After an 8-hr flight to Barcelona, we take a taxi to the Onix Liceo Hotel on Carrer Nou de la Rambla, in the Raval district of the Gotic Quarter off Las Ramblas. While waiting for our room, we walk off our jetlag at the Placa Reial and Antonio Gaudi's Palau Guell. Gaudí, with a team of artisans and craftspersons he assembled, built a town house for the industrialist Eusebi Güell - right down our street.
 |
| Carrer Nou de la Rambla |
 |
| Placa Reial |
There was crazy cheering in the streets all day and night as Spain beats Italy 4-0 to retain the Euro Cup. A more local and larger rivalry is actually between Madrid and Barcelona. Some Madrileños have long envied Barcelona for reasons other than football or politics. The Catalan capital has more than just sea and beaches; it has a reputation for being a vanguard of art, architecture and design. To non-Catalonians, Barcelona is represented most by Gothica, Gaudi, Miro and Picasso.
As we wandered through the narrow streets of the Raval - our eyes out for the famed pickpockets - the sky became dark, the air became heavy, the cafe owners pulled in their chairs and tables, and the rain came down in torrents. We negotiated the slippery cobblestones while running back to the hotel. Still jet-lagging, we crashed in the late afternoon and woke up around 9:30pm; headed back out to La Fonda restaurant for fish paella where we chatted with two women from London who gave us our first hint about the ubiquity of ham and pork in the Catalan diet.
No comments:
Post a Comment