Because we had visited Barcelona four years ago and had
spent our entire time in this lively city, we decided we wanted to do one of
our two days outside Barcelona. Not
having been very knowledgeable about Spanish history (let alone the Spanish
language!), my first introduction to Barcelona came in 1992 when I watched the
Summer Olympics in Barcelona. The views
of Barcelona that were shown at that time made me want to visit there
sometime. So after our brief visit at
the end of our Mediterranean cruise in 2008, I was pleased that Barcelona was
included as one of the major ports on our World Cruise. In fact our tour guide told us that Barcelona
is the fourth busiest cruise ship port in the world! Sadly however, unemployment is 22% in Spain
today, up from 8% only a few years ago, and it’s one of the countries in the
Eurozone whose economy is on the brink.
Barcelona’s population ranks behind only Madrid as the
second largest city in Spain and because it’s on the Mediterranean Sea and in
the northeastern part of Spain, it draws cruisers that Madrid isn’t able to
attract. The city has experienced rule
by a variety of rulers including the Carthaginians, the Romans, Visigoths, and
the Moors before the Moors were driven out of Europe. Barcelona is the capital of the region of
Catalonia and even today many residents consider themselves Catalonians before
saying they are Spanish. Most people
here can speak the Catalan language as well as Spanish. The Pyrenees Mountains
are visible and separate Spain from France.
The tiny country of Andorra is nestled high in the mountains and our
tour guide told us that because it is separate from both Spain and France but
is overwhelmed by the sizes of those two countries, that there is an agreement
that Andorra will be under Spanish jurisdiction for four years, followed by
French jurisdiction for four years and then back to Spanish, a fact I had never
known. But then I don’t consider myself
an authority on Andorran history!
Needless to say it causes confusion since the official language shifts
back and forth between Spanish and French every four years. Fortunately both Spain and France now use the
Euro so at least the currency remains the same.
Shortly after we docked about 11:30 AM, we boarded our shore
excursion called Montserrat Monastery
to climb high into the Montserrat Mountain Ridge. “Serrat” comes from jagged or serrated and
the name fits because the mountains in this area are quite serrated. The Montserrat Mountain Range is the site of
a monastery where people come to worship La Moreneta, the Black Madonna, who is
patron-virgin of Catalonia. A
Benedictine community includes about 80 monks who still live there. Roman Catholics come to Montserrat Monastery
to pay homage to the Black Madonna and others come to see the monastery and
basilica because of its unique location on a natural platform 2380 feet above
sea level.
Just before we got off the motorway outside Barcelona, we
stopped for a photo of the monastery from ground level, far below the
monastery. The guide noted that she only
stops if the weather is good and the view is clear. On this sunny day (at the time), we had a
great view of the monastery. We turned off
the main road and began climbing higher and higher for a second day of hairpin
turns and switchbacks which kept hearts in the mouths of those who don’t like
heights (like me!). We had had hairpin
turns the previous day in the Prunelli, near Ajaccio, Corsica, and even on
narrower roads there, but somehow the sheer drop and the expansive view of the
landscape made the drive to Montserrat seem more nerve-wracking. This was especially true when the driver had
to stop the bus on the road with the 40 passengers and then when it lurched
back each time when he resumed the drive. I maintained confidence – sort of –
that the brakes wouldn’t fail at the wrong time and, since this is being
written, I am pleased to report that they didn’t fail us. I overheard one person say this was worse
than the Going to the Sun Highway in Glacier Park in Montana, a drive that kept
me on pins and needles back in the mid-1980s when I attempted it.
Safely to the top, we found the monastery area jammed with
cars, tour buses, and people on a Sunday afternoon. Our tour guide, Michelle, led us along a
viewing platform that we had seen far below. Now we could look down to where we
had been and far out to the landscape that included the Pyrenees Mountains (and
maybe somewhere in there, tiny Andorra) and out to the Mediterranean Sea. While we walked we heard a loud motor and
realized that it was a helicopter coming in for a landing just ahead of where were
walking. Barb and I could swear there
was a person hanging outside the helicopter on the other side from where we
were, before they climbed in. If that
was really the case they were hanging outside the copter with nothing but air
between them and the ground below. The
helicopter landed and took off again. It
repeated this process two more times while we prepared to enter the basilica. Our guide assured us that whoever had been
rescued was “fine” and was being taken to the hospital. Several of us commented to each other that if
someone is “fine”, they don’t usually head for the hospital!
We entered the basilica along with hundreds of others and
looked around at the icons and religious symbols. We could view the Black Madonna from the
sanctuary of the basilica but for a closer look, we would have to stand in a
line, about an hour and a half long, to see the shrine. We didn’t have that kind of time, so had to
be content with the distant view. In
fact, Barb and I didn’t know exactly where we were supposed to look, so we
asked the Catholic priest from the ship who had come to Montserrat where we
were supposed to look and he directed our attention.
As we returned to the bus for the drive down the mountain,
the sky had turned black and we could see lightning in the distance. A few claps of thunder were heard, including
one loud enough to make the bus vibrate.
Fortunately we took a gentler path down and as we got lower, the rain
subsided and when we returned to the ship, there was no rain. It was another great excursion and we were
happy that the return to the ship was uneventful.
On our second day we stayed entirely
within Barcelona in order to take a tour that focused on the architecture of
the great Spanish artist and architect, Antonio Gaudi. Our friend and Lincoln-Way East Art teacher,
Dale Sandoval had told us before we made our 2008 visit to Barcelona to be sure
not to miss Parc Güell (Güell Park) because it was built using the imaginative
architecture of Gaudi. Our cruise that year had concluded in Barcelona but we
had opted to stay an extra day there and had visited the fascinating Güell Park
at that time. The taxi had taken us to the bottom of the hilly park and we had
climbed up. Barb was starting to get
bronchitis and was just a few weeks away from her knee replacement. Those
factors combined with approximately 100° heat made it difficult for her to
appreciate it. Fortunately those factors
weren’t present this year, so we took the shore excursion, Gaudi’s Barcelona. As we
drove along the streets of Barcelona, we marveled at the ingenuity of
Gaudi. He was a late 19th and
early 20th century avant guarde
architect whose presence was evident throughout this city. Although there are few parks, Barcelona
boasts over 150,000 trees. They line
most of the busy streets and enhance the interesting architecture. We made a short photo stop to look at a
building at Casa Milà, another of Gaudi’s efforts. Our guide pointed out the interesting street
lamps, also influenced by Gaudi.
One of the two major highlights of the
tour was the stop at Güell Park. Barb
vowed she was not going to hike up park as we had done in 2008, but this time
our guide took us to one of the main entrances where we could walk down to the
lowest portion of the park. Needless to
say this made it much easier. Gaudi,
from whom derived the word “gaudy”, had developed the park as supposedly a
residential area, but it never was accepted in that way, so the financier,
Güell, who gave his name to the location, agreed to make it a park that would
feature the vision of Gaudi. It’s rather
difficult to explain the park to those who haven’t seen it. One has to see it or see a number of pictures
to comprehend the park. There are ornate
concrete columns that supposedly represent trees. There are cubicles near the
top to accommodate the birds and their nests and they are used for that
function! There are long, wavy benches
with decorative tiles somewhat similar to what we had seen nearly three months
ago on the Tile Staircase in Rio de Janeiro except that in Barcelona the tiles
were original whereas in Rio, they were tiles that had been sent from places
throughout the world. This park was a
fun place to visit and I could enjoy going back there a third time if I come
back to Barcelona. Any first time
visitor should make Güell Park a priority.
Our guide, as well as the ship’s
staff, warned us of pickpockets in Barcelona.
The guide, Maria, said that Barcelona is generally a safe city except
for the pickpockets. We were urged to
keep close watch on valuables so we kept virtually everything zipped in our
clothing and kept firm control of our cameras. As our guide was explaining the
unique benches, we noticed three young men, probably about 20 years old,
intently watching us and appearing to be interested in what our guide was
saying. We were pretty sure they were
pickpockets checking out their possible victims within our tour. Later, when we had some free time, I was up a
slight hill while Barb was down below.
She motioned to me that she wanted to take a picture, and then called up
for me to watch out. Later she said
there were probably some pickpockets behind me but they moved on when they saw
her talking to me.
Our final stop was at the Gaudi
masterpiece, La Sagrada Familia (Holy
Family) Cathedral. It had been
started during Gaudi’s lifetime and is still unfinished. The façade we viewed in 2008 now has the
scaffolding away and they are working on other areas. Revenue comes from the many tourists who pay
to enter the cathedral to take pictures without restrictions. The plan is to complete the work by
2027. The sculpturing depicts much of
the life of Jesus. In fact we entered through the Nativity Façade and exited
through the Passion Façade and noted the relevant architecture both entering
and exiting. When we left, we saw cranes
moving back and forth working on the upper reaches of the exterior and even saw
several men strapped to lifelines as they worked on the façade.
The interior was much brighter and airier
than I had expected. I anticipated a
dark sanctuary as are many old cathedrals but Gaudi wanted light to dominate so
many of the windows are not dark stained glass but are either clear or lighter
stained glass. Our guide pointed out
some new stained glass that hadn’t been there two weeks ago. The four main pillars are named for the four
apostles and have plaques representing them high and close to the ceiling. There are 56 pillars – one for each week of
the year and four for the four apostles.
The church is not yet used for daily and weekly mass but rather for
special occasions. On November 10, 2010,
Pope Benedict XVI came to Barcelona to dedicate the cathedral and hold a mass
there. It is large enough to accommodate
8,000 at one time for worship.
After concluding our visit to La
Sagrada Familia, we returned to the ship, passing the famous shopping and night
life street, Las Ramblas. We had had
time to stroll Las Ramblas in 2008 but not this time. Passing the famous Christopher Columbus
landmark statue, we returned to the ship, proudly pleased that we still had
possession of everything we had taken with us – no pickpockets for us. We hope that will be the same when we visit
Cadiz, our second to the last port and, from what we hear from others, another
very interesting city and one, apparently, that is more representative of a
typical Spanish city.
Once again, visiting a country that
uses the Spanish language, reminds us of all the high school Spanish classes we
have subbed in, mostly at Lincoln-Way, but for me a number of years ago in
Hamburg as well. Barcelona is a great,
vibrant city to visit and I highly recommend it to anyone who has never had a
chance to come here.
CT
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