TRAVEL REPORT
by Diane Putnam
Barcelona – May 2006
This was a four day trip, and we left Calpe very early on a Sunday morning. We had a lunchtime stop at Peñiscola, and the more energetic of us climbed up to the castle. Others supped wine and ate, overlooking the beautiful beach and the blue, blue sea. We are very lucky to be living in this part of the world.
We arrived at the Cristal Palace Hotel, and we checked into our rooms very quickly, and had time for our first explorations outside. The hotel is very central, and we were close to the very touristy area, the Ramblas, with bars, restaurants and various street performers.
The following morning we had a guided tour with Steve, an English guide who went out to Barcelona in ´87 and stayed. Our tour took us to the Park Guell, with one of the universal artworks of the architect Gaudi. This name was to come up often during our stay. This was my first stay here, and I was absolutely spellbound by his originality, imagination and genius in his works.
We then stopped at the Sagrada Familia, with its ornate and decorative spires. They say that this will be complete in 20 – 24 years time, but it has the look about it of something that will never be finished. There seems to be no urgency. It is still beautiful, nevertheless. We saw the Olympic Village and a town of 16 Spanish houses, one for each autonomous region except the Canary Islands. We also saw the world’s largest statue of Christopher Columbus, the Gothic Quarter, and Montjuic with its beautiful views over the city, the Port area. Our guide and driver were excellent, and it was a packed four hours.
After much walking through central Barcelona we found the Placa Real, a grand 19th century square with arcades and lofty palm trees, and had a not so cheap lunch over the next couple of hours.
The next day some of us went to Montserrat, a mountain village with a monastery, a museum and a sanctuary, which were a couple of hours drive away. We went up in the funicular to Saint John, and walked up to the top and back. The Monastery was packed for the choir boys singing at one o’clock. I was a little surprised at the number of people here. Many coach loads in such a small place.
We then returned to the hotel, and dashed out to see another of Gaudi’s masterpieces, La Pedrera or Casa Mila, an apartment block, built of undulating stone without straight lines, ornate balconies, and chimneys that appear like stone warriors. We had a very extensive tour using headsets to explain his methods and examples of building, the initial planning done using string, lead weights and mirrors. Apparently using today’s computers they cannot improve on his architecture.
Our final day, but on our way home we had a tour round the Cordoniu Cava wine cellar. We saw the bottling and corking processes, had a guided tour round the labyrinth of underground cellars, and had a short train ride through the network of cellars, with wall to wall cava throughout. This done, we had an opportunity to sample some cava, and were told how to recognise good from not-so-good cava. Of course, some of us bought some and we staggered back to the coach for the final run to Calpe.
I loved Barcelona, and certainly want to see more, another time.
Diane Putnam
Thanks to Diane Putnam and Robin Garbett for providing the photos.
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