Beautful Barcelona

Barcelona is a raw, edgy city full of the energy of the young and beautiful, the beach and cocktail culture. With stunning architecture, constant street performance and fantastic food and wine. What is not to love?

We have been familiarising ourselves with the local underground (an adventure in itself) and have spent time soaking up the sun (28 degrees and a cool breeze) and just people watching. It is a great city for that.

One of the reasons that I was enthusiastic about coming to Barcelona (apart from Gaudi’s architecture) was that just one hour north of Barcelona is the little town of Capellades. Capellades is home to a 17^th century paper mill and museum. Since I have been making paper for years and am now using different papers for printmaking I was really keen to visit the museum which is opened from 10am till 2pm each day. http://www.mmp-capellades.net/ I planned the trip-walking-metro-overland train-mill with growing excitement.

On the morning of our proposed visit I was up and showered by 6.30am and then downstairs to check the museums opening hours on the internet. We left a little later than I had hoped but I was fizzy with anticipation. We caught the metro to the station that the overground trains leave from, only to find that there was another station that this particular train leaves from. After many false starts we eventually arrived at Capallades just after 12pm. Now Capallades is not a thriving town. A little bus met the train but the bus driver spoke no English and when shown the address shook his head and waved us off his bus. It was a very hot day and we walked and walked to where the stream runs by and we tried to follow it.  Eventually around 3pm we headed back to the station and back to  Barcelona. An abortive trip that cost 50 euros and lost us a precious day. Whenever you travel with someone else there are always compromises and disappointments. I was not at my best and most loveable that afternoon and it was a quiet and sober return in the train. Jim deserves a medal.

The next day was spent at the airport meeting Clare. Her flight was an hour or two late and we spent some edgy moments waiting to see if she had made it. She had and we were glad to see her.

That afternoon we rambled down Las Ramblas.

A wide boulevard with a central area that is teeming with people and vendors, flowers, fruit, jewellery, tapas bars and many of the good things of life. We walked down to the harbour and Jim and Clare found an amusement park while I had some reflective time watching the million dollar yachts bobbing at the marina and wondering about the world. Our last day in Barcelona we took a trip to a monastery on the hills at Montserrat.

 It went a long way to ameliorating the disappointment of the previous day. It was stunning experience. It is a Benedictine monastery at the top of a huge mountain and everything about it is breath taking including the ride up to it. There is a cable car ride to the top (the little yellow dot in the photo above)

There is also a funicular railway to the very top. You can see it above the building.

Clare went hairing around like a mountain goat. Jim examined the masonary and again I sat and reflected on the power of belief and how we construct our beliefs and how those beliefs can make people do amazingly awesome things like build this monastery or ambush and kill a group of teenagers. The culmination of my rumination resulted in me believing that we need to be very careful about what we believe in!

We only touched on the Gaudi architecture and influence in the city, there is so much to see and do and I feel I really need to come back here with more time. Next, off to Cordoba and the guitar festival.