Hola
Well still really loving Barcelona. It is a lively city with a great vibe. Nice people, good food, coffee, bars, music and so on. Also full of interesting architecture, great museums, galleries and parks. Add to that mix great weather, compactness and good public transport and you can see why this place is considered special.
Last night I went out and had a pretty good meal and then stumbled across a little bar called L´Angel. About twice the size of my living room it had samon pink walls, some blueish coloured pictures and photos of happy patrons. The place was crammed full of very friendly and groovy people - there to see a 3 piece African band. The lead singer from the band looked Jamaican, was speaking fluent Spanish to a Japanese woman in the break, and had on a t-shirt with celtic designs. They were a fantastic band, with really nice guitar and percussion, and the audience wasn´t afraid to dance. Hope that gives you something of the flavour of the place. Needless to say it was a lot of fun. I´ve also discovered a nice little bar called Sincopa - with excellent decor (including a detailed reggae band suspended from the ceiling). Through the week caught a good blues jam session and also a flamenco band. They were excellent - once again with a very casual vibe. Various friends acted as guest musicians, vocalist and back up clappers.
In my time here I have been to visit the Cathedral and the very mad cathedral designed by Gaudi, which is stil being constructed the Sagrada Familia. To tell you the truth this wasn´t really my thing. Very intereting for sure, but a bit garish for my tastes. I much prefered the Parc Guell.
Not wanting to leave galleries out of my tourism I did a Picasso related walk and went to the Picasso Museum which has some of his early works, as well as some of his last. The day before yesterday I checked out Miro Foundation and also went to the National Art Museum of Catalonia. These are both located in the Montjuic area, a hill south of the city, with the castle / fort, that overlooks the large port area. In fact Companys the leader of the Catalan Republic was executed here by Francos forces. The gallery has some wonderful Romanesque art and also some great modern pieces - including modernista furniture etc. Another interesting Park area in Barcelona was the Parc Ciutadella
Also on the museum front I went to the History Museum. This was truly fantastic, for a mere €3. There was an exhibition of posters from the period of the Catalan Rebuplic, to celebrate 75 years from its commencement. There was also a collection of photos from the civil war. Unfortunately there were not postcards from either of these exhibits and I didn´t fancy carrying around heavy coffee table books. If you are in Barcelona over the next 2 to 3 months you should really check this place out. The museum also has a display covering the complete history of Catalunya, and generally has the politics of mainstream Catalan nationalism (from what I can tell).
Yesterday I went to Monserat. A touristy thing to do, but still worth it and nice to get out and see some of the countryside. Today I went to the beach side town of Sitges. Was a very relaxed day reading, eating and wandering around watching people have a good time.
My only hassle in Barcelona was finding some accommodation when I had to move. There was a music festival on with Daft Punk, Massive Attack, Fatboy Slim and so on. Meant the place was inundated with young people - and a lot of Brits. So a lot of the good cheap accommodation around the centre of town was all booked out. Eventually found somewhere.
A final note. If you haven´t read Orwell´s Homage to Catalonia you really should. It works well as a personal memoir, a work of historical witness and description, and most of all as a briliant piece of contemporary political analysis of the Spanish Civil War. Its been years since I read it and I think I love it even more this time. Amazing to think it is only a little over 30 years since Franco´s death and fall of fascism here.
Last night I went out and had a pretty good meal and then stumbled across a little bar called L´Angel. About twice the size of my living room it had samon pink walls, some blueish coloured pictures and photos of happy patrons. The place was crammed full of very friendly and groovy people - there to see a 3 piece African band. The lead singer from the band looked Jamaican, was speaking fluent Spanish to a Japanese woman in the break, and had on a t-shirt with celtic designs. They were a fantastic band, with really nice guitar and percussion, and the audience wasn´t afraid to dance. Hope that gives you something of the flavour of the place. Needless to say it was a lot of fun. I´ve also discovered a nice little bar called Sincopa - with excellent decor (including a detailed reggae band suspended from the ceiling). Through the week caught a good blues jam session and also a flamenco band. They were excellent - once again with a very casual vibe. Various friends acted as guest musicians, vocalist and back up clappers.
In my time here I have been to visit the Cathedral and the very mad cathedral designed by Gaudi, which is stil being constructed the Sagrada Familia. To tell you the truth this wasn´t really my thing. Very intereting for sure, but a bit garish for my tastes. I much prefered the Parc Guell.
Not wanting to leave galleries out of my tourism I did a Picasso related walk and went to the Picasso Museum which has some of his early works, as well as some of his last. The day before yesterday I checked out Miro Foundation and also went to the National Art Museum of Catalonia. These are both located in the Montjuic area, a hill south of the city, with the castle / fort, that overlooks the large port area. In fact Companys the leader of the Catalan Republic was executed here by Francos forces. The gallery has some wonderful Romanesque art and also some great modern pieces - including modernista furniture etc. Another interesting Park area in Barcelona was the Parc Ciutadella
Also on the museum front I went to the History Museum. This was truly fantastic, for a mere €3. There was an exhibition of posters from the period of the Catalan Rebuplic, to celebrate 75 years from its commencement. There was also a collection of photos from the civil war. Unfortunately there were not postcards from either of these exhibits and I didn´t fancy carrying around heavy coffee table books. If you are in Barcelona over the next 2 to 3 months you should really check this place out. The museum also has a display covering the complete history of Catalunya, and generally has the politics of mainstream Catalan nationalism (from what I can tell).
Yesterday I went to Monserat. A touristy thing to do, but still worth it and nice to get out and see some of the countryside. Today I went to the beach side town of Sitges. Was a very relaxed day reading, eating and wandering around watching people have a good time.
My only hassle in Barcelona was finding some accommodation when I had to move. There was a music festival on with Daft Punk, Massive Attack, Fatboy Slim and so on. Meant the place was inundated with young people - and a lot of Brits. So a lot of the good cheap accommodation around the centre of town was all booked out. Eventually found somewhere.
A final note. If you haven´t read Orwell´s Homage to Catalonia you really should. It works well as a personal memoir, a work of historical witness and description, and most of all as a briliant piece of contemporary political analysis of the Spanish Civil War. Its been years since I read it and I think I love it even more this time. Amazing to think it is only a little over 30 years since Franco´s death and fall of fascism here.
posted by Ital Doctor at 12:40 PM
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