Pic of the week 29/10/23
So for the last eight days or so, we’ve been away travelling through north-eastern Spain, Catalonia. Departing on Wednesday 18 October, we flew out to Barcelona (a very civilised 10 am flight!) and then hoped on a train into the city, where we stayed for 5 nights, enjoying the sites and scenes that Barcelona had to offer.
I must confess, my initial thoughts (well after the excellent train ride from the airport to the city centre) were a little disappointing as we found La Rambla and walked along the famous street of Barcelona – yet another disneyfied experience that could have been any where in Europe (yes, I’m thinking of you Dubrovnik and Rhodes old towns) – sanitised and designed to part the tourist from there money. But we soon left the well beaten track and headed into the gothic quarter – busy, but much less so, and certainly more authentic; you got a sense that you were in Spain, Barcelona, and not just a magnet for the cruise ship masses.
The next day we did the must sees of Parc Gruell and the Sagrada Familia – very and impressive and worth seeing. Becky loved the (slightly bonkers – my opinion) architecture of Gaudi
although I think I preferred the more classical constructions, particularly when married with the modern. I particularly liked this:
The Church of Santa Maria del Pi
The huge piece of modern artwork inside the old building drew me in and was particularly striking. The artwork was commissioned when the outside of the church was graffitied and the authorities entered into a dialogue with the artists, looking to collaborate. I don’t think these old buildings – wonderful though they are – should exist in a vacuum, they are part of a modern, breathing world and need to work out their place in today’s world.
With the pun fully intended, my highlights of the trip to Barcelona were when we gained height and could enjoy fantastic vistas across the landscape. On the Friday we went to Montserrat by train, cable car and funicular before exploring on foot the strange mountains and rocks
We also got high by going to the top of the church at Tibiado
and on the Sunday when we took the funicular up to Montjuic where, in addition to the views
we wandered the parks and grounds and saw a few sights from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
After some busy days on Barcelona, we went up the coast, via slow train (1 and half hours, E6 each)to the seaside resort of Blanes.
The day we arrived was windy and the sea very rough, but it was lovely to have a slower pace of life and sound of the sea crashing onto the shore.
The next day was calmer, we walked up to botanic gardens, Jardi Botanic Marimuta, which were beautiful
… and then we went and found a cove to soak up the sun for the afternoon.
where I swam in the sea – warm, and clear. The highlight of my holiday
And then it was up to Girona for night (flying back from Girona was much cheaper (and less busy & stressful) than returning from Barcelona)
Whilst in Girona, we walked the walls, and I made a new friend, Eugene, 78, who spoke to me in Spanish for some time about the region – I was pleased to be able to “get by” in conversation with several locals during the trip
Then it was an evening flight back to Bristol. Shortly after taking off we flew over Blanes in the dark, a last glimpse, a last reminder of a great Catalan adventure.
Becky’s blog – and far more photos – of the trip can be found here
