Month: April 2016

Figueres is a fine town. It is host to the Salvador Dali Musuem. He designed the building. It has a large collection of his artwork and his jewelry work as well. When you see his very early work and non-surrealist work, you realize he had an amazing talent. There were a few small paintings in the museum which showed his ability for more mainstream artwork.

Outside of museum

Elizabeth with wierd art

Elephant jewelry

Melting clock jewelry

Flower jewelry

Heart honeycomb jewelry

Pomegranate heart jewelry

Print of painting

painting

You walk up some stairs to look through a magnifying glass over a room and it makes this face. Stupid

A really impressive painting by Dali. It is maybe 3×5. Incredible detail.

Art?

Art?

All in all it was a neat look into an odd artist.

After the museum we changed our tickets to an early return and headed back to Barcelona to get packed and ready to go before we started the Camino de Santiago. I (Clay) cooked vegetables for dinner and we went to bed. That sums up the day.

But back to the disaster alluded to in previous blog posts.

We had train tickets for 8:20 (2 tickets) to head out to Figueres. We normally walk to the train station. Sometimes we take the metro/subway. Sometimes we take a cab. Obviously it depends on the city and if we are carrying luggage. We also normally leave our apartment with enough time to do two of the three. So if it takes 30 minutes to walk or 15 by cab, we leave 45 minutes in advance in case we make a mistake. That is very early, but the extra time is built in to resolve any snafu’s or blips with bad directions, traffic issues, or whatever problems might arise. Travel is expensive and paying twice is painful.

7:15 AM: We left the apartment around this time and began our walk to the metro station. It was a 45 minute walk to the train station, but we were taking the metro, which should take less than 15 minutes. A car would take 20 minutes.

7:20 AM: We arrived at the metro station and bought our tickets (4 tickets). We went through the gate and began walking. Soon we realized we walked to the wrong subway line and needed to get to the correct side of the station. Of course the only way to do this was to buy new metro tickets because the other side of the train station runs different lines. So we bought another two tickets (6 in total) and walked to the other side of the same metro station. The tickets did not work. They don’t work because even though this is the same station, the R line and the L line use different tickets. This is the first station we have encountered where such an occurrence happened.

Fine. Whatever. Let’s just get on the train. So we bought yet another set of tickets (8) and started walking to the correct train line.

7:45 AM: By now it was closer to eight which was not ideal but not a problem. We could still make it on the subway. And if worse came to worse, we could still get there by taxi. We got on the train and headed off… in the wrong direction. We realized we were on the wrong train before the first stop. The problem is the first stop in the wrong direction was extremely far away. So far away that I realized we were toast because it’s now around 8:05.

8:05 AM: I decided let’s just take a taxi. Odds were we couldn’t mess that up and hopefully we could get close to being there before the train leaves. Also, the next metro train that was going in the correct direction wouldn’t be arriving for another five minutes, and we had messed up the metro so many times I didnt’t want to risk it any more.

If we had taken the metro, we would have likely arrived at the train station between 8:15-8:20. Probably with not enough time to get through security, but you never know. The big downside is the trains in Spain always, always, always left on time.

Of course in my haste, I forgot that the metro was faster than the taxi. So as we hailed a taxi and got in, I checked traffic. It was 8:05 and we were so far away from the train station, since we took the subway train in the wrong direction, that the traffic report says it would be 8:24 before we can could there for our 8:20 train to Figueres.

I (as if anyone is surprised) was lost in a fit of anger.

Our cabbie was driving as slow as possible. I could only assume to further enrage me. To make matters worse the song playing on the radio was none other than Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”. Life was rickrolling us.

8:29 AM: We arrived at the train station. Between morning traffic (how could there be traffic at 8 AM when no one goes to work until 10) and the cab driver stopping at yellow lights expecting them to turn to red at any moment, we missed our train.

I went to ask the train people what my next steps were. The said, “Buy new tickets.” So we bought yet another pair of train tickets (10).

10 tickets (6 of which were not needed), a 20 dollar cab ride, and untold sums of money wasted on those extra tickets to get to a city an hour away. What should have been a seven minute walk and 8 minute metro ride turned into over an hour of pure hell. And complete incompetence on our part.

We boarded the train separately as we parted ways once we got our final set of tickets. We had been together for the last hour. We each played a part in missing the train and each needed time to recover from feeling like an idiot. If we had been forced to be together any longer that morning, we probably wouldn’t be together now.

Today was a day devoted entirely to one man, Antoni Gaudi.  The most famous architect of Barcelona, probably Spain, and pretty well known around the world.

We began with his most famous house, Casa Batlló. Much of the audio guide made mention that the house has no straight lines.  While not entirely true, the architect tried very hard to avoid any straight lines. It is a magical building. Floating, dreamlike, wondrous.  Like spending the afternoon underwater in the ocean.

Outside of the most famous of his houses

colored glass

You can buy a replica of the furniture. Pieces run in the 1500-2000 euro range.

Scales of the dragon or roof depending on if you believe the symbolism behind the building

View from the top

Chimnies

Arched hallway

The tiles get a little darker the further up you look. Some of that is based on the light of the sun.

Elevator

Wall flowers

back of the house

Doorway

Den

3D image of what the house would look like fully occupied

Balcony view

Window

Ceiling

Light

Living room

Lighting

Door

Door

Fireplace

Door

Staircase

We left the house an hour or so later to begin our walking tour about Antoni Gaudi architecture.  The tour covered many of the Gaudi structures in and around the Barcelona downtown area.  It also covered several other architects who were influenced by Gaudi and those builders of the same period.  We enjoyed seeing the progression of the Modernist movement in Barcelona and its ultimate demise, another Gaudi house.

Might be a Gaudi

St. George slaying a dragon. A popular Guadi theme based on the patron saint of Spain

The final Gaudi house. Very much hated.

The immediate movement once the Guadi style ended.

Tiles we ran across on our tour. This is what our first courese of Eat With was served on.

Might be a Gaudi

To finish the tour, we stopped at the Sagrada Familia.  We had to leave the tour early due to our entrance time inside the Sagrada.  It was worth it. I (Clay) am of the opinion that it is almost the perfect interior of a building.  It is incredible. My new favorite building on the trip.  I don’t consider the outside attractive by any stretch, but the inside will change your life.

The building should be finished in a few years.

The outside is covered in images from the Bible.

This side depicts the Passion of Christ.

Everyone we spoke with told us we had to visit the unfinished masterpiece. If there is only one thing to do in Barcelona, it should be visiting this place.  They were all correct.

Stained glass windows

Stained glass windows

Stained glass windows

Stained glass windows

clear windows

Stained glass windows

Stained glass windows

Stained glass windows

light from Stained glass windows

Stained glass windows

From here we headed home before going to dinner. We tried another tapas place and it worked much better this time.  Part of that was the workers spoke English and you don’t have to order. They place the food on the bar, you pick it up, set it on your plate, and when you are done for the night, you hand them the toothpick, or kebab stick, or whatever wooden skewer affixed your tapas.

It was much more streamlined and less stressful for us.  We were able to eat without the panic of saying the wrong thing. A successful outing.

We had a full slate on this day and began early with the first stop at the Picasso Museum.  It does not house his well known works, but does contain a vast selection that cover his artistic life through his various periods.  It is interesting to see the artistic progression of an individual, especially one who went to such extremes as Picasso.

The museum does contain a large collection of one grouping of his paintings, Las Meninas.  The original Las Meninas is one of the most famous Spanish paintings of all time.  Picasso reinterpreted the painting with his own 58 versions.  You can find every one of them here. Or at least I think here. We did not count.

After viewing Picasso, we walked around Barcelona a bit and found the Arc de Triomf. It was a nice stroll down the promenade.

Pretty building

Elizabeth’s Arc

Fancy light pole

Promenade

Birds everywhere in the circle

We then met our group for the Cava and wine tour. The Cava growing region is close to Barcelona so taking a day trip to various vineyards is easy to do.  We prefer Cava to Champagne based on our pocketbook so we were excited to visit.

While the downside to visiting vineyards this time of year is the lack of grapes present on the vines, it also cuts down on the crowds.  We also selected a smaller tour which visited smaller producers so we hoped to get a better tour experience.

We were not disappointed.  Our first stop was the Cava tasting and it was excellent. We tried three Cava’s each paired with a plethora of tapas.  The first Cava was easily the best wine we tried all day.  We did not buy a bottle, but we should have. It was an extremely expensive bottle of wine for Cava and the shipping costs were steep as well.

Our first first tasting. In the dark

House where the wine is produced

Sediment in the cava before filtering

Vineyard not during harvest season

Instead, we chose a less expensive bottle and will get to enjoy at the end of our Camino, where it awaits in our luggage.

It was a great experience to visit this Cava winery and enjoy something locally that we enjoy overseas.

As we headed to our second tasting, we enjoyed views of Montserrat and got to know our group.  Four of them were from Arkansas. We did not get them to give us a Woo Pig Sooie cheer, but we tried. Perhaps they needed more liquid courage.

Our second stop on the tour was at a castle dated around the 13th century (they always seem to know how old these things are). It had been in the same family the entire time. The vineyard was only a side business for them and they only started to sell it in Spain recently.

Bottles awaiting drinking

Barrels

More Mont

Montserrat, probably

The final tasting

The cell…ar

View of the valley

Our guide had remained interactive with us the entire trip and this finally led to his undoing at the castle.  He led us down to the lower level/cellar in the castle into three separate circular rooms each about 12 feet tall and ten feet around with cast iron grated door leading to each.  He had told us what these rooms were used for earlier in the day and decided to quiz us.

As follows:

Guide: Does anyone know what these were used for?

Everyone but Clay: A room to store the wine. (except it was all garbled and the guide couldn’t understand what anyone said but Clay who said…)

Clay: The castle prison.

Guide: (hangs his head in shame and laughs) No.

Everyone got a nice laugh out of this.

After getting out of the wine prison, we had a couple of reds and a white.  They were good wines.

The guide again began giving us a lesson on wine, color, and several other items about fine wine. He was teaching us that the longer a red wine ages the less color the wine will have, but it will have more flavor.

Guide: So it you paint a house purple, like a grape, in ten to fifteen years, what will you have?

Clay: A raisin

Guide: (hangs his head in shame and laughs) No.

We finished the wine and cheese and headed back to Barcelona with rosy cheeks and full bellies.

old church

don’t know

old bridge

And then it began to rain. A lot.  And traffic got much worse. And we stopped moving.

We sat in traffic for a while. So long that we had to drop off an Arkansas pair in downtown Barcelona so they could make it to the soccer match in town.  We ended up making it back to our place in time to get sorted and head out to our fancy dinner with strangers.

We found Eat With some time ago and have been excited to try it out in an International locale. Unfortunately, no one else was as excited, as we were the only people with reservations for the night. Perhaps Wednesday nights are not popular for eating out in Barcelona.

As we traipsed across a sodden Barcelona, we arrived at the warehouse where the host lives.  Imagine an abandoned, disintegrating building where hobos and heroin addicts hang out under stairwells to die and you have the right image.

We tentatively knocked on the door, hoping we have the right door and building.  We are welcomed in to a huge apartment.  The living, dining, and kitchen area are combined and run probably 60-80 feet long and 20 feet wide.  It was a massive place replete with antiques, general junk, and marble counter tops.

Two other guests showed up to eat with us. We think they were friends or acquaintances of the hosts.  They spoke no English.  To offset the issue, both of our hosts translated.  One was a native Catalan who knew at least Spanish, Catalan and English.  The other was Swiss and seemed to know as many languages as I  have fingers.

He was our main translator and conversationalist as he would talk to both couples and update each with what the other was discussing.  They were all very worried about America and Donald Trump. Do no visit Europe during an election year, especially when the US has lost it’s mind.

The food was fun, exciting, and different.  The first course, specifically the octopus, was the highlight of the meal.  The dessert pastry was also an excellent finish to the meal.  Each course was paired with it’s own drink.  The hosts did a great job of providing us a warm and inviting place filled with interesting discussion and equally interesting food.

Flatware with Apertivo

First course. Octopus and other assorted raw sea animals

Second course. Fish over a tomato sauce with mushroom sauce and large roe.

Third course or could be second course. Jamon with mushrooms. A ton of shaved foie gras with a bit of black truffle salt

Fourth course. A pulled pork sausage in natural casing covered with bechemel and black truffle shavings.

Cream filled chocolate pastry on a bed of more chocolate. Side of diced fruit.

Lovely apt.

Front door

Stairwell

We left for home completely satisfied.  Half from the food and half from not being murder in a stairwell.

Day 2 in Barcelona began with more food.  Our first stop of the day was to La Boqueria, an actual market for the people of Barcelona, but a bit turned on its side over the last few years with the influx of photograph focused tourists.  This was the meeting point for our cooking class  and it was here where Elizabeth was more excited than she had been for anything thus far on the trip.

The cooking class covered traditional Spanish/Catalan dishes. These dishes included tomato bread, gazpacho, paella, a Spanish version of creme brulee, and what turned out to be the best thing made, a Spanish tortilla.

Our group had a couple from Texas and very tired family of five from Boston.  There was also a couple from Canada wearing Canadian tuxedos. Elizabeth threw them under the bus at one point during the class when they cut her vegetables incorrectly.

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The chef/teacher of the class took us around the market to show us how we should buy our produce and fish, ensuring it is as fresh as possible. He also led us in the kitchen to make sure nothing burned or was ruined by an overeager student.

All the food was excellent, but our favorite was the humble Spanish omelette, or tortilla espanola.  A little salt, fried potatoes, lightly caramelized onions, and scrambled eggs mixed together and cooked to remain a little runny in the middle. It was shockingly outstanding.

Table set for lunch

Gazpacho

Paella cooking

Finished

Working the torch

Working the torch

First crack at brulee

From here, sufficiently stuffed and struggling to do anything other than nap, we moseyed over to the Cathedral of Barcelona.  One of many churches on the list of churches to visit, it was a fine representation of a Gothic church. not particularly original, but it did have one element different from all the other we had visited thus far.

The stairs to the crypt were at the front of the altar.  In our experience, the crypt is notmally accessed via other means than the front of the church.  While we didn’t stay long, it was neat to see.

ceiling view

Top of cathedral

wild animals in the church

Crypt

On the rooftop

The Sagrada from a distance

Rooftop

View

A view of the Mediterranean

Alter with access to crypt

Lost of fancy woodworking

Raised platform for talking

Stained glass

We couldn’t stay long at the Cathedral because we had to head to Park Guell.  Another work of Gaudi, the park provides nice views of the city and a quiet respite from the noise of downtown.  A couple of the building’s rooftops are famous for being in every picture you will most likely see in Barcelona. We took those pictures too.

Park

Guell

Curvy architecture stuff

The skies openend up as we left

Curvy architecture stuff

Curvy architecture stuff

Curvy architecture stuff

trying to hide

Park

Park

Ceiling mosaic

Birdhouse

House of Gaudi

Elizabeth with the famous view

To close out the night, we decided to give Spain another shot with crowded, confusing meals.  We headed to El Xampanyet.  One of the most famous and popular places to go in Barcelona for tapas, we expected it would be challenging. It was. Within seconds of arriving, I (Clay) was ready to leave. It was packed to the gills and people were falling out the door.  Getting close enough to order was difficult enough for people that spoke Spanish.  

Turns out we are still incredibly timid souls.  We discussed leaving, trying to order, or what we should do.  I think we covered all the stages of grief standing in the restaurant in only a few minutes.  After ordering a couple of cavas, we had outlasted several other folks and were able to lean an elbow on the bar countertop.

From our safe perch, we managed to point to enough items to get fed.  Of course half of what we ordered only came to fruition after eyeing what the folks next to us ordered and letting the barkeep know we needed an order to ourselves.

The biscotti looking pieces are dipped into the booze in the middle. Probably vermouth.

Celebrating our success

Our spot

An egg with tomato sauce and basically grits. On the right, grilled steak and tiny green peppers.

Anchovies, bread, and a loaded potato.

Unoriginal to be sure, but tasty.

We lived to try another tapas place.

Side Note: We are finally back to blogging. At the moment we are attempting to catch the blog up to present day. Please bear with us as we get everything up to date over the next few days. This post picks up where we left off in March. We were just arriving in Barcelona. We were so young then…

We arrived in Barcelona, dropped off our bags and headed out for our walking tour.  Hosted by an American, he was easy to understand and we got his jokes. On the tour we learned about the Catalan Independence movement and how many of those individual in the region of Spain do not feel Spanish.

Instead they are Catalan and would never consider themselves Spanish. We saw Catalan specific architecture,  learned a little about Catalan cuisine, language and the Catalan Independence flag. Honestly, I was hoping to find a Catalan airport so I could have my passport stamped and say I visited another country.

Cathedral

Cathedral

Post Office…I think

Flags of Spain

Cathedral

One thing of note on the tour was our visit to an outer section of a small church.  It was here where individuals were executed by firing squad during Franco’s dictatorship. It was also bombed during WWII. A lot of history in the pock marked wall, none of it good.

From there we headed to the beaches of Egypt.  Apparently Barcelona, on the Mediterranean coast no less, has no natural beach. For the 1992 Olympics, the city began bringing in sand from Egypt. The tradition continues to this day.  It was a cool, cloudy day so we sat on the shores of Egypt and enjoyed the sailboats (perhaps Phoenicians) pass by.

Running away from the sea.

Us

Sailboat

Not a sailboat

We grabbed a bite to eat at an craft beer restaurant before heading to Las Rambla.

We had been warned about Barcelona and Las Rambla by everyone on the internet and everyone we encountered in every city we visited whenever Barcelona was mentioned.  Our host in Barcelona gave us a map and noted the streets we should not walk on, should not speak English on, nor mentioned Airbnb on. We were told Barcelona is very dangerous and there is a 90% chance you will get pick-pocketed and it will happen on Las Rambla.

This was a right of passage we did not suffer however, as our Waterloo was but a few days away.  

Instead we walked gaily down Las Rambla enjoying the sights and sounds of the Time Square of Barcelona.  Full of street performs, black market goods, and local artisans peddling small paintings of large buildings, it was fun to see what all the fuss was about.

We found our next experience not too far down Las Rambla and planned to enjoy ourselves further.

The Jamon Experience is an incredibly campy tour/museum/visual and audio experience paired with some of the most expensive jamon money can buy.  The tour bit consists of dark rooms with projectors and mirrored walls to allow the participant to watch and learn about the process of jamon making, from the birth, life, feeding, and death of the black hoofed Iberian pig.  The oldest woman on the tour could not resist taking pictures of everything, very much against the rules.  Probably how I (Clay) will be in a few decades.

Thankfully that bit was not too long and we headed upstairs to sample the finest jamon the Iberian Peninsula has to offer. We were able to try six different jamon varieties and a few glasses of cava.  The first couple of pieces were relatively run of the mill jamon, but the last four were special because they were from very specific Iberian regions and followed further stringent rules and regulations.  These were the Dom Perignon of pig legs.

I don’t know

close up of the meats

I don’t know

meat with champagne

Elizabeth showing some leg

At the tasting, no one was talking to one another around our large table of eleven and the middle aged American couple on the tour broke the ice.  Providing various opinions on the jamon, they got the ball rolling and it didn’t stop for a good hour.  Another couple was on the tour from the Netherlands and a group of five was from Belgium.  The Belgian group was there to cheer on the 72 year old patriarch of the family who had run a marathon in Barcelona earlier in the week.

At some point, the American woman mentioned that one of the Belgians looks a bit like Mark Wahlberg.  He did not.  She persisted and everyone looked at her as if she was crazy.  Nevertheless, and in probable hopes that others might begin to think a little better of her judgement, she admitted that her husband is often told that he looks like Liam Neeson.  

We had already discussed this amongst Elizabeth and myself, but it set off a flurry of laughter, comments, and hearty agreement from the others that he did look a bit like Liam but the Belgian still did not look like Mark Walhberg. 

We left there to float among the petty criminals of Las Rambla and headed home full of celebrity sightings.  We finished the night at a falafel stand, finally getting our needed vegetables.

One of the benefits of arriving early somewhere is that it is empty.  The downside is getting up at 6 AM on vacation to do that. Nevertheless, Segovia is a place well worth the effort.  Home to one of the longest remaining and intact Roman aqueducts in the world, it is the most amazing thing we have ever seen.  Nothing more to add except for a few pictures maybe.

After a while of standing in awe and walking the length of the aqueduct and a little breakfast at Dunkin Coffee (not Dunkin Donuts), we headed to the Cathedral of Segovia for Mass. On the way to Mass we heard what sounded like a parade starting up, but instead of the music of a whole band, we heard one single drumbeat. What we stumbled upon was a rehearsal for Semana Santa.

If you are not familiar with the holy week preparations in Spain, it involves a huge “parade” of sorts where statues weighing hundreds of pounds are carried on the backs of volunteers. Each towns celebrations are a little different. What we happended to witness in Segovia was the volunteers practicing. On their back was a cardboard cutout of the statue. We assume they were practicing keeping in time so that when it is the real deal, they don’t drop and destroy the hundred year old statue.

After looking in awe at the rehearsal we headed into the cathedral for Mass. We weren’t sure where to go exactly, but we followed a man that was walking with purpose and he led us to the chapel we needed. Again I (Elizabeth) was not struck by the Holy Spirit with the ability to understand Spanish, but the priest spoke beautifully during the homily.

During Mass, the altar began to beat like it had a heart, dull but consistent, ever present.  Then the tinkling of chimes appeared to follow in tune with the heart beat. Turns out the xylophone sounds were just a rouge unsilenced cell phone. And we figure the heart beat was the drums from the practice parade and not from anyone buried behind the altar, like the Tell-Tale Heart. But it was exciting for a few minutes.

After Mass we got a map of Segovia and some information from the local tourist office. The tourist office pointed us towards the castle of Segovia as well as some of the other places to walk around.  The castle is not completely authentic as it was rebuilt after a terrible fire in the late 1800’s and does not mirror the style of the period when the original castle was built. Still a beautiful place.

Post castle, we sat down to rest and eat at Meson Don Jimeno, a restaurant specializing in the local delicacy of roast suckling pig.  It’s a baby pig, whose only nurishment has been it’s mother’s milk, roasted in the oven. It comes out golden brown with crispy skin that cracks apart.  We also had roasted lamb, sangria and almond cake.  Each were very good.

The sauce for the lamb was reminiscent of the jus that is paired with the Greek chicken at Niki’s West for those reading in the Birmingham metropolitan area. For those other’s reading, the jus was lamb jus, herbs, and has a bit of vinegar.

We walked down the mountain after lunch to burn some calories and to get some other pictures of the castle.  We had great views, saw some peacocks, and visited the remains of a monastery built by the Knights Templar in the 1200’s that at one time supposedly held part of the cross Christ was crucified on.  We were told the building is the last surviving building of this style from these Knights in the world.

I could not verify any of this online, especially not the bit about the cross, but it makes for good storytelling. We finished the day where it began, staring at the aqueduct, trying to imagine its existence 2000 years ago.

Tomorrow would be Barcelona.  Home to the Catalan Independence movement, the Sagrada Familia, and a looming disaster so large it’s a wonder we even made it out of Alabama.