Barcelona

 23 April

We had a long four hour bus trip to Barcelona - the bus was full and it was very warm.  I was dressed warmly as I expected Barcelona to be colder than Valencia, thank goodness for my fan which was close by.  I did think I'd pass the time by watching a movie or two on Netflix but Greg had kindly packed my ear buds into his suitcase....!

After dropping our bags at the hostal (the most basic of the hotels we have stayed at, but Barcelona accommodation is expensive!  It is well located though!) we set off to meet up with Suzy, Di and Ian who had taken the earlier bus into Barcelona.  They were on the hop on, hop off bus, and were quite overwhelmed by the crowds everywhere - it turns out today was St George's day.  When he slayed the dragon, roses came out of his mouth, so the tradition has developed that there are market stalls  all over the  city, selling roses for 1 euro and books - it used to be roses for women and books for men but now everyone can have both.  There are also so many other stalls selling so many other things!  We couldn't meet in the Ramblas or Catalunya Square - they'd been to both and they were crazy  So we took the metro (after a false start, getting on the wrong train!) to Universitat stop, and found a café for them to meet us at.   We saw the bus go past about 20 minutes later - apparently they waved!  They had to wait for the bus to stop about 10 minutes further down the road then back track!   Suze had me laughing with her story about how they had had to RUN, uphill, to get the bus to meet us!  We had a lovely last dinner together.  I will miss my beautiful sisters.  I loved seeing them (& my brother in law Ian!) everyday!

24 April

Xavier, our guide, met us outside the hostal at 1pm and we went by bus to Park Guell.  It was interesting to hear the history of this park!  Mr Guell was a wealthy business man and in 1900 he decided to leave the festering smelly place that was Barcleona and bought a large plot of land on a mountain and decided to create a gated community.  He got his good friend Anton Gaudi to help him to create this vision.  Unfortunately for Mr Guell his rules were too much for some people: only 1/6th of the block could be built on, and the placement of the houses was ordained so they could not block the view of the sea or deprive neighbours of sunlight, among other rules!  Only two houses of the original 60 were built.  Gaudi was heavily involved with the design but didn't build any houses on the site.  He ended up buying one of them that was built by one of his disciples.

The park used to be free but now you have to buy a ticket (in advance!) to keep numbers contained.  It is an UNESCO world heritage site.  We loved the entry buildings Gaudi did design - one was for people entering the park and the other was for the park caretaker.

We moved onto see the Sagrada Familia.  This amazing basilica was started as a gothic cathedral in 1882 under the architect Francisco Vilar.  He resigned after a year, and Anton Gaudi was given the job of continuing.  He devoted the rest of his life to the project, and after his death (he was run over by a tram at the age of 74), he was buried in the church crypt.  At the time of his death, less than a quarter of the project was complete.  He deliberately chose to built the front towers first - his reasoning was, once it was started, anyone who took over would have to follow his vision - which was, frankly, amazing.  He thought through the entire design.  Relying solely on donations (the 5 million visitors every year help a great deal!) it has taken 140 years and it is anticipated that it will take another 10 years to complete.  Various events - world wars and having a fascist dictator - also contributed to the delays.  The newer parts of the cathedral are in an entirely different stone, as the original quarry closed years ago. Gaudi envisioned a light filled cathedral: and thanks to his clever design and the beautiful stained glass windows, the light changes from blue/green in the mornings to yellow/red in the afternoons - it's quite stunning.  We loved it.  After the tour ended Esther, Lucy, Simone and  I went to the museum, which was also fascinating.  It gave a greater insight into the wonderful way Gaudi's mind worked and how influenced he was by nature.  We all felt totally inspired to get creative with creating mosaics when we get home!

25 April

Just before we went to bed the night before I asked Greg to pass me my camera so I could charge the battery. He asked where it was. I reminded him I'd put it into his backpack after Sagrada Familia. Oh no. He'd left the bag at the bar we stopped at on our way to dinner ?? To say I was not happy was an understatement but we both felt that the owners of the bar were quite trustworthy so I tried not to freak out. 

We had an early start for our trip to Montserrat - no time to collect the bag before our 9am departure. The bus trip up to Monserrat was about an hour. Very winding roads (I'm always fascinated the the engineering to build these roads in such inhospitable areas!). Montserrat came about because of the black Virgin that was found in a cave in the area. Pilgrims started trekking up to see the virgin and weren't attending church. The Bishop decided to build a church and monastery there and put the black Madonna on display. There have been some dramas - Napoleon came through and did significant damage, twice. In the Spanish Civil War there was more destruction. However thanks to local communities and the monks,  the church was rebuilt. There is a music school there for young boys. We checked out the church (& glimpsed the Madonna!) and our guide gave us some information on Montserrat. 

There was an option to take a 25 minute trek up to St Michael's Cross to get some lovely views over Montserrat. It was a steep climb up - it certainly got our heart rates up! - and an equally steep climb back. Well worth it for the views.  

Tania, Heather, Richard and Jack stayed behind to look through the Montserrat Museum. After our brisk walk we joined them. It was an unexpectedly big museum with some very lovely art and sculptures. Then we hot footed it to the shop to try the sugar bread (a specialty for pilgrims, who need a sugar hit) & pay 3 euro to do a tasting of four of the Montserrat liqueurs. They were all pretty good and very cheap but luggage weight is an issue ?? There were a lot of stalls set up selling local cheese and honey. It seemed like a good idea to buy since cheese for dinner that night. We ran into Fiona, Peter, Dean & Esther who had taken the train up to see Montserrat & they agreed to pick up some bread, ham and tomatoes to go with our cheese selection. They went off to lunch in the cafeteria and we were taken to the restaurant side. I'd thought we were having lunch at the winery, but went along with it. Unfortunately we were served the very worst meal we'd had in Spain. The starters were stone cold, served on freezing cold plates - we speculated that they had been put together at least a day before - and tasteless. I'd asked for a non meat meal and was served meat cannelloni. Which apparently was also tasteless. They bought me some chicken covered in a heavy sauce. The sauce was needed because the chicken was so tough and dry. I gave up after two mouthfuls. The staff kept dropping cutlery on us with no apology as they cleared the table. Dessert was a soft cheese - again, freezing cold on an icy cold plate - served with like plastic packets of honey. When there was delicious local honey being sold right across the road it seemed illogical. I had to convey my disappointment to our guide right away. She was apologetic but there was nothing she could do. We went onto the winery where we were all surprised to have our guide give us the winery tour and tasting. She did a good job but we all felt disinclined to make any purchases. I think previous winery tours when we had passionate staff talking to us about their wine had spoilt us. On the bus back I asked the Americans who were on our bus where they had had lunch. "In the winery" they replied. "It was fantastic!" I  fired off an email to the tour operator right away to voice my disappointment. Honestly bad food can really affect your appreciation of a tour! Greg urged me not to dwell on it and focus on the magnificence of Montserrat. 

That night we all met up on the 1st floor eating area of the hostal and shared out cheese, bread, ham and wine, and has a fun time!

26 April

It was a bit stressful getting to our 11am Tapas tour as the link gave us two different addresses, however we found our guide just after 11am.  Francise our guide was very chilled!  He walked us down side streets of the Ramblas and we went to a very old charcuterie from 1930 where we had a great local red wine, lots of meat and cheese (dried tuna for me, which was amazing) and olives.  A great start.  We wandered through the streets and lost Deb, Jack and Greg, who could not resist looking into the shop windows and missed the turn, but after a good talking too we were all together!  While we were waiting for them (thank goodness for google maps, sharing  a pin really helps!) we saw the façade of a cathedral, bombed during the Spanish Civil War by Franco's Italian supporters.  It was filled with children, many of whom were killed.  Catalan hatred of Franco runs deep.  Our next stop was a more modern looking jazz restaurant which served us vermouth (such a deadly concoction!) with a melt in your mouth potato tortilla and a lovely spicy potato bravas.  Bravas does not mean brave!  It  means spicy potatoes!  They were delicious.  Our next stop was a little whole in the wall café which served  fried anchovies (so yummy!) and white wine served in a Porrón.  Francise demonstrated how we could pour the wine effortlessly into our mouths from the Porrón.  It's not as easy as it looks but it turns out Jack was a natural!!  Our last stop was a lovely restaurant which gave us potatoes with a Spanish blue cheese, squid ink rice with prawn (delectable!), then a pork ravioli (I had the octopus, also beautiful).  Then we finished with a little, but absolutely mouthwatering, Tarte Sara, which I am determined to reproduce when I am home again!  It was a spectacular last food tour and we all loved it.

After the tapas tour (and all that wine) we did a bit of shopping!  It turns out that Deb, Heather and I, combined with alcohol, are quite the shoppers!  This time it was Greg who got a new shirt!  Deb and Heather picked up a few reminders of Barcelona!  Phew.  After all that wandering the streets shopping it was time for another drink... before our allocated time at the Picasso museum.  I think we were all quite blown away to see what an accomplished traditional artist Picasso was before he decided to stretch his artistic license and moved into cubism.  I like some of his later works, but I was really impressed with the young Picasso.  From the audio it seemed he was very confident of his abilies from a young age too!  We visited the baroque church built by the people of Barcelona and pointed us to us earlier on the tour, before heading back to the area near the hostal for a very light dinner (we were still full from tapas) and a final drink before bed!

27 April

Today we did a mediaeval villages tour. Unfortunately a miscommunication meant Fiona and Peter had booked their tour with a different tour operator so it was just 12 of us seeing off at 7.30 am this morning. We had to be at the office by 8.15!

We met our guide Xavier (yes, another one!) & another five people and piled into a small bus. Our first stop was the mediaeval village of Bresau. Unfortunately the beautiful bridge into the old town has been defaced by some graffiti. We walked into the Jewish area, now just a reconstructed platform. Initially the Jews were welcomed into the city to live for free, in exchange for giving the ruler money whenever he wanted... So not so free. However when they loaned money to Christians in the town they were allowed to charge interest. This didn't make them popular neighbours, and the community was kept to a very small area. When the plague hit, the Jews sanitation (they regularly washed their hands and bodies) meant they were largely untouched, leaving the Christians to believe the Jews has cursed them.  Then the Inquisition was invited to town. It was all downhill for the Jews from there, unfortunately. We had an hour of free time to wander through the old city. There are some new apartments being built which don't match the aesthetic of the town. We took lots of photos of the bridge. 

Next stop, via a long and winding road, was Rupit. This lovely old town is regularly voted in the top 10 most beautiful villages in Spain. The castle was originally built by the Cardona family as a country retreat. The town was built around it. It was destroyed by an earth quake in the 1400s, and was uninhabited for about 200 years. Rebuilding started in the 1600s and these days, the entire village is owned by just four families. Apparently it is totally crazy with tourists in the weekends, we were grateful be there on a Thursday!  

Lunch options were quick (the bakery) or slow (the restaurant). 

Tania, Russell, Simone, Greg and I opted for the restaurant as it had local Catalayan delicacies. I had the most delicious BBQ chicken. Greg had sausage and beans. I think I won?! Considering the village has a monopoly on service the prices were very reasonable. Lunch, with wine, cost us 11 euros each. 

Our last stop was Tavertet. This tiny town doesn't have a shop or a bar. Xavier couldn't imagine living without a bar! The population is 114 - a consequence, he said, of living somewhere so far from anywhere with nothing to do. Most houses were built in the 18th century but the church was from the 11th. It certainly was another long and winding road. And as there are no shops or bars, there are also no toilets! We stopped at St Christopher's church which has a replica of the Black Madonna. The church is a mixture of styles which is common all over Spain. 

The views over the valley are lovely. Very similar to the Blue Mountains! We saw a few Spanish Eagles soaring in the sky. Simone tried taking some photos of them, but they were too far away!

 

Then we went back to Barcelona and met up with Fiona and Peter for a final dinner!  Tomorrow Heather and Richard head to Madrid then Morocco; Tania, Russell, Deb and Jack head back to Australia; and Simone heads off to Germany.  The remaining 7 of us are off to Munich.  Apparently we will leave the sunshine behind us - we are expecting cold, wet weather in Munich!