Felice Navidad!

Dec 27, 2001

Felice Navidad

¡Hola!

Am now in Barcelona and it is absolutely sweltering here....ok slight exaggeration, but it might be about 12 C right now....so pretty impressive Actually the internet cafe is about the hottest place i´ve been all week!

Since I last wrote.....I spent a couple days in Montpellier and have been in Barca since Saturday.

I stayed at a lady´s house in Monpellier - a girl from the hostel in Nimes recommended this student house so it was quite a fun and comfy place to stay. I had my own queen-sized bed, my own TV (only in French) and fantastic food included in price of accommodation. Oh and she had an adorable fat cat too. Didn´t do much sightseeing in Montpellier as I stumbled across Galleries Lafayette, and then Mango and Zara shops, so I did some damage to the credit card instead got some fantastic clothes though!

The train ride to Barca was great.....the scenery on the stretch of coast between Languedoc-Rousillon and Catalunya is quite spectacular - all this parched land on one side with snowcapped mountains in the background (partly Pyrenees) and then estuaries and the ocean on the other. I sat next to a gendarme for part of the trip....he looked insanely similar to the guy from the Wagon Wheel ad! I wound up getting a shoddy connection between Montpel and Barca and had to wait about at the train station in the border town of PortBou for 2 hours.....I had the delight of watching the annual Xmas lotto draw which went on for the duration of my time in the station cafetaria and then probably longer.....there were kids dressed in uniforms reading out the numbers in song......sounded like tellitubbies had taken too much ritalin! grrrrrr prime time viewing though it seems as the entire cafe was enthralled by it!

When I arrived here, I headed for a walk along La Ramblas - it´s a busy street lined with cafes, shops and home to lots of markets, street theatre, and animals! Also went for a walk along down to the port where there are more markets, shops, Imax theatre and the marina. Visited the Museum of Catalonian History.......It looked kinda ordinary but turned out to be quite fantastic as it not only gave you a crash course in Catalunyan history, but also had lots of hands on stuff.....you could grind corn, spin wool, practice spining a long gun like they do in the changing of the guard, and could press different buttons to hear different bell tolls or patriotic Catalonian songs.....for some reason you could also play Beatles music, Madonna and The Doors.... good stuff.

Denise arrived on Sunday morning and is having a bit of difficulty adapting to the cold.....fair enough when you come from 33 degree Aussie heat! I keep assuring her it will be warmer in the south, but she is still keen to invest in a divine winter coat......any excuses for shopping

What else- visited lots of Gaudi stuff here.......the guy was an absolute architectural genius....we went to La Sagrada Familia (a great big drip castle like church which is like nothing you have ever seen - it is a bit of a shame that they are continuing to construct the church - it has been in and out of construction for 100 years - because it is not in keeping with the original design....at least not at the moment so hopefully they will leave it be), Manzanas de la Discordias (block of discord), Casa Mila (A museum of Gaudi stuff, rather like a lollipop house), Parc Guell (huuuuge big parc designed by gaudi with lots of weird and wonderful buildings, seats, archways etc).

Have wandered round the Barri Gotic part of town and seen the old Cathedral, lots of markets and the Ajuntamiento (town hall). Also went through the Mercat de la Boqueria (food market just near where we are staying) where you can buy everything from divine looking olives to full pigs, live lobsters squirming about on ice, and whole chickens hanging from their beaks....it is a bit gross but i guess it is just depending on what one is used to. Where we are staying is right on teh middle of La Ramblas and there is a huge Miro mosaic on the pavement, a Gaudi designed side of a building with japanese paintings, a dragon and some umbrellas.....kinda weird.

A couple of days ago we decided to take the funicular up mount Tibidabo to see the Sagrat Cor (sacred heart church), tower and amusement park and get a good view over the city.....turned out the funicular was not running so we decided to walk it.....it is only 521m elevation but it took forever to get up there as the path winds and winds and bush bashing is inconceivable as we quickly discovered - blackberry bushes and privet etc all over the place. It was a good walk though - even saw some snow at the top!

We had a nice Xmas. Xmas eve we went for a wander down La Rambla and listened to a group of uni students playing miniature guitars singing Felice Navidad (apparently different faculties from the uni send out reps every year and they all dress up in their academic robes etc - quite fun), watched the mime artists and looked at the markets. There are some regular strange folks who are in the same places everyday.....there is a contortionist who is on the pavement for about 8 hours a day with his shirt off, a 70 + yr old man who has a stall of broken dolls, old toys and a mannequins leg who is there all the time, and two skanky american guys who ask everyone for money.

Of course practically everything was closed on xmas day.....but we went for a walk through the Parc Ciutadella and watched the old men play bocce (presumably their wives were at home cooking the lunch for Navidad) - i hadn´t noticed before, but just like when folks watch high jump, spectators for bocce also lift their leg when someone throws the bocce ball---- tres amusing ¨). Also had a look at the Cascada fountain, bought a great Miro t-shirt, Manzana de la Discorida, La Sagrada Familia and the Arc de Triomf. For Xmas dinner we found a place that served fantastic Italian food......quite cheap too! And we even managed to find a VIPS (book shop and cafe) which had churros con chocolat (Long deep fried doughnuts you dip in thick hot chocolate sauce). I love the food here...... you get incredibly large serves of fantastic tasting food and it is so cheeeeeeap. Had some nice paella the other night, lots of yummy pastries and tomorrow we will go back to the Xocalateria and see if they have more yummy foods

Today we went to the Miro Parc, Bull ring (inhabited, of course by feral cats), and to Montjuic, the olympic park. Saw the olympic stadium, olympic pool (which is quite green and has ducks swimming in it), the tiny tiny olympic flame and had a wander throught eh gardens. Also went to the Museum of National Art-----great collection of Romanesque and gothic art, as well as a temporary exhibit of photos on the spanish civil war.

Tomorrow hopefully off to Dali museum in Figueras and if time, to Montserrat Monestary.

Time is low, so gotta go.....

Adios
Love Belinda