El Ave to Córdoba

Up early Monday morning to catch the Ave (high speed rail) to Córdoba.

To get an idea of the speed, it took us less than 5 hrs to get to Córdoba, when in 1972 I took a train from Barcelona to Málaga that took 24 hrs! In Córdoba, we get a quick tour of the small, quaint streets, typical of Andalucía.

We learn about the Jewish community there before the Inquisition and the role of the Moors in Spanish culture and architicture. This is especially evident in La Mezquita, a HUGE mosque-turned-cathedral that was so big the Spanish just could not tear it down to build their church. So the "mudejar" style (the mix of Muslum and Christian motifs) has its greatest roots and examples here.

Another great landmark in Córdoba is this Roman bridge over the Guadalquivir that predates all this Muslum and Reconquista stuff.

These girls can shop! Give them fifteen minutes to look around and they come back with nice dresses and they are on time! The guys, on the other hand, loll around the tourist trap gifts shops and choose some crap to buy. They seem to be compelled to spend money, even though there is little rationale for what they are doing.

Our new tour bus, driven by Isadoro, takes us to Sevilla. We have purchased (in advance) tickets to the Monday night bullfight, which is three torreros with two bulls each.

I had never been to one before, but it IS the tradition here. They raise the bulls for this and they would all be harvested anyway, but still, the ritual has its contravercial elements. One of our group could not watch.
When I have a better connection, I will add the video to this post of the final moments for one of the evening's bulls:

To the beach!

Everyone wanted the beach, so off we go, down Las Ramblas and about 20 more min to Barceloneta Beach. The kids have free time and the adults go eat Paella.

The rain threatened early and our paella was not even delivered, but the students engaged with a youngster in some street "fútbol"

Dinner was also in the port area, out on the corner of a pier.

Plaza Felipe Neri, Remember the Fascists

Nearby the cathedral, down some very narrow streets is a precious little plaza where in 1938, the advancing troups of Franco (Spanish civil war 1936-39) set off a bomb that killed 38 people, mostly small children.

The pock marks are seen in the walls of the buildings.

The location is held dear in the hearts of the Catalans, who always had a strong resistance to Franco's fascist dictatorship. The Catalan and Vasque regions suffered the most repression of their local cultures under the "Caudillo".

Cathedral and Sardanas

Just a couple of blocks from the Palau is the cathedral, and on Sunday they dance the Sardanas outside, entrance is free before noon, and sometimes they do Les Castellers, human castles that put most cheerleaders to shame.The main tower of the cathedral is an open gothic structure...the air and light flow through it, making it look lighter.

We get inside just before Mass and do a quick run-through to be able to compare with other churches we have and will see.

There are Sardanas going on. This is the traditional dance of Catalunya where participants hold hands in a circle and do a simple dance to the music of Catalan musicians playing a variety of unusual local instruments. For years under Franco, this was one of the few things Catalans could do to maintain their heritage.

Across the Plaza, is the building that Picasso was commissioned to do a mural/facade
for. Here you go!

Day 3 and the Palau

Out of the hotel by 10:15, a bit relaxed because we already know we missed the boat getting tickets to see the inside of the Palau de Música. We go there to see the outside and double check on the tours to no avail.

It's a modernist building by Montaner and an outstanding place to take in a show, whatever is playing. The kids got to see the lobby and facade, but not the concert hall. A new building, café and ticket office has been built around part of the old building, showcasing the old facade through a glass wall and expanding the inside. Here's the old ticket window.

and here is the old facade, difficult to see because the streets are so narrow in this old part of the city.

Casa Batlló

To round out our Gaudí experience, we add on the icing to the cake, Casa Batlló. The Batlló family owned many businesses in Barcelona and built the house in a well-to-do block of Paseo de Gracia where several other modernist houses were being built. The facade, restored to its original splendor, is a feast for the eyes.

The balconies stand out as something skeletal, out of the ocean, or a masquerade mask. The colors are ocean-like, appropriate for Barcelona. The roofline is the spine of a dragon. The windows are wavy shapes of glass.
Water continues to be a theme throughout the house, from fish-like scales on the walls to the undulating doors and windows in the living room.

Innovative attic spaces And the pieza de la resistencia: the rooftop.

Casa Milá

We head to Paseo de Gracia and La Pedrera, oficially known as Casa Milá. It is a huge structure framed in steel with wavy forms of stone and concrete hung from the frame. It is an apartment building with businesses on the ground floor. The tour is: look at the outside,

climb to the roof and check out the chimneys and the view,

descend through the attic (a museum of history of Gaudí) and tour one of the apartments.

Gaudi used caternary arches to lighten and open up otherwise tight spaces. Much of his innovation in architecture came from observations of shapes in nature such as this viper skeleton.