España es impresionante

Spain

February 2013

8th - 21st

Barcelona

Public Service Announcement:  The beginning is a bit gripy - but after the next picture it is sunshine and unicorns. Soldier through, or skip it if you must, but it gets good!

So 5 weeks after Thailand, I found myself Europe bound, and I needed the holiday! The closer I get to the end of my time in the Middle East, the more taxing it seems to become. I spent the last two weeks of term battling a cold (the constant air conditioning means I have at least one a term) and dragging myself through the 5 weeks of school like it was 20.

However! I was set for two weeks in Spain, only 5 months after my first visit, and I was extremely excited. I was to be visiting a friend an hour south of Barcelona by train - I met Ryan during the summer and he is working on a super yacht moored in (a Qatari owned, of course) Tarragona marina.

This trip was to be a fairly big travelling change for me. My usual way of doing things is typically highly organised - detailed itineraries, accommodation booked weeks in advance... very, um... LINDA of me. This time I had booked the flights within a week of returning from Thailand, as motivation and a reward and had done nothing else. At all. 

3 days out, I skyped Ryan and we found a fairly cheap apartment in the Gothic Quarter for two nights in Barcelona and we threw that on his credit card, and before I knew it I was on the plane with no plans, bar the adamant desire to 'do the Sagrada Familia' properly this time.

I arrived in Barcelona and everything went bad. Very bad. I decided to get a Spainish SIM for my phone, and so at 1.30 I hopped of the bus at Plaça de Catalunya and headed to the tourist info booth, conveniently located about 50m from the stop. Directed into El Corte Inglés, I went up seven flights in the massive department store to be told that they didn't have SIM's for the iPhone 5 and to go over the road to the bigger cell store. On the way, I went to get 100 Euro out of an ATM of a big international bank I used countless times during the summer and it never spat out my money. (I have yet to get it back - but the bank does keep promising.) Frustrated by now, I took a picture of the ATM in an attempt to gather evidence about it stealing my money - there was not even a number to call, even if I could have. 

The biggest problem here was that I needed a working phone to access the address where we were staying, and Google maps to help me get there. After trying countless more phone shops and not getting up enough courage to try another ATM I finally found my way to the street where we were staying at 4.30, thoroughly fed up with my suitcase, and glad I only had packed about 13 kg (NOT a lie!). After using up the 70 Riyal on my Qatari Sim, I managed to contact Ryan and he rang the hosts of our apartment and replied telling me they would be there at 5.

I staggered into the corner cafe with my suitcase and haggard expression, and asked for a water and a coffee. Through a bit of Spanish and a lot of sign language I comprehended I needed to spend 10 Euro if I wanted to use my card, so I bought a doughnut, an spinach quiche, a croissant and a fresh orange on top of what I wanted and set about waiting for the keys, while being told off in Spanish for wearing my Birkenstock jandals in the middle of winter.

Despite being driven to the point of insanity, I was pretty optimistic. I decided to see the entire episode as a rapid and brutal accumulation of good karma and that this meant the rest of the holiday would be pretty much perfect. And, despite me later spilling an entire glass of beer on my Mac book, I was right. Incidentally  my computer is still working perfectly. Woo Apple!

When Ryan turned up with his lovely girlfriend Veronica, we headed out for crepes (yes) and alcohol IN a restaurant (love). The next day, Veronica headed back to work and Ryan and I headed into the big city. Ryan had some loose ends to tidy up after graduating his Yacht Masters, so we headed to the sailing club for a bit then bought me some gorgeous new shoes that would EAT my feet and some lunch. WITH BACON.

Heading up La Ramblas we stopped in a few shops and I introduced Ryan to the delight that is the Zara clothing store and he spent lots of money. We explored La Boqueria, a huge food market.

It wasn't just the stalls dripping in pork, salami and Jamón that reminded me that I wasn't in the Middle East any more!

The next day we caught the train down to Tarragona. We checked on the boat Ryan works on (Swan 80, for those interested) and headed up the hill to the old town.

The old church at the very top of the hill is an 11 century Roman Catholic church, the former site of a Visigothic cathedral and a Moorish mosque. The Romanesque cathedral had impressive statues lining the facade in a style that was leaning towards the gothic era, and a huge rear cloister ringed with clementine trees dripping in fruit. It was beautiful.

There were also several Roman ruins that date back to Year 0, including the ruins of a forum, a remarkably well preserved amphitheatre and several statues.

It was pretty hard to hold a regular sized G&T in Spain with one hand. Woot!

After a lazy day, Ryan and I hired a little red VW Polo and I adjusted to the left-hand drive in agonizing slowness, while trying desperately to understand roadsigns in Spanish, and the over-abundance of traffic lights that meant anything to "keep driving at full speed, even though I am continuously flashing orange" to "give way, even though I am red", AND follow a map. It was overwhelming, but I got it in the end. While Ryan worked, I drove down the coast to Salou and managed to find a few amazing views over the Mediterranean. Being in firm holiday mode, with a firmer Spanish twist I only managed to get going for the day at about 11am, so by the time I get to the little town of Salou, it is siesta-ing and no-one and nothing was around or awake, so I headed back to Tarragona and talked Ryan into going to Montserrat the next day.

Montserrat is a mountain that towers over the surrounding countryside, just one hour from Barcelona, and it's one hell of a drive. I chanted "stay on the right, stay on the right" as I threw the wee Polo around the corners. I hadn't driven a car since selling my Lola a year and a half ago in New Zealand, and I was loving being in control of a vehicle again. 

I might buy me one of these. In 10 years, when I can afford it.

Halfway to the top of the hill we stopped off at a cute wee church that caught our eye and messed around with Ryan's severely overpriced camera.

The view up to the top.

Ryan and me. Ryan is on the left, in case you needed the hint :)

Looking down the valley, before getting lost in the clouds.

We played around with Ryan's exposure settings - you can see me "running" through the church - if you look carefully you can see about 5 of my feet, and Ryan, doing his gentleman's pose.

When we had finally wended our way to the top of the hill we bought the outrageously overpriced fernicular tickets to the very, very top of the mountain and headed into the low cloud bank to see the tiny little monasteries perched on the cliffs. The heavy hanging cloud meant that the famous views were completely restricted, but as we walked through the mists the incredible landscape slowly revealed itself and it added a fantastical element to the ancient site that I really enjoyed.

The outrageously steep staircase to the remains of the cliffside monastery.

The aforementioned remains.

The view down.

The obstructed view,  and me wearing Ryan's jacket. I, of course, lacked any practical clothes for a winter environment, and therefore played heavily on Ryan's chivalry while he shivered in his little woolen jersey.

A further example of my lack of seasonal wardrobe. I got told off quite verbosely by a Spanish woman in Barcelona for inappropriate footwear. Turns out my feet just don't get cold, which was handy (heh, or footy. Get it!?).

It was pretty steep.

AH I AM FALLING!! Hehe.

At the base of the furnicular is the main tourist area and the famous Benedictine abbey, Santa Maria de Montserrat. According to an Arthurian myth, the Holy Grail is concealed within the abbey, and due to it's fame, the entire mountain is the namesake of a Caribbean island.

Haha - Jesus is playing Han Solo.

Look - we are the same!

The next time Ryan was working, I headed to Mont Blanc. Not the mountain in France, but the medieval village built on a hill with incredible history. It has caves that have evidence of human habitation dating back to Palaeolithic times. In the first few centuries the Santa Bàrbara hill was occupied by Iberians and Romans, who were invaded by the Moors in 711AD. Later, Muslims, Christians and Jews all lived together on the hill in a period of peace and posterity in which the fortified town was built.

The sign for a pet store.

On the way home I stopped at the Poblet Monastery with the Royal Abbey of Santa Maria de Poblet. The sprawling Cistercian monastery was founded in 1151 at the feet of the Prades Mountains and is a remarkably beautiful site. I was lucky enough to visit it while it was nearly deserted. It was just me and a French tour group, and one very friendly cat.

The elevated marble graves were a lovely, creepy accent in the gloomy and austere chapel.

The incredibly modern 'dragon' handrail is original to the 1100's building.

All too soon, I said bye to the super yacht and Ryan and headed back to Barcelona to stay in the most gorgeous boutique hotel two blocks from Plaça de Catalunya. I decided to splurge a bit, justifying it as my last trip before going home, and the last trip I have planned in the foreseeable future (SUPER SAD FACE). Anyway, the Hotel Palacete was a decadent, floral masterpiece  with frills, flounces and chandeliers. The William Morris wallpaper was perfect and the little hooks in the bathroom had hand painted flowers, and it was, above all, clean!!

Oh, and it also had 24 hour beer on tap. Free.

Having saved the touristy stuff for when Ryan wasn't around to be bored by it, my first stop was La Pedrera, or Casa Milà (in Catalan). This is a mere house, but it is designed by the incredible Antoni Gaudí. 

Hopefully you know who that is - he completey defined Barcelona and the Catalan Modernism movement with his incredible architectural style. Transcending mainstream modernisim, Gaudí drew inspiration from nature and focussed unerringly on every single detail of his creations. He patented new techniques that fit his vision and incorporated crafts that used ceramics and stained glass into his essentially organic and completely unique aesthetic  He worked mainly from miniature models rather than drawings and did this in such fastidious detail that his currently unfinished 'magnum opus' - La Sagrada Família will be almost exactly as he intended when it is completed.

La Pedrera is incredible inside and out. The facade has been created from undulating stone with columns reminiscent of large bones, and balconies embodying skulls. The entire building is a flowing mass of curves, following the rule that 'mother nature doesn't build in straight lines", even the windows are un-uniform. The inspiration and theme is derived from the sea and was where he used the revolutionary catenary arch for the first time.

The inner curve of the stairs was designed to look like the spine of some huge mythical sea creature.

The ceilling, of course, could not be flat, and was sculpted to look like a whirlpool.

These strange columns are not load bearing, and were placed here to diffuse the light coming in from the rooftop.

The roof at the front is like the resting body of a dragon, and the huge ceramic four-armed cross (one of the most recurring symbols in Gaudí's work) was orginally smooth and unblemished, but was damanged during transportation, much to Gaudí's pleasure, as he believed it fit in much better with the organic concept he was aiming for. 

The incredible bay windows were designed for the home owners to "see and be seen".

The exterior at night is stunning in a new way.

The next day I bought my La Sagrada Família tickets online and walked through the city to the famed basilica. I had dropped in during the summer trip, but the rushed visit had not done it justice. This time I had hours up my sleeve and I was getting the works - audio guide, trip up the tower, everything. And as usual, when hitting a huge, famous, incredible landmark, anticipation bubbled in me like a stew in the oven.

Some incredible architecture presented itself on the way, and I stopped just long enough to take a quick photo.

And there it was. (Again. And just as awe inspiring as the first time.)

I arrived at 8.55 for my 9am reservation (love the internet) and walked past the 45 minute queue, went straight in the gate and whooshed up to the tallest tower.

The view, spectacular.

You can see the stone is rough hewn - another example of getting away from the straight line.

This dude was just hanging there, about 70m in the air. This is the first example of the Passion Façade - the austere, cold and angular forms evoke the saddest and most traumatic period of Jesus' life. The other 3 façades focus on other periods, and have other design elements to characterise them.

The pinnacles are again inspired by nature, with dates, strawberries and blueberries!

This is an easy one - what shape does this remind you of? On a side note, these verged on terrifying to walk down - with space for one foot, and a plummeting hole at feet level, and your balance thrown off by the dizzying effect of descent.

More of the Passion Façade.

The inside. Gaudí was vehemently against the traditional darkness inside churches and worked incredibly hard to ensure the light streamed into every crevasse, but was diffused by the incredible and unique stained glass windows.

The columns were designed after Gaudí extensively studied the formation of trees, using an inverted hanging model, which used gravity to do something fancy that I understand, but not well enough to articulate here.

You can see the incredible light here - even the high ceilings do not disappear into darkness.

The Nativity Façade. As you can see it is very different to the Passion side - much more ornate, gentle and natural. I think it looks like the stone has naturally grown this way.

After my fill of Gaudí's magnificence, I walked the streets of Gracía, the alternative and arty district full of delicious boutique shops.

After wandering through the shops that were open during siesta (NOT my favourite Spanish tradition) I made it back down to the coast and dropped in on the Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de Barcelona, a 14th century gothic masterpiece just off Las Ramblas. Im not sure if I was getting tired, but I was uninspired by the clearly fabulous church. I might just have seen too many similar ones in the last year. Regardless, it was a must see and I was glad I did.

I was flying out direct at 3pm, and decided to get up crazy early and negotiate the bus/metro/seriously-steep-hill-climb to the Parc Guell, despite it being another spot I visited less than 6 months before. I loved how different it was in the early morning, especially without the overwhelming summer crowds.

Loved finally getting this shot - one I tried and failed to get last time!

Oooo wish I wore better eye make up for this shot - the famous Barcelona lizard.

I took this one as a homage to a summer shot (below).

And this was the last shot of my trip. Think it was a good one.

I'm not going to lie, at this point I was feeling blue. I was fully aware that I had nothing planned travel wise for the very looong foreseeable future and I do. not. like. that. I did not want to go back to the Doha Dust Bowl. I am looking forward to going back home for a bit, but I want to ALWAYS have some exciting escape planned for the future. Something to work towards, I guess.

On a more exciting note - Spain gets my huge up vote and is firmly on my return-to list!