Our fourth and final day in Barcelona was one of those *#!+*! days.
On our third try we finally found both the Picasso Museum and the Cathedral in the Gothic Quarter. As I mentioned in a previous email, we found the local signage to be very poor and without a little flyer/brochure, usually available from any hotel, even from cafes and bars, we seemed to go round in circles.
And I have to say that going round in circles was not what we needed. It was pretty warm and my knee (the one from the fall off the boat) was getting worse, rather than better. In addition, it had always been our intention to buy me a decent pair of sandals. We had started looking in Paris, and in hindsight, should have purchased them there. But we went on looking in every town, and by this stage it had become rather urgent. My old red sandals were falling apart, assisted by a couple of dunkings in the Canal du Midi. The problem is that I take size 42. We have been into hundreds of shoe shops with Paul patiently asking for "sandals, with backs in them, in size 42". "Oh, no, no, no senor! No 42, no 41, in that style ..... and maybe I might look for another style in size 42, if I feel like it! ". Anyway, Day 4 in Barcelona was one of those days.
And I have to say that going round in circles was not what we needed. It was pretty warm and my knee (the one from the fall off the boat) was getting worse, rather than better. In addition, it had always been our intention to buy me a decent pair of sandals. We had started looking in Paris, and in hindsight, should have purchased them there. But we went on looking in every town, and by this stage it had become rather urgent. My old red sandals were falling apart, assisted by a couple of dunkings in the Canal du Midi. The problem is that I take size 42. We have been into hundreds of shoe shops with Paul patiently asking for "sandals, with backs in them, in size 42". "Oh, no, no, no senor! No 42, no 41, in that style ..... and maybe I might look for another style in size 42, if I feel like it! ". Anyway, Day 4 in Barcelona was one of those days.
We did eventually find the Picasso Museum and it was in a beautiful old building. But the collection itself consisted largely of his student work and was very disappinting.
Part of the old palace that now houses the Picasso Museum.
I love the window shapes.
The museum is in the old Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. Foot traffic only!
This is part of the front facade of the Academy of Music ...........
... and this is the part where it turns the corner, and ...
... this is the side, with a spectacular glass facade that completely covers the old building within.
And then we finally found the cathedral .... complete with cranes and scaffolding ...
... and the makings of "an event" .
We watched as the red dais and hundreds of white plastic chairs materialised, as well as barricades to separate the crowds from the invited guests. All this seemed to appear from nowhere ... complete with lighting and sound equipment with portable generators, etc, etc. They obviously do this type of thing a lot!
And this is the old Roman wall and steps and Roman road that used to traverse this area (as well as every other area on earth, it seems).
And that was all of Barcelona for us. We will probably return in a cooler season. There are more Gaudi buildings to see and the whole of the waterfront to be explored. And next time, we'll stay in the Gothic quarter and bring our own map!
And that was all of Barcelona for us. We will probably return in a cooler season. There are more Gaudi buildings to see and the whole of the waterfront to be explored. And next time, we'll stay in the Gothic quarter and bring our own map!
We then set off for Granada in Andalucia (pronounced Anda-looth-i-ya ) in the south of Espana. We divided the 1,000km drive into three days with two stops. The first stop was on the northern outskirts of Valencia and completely forgettable. The second stop was in Murcia, an inland city, slightly smaller than Geelong, said to be prosperous but very difficult to describe. In fact, I haven't come to terms with rural Spain yet, or the heat. I find the landscape brutal. I would describe what we saw from north of Valencia to the border of Andalucia as one great big quarry site or mining mullock heap. And yet it wasn't that it all. It was incredibly old, old rock. It looked like moon-scape. I found it so brutal and inhospitable that I can't really be objective about it. If most of Australia is classified as desert, this must be too. But it is not nearly so beautiful as our desert.
Anyway, we stopped in Murcia for one night: at the Novatel. Three years old and fabulous! And we got it for a song - they must be struggling! They had a great chef and we had our best meal for more than a week. The view from the window was of an incredibly hot town, in what seemed to be a huge crater. It looked as if it had been hit by an asteroid millions of years ago; surrounded by hills of bare rock, devoid of a single living plant. Where does their town water come from, I wonder?
Very weird.
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