TELGEN VACATION REPORT

Barcelona, April, 1999

It's taken twelve years, but I've finally managed to take a trip where I could make use of that Spanish degree! Spain was high up on my list of places to visit during our stay here, so when it was time to plan a springtime break, Barcelona seemed the perfect choice. It's got history, art, architecture—and a beach! (We did have a five year old to consider, after all.) In addition, the city has some great facilities, a legacy of the 1992 Olympic Games.

Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, an independent region of Spain, and Catalan is an official language there, as well as Spanish. Catalonia was the leading power in the Mediterranean during the 13th and 14th centuries (according to my guidebook), and Barcelona was also the capital of the kingdom of Aragón during this time. After Ferdinand II of Aragón married Isabella I of Castile (yes, that Ferdinand and Isabella) in 1469, the unification of their kingdoms led to a decline in the importance of Barcelona. Nevertheless, the King and Queen spent quite a bit of time in Barcelona, and it was in this building here, the Palau Real Major, that they received Columbus in 1493, after his first voyage to the Western Hemisphere. The staircase we climbed to get this view is not in the palace proper, but was just around the corner. So here we had a lovely view of the palace, the tower (called the Mirador dei Rei Martí), and the Plaça del Rei, which is a lovely open courtyard just outside the palace. Musicians (good ones) took turns staking out a place in the plaça and playing, while groups of tourists sat on the broad staircase leading up to the Palau taking each other's pictures.

While I knew Barcelona had a lot to offer in terms of history of the past millenium, I hadn't really thought about ancient history. But as we were walking through the Barri Gòtic—the old, history-filled core of the city—we unexpectedly came across hidden evidence of Barcelona's ancient past. Four Roman columns in the middle of a building—walls, ceiling, and all. You actually have to walk into a building and enter a side room to discover these four columns, all that is left of a Roman Temple of Augustus that dates to about 100 AD. Close by there is a wonderful museum of the city built on top of some more ancient remnants of the Roman city Barcino. For nearly 500 years (200 BC to 300 AD) Barcino was part of the Roman Empire, between periods under the Carthaginians and the Visigoths. When you go down into the basement of the museum, you find a series of catwalks that lets you stroll above the ruins of this ancient city. You can see rooms where they dyed fabric, made wine, and also the aqueducts that took water from place to place. It's one of the best places I've seen so far in giving a real idea of how Romans would have lived and worked day-to-day.

It was the more modern architectural sights of Barcelona that I was really anticipating, however. If any one city can be identified with a single artist, I think it would be Barcelona with the architect Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926). His most famous work is the Sagrada Familia, the still-unfinished cathedral whose stalagmite-like spires are an unmistakable symbol of the city. Several of his buildings and even a whole neighborhood of his design dot the city, and it got to the point where I didn't even have to look in my guidebook to recognize a building as a Gaudí. This picture is of the rooftop of the Casa Milà, built between 1906 and 1910. Although this apartment building is now an UNESCO World Heritage site, when it was built the neighborhood was not so approving. They gave the building the nickname "La Pedrera," or "the pile of stones." It really is an amazing structure to walk through, however, as are any of Gaudí's works. I could have spent hours wandering through the Parc Güell and looking at the various ways the architect used natural forms within his designs. Sad to think Gaudí died in a hospital for the poor, virtually unrecognized after being run over by a tram.

Our trip to Barcelona was different from the others in that many of the sights were spread around a rather large metropolitan area. To the southeast is the Mediterranean, with a fairly nice beach area that is more accessible to tourists since the 1992 Olympic building boom. To the south is the Montjuïc hill, 200 meters high, upon which many of the Olympic facilities were built. There is an old fortress atop the hill, the Castell de Montjuïc, which has a very interesting museum of armaments inside. To get to the top of the hill, we took not only a cable car, but a funicular train (one that is pulled by a cog or cable)! David was quite excited.

There was a wonderful view from the top of Montjuïc, but an even better one to be had from Tibidabo, a hill half a kilometer from the city center. Well, it might be half a kilometer as the crow flies, but to get to the top our full-sized coach bus travelled around 12 twisty kilometers to get to the top of this 532-meter tall hill. The name comes from an interesting legend: the devil was trying to tempt Jesus, and took him to the top of the mountain, where he said "Haec omnia tibi dabo si cades adoraberis me" (I will give you all of this if you worship me"). Hence the name "Tibidabo." While the big attraction on top of the hill is a carnival-type park, there is also one of the most beautifully situated churches I have ever seen. Here is a picture of El Sagrat Cor de Jesus church, which almost looks as if it is floating in the sky. It's not particularly historical, as it was completed in 1952, but it is certainly picturesque.

So that was our trip to Barcelona. We had a great time (there was an aquarium and a zoo for David, and great food for the grownups) and would like to go back again. We'd recommend it highly to anyone.

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Copyright © 1999 by Diane Telgen. All rights reserved.