Last Day - Joan Miró Museum and Packing

9/20/2013 - For some reason, I had trouble publishing this post on Sept. 20th so am trying it again today.

Another absolutely beautiful day here in Barcelona. We take a taxi to the Joan Miró museum. It is on Montjuic along with the National Museum of Catalan Art which we went to a couple of days ago. The views of Barcelona from Montjuic are stunning especially with this good weather. I love his art! I love how graphic and colorful it is and how he continued to innovate to the time of his death. There is a good video about his life in the museum. The museum was built specifically to house his work. It is a stark white and is the perfect venue for this purpose. We spend a pleasant couple of hours using the excellent audio guide and have lunch in the little cafe before taking a taxi back to the apartment.

We decide to have a relaxing, free afternoon doing whatever each of us wishes. Kathy walks to the art fair starting today and hopes to do some shopping along the way but comes home empty handed. John walks down to the beach. Dave and I catch up on pictures and get organized for packing. It is very good to have some down time.

We are meeting Linda and Chas for tapas at 6:30. Hoping Don and Jane can join us as they are arriving in Barcelona today. They are going to do the same Catalonia trip we have just finished which starts on Thursday. Don and Jane do join us and we have a good time catching up and comparing notes on trips. Linda and Chas are with us as well. A perfect end to the trip. 

This has been a wonderful trip! Perfect weather certainly helped, but, aside from that, I learned so much about Catalan culture, their contributions to civilization, their pride in their culture, their initiative and confidence, the effect of Franco's suppression of the Catalan culture, and an understanding of the current movement for independence. Did you know that Catalonia had one of the first democracies and was a model for other countries? Of course, the artists from Catalonia are legion - Dalí, Miró, Picasso and Gaudi to mention a few. These artists had enormous impact on art worldwide. 

This was our third trip to Spain and I was once again Impressed by how nice it is, I.e. good roads, nice bathrooms everywhere, nice hotels, good food, friendly people. In particular, Barcelona, in the eyes of a tourist anyway, is a bustling, beautiful city that looks like it is doing well. We saw a lot of construction everywhere. This impression is somewhat of a disconnect with what I know is the deep crisis in Spain that is going on underneath such as a 25% unemployment rate, no jobs for young educated adults who are delaying starting families, a sense of pessimism about the future, an apparently increasingly repressive conservative government and so on. 

Lastly, I think I have gotten my confidence back with cycling. I worked on my attitude, paced myself pretty well and ate right. Mainly, the cycling, though difficult on some days, was manageable. I was pretty discouraged after last year's trip. It's hard to think about not doing these trips anymore. I think I can continue awhile longer. Our group discussed doing a custom trip in the Alsace region of Feance next year and I find myself looking forward to that. Not ready to quit quite yet.

                                    A perfect end to the trip. Drinks and tapas with good friends.

Last Day - Joan Miró Fundació and packing

Another absolutely beautiful day here in Barcelona. We take a taxi to the Joan Miró museum. I love his art! I love how graphic and colorful it is and how he continued to innovate to,the time of his death. The museum was built specifically to house his work and it is the perfect venue for this purpose. We spend a pleasant couple of hours and have lunch in the little cafe before taking a taxi back to the apartment.

We decide to have a relaxing, free afternoon doing whatever each of us wishes. Kathy walks to the art fair starting today and hopes to do some shopping along the way but comes home empty handed. John walks down to the beach. Dave and I catch up on pictures and get organized for packing. It is very good to have some down time.

We are meeting Linda and Chas for tapas at 6:30. Hoping Don and Jane can join us as they are arriving in Barcelona today.

Monserrat

Rain was predicted for today so we took rain gear but it never materialized. We took a taxi to Plaça d'Espagne where we found the train to Monserrat. We had to stop and ask a couple of times but once we were there, a woman at an information desk helped us decide which ticket option we wanted. Then, a man from the railroad took us to the ticket machine and helped us get tickets. As is the case with most ticket machines in Europe, our credit card wouldn't work so we had to use cash. It was 19 euros for a round trip ticket on the train and the cable car to Monserrat. We had a choice of taking the rack train or cable car the rest of the way to Monserrat after getting off the train and we chose the cable car. We were early for the train so got seats. Good thing because it was standing room only by the time it left. Linda and Chas Boss got on, too, so we joined up with them. It is about an hour's ride on the train and then transfer to the cable car for a five minute ride to the top of Monserrat. We immediately went to look for some lunch which we found in a functional cafeteria set up to serve tourists quickly. 

After lunch, we made our way to the Basilica to hear the Choir Boys at 1:00. The place was packed! We could just see the front and a little of the boys. A short service preceded the choir boys who sang for ten minutes. These boys are selected and live and go to school at Monserrat. Monserrat is a Benedictine monastery currently with 30 monks. It has been animportant pilgrimage since the 11th century though the current Basilica was built in the 1850s and the facade only completed in 1968. 

We decide to take the funicular 820 feet up to Sant Joan, a small chapel on the mountain top. The funicular is straight up the mountainside. It is quite warm and uphill to the little chapel. We hike down the mountain on a steep path which is made manageable because the surface is rough concrete with some embedded stones. It takes us about an hour. We reward ourselves with gelato when we get to the bottom. We make our way to the cable car and the start of the trip back. We don't have to wait at all and made a good connection with the train which was crowded. Chas kindly gives me his seat and I am grateful because I am tired. 

We go back to the apartment for a rest before meeting Chas and Linda at 7 Portes for dinner. This restaurant is very close to our apartment. We have a nice meal and visit with them. It has been a very nice day.

                                           Cable car up,to Monserrat

                                                  View from Monserrat

                                                    Monserrat

                                               Basilica and Boys Choir at Monserrat

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya and Sagrada Familia

9/18/13

The day dawned sunny and clear. We took a taxi to the Catalonian National Museum of Art. It is up on the hill at Montjuic in a beautiful setting. The view of Barcelona is incredible from the terrace of the museum. It is on our ArtTicket pass and turns out to be an absolutely wonderful museum! It has an outstanding collection of medieval art collected from small churches in villages around Catalonia starting in the 1920s. It was collected and saved so that it wasn't sold by art dealers. The process of removing it from the walls of these churches is depicted in a video and is interesting and amazing. The art is displayed beautifully in natural like settings in the museum in the way it would have appeared in the church. There is also a nice collection of Renaissance and Baroque art which I enjoy. The floor with Modern Art is also excellent and illuminating. 

After lunch, we go back to the apartment and rest for awhile. We are using taxis to get around the city and save our legs a bit. With four of us, the cost is about the same as taking the metro plus we don't have to deal with the possible hassles of the metro such as pick pocketing which is endemic in Barcelona. The taxis are readily available, clean and appear to be well regulated. 

We have tickets to the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's masterpiece at 5:00. We take a taxi there. We have chosen 5:00 hoping the crowds will be a bit thinner then. Our advance tickets get us right in. We have two tickets to go up in the Passion Tower and two to go up in the Nativity Tower. Dave and I go up the Passion tower ( the newer one) and Kathy and John go up the Nativity Tower and supposedly the more exciting one. Dave and I ride up in the elevator and walk down the some 215? steps. There are views out little windows as we descend the steps but there is so much construction going on it is difficult to see much.

The outside of Sagrada Familia is pretty fantastic with the older Nativity Facade looking more traditional and the newer Passion Facade looking cleaner with stark, angular figures not designed by Gaudi but by the current architect of the church, Josep Subirachs. Gaudi died in 1926 after a tram accident. With about 20% of the church finished. Nearly a century after his death, people continue to toil to bring Gaudi's designs to life. "There is something powerful about a community of people with a vision, working on a church that won't be finished in their lifetime - as was standard in the Gothic age." Those are Rick Steves' words and I like that idea. 

The inside is just spectacular, a forest of light and beauty. I've never seen anything like it and think it one of the most beautiful interior spaces I have ever seen. The stained glass windows are modern and gorgeous. With the sun shining behind them, they cast beautiful patterns of light on the floors and walls. The crowds have thinned and we spend considerable time here enjoying this beautiful space.

We work our way back home eating dinner once again at Cheese Me in a little square near our apartment. We sit outside on this pleasant evening. There are several types of performers as we eat. They aren't necessarily authorized and they go around to the tables asking for money which I find intrusive. Guess it is better they are doing something for money instead of just picking pockets.

                              View from terrace of theMuseu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

                                           Medieval art in National Museum

                    Renaissance art

                                  A Picasso in the National Museum of Art

                              Small part of the Passion facade of the Sagrada Familia

           Light and color in the Sagrada Familia

                Light and color in the Sagrada Familia

                                      Chandelier in Sagrada Familia

Palau de la Mùsica Catalana, Barcelona Cathedral and Casa Míla

 We all enjoyed a good sleep and not setting an alarm. I felt quite tired from the trip. There is always a let down after these trips. The day was overcast and rain was predicted so we took prepared for rain as we set out. We went to the Palau de la Música Catalana and got tickets for the noon English tour. We had an hour and a half to kill so went to the nearby Barcelona Cathedral. It had started raining so this was a good inside thing to do. This cathedral I would not call a must see though it is worth a visit. After a coffee in the Palau cafe, we enjoyed an excellent tour of the music theater. Our guide was very knowledgable and well spoken plus we got to sit down for most of the tour. The theater is of Art Noveau design designed by Tapies. Our guide explained that Art Noiveau was a response to the ugliness of industrialization. It emphasizes nature and movement in its designs creating beautiful places for people to get away from the ugliness of industrialization. There are many flowers and wavy lines in Art Nouveau. The theater was initially owned by amateur choir societies. It was the first to feature coed choirs. The theater is truly beautiful! We listened to the organ play Bach's Fugue and Toccata in D Minor. 

We got some lunch after the tour and then started walking toward Casa Míla, one of Gaidi's houses. Of course, we had to make a stop at the huge Apple Store here in Barcelona. We were lucky that the line at Casa Milà was not long. With an audio guide, we toured the roof, the attic and the apartment and learned a lot about Gaudi. We started walking toward home looking for some gelato to sustain us the rest of the way. 

We enjoyed a rest at the apartment before finding a hip, modern restaurant in El Born, Morial. Truly a well spent day!

                      Barcelona Cathedral

                                        Palau de la Música Catalana

                                    Inside the Palau de la Música

                   Rooftop of Casa Míla

                  Rooftop of Casa Míla

                                                 Dave at the guess where??

Day 12 - End of Bike Trip in Barcelona

We get together for breakfast, the final official event of the bike trip. We know everyone in this group so well and are planning a trip together next year so saying goodbye is easier. We are talking about doing the Experience Plus! Alsace trip but extending it by two or three days. Philipp is working with us and says extending the trip into Germany would be easy. Everyone is on board to do this so we would have enough people.

Philipp is not leaving until the evening so he suggests the group meet at 1:00 to go to a "Cava" tapas bar, a well known one. We walk to the apartment to pick up the keys while the maid is there and walk back to the hotel to go lunch. The Cava tapas place has no name on it, looks like a hole in the wall. I have read about these places. It is packed with people. One has to buy a bottle of champagne and then can order little plates of tapas. You just have to push your way up to the bar and ask for what you want. Philipp does the ordering for us and passes the plates back. I am glad he is there to show us how to negotiate a place like this. The bar tender keeps a tab for everyone. They designate Philipp's as "blond boy." Isn't that funny?  What a fun cultural experience this is!! 

Philipp walks back to the hotel with everyone. Kathy, Dave and I retrieve our luggage from the hotel storeroom and get a taxi to the apartment. John walks with Philipp to the apartment. We all arrive about the same time. The owner of the apartment arrives to collect the rest of his rent money from us. When he leaves, Philipp expresses displeasure that people like this guy want money in cash so,they don't have to pay taxes. It was the same in Florence last year. It is a cultural attitude that undermines the health of the country's economy. He nevertheless agrees that we have a lovely place to stay. I will be more aware of this issue in the future.

 Philipp spends the rest of the afternoon showing us possible routes for the Alsace trip. It is so nice to have this time to visit with him. Linda will contact Experience Plus! with our request for this trip and Philipp will do so as well. We will get the ball rolling for next year. 

We went across the street for dinner at one of the many places lining the street to the beach. 

                                                           Cava tapas

                                        Kathy, Philipp and Me at the Cava tapas bar

Day 11 - Cycling to Barcelona

This is our last day of cycling! It doesn't seem possible the trip is almost over. We all gather in the courtyard of the hotel in a jovial mood as we get ready to go. It looks a little like rain, but it will be an easy ride. We ride a short distance before getting on a beautiful bike path that goes all the way into Barcelona. It has marked lanes with a grassy area off to the side where people can play ball or run their dogs. We all meet up at 34 km at a bar on the beach. We will ride in to Barcelona together. The beach is empty today because of the weather. We ride along the coastline through 1992 Olympic venues going right past our apartment. It is the easiest ride in to a big city we have ever done. We ride up the Ramblas to our hotel near Placa Catalunya. We turn in our bikes and congratulate each other on our safe trip. We have ridden 43 km today.

We meet at 6:30 to take a walk to our restaurant stopping along the way for historical commentary by Philipp about what we are seeing. He has such good knowledge of history. We have our own room upstairs at the restaurant. The meal is delicious but there is to much food. 

Philipp says a few words as do each of the guides. It has been a really wonderful trip! We have ridden a total of 550 km.

I will add some pictures when I get some.