with its towers and modernist design is a true landmark and the flow of people to see this building, even in an unfinished state, speaks to the impression it makes both from a distance and close up.
It is hard to leave the basilica, but one does get tired of looking up. When we do, we decide to cab to Cantalonia Square where we can begin to walk the La Rambla. This is a 3/4 mile boulevard, mostly free of car and other traffic. Eventually, it flows down to the Barcelona harbor. We start walking at the square, which is large and open and circled by large companies and banks. But the large open plaza pushes the city back and gives a feeling of space and grace to the location. The floor of the square is covered with hundreds of pigeons. The walk about with ownership and fly only a short distance when disturbed. A five-year old on a lark runs through the carpet of birds and they part like a boat’s wake on the water and then as quickly as possible close the space made by the running child. We walk among the birds and find the head of the La Rambla across the street.
It is Barcelona’s tourist Mecca. A place where you can walk without the disturbance of heavy traffic. Vendor stalls and cafes fill the broad walkway and larger stores line the outside of the street. You can drift into a restaurant or down a side street. We do and stop at a cafe for a beer and a break. A sign inside says in English, a meal without wine is called breakfast. Sums it up here.
Returning to the boulevard, we walk a bit more and then drift of on a side street again into a beautiful large square. Full of people and cafes. Europe just being Europe. Back on the walkway, we see a crowd filling an adjacent alley. Further inspection produces the entrance to a large food market with more than 100 stalls hawking fruit, fish, meats, wines, cheeses, candies and baked goods, you name it. The stalls are glorious with colors. One hundred cups of mixed fruits on a blanket of ice ready to be purchased for a euro. More cheeses than one cares to know about stacked high. Gelato, candies, pastries. A bar where you can drink and sit to eat snacks gathered from nearby vendors. First we stop at a pinchos stand and by a good and greasy stick of grilled mini sausages that we share outside the market and then go back in for something like a beef burrito which tastes wonderful. We are served it by some young women standing in front of a sign showing the founders, old women from the 1920, smiling with pride from the past. The stand a family business passing down the decades. We cruse through the fish market area and take a course on the seafood we’ve been eating. Four kinds of shrimp, gambas being the biggest. Many varieties of whole fish ready to go home and look the diners in the eye.
We are back on the street and pass a sketch artists selling 5 minute portraits. They are not bad. Others selling paintings. Ana’s eye is caught by a gold statue of a winged woman. It is a street performer pretending to be a metal statue and making you think twice. We walk out on a pier and look at some yachts when the La Rambla ends at a large circle honoring Christopher Columbus. The harbor is full of boats to ride and has a cable car going across is for no apparent reason. We relax a bit here and plan our return to the train station. Another wild cab ride get us there, but makes it clear the train station is no short trip to the visitors locales. It is a subway hub, so a serious attempt at this city would probably require studying the underground system or being willing to fork out a lot of cab fare.
We should have stayed in Barcelona. We considered it, but it just didn’t fit into our trip well. One could fly there, spend some days, and then rent a car at the airport to move on. Perhaps another time?
We exit the train and drive back to Roses about 10 p.m. We discuss dinner and when we see a parking space, very rare, along the water front we take it and choose what seems to be a busy restaurant. The place specializes in grilled meats and after struggling with the menu, not quite able to tell how the food will be prepared, we order. Me lamb chops and Ana tries a Spanish blood sausage that is mostly filed with rice and reminds her of a Puerto Rican style sausage. Both dishes are served with grill fresh vegetables. We are both pleased with our meals. Different than what we have been eating.
European Trip 2019 