Ola!
If you want to sit on the beach, relax your brain and not be disturbed till your holiday ends, don't come to Barcelona!
Don´t
get too confused that every second place name here includes
the words 'la ramblas:' this literally means 'the rambles'and is a
fair description of the central city. The buildings here have been
layered for thousands of years. Today they are so densely
packed that if they didn´t support each other they look like they
would topple over!
This place is jam packed with so much adventure that the other day a
friend
commented, 'One day's experience in Barcelona is worth at
least a week anywhere else in Spain!´ Barcelona pays particular
attention to the
little details and ensures that every spare square of space is
intricately devoted to arts, culture and the curious. Just walking
through the city can be an adventure in itself; intricately engraved
pavement stones,
acrobatics being practised on the beach, strange gargoyles
staring forebodingly down from the Cathedral turrets and even the
imaginative human statues on La Ramblas. Keep your eyes peeled because
some of the most
interesting sights are not marked out on any city maps. For example,
down a dingy alleyway in
the densely populated Moroccan barrio I found the ruins of a second
century Roman cistern currently being excavated.
On the
way to meet
some friends for coffee I stumbled across the cathedral dedicated to St
Augustine. Inside there were the most interesting depictions of Jesus
in agony
on the cross, as a benevolent child, as the saviour on the ass, as an
African, as a European and most remarkably, as a strong young man just
walking down the street like any you could pass today. This artwork
was so intricate, purposeful and extravagant, especially compared with
the streets outside, that you could almost feel the devotion this
cathedral inspired. If you could imagine being an impoverished serf
from the
fourteenth century; limited food and health care, no prospects and the
mysterious Black Plague has just wiped out 3/5 of Barcelona's
population
(Barcelona was one of the earliest and hardest hit by Black Plague in
Europe). In this anxious and desperate state, you walk through the
rambling,
overcrowded streets stinking of sickness and rotting corpses, crying
families, moaning infirms, suspicious people selling off their family
treasures in the streets. You push open the massive Cathedral doors and
enter the cool, vast space inside. The coloured lights from the
stain glass windows play on the arched ceilings and solid, sturdy
columns and illuminate words of hope, images of benevolence and
celebrated saints who all suffered far worse fates than
the often quick black death. This
cathedral left me with a strong impression of the millenia of
religious devotion for which Spain/ Spanish Catholicism is notorious.
In Barcelona, you can very much feel that the Cathedrals were not only
built to inspire awe, but as sanctuaries. A feeling of solid security,
continuity and respite is fostered in their very architecture. It is
well worth taking yourself for a few
walks around the city centre, minus the tour guide, and absorbing their
sobering atmospheres for yourself.
Barcelona today is
proudly Catalan (in region, nationalism and language), which is an area
very proud of its x3 greatest inventions:
1. chup a chups (literally meaning 'lollipop' in Catalan)
2. The common house mop. Before they invented the mop, floors were cleaned on hands and knees using a rags and brushes.
3. The human pyramid - these people love to climb and it is not
uncommon to see them building human pyramids at celebrations, on the
beach, or just any old time and place. When Barcelona won the European
Soccer championships two weeks ago, for example, the streets were not
only packed deep with celebrating soccer fans, fireworks, firecrackers
and alcohol, but also packed high: they climbed human pyramids,
newsagent vendors, information booths, streetlamps (many of which
were damaged in the process) and trees. The streets were literally
dripping with jumping jacks shouting ´Barca, Barca, Barca!' until well
after I went home and to bed six hours after the match was won. I
have never seen so many people celebrating in one place! (see photos)
Back in the Barcelona streets the balconies are
full of life, laundry, plants and colour. Though you would be hard
pressed to spot a tree in the central city, this place has developed a
natural beauty all its own that leaves most nature lovers pleasantly
surprised (plus, there are enough parks to satisfy the nature cravings).
One of the much loved fathers of Barcelona
is Gaudi. If you don't know who he is, find out before you get here
for fear of offending the locals or of missing any of his
great works. Antoni Gaudi was a very unusual architect from the turn of
the
twentieth century who promoted the use of natural structures and
themes in his constructions. His most famous project, the Sangrada
Familia, was commissioned by the Sangrada Familia
Christian sect of which Gaudi was a devotee and was begun in 1882. It
is currently about half way finished. Not only is the Sangrada Familia
a monument of modern architecture, it is was an undertaking from the
twentieth
century as a whole. Much like the cathedrals and
castles of old, the attention to detail and extravagance of this
building encompasses the changing styles, artwork and technologies of
the last century. The building itself is supported by dozens of massive
columns
shaped like trees. These columns boast an uneven branching system that
canopy out under the ceiling like a great white forest. The ceiling
itself is
made up of dozens of sunflower shaped structures that allow light to
filter through and that highlight the enormity of the structure.
Outside there are a number of interesting and original frescos
depicting such traditional images as the
passion of Christ and the nativity in post modern style. Most notable,
however, are the
colourful spires covered in intricate mosaics and depictions of
biblical animals
(including lizards, mosquitoes and geese). These spires are
topped with mosaic decorated balls that look a lot like chup a chups,
but I am told actually depict the fruit of cornucopia. The
most amazing part of the Sangrada Familia for me, though, was the fact
that people are still working on its construction every day. Next to a
tower I was oggling, which was decorated with stain glass sunflowers
and fruit from the bible, there are also helmeted workmen smoking and
eating
their home packed lunches. It brings a feeling of the everyday to the
austere reverence
usually accorded such extravagant structures. The Sangrada Familia is
colourful, intricately detailed, original and
offers fantastic views of Barcelona. It is certainly one of the
highlights of Barcelona!
On the agenda today: the Gaudi park and the Salvador Dali gallery.
Tomorrow I leave Spain for a month or two and travel on to discover
sunny (heh-heh - just joking) Edinburgh. Edinburgh has been described to
me as one of the most beautiful cities in all of Europe. After
Barcelona, that's a pretty tough call!
Ciao for now,
Tempest trailing on ...
