Santa Maria Del Mar

One of Vicki's most recent reads--thank you, Jane--was Ildefonso Falcone's Cathedral of the Sea, set in 14th century Barcelona, concerning, in part, the building of the Church of Santa Maria del Mar. So we had to go see it. And I am glad we did, because it is a fascinating structure, younger than some of the greater Gothics, mid-14th century, but built entirely within the span of 50 years, under the same architect, one Montagut de Berenguer, and replete with Christian numerology. Santa Maria del Mar contrasts emphatically with Barcelona's great Modernisme structures, but warrants attention just as much as they. According to our guidebooks, it is the best example of Catalan Gothic. Plus, admission is free.

West facade; I should note that the curious
feature at the bottom, just left of center, is
nothing spiritual, but rather just

The work of the ubiquitous Bubble Guy, whom we last saw
in Venice; I've got to learn how to do this...

Stern to bow look; a medium-sized Gothic (Mediterranean
or Catalan Gothic, to be precise) church, said to be the best
of them

One of those relatively unadorned, un-
plastered churches I like, where you can
see every stone, every detail of how it fits
together and what holds all that stone so
high up there; and for so many centuries

Over the apse; numerology time: Mary's
number is 8, and so every dimension in the
structure here is 8 or some multiple of 8: the
pillars are all octagonal, there are 16 of them,
they are 16 m high, then branch out in
the vaulting 16 m, to the ceiling, 32 m; etc.
And you thought it was all about lateral and
downward forces and buttressing and such!

Some serious restorative work going on above the apse;
here's a guy hoisting

These puppies up into the heights for further finishing and
placement

Nice rose window

Altar, with Mary, Baby J, and, appropriately, a caravelle at
her feet, seeking protection from the "restless wave"

Interlude: Priest Of High Tech

So we were resting outside the Cathedral of
Barcelona, wondering whether we'd regret
not paying the 6 or 8 euros admission fee,
when I saw this guy, possibly a priest,
priest re-enactor (we have seen such things),
or holy tour guide, synch-ing his tablet, his
smart phone, with God-knows-what-else;
note the earphones and mike, too; high
priest of tech?

The Cathedral; Barcelona has long been
anti-Roman, despite being overwhelmingly
Catholic; so Gothic works here, as we'll see in
the next post; meanwhile I have resolved to
try a new strategy for getting into the higher-
priced churches: tell them I need to confess...
I really, really, need to confess...the Voices
demand that I confess, now (don't worry,
I have lots to confess)

We are still processing this one; "no diving,
except off hotels"?

Palace of Catalan Music

We visited the Palau de Musica Catalana in 2010, and, despite its being one of the best sights we've seen, ever, anywhere, I would only have mentioned it this time in passing...except that now, in 2013, bucking a continent-wide trend, they are permitting photography within the great hall. So I have to post a few pix from our Tuesday visit. The Palau is a smallish music hall--so it appears, although it seats more than 2,000--built in the early 1900s, and it is one of the greatest jewels of Modernisme. Its architect, Lluis Monterer, is right up there with Gaudi. We'll see more of Montener's work this visit. Anyhow, the Palau was built originally for choral music, but nowadays one is apt to see most anything musical there, including some of the greatest of the contemporary greats. Barcelonans call it their little "box of light," and the best comparison I can draw, totally unmusical, is with Sainte Chappelle.

Exterior, the prow

Nice prominence for Wagner, whom the builders regarded as
contemporary, contrasted with the "classical" Beethoven

One of the intermission areas

The great hall

The great inverted dome

From the floor

With organ and sculptures

Valkyries flying by

Balcony seating

Detail; hardly a square centimeter not adorned

Side aisle

All through our tour this guy was tuning the piano for a
concert that evening (Brahms and Schumann; pass...); here
he has removed the entire keyboard; we hope he got it put
back together

End of tour: backside of Herr Wagner

Barcelona's La Rambla

We checked into the very nice and reasonable Camping Barcelona Sunday afternoon . The campground is about 20-25 miles from the Barcelona centrum and free buses shuttle you in and out 4 times a day. Smaller shuttles run more or less hourly between the campground and the city of Matoros (120,000), a mile or so away, which has a train station and all the stores you'd need for everyday purposes. 17 euros a day, including electricity and other amenities. Such a vast and wonderful difference from our previous Barcelona visit!

Rain was forecast and delivered most of Monday, so we stayed at the campground, reading, planning, cleaning, etc. But Tuesday we ventured back into the great city, one of Europe's best, and began at the beginning, the obligatory stroll from the Placa de Catalan to the harbor and the Columbus monument along what is to me Europe's best boulevard, La Rambla. We got nearly half way before being distracted, but that's another post.

You'll see more of La Rambla in our 2010 posts; here just a
few sights on and off the boulevard; El Indio, a fabric store
on a side street, on the Ruta del Modernisme; for us,
Barcelona is largely about architecture, Modernisme as
it is called here, Jugenstil in Germany or Austria, Art
Nouveau more generally; El Indio was our first stop (and
we'll skip the farmacia, the Casa Beethoven, etc.)

My favorite market in Europe is La Rambla's Boqueria,
where you can get Kobe rib-eye for 150 euros/kilo (2.2 lbs)
or Nebraska USA for 39.90

But this is Spain, where Pigs Rule

And the really good stuff will run upwards of 200 euros/kilo

In the colorful Peppers & Stuff stall

Another beautiful old store

The China building

At the Liceu they're celebrating Wagner's
200th birthday; also a year-long Wagner
film festival

The Miro mosaic on La Rambla

I've been trying to get into Miro--Barcelona would be the
place for it--but just can't

So at this point we dove into the Barri Gotic, the old city, in
search of a restaurant, Merce Vins, I'd read about on Yelp;
at length we found it and were glad we did--a three course
delight (gazpacho; salt cod, pear for me; steak for Vicki and
the above cake and dessert wine), including bread and 1/3
bottle of wine, all for 12 euros each; then we figured out
that the Palace of Catalan Music, our favorite Art Nuvo
here, was just a couple hundred feet away; and so we'll
finish the rest of the Rambla another day

Cats Love Containers, Episode #9,781

In a shipwreck outside Casa Dali; I tried everything, but he
wouldn't look at me

Casa Dali At Portlligat, 2

Continuing our tour of Portlligat...

Dali's mustache collection: the Kaiser, Stalin, and Phillip IV

Artist's knick-knacks

Snail, a gift from Tiffany's; he did lots of jewelwry

In the one and only bedroom

In a room walled with magazine and
newspaper articles and photos with famous
people (ask and I'll send my pix of photos
with Ed Sullivan, Harpo Marx, Gregory Peck,
Sir Laurence Olivier, et. al.)

Vicki in the Oval Room, Gala's retreat, decorated largely with
mementos of her Russian heritage

Another of the several gorgeous outdoor spaces

Happy Easter, y'all!

Another outdoor pavilion, in which were
playing Dali home movies

Jesus of the Refuse Pile; everything is art (well, potentially)

The pool, a lap-pool with a diving well at one end and a
seating area at the other; being expressive is so much more
fun when you're rich (I conjecture)

Us, pool-side

After the tour, Vicki takes in the interpretive video

Last look at Portlligat; we thought we might continue on for
the hat trick with Pubol; but enough is enough, and it's
always well to leave something for next time; so we drove
on to Barcelona, picking up the N11 near Figueres and
continuing on to Camping Barcelona, near Mataro