Our Barcelona Adventure: Day Three (20 February)

Since we were only in Barcelona for the equivalent of a weekend, I suppose it makes sense that our last day snuck up on us much more quickly than we thought it would. Luckily, we wouldn't have to start making our way to the airport until around 5:30 P.M. today, so at least we still had a relatively full day ahead of us. We started by searching out a Barcelona sight that must be one of the most remarkable mailboxes around . . . yes, you read correctly, I said "mailbox." Before you worry that we've gone completely batty, it was just steps from our hotel and I think you'll agree that it was worth stopping for:

The marble letterbox was a Modernista addition (by Lluís Domènech i Montaner, the architect of yesterday's Casa Lleó Morera from the block of discord) that was part of a 19th-century renovation of the 14th-15th-century building that was once the Archdeacon's residence. While not quite as unique as the mailbox, the building's courtyard was beautiful,

and from the upper level, I got a nice look at some of the detail on Barcelona's central cathedral (La Seu), which is right next door and where we were headed next. Although much of the exterior is currently covered (adding to the numerous monuments around town that are undergoing renovation), we had a lovely wander around this impressive cathedral, mostly completed between 1298 and 1448, with the Gothic façade added in the 1880s (based on a 1408 design). The choir, carved in the 1390s, is full of intricate detail:

The cathedral was one of the few churches spared from damage during the Civil War.

La Seu is dedicated to Santa Eulàlia, one of Barcelona's two patron saints, and she is interred in an alabaster tomb in the cathedral's crypt.

La Seu contains an unbelievably beautiful courtyard, filled with lush vegetation,

water features,

and geese.

The geese occasionally shatter the serenity of the surroundings with a frenzy of honking (which, as you can imagine, echoes quite fervently in the stone cloister). Their presence isn't due to some current whim; in fact, geese have been kept here since the 1600s--always thirteen geese at a time. Why thirteen? In 304 AD, Santa Eulàlia was thirteen years old when she was subjected to some thirteen cruel tortures (including being rolled down a slope in a barrel filled with broken glass and nails) as punishment for daring to stand up for Christianity. Why geese? The fact that they are Roman geese (identified as such because of the tufts on their heads) may be a reminder of the origins of La Seu, which was built over the remains of a Roman temple. After we left the cathedral, we passed by a strange, unsigned sight on our way to our next destination--while I am of course referring to the oddities in the wall, the dog was a cute bonus:

Once the site of the Maternity and Abandoned Children's Home, as recently as 1931 this wall provided a way to abandon babies with anonymity: put the baby inside the revolving opening, close the screen, put a donation in the slot if you could, and leave, unseen. On the other side, a nun would hang the date of abandonment around the baby's neck, and his or her new life would begin. The "orphans' turnstile" has since been boarded up, of course, but not after functioning as such for more than eighty years. We continued walking up to Plaça Catalunya, where we caught our northbound bus to the most outlying area of Barcelona that we would see on our visit: Parc Güell. Initially conceived as a garden city which would contain sixty private homes amidst landscaped gardens and monuments, Gaudí worked on the land owned by Eusebi Güell from 1900 until 1914, at which point the project was abandoned for lack of outside interest. At that time, only two homes, a plaza, and various roads, walkways, and steps had been built. The city took over the land and opened it as a public park in 1922. It's an otherworldly place full of columns and tile that simultaneously blend in with and stand in stark contrast to the natural environment with which it is entwined.

This house sits quite high up on the park's hill,

and we climbed above it to the summit where Gaudí planned to build a chapel, and were rewarded with some slightly hazy views toward the Mediterranean. You can see La Sagrada Família at the centre of this view, although I found it interesting how it's mirrored by the beachfront highrises beyond (the tallest buildings in Barcelona, a hotel and a mixed-use building) and the pair of trees just in front of me. Also, on the far left of the photo, you can see the Agbar Tower, completed in 2005--which of course reminded us of London's "gherkin," especially when we got an up-close view on our way to the airport.

Looking at the path below, we caught our first glimpse of the home where Gaudí lived when he wasn't living in his on-site studio at La Sagrada Família:

Now a Gaudí museum, the house isn't a Gaudí design; it was built in 1904 by one of his collaborators, Francesc Berenguer, as a show home for the other homes that were planned for the estate.

As we wound our way down the hill, we came to the most famous areas of the park, starting with the large terrace, bordered by a single, rippling, tiled bench.

Two fairy-tale gatehouses stand below, at the main entrance to the park.

We continued walking along the winding, columned paths,

finding a few surprises along the way.

Finally, we came to the point where it seems that most people begin: the impressive main entrance to the park.

Some cute creatures greet you as you walk up the stairs,

including this lizard, which has become a symbol of the park:

He's irritatingly popular with photographers, and I had to wait patiently (?) for quite a while until he was relatively uncluttered with people to get these photos.

Predictably, everyone wanted a photo with her or his arm around the lizard, with some people even climbing on top of him (which, it turned out, is a no-no). Most disturbing was the tourist who straddled the lizard, raised his arm up as if he were spinning a lasso, and screamed, "Yee haw!" as his friend took his photo. Yikes. A grand, yet intimate bench sits just above the lizard,

and marks the entranceway to the area under the terrace that Gaudí planned as a marketplace:

By now it was just after noon, so we left the park and headed back into the city centre for some more wandering and a bit of lunch. I was interested in seeing the interior of Lluís Domènech i Montaner's 1908 Palau de la Música Catalana, but since admission is by (popular) timed tour only, we settled for a look at the exterior. Crammed into narrow streets, it was difficult to get a good look at the outside of the building!

Palau de la Música Catalana was named as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997, along with Domènech i Montaner's Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau, which I also wanted to see (it's a different place than the Hospital de la Santa Creu, which we saw yesterday); both places are on my increasingly large list of things to do the next time we're in Barcelona. The building's corner sculpture is meant to represent Catalan popular song:

The tiling is beautiful (and if look closely in the glass, you can see us in common poses we strike while travelling: me taking a photo and Bob watching to make sure I don't get run over),

and is especially attractive on the columns. (Don't put babies in these small compartments, though . . . .)

Another narrow street presented a photographic challenge for getting a good photo of this building's detail,

and knowing that we now only had a few hours left in Barcelona, we started getting wistful as we wandered through the streets.

All our walking meant we were very hungry, and we chose this charming place for lunch.

Boasting a book-length menu featuring traditional foods grouped by region of preparation, rather than any other classification, we ordered some delicious dishes to share. From the bread, clockwise, we had toasted tomato and garlic bread with white cow's cheese and anchovies; stewed lamb with olives, artichokes, and potatoes; cheese-topped baked cod and courgette; and monkfish with roasted garlic. In other words: YUM!

Although we had other plans for dessert, we finished off our lunch with some fabulous tallats, delicious, strong coffees with just a touch of milk that I don't think I've raved about yet,

and the waiter also brought over some complementary Moscatel wine as a final treat, which Bob found quite nice!

On our way to dessert, we passed this monument, with a flame burning near its top, dedicated to "those who died defending the rights and constitutions of Catalonia in the siege of Barcelona (1713-1714)."

We didn't have to walk far before I spotted just the place for which I had been searching: Bubó. Have a look at the Bubó website for detailed descriptions of Carles Mampel's incredible creations, although don't say I didn't warn you if they leave you wanting to book a trip to Barcelona!

The small shop was filled with all sorts of temptations,

but we were here to have dessert, and oh did we ever. I cannot describe how wonderfully the layers in my tiny glass came together so perfectly. All I can do is tell you what was in it while I dream about having it again: bittersweet chocolate cream, lime gel, macadamia nut streusel, and praline mousse. It was even better than it sounded and looked.

Bob went for a different glassful of various chocolate delights, and we sat in the window, oohing and aahing over our desserts (and yes, two more tallats) as we watched people passing by and peering into this heavenly shop.

Next time (yes, it's that phrase again!) I would not only return to Bubó, I would also head a few doors down to Bubó Bar, where tempting, inventive tapas reigns. But back to "this time": we wandered quite aimlessly, just heading in the general direction of the hotel, down whichever narrow alleyways we thought we hadn't been down before.

I love the graphic of the person and horse heading for the salida ("exit") on these signs we saw everywhere in the narrow, central streets.

The courtyard of the Museu Frederic Marès is filled with orange trees

and views of neighbouring La Seu.

We hadn't necessarily planned to visit the museum, but since admission is free on Wednesdays from 3:00-7:00 P.M., and it happened to be 3:45, we had a quick look around Marès's eclectic personal collection of sculpture, religious artifacts, and knick knacks. This 12th-century fragment was charmingly off-kilter:

Heading out of the ground floor and up the courtyard steps,

we entered some impressive rooms that retain much of the grandeur of their former life as the royal palace.

Each room was positively filled with clutter--freshly cracked nuts, anyone?

Or how about intricate paper sets and figures?

Or a bit of a bicycle ride?

Since it was almost time to go, we left the museum and walked through a bit more of the Barri Gòtic, saying goodbye to its atmospheric streets as we went.

An odd doll perched on a balcony, as if to wave farewell,

and the last photo from today is of this wonderfully pleasing building made out of partially unfinished stone:

As we made our way to the hotel to pick up our bags, I found myself wondering if and when we would return to this gem of a city--let's hope it's "when"!