Liz and Richard's 2008 Adventures

Finally - Barcelona! And Puppets!

We've arrived in Barcelona - actually we've been here for awhile but we've now blogged our way through Egypt and Jordan and will attempt to get the blog up to real time.

The apartment and the location are wonderful (more about this later), but of course the locals hold a celebration to welcome us!

Our square is constantly thronged with people, but one afternoon there is a change in the crowd noise rhythm. We peer over our balcony.  Wonderful things are happening so we rush downstairs.  You've seen it in National Geographic, how it's happening in front of us.

We are two feet away from one of the most amazing cultural displays ever.  For sake of clarity we'll call them "puppets".....giant figures 12 to 16 feet tall marching down the narrow streets, interspersed with bands and groups performing folk dances.

The "puppets' are marvelous - many symbolic of traditions we do not appreciate - historical, regal, trades (fisherman, lawyer, king, priest, etc).  Some samples follow.  We subsequently learn that it is the Festival of St Eulalia - the patron saint of Barcelona.

Unbeknown to us we will meet the horse and the dragon later that evening in the town square.

The dancers perform a paired baton clacking ritual.  For the youngest dancers it is charming.  For the older participants there is a lot of police night stick calibre wood moving around fast, that could hurt someone.  Most enchanting is the age spread of participants.  A lot of families spent a lot of time getting a lot of members up to this performance level.  They move by quickly - we attempt to capture the rhythm

The "puppets" swirl through the square.  It is impossible to describe the presence of these figures.  We've all viewed a Santa Claus parade.  This is far better.  It's simpler but more moving.  Perhaps it is the closeness, the intimacy.  There are people inside - not machines.

Barcelona - Puppets continued

There are wonderful moments of humanity.  The puppets are obviously heavy and regularly the carrier lets down his/her burden and exchanges it with another.  A quick lift of the skirt and it's done.  We attempt to capture the transition below














Some of the puppets spray water on the crowd.  Hey - it's a little chilly here in February!  No one minds....



One puppet seems to be Johnny Depp rechannelled.  Considering that these figures are images preserved for centuries, Mr Depp may have more claim to immortality than a simple Academy Award might bestow





Of course no parade would be complete without a tired mom carrying the costume of a tired child. We sympathized with her.  And we loved the young son who faithfully clutched the bridle of his father's horse costume - plus you had  to respect the stamina of the carrier who let their child go along for the ride









The experience leaves us euphoric.  We've seen it in travelogues and we've always wanted to experience. it.  Unplanned.  Unexpected - it rocks us back.  Our Travel God - Allinclusivo - has smiled upon us one more time.

Barcelona - The Pyramids

We wend down, wandering through the maze of ancient streets.  Up ahead on a slight rise, an ornate lamp hangs over a square.  Dickie wants a shot




Interesting shot.  But panning down reveals a vision even more incredible.  Again one references National Geo and again it is happening - live - in front of you - Human Pyramids (also called Castell)




Now the engineering and anatomical logistics are insane.  Take a bunch of people (mostly really big guys) and erect an interlocking base with flying buttresses (to match Notre Dame)....




...then on top of this loft up a first tier of really strong guys. 





Liz notes there is a lot of butt grabbing going on....and a lot of Home Depot style lifting belts (which we learn are actually long pieces of fabric wrapped around the waist for back support)


Two levels are done - now they move into gender mixing.  Males and females climb upon the standing bodies to create the third tier








The whole process is moving very quickly.  A vision of organic growth as seen through a microscope happening on a human scale.  The third tier elevates itself over levels one and two







Levels four and five evolve equally magically.  There are now four tiers of men and women standing on top of a platform of very tough people in the middle of a square paved with very, very, very hard stone slabs





Then - madness.  A four year old (with safety helmet) climbs up the backs of the standing human pyramid to form a 6th tier pinnacle.  We are awed.  We are two feet from the base and can smell their energy

So now we have a four year old standing on the top of a tower of human beings.  So what do they do?  Of course!  They strip away the surrounding support so we have a single person pillar.  We run out of emotional accolades.  Dickie, the latent engineer, figures that there is at least 500+ pounds of flesh on someone's shoulders









The child climbs down the tiers of bodies and the other caryatids follow. It is an amazing performance.  Hopefully the will never sacrifice this elegance to hip hop and break dancing.









An interesting detail - as the climbers mount they bite the tips of their shirt collars.  We assume this is to prevent succeeding climbers (who hang on to the backs of their shirts) from strangling them.  Anyone have another answer?





See next post for more pyramid feats!

Barcelona - The Pyramids #2

Nothing else seems possible.  We assume they must be done.  We are wrong.

Amoeba like they throw up four columns in front of the municipal building.  Then the top girl is lifted to the balcony on a scarf (those ubiquitous euro scarves) and then the next girl is also lifted from the pyramid to the balcony.  We concede defeat and give Mexico back to Spain!






Following are some other pics of what was an awesome experience for us; more impressive since everyone around us seemed to regard it as the equivalent of a kids' hockey game in Barrie.....and of course they have a supporting band
















The still photos do not do justice to the wonder.  It's the speed, the agility, the organic flow with which the pyramids form that has to be seen to be believed.

Liz has put together a slide show of stills that gives you a sense of how magical the process is......

Barcelona - Now Fire Breathing Dragons

Puppets, Pyramids all in one day.  But Barcelona was not finished with us.

We got home elated - a glass (or two) of wine, and then explosions erupted from our nearby square.  We were off again.

The scene was medieval.  People in horned cowls immersed in showers of fire.  We joined the throng










It is incredible to describe.  A church square filled with celebrants; each with a pitchfork; on the spikes are erupting Roman Candles.  They are dancing in the fire









And as it escalates into the unbelievable they tip us over the edge by moving in fire breathing (literally) dragons who shower the crowd with incendiary blasts











In their horned hoods they are people out of an inquisition nightmare.  We weave between the dancers.  We are transfixed.





Eventually the pyrotechnics subside. We examine the beasts and instruments.  We are two of few tourists - it is a memorable evening







The next day we re-visit a display of dragons at the local cultural centre.  We had dropped in before and were curious about the metal clamps projecting fromt heir mouths.  Now we knew.

Obviously, dancing around in fire is a common Catalan activity, with some marvelous structures to ignite the celebration!

It is a sight to behold.  Could be a major tourist attraction and we're surprised it is so low profile.  Perhaps they cleverly  like it this way.  We checked websites to learn what we had experienced - the Festival of St Eulalia - but not much made of it considering what we experienced.  If you're coming to Barcelona near February 12, plan to be here then.....and wear something non flammable!















Note the guards on the "Roman Candle Spikes" to prevent eyeball loss by visitors



One figure was very creative - an alien like eruption from another monster.  They are wonderful examples of folk art....no.....real art.  Could look good next to our Bali dragon carving



Another dragon was probably our favourite - the cherub on his neck is a marvelous counterpoint.  Getting inside and having it fire up in the midst of a crowd must be both exciting and a responsibility





As living cultural attractions, the "Puppets", "Human Pyramids" and the "Fire Dancing" are as good as it gets.  There is a wonderful charm and sincerity that may be very vulnerable to global awareness.

Barcelona - Our Apartment

All postings from new places start with "Liz has found us a wonderful apartment/house/boat/location/etc".  Of course she has done it again. 

We are in the centre of the "Old Town" part of Barcelona, just one square away from the main Cathedral.  Our 5th floor abode (that's Liz on the balcony) looks out over the Cathedral Spires, the Harbour Cable Car and, charmingly, our neighbour's laundry.

The cathedral is undergoing extensive restoration; hence the cranes and protective nets

Not sure when the apartment was built - turn of the century probably.  It's big, with 12 foot ceilings.  Two bedrooms - one with ensuite; a big office, large living/dining room, second bathroom and a fully equipped kitchen.  It has been recently renovated and the level of finish is lovely.  Comes with high speed internet access, two stereo systems, 100+ channel cable, central heat and A/C and what we love most - 4 sets of french doors opening onto balconies overlooking the square.

Following are lots of pics - the corner shadows are from a fish eye lens

The kitchen is the best provisioned in any residence we've ever rented (15 to date).  Big frig, dishwasher, microwave (in a neat, but never used, "garage"), other appliances and dinnerware and flatware (including a lot of silver).  Best of all it came with a great set of knives and other tools.....except after years of travel we now carry our own - could have saved a lot of luggage weight!

The kitchen has been a learning experience for we self assumed appliance leaders.  The stove is an induction cooktop.  It can boil water faster than you can get the lid on the pot.  We seem to be getting the hang of it.  The oven, which convects, dissects, bisects, and might resurrect, still has the best of us....but random knob turning and button punching appear to be negotiating a compromise.

The bathrooms are modern, clean to OR standards and supplied with infinite amounts of hot water - we're happy.

Perhaps most welcoming of all, the apartment is very, very comfy.  Paired couches that we curl up on, objects d'art everywhere, lots of books and paintings and a full pantry of things you need but forget to stock up on when you arrive.  By the second day we were settled in and our phrase after wandering around the city was "let's go home"

We're very happy here.  Had our next door neighbours from Rome (they now live in London UK) visit us for 3 days a couple of weeks ago and our dear friends George and Josie came last weekend for 4 days - the apartment is built for entertaining.

As much as we love living here, it's the neighbourhood that enchants.  We have an excellent Gellateria 8 feet from our front door - we never make dessert.  The local grocery store delivers (Richard is just old enough to remember grocery stores delivering!).  We're 5 minutes to two of the best food markets we've ever seen (after discussion - we agree - "the best" markets we've ever seen).

Now - on to the markets, the cathedral, underground Roman Ruins, the Maritime Museum, the Rambla and what is usually the core of our travel blogs....restaurants.

Check back soon!

A Barcelona Apartment Postscript

One very important feature of our apartment is our elevator.  It's slightly larger than a coffin




You can squeeze.........really squeeze...........4 people into it.  There is a very large spring at the bottom of the shaft which infers the possibility of catastrophic breakdown. 

Our grocery delivery man performs ancient rituals of adoration at its doors, which in our non existent Catalan we interpret to mean that not all apartments have elevators and hauling 50 litres of water up 6 flights is not his favourite way to start the day.

It is an arcane ritual - up and down - we perform with great amusement many times every day.

The choice is a stairwell of far too many marble stairs.  We bow to the wonders of technology.

Barcelona - The Neighbourhood - Shopping, The Cathedral and "Our" Bar

As wonderful as our apartment is, it is the neighbourhood that most enchants us.  Imagine an area from Yorkville to Wellesley/Avenue Road to Church Street - with very narrow winding streets and no cars.  The streets are constantly thronged with people. Spaniards clearly love to stroll....young, old, rich, poor.  It's hard to depict the experience in photos.  What, in other places would be an annoying crowd, becomes a social ritual.  Of course, even when intending to depict crowds, Richard intuitively waits until there are no people before taking a shot!








Would it work in Toronto?  There are certainly climate issues and - more significantly - cultural ones.  Would Canadians stroll in sufficient numbers to justify retailers on walking streets?  There are downsides - we pulled our roller luggage several blocks from the nearest cab stand....definitely a new piece of furniture is a logistics event (delivery trucks are allowed into the area in the early AM/Garbage and street cleaning happen in the middle of the night).  Perhaps North American mega malls are our alternative.  We'd hate to think we were agreeing with David Miller....."let them melt snow".












Urban planning speculation aside, this is a delightful place to live.  The Gelateria is 6 feet across from our front door.  We never make dessert....and if your sugar craving is in overdrive, the candy shop is right next door









Down the street is an epic deli/cheese shop/wine store, but mostly a place where neighbourhood businessmen sit around and smoke, drink (very good wine) and tell lies.  It's where we run to at odd hours for a good bottle of wine or some excellent cheese or ham







Sweetness abounds in the square, at all economic levels.  Across the plaza is a very deluxe chocolate store.  The Easter special are wonderful, wretched excess











Down the street is the Henckels Knife store.  We've never seen a Henckels store before.  Great knives, wonderful utensils and some truly perfect pots (the apartment comes with a set)  Since we're easily amused, we regularly pop in to try out a few knives on various vegetables (they have a mini test kitchen).  Looks like our big Spanish souvenir will be knife made in Japan for a German company!  The window features a 300 Euro limited edition composite blade Japanese knife with Damascene finish that Dickie seems to believe would improve his knife skills!





Each morning (except Sunday) Liz (the much earlier riser) goes to get our morning Herald Tribune from the newsstand in the square next to ours.  Convenience Stores are clearly more convenient.....surprise, but there is a nostalgic charm about the newsstand , with its crusy proprietor (which ours is)




We've two nearby toy stores - one of which has the best selection of die cast metal trucks Dickie has seen in years.....and who can argue about an 8 inch model bulldozer with real metal tracks (no plastic please) for just less than 100E?  Richard just tells Liz that they're for the nephews.  The other toy store specializes in puzzles....the bald guy is in heaven











The main Cathedral (not the iconic Sagrada Familia) in the next square is the centre for both the old part of town and a Catalan culture nexus. The building and the surrounding complex (under restoration) is quite beautiful - religious art, a gorgeous pipe organ and ornate spires.  We aren't showing the Cathedral since it's covered in scaffolding and the day we wrote this there was a very large temporary structure in the square (a Catalan language book fair).  (Liz just finished reading Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett about Gothic Cathedral building - Richard has been very patient as Liz launches into long descriptions about how they built cathedrals!)













But, best of all, the courtyard at the Cathedral entry has an ancient fountain with geese.  Guess where all our stale bread goes?  We missed bringing a parrot home from Australia - a goose could be fun.  Louis and Orange Bird will love him.  The geese are, however, cramping our dining style - we're feeling a tinge of guilt everytime we eat foie.







Of course we've found a charming tapas bar down the street and last time we visited they said "your table is free".....guess we're living here.  Our table is on a mezzanine overlooking the bar and the square.  Food is good, service is warm and Sammy (behind the champagne on ice) the barman caters to our every need.

It's a great neighbourhood.

Barcelona - The Neighbourhood - La Rambla

The neighbourhood is defined by two institutions - the historic Cathedral Square and the Rambla. In a league with 5th Avenue and Champs Elysees, the Rambla sweeps down from Placa Catalunya to the Christopher Columbus monument on the Harbour's edge.  You can see its tree lined swath in the photo below, shot from the Harbour cable car




The structure of the Rambla is different. Imagine University Avenue (sorry to you non-Toronto residents) with two lanes of traffic on either side and the centre island is a walking street with pet stands, flower stands and cafes (the waiters run across the outer lanes to serve from the main restaurant)

If 5th Avenue is defined by shopping and Champs Ave by its cafes, then the Rambla's claim to fame is simply strolling....seeing and being seen.  There are stores, but not a lot or significant ones, some cafes, a surprising run of pet and flower stores in the centre; but the prime activity seems to be walking.

One of the charms of the Rambla is the street performers.  Most are what we call "posers".  They have a great costume/make up and sit like frozen mimes.  You toss them coins and take their photos.  A selection follows - we especially love the clown who leaves his shoes when he takes a break

The current crowd favourite appears to be the fellow we call "the black George Patton".  Some posers pop out of boxes, other make sounds....George just sits with his unlit cigar and the coins flow in.

Posers hate being photographed without being paid.  Richard tends to photo first - pay later.  Here's what happens.....they go hide - after the sounds in his tin, this fellow came out to play

Our favourites are the "Carrefour Ladies", two girls with angel wings and wands who sit outside our grocery store.  We frequently see them shopping (in make up) when we're there.  You have to be confident to buy toilet paper while wearing a lot of sparkles on your face







Not all the Rambla street performers are posers. There are break dancers and Michael Jackson imitators (no photos, don't want to encourage them).

Our favourite alternative to the posers is a couple who dance a romantic tango.  We watch them and wonder - in 40 years will they be sitting before their fireplace reminiscing about the time when they danced for coins on La Rambla?





The pet stores pose a problem.  We miss our birds.  Each time one of us goes alone to the store there is the concern that the apartment will gain its very own canary or zebra finch.  Of course we could buy a large exotic chicken or ring nected pheasant, or now Easter is coming - a baby duck!.  So far we remain loyal to Louis, OB and families





We love walking La Rambla!

Barcelona - Apartment Addendum #2

So why the bright yellow post it notes taped to the corners of the stove exhaust hood? 

The owner is quite short.  Her head clears the sharp glass edge on the hood.  Dickie takes it out in the eyeballs and Liz would need dental work.  The yellow warnings, and time, seem to have taught us basic avoidance, although Dickie has a few more scars on his bald pate.

Barcelona - Apartment Addendum #2

So why the bright yellow post it notes taped to the corners of the stove exhaust hood? 

The owner is quite short.  Her head clears the sharp glass edge on the hood.  Dickie takes it out in the eyeballs and Liz would need dental work.  The yellow warnings, and time, seem to have taught us basic avoidance, although Dickie has a few more scars on his bald pate.

Barcelona - Museu Frederic Mares

There are a lot of high profile museums in Barcelona - Picasso, Miro, Gaudi, et al and then there was Frederic Mares; an inveterate acquirer who left his collections to the city of Barcelona.....with obviously a very adequate endowment, since the museum is superbly maintained. 

Tucked in behind the Cathedral Barcelona, it is the most personal museum we've ever experienced. Sr Mares collected and saved everything - crucifixes, scissors, cigar bands, restaurant menus, match boxes......the list goes on.

Let's start with the crucifixes.  We're talking altar piece sizes, not necklaces.  Now we're not religious, but when you see all those variants of the dying Christ you have to be touched by the artists' passion and feeling.  Displayed outside a church they transcend religion and become art.  A small portion of the collection follows.  Note - Liz observes that the dying Christ always leans to his right












Frederic also collected statues of the Virgin and Child; again in great numbers.  And again many of them are emotionally compelling pieces - as with the crucifixes many go beyond religion to become art.  The question we can't answer is where did they come from?  Have this many Catholic churches been closed?  Are they personal household artifacts?











While the religious items occupy 3 floors of this one of a kind  museum, on the upper floors  we have collections of.....

....Matchbooks - yes, all the display cases are filled with matchbooks and most fold open to reveal layers of examples



...Cigar bands - in this case arranged in an elaborate collage



....Menus - he saved so many that they are displayed on folding easels 6 deep.  We may need to consider this for our stash



....then there's the old bicycles and the pocket watches and the hat pins, fans, eye glass cases, suff boxes, cameras - you name, it he collected it.









It's not so much a museum as a time machine.  We'll definitely go back....probably when our teenage friends arrive.  It was the most fun museum we've been to in a long time.

Barcelona - The Underground City and Maritime Museum

Underground Barcelona

In the next square over from ours (Placa Rei) is the entrance to a fascinating archeological experience.  Like most places around the Mediterranean, Barcelona was founded by the Romans (on an existing sight over which there is debate who started it).  Originally a heavily fortified walled city, it was over built by medieval  cultures and eventually the city we live in today. 

Inevitably modern excavation discovers the Roman City underneath the rubble of subsequent eras.  The wonderful feature is that the Roman City was excavated under the existing modern city.  As you wander the ruins, you walk under a roadway and Plaza supported by beams and pillars.

There's an ancient winery, with vats for crushing and fermenting; a fabric dye works and laundry; a fish salting plant and other crafts.  It doesn't make for exciting photos, but it is very interesting and we highly recommend it.














The Maritime Museum

Barcelona has a lovely Maritime Museum.  It's doubly appropriate since it is located in the 15th century ship building works and is adjacent to the statue of Columbus on the harbourfront.



The tour starts with great charm.....senior male citizens - much, much older than Dickie - building model boats (for the museum, presumably)





The museum has the requisite displays of ship models, maps and figure heads (this one shown is a "native from the fresh water lakes of North America"!)





But the centrepiece of the museum is a full size Mediterranean war galley (Charlton Heston would have had his oar taken from his cold dead hand)





Two hundred slaves chained 3 or 4 to an oar - you ate there, slept there, "toileted" there and - inevitably - died there.  It must have made hell look like summer camp.  The photo below with mannequins shows the accommodations



The next feature of the display is a screen hung over the galley - onto which they project a full crew rowing this monster ship.  "The Captain wants to go water skiing" (the oldest joke in the world) is suddenly in bad taste.  It's a definite must see.

Apartment Addendum #3

Lean a little over our balcony - not "really nosy neighbour-over" - and you can look into the projecting dining room of the neighbours in the next building.

We call it "The English Mystery Murder Scene'.  There's an eerie air of decay.  Objects that should be clues abound.  No people have yet been seen.  We, of course, have created our own Holmsian mythology!