So, yes, I know, it’s been a long time since I’ve fingered the keys about my first european journey, but in the hopes that my tale is still germaine, here we go.

In Italy we took the train to Genova and afterwards to Torino to catch the "Salvadore Dali" out of Milano, which will take us back through Genova, but not stop on the way to Barcelona. In Torino we attempt to book couchettes but there are none, only doubles and foursomes. We attempt to just get seats but they are all taken, so we end up separating for the night, she with 3 other women and he with 3 other men. How Catholic !!

I’m glad we got the beds, as I slept almost all the way. In the morning Rosemary finds me and we breakfast in the luxury of the dining car.

Architectural Model - Arata Isozaki

We arrive in Barcelona and taxi to our hotel, the Hotel Jardi, and discover that it is totally shrouded and scaffolded.....under restoration....like much of Europe.....  We check in, shower and hit the street running.  Off we go to the Fundacio Joan Miro. Miro had set up his own foundation about 20 years before his death and a large collection of his work is housed there. Very nice show, I love Miro. For me, however, the most wonderful was a traveling exhibition of architectural models, drawings and videos of Japanese architect, Arata Isozaki. It was he who was the architect of M O C A (Museum of Contemporary Art) in Los Angeles. The models are incredibly meticulously constructed of various woods, incredibly beautiful projections of artistic dreams, most of which have been realized.

On our way back through town we serendipitously stumbled on Paleu Guell, one of Antoni Gaudi’s early works for his long time patrons the Guell family. I have loved the work of this Catalonian architect, almost since I was aware of the word.   It is he and his work that is the main reason we came to Barcelona. His work is difficult to explain and all I can say is that he personified the style of Art Nouveau (which in spain is called the Modernist Movement). His work is organic, bizarre and all his own.....he never repeated himself and was fortunate to have lived during a time of prosperity and expansion and to have had wealthy and sympathetic clients....that’s it, super fine, what luck!   God!  Buy a book....or better yet, visit his work.  El es fantazzmic, mon !!

The following morn, we started at the "Mercat de Sant Josep". Wandering the aisles of stalls of the vegetable and meat vendors, marveling at the vastness of this wonderful market.....all the picture perfect produce...the countless varieties of wild mushrooms.....the press of the populace.

At a bar along the edge we break our fast with fresh cut peaches, some kind of cream frances filled pastry, a vegetable omelet, cafe latte and when I ask about the schrooms, almost immediately, there is in front of us, is a platter of the gamut of varieties freshly sautéed. Wow !!

Gaudi's Casa Batllo

Next we stroll down the Ramblas, amongst flower stalls and bird vendors in the direction of the Dreta de l’Eixample. The well heeled citizens of Barcelona began expanding into this area  around 1860 during the flowering of the Modernist Movement. The l’Eixample is therefore one of the world’s most interesting architectural enclaves. In one block are located Casa Lleo Mora, Casa Amatller and Casa Batllo. The latter being by Gaudi and the others by his contemporary modernist associates, Lluis Donennechi i Montaner and Antoni Robert / Josep Puig i Cadafalch. This block has become known as the Block of Discord.

By strolling up and down the grid of this neighborhood, we discovered many modernist marvels and also viewed Gaudi’s Casa Mila, which was derided while new but recently sold for 7 million  U. S.  Dollars. In 1984 it was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO.  Perhaps there is hope for me, after all, even though it be in posterity. I’d much rather be recognized now, however. Support living artists !! But i digress.....

Our tour now continued to the Templo Expiatoro de la Sagrada Familia (temple of the sacred family.....you know.....jesus, the christ and his mom and cuckold father, and cuckold by god, none the less). Evan’s mother, (my brother in love's mother)  Mary, thought that "that sagrada family sure must have had a lot of money" and in a sense i suppose she is right. They sure do now, business savvy christians !!

This cathedral is the symbol of Barcelona. Started in 1882, by Francese de Paula del Villar Lozano (man these spaniards have some long names, que no ?) But soon dissension arose between the architect and the works council. Gaudi took over in 1882 and during the last 15 years of his life worked only on the Sagrada Familia. He also lived on the job sight. (where’s my room ?) He was struck by a street car, standing in front of his creation while viewing it in 1925.....his crypt is fittingly located here and the construction is far from finished. Amid controversy.....work goes on and when completed will be the largest cathedral in Europe. It surly shows the Mormons a thing or two about grand design, ho ha!!

Iron worker at the Sagrada Familia

We were chatting with an iron worker at the site and when queried if he felt a part of history he replied yes, as he had been working there for 30 years. Can you imagine working on a project for your entire life and not seeing it completed ?     Man !!!

We rode a lift to the top of one of the spires and the operator had been employed there 32 years. So, yeah, here these dudes are, spending their whole life on one construction site and my clients have the nerve to complain about how long I take to complete a project. Da noive a does guys !! We took two rolls of film here.....amazing.....words fail..................ooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Next stop, Hospital de Sant Pau.....many consider it the finest Modernist complex ever built.....it’s layout, featuring independent pavilions covers approximately 9 Eixample blocks. Certainly as far as hospitals go, this is the most pleasant we’ve ever seen. When the time comes for me to pass from this realm, send me here, fer sure !!

Through out the day as we tired and hungered, we would pop into a tapas bar and have a beer for he, a Martini Rosso for she and some wondrous tapas, including baby octopus, calimari and various, assorted seafood, meat and vegetable concoctions. This is what we did, now, before going back to our hotel for a well deserved rest.

Planning on having dinner in Barceloneta, in the dock area, we took the bus on over and when getting off, asked when the last bus headed for the barn. Turned out it was about 30 minutes later, so we just wandered around for 20 and got back on the bus when it came around. We then walked into a neighborhood we shouldn’t have and were approached by a vendor of hash hish, who pestered us for some time....Made us a bit nervous but we survived his high pressure sales technique (how much did you say for a gram ?). Then it was back to our local bar for tapas and back to our room to shower and do laundry as the local nite crawlers started getting wound up in front of our hotel. As the night wore on, the volume on the stereo increased in the placa and the voices grew to transcend the volume of the electronic wave. So glad we brought ear plugs !!

Morning once again, grabbed a roll and cafe latte on the Placa del Pi, in front of our hotel and it was off to the Picasso Museum by way of another mercado. Loads of stalls at this one. Into a liquor store we went and whilst asking about a certain brandy, were told, "it’s just o k, after all it’s only Spanish."    Wrong, it was great !!

We had been led to believe that at the museum, there would be long lines. We were pleasantly surprised to discover none. Rosemary says it’s because she no longer does lines. This museum houses mostly work from Picasso’s early years and it was interesting to see the progression from when he was 14 through Cubism and slightly later.

Lizard fountain by Gaudi at Parc Guell

We took the #24 bus from Placa Catalonia to Parc Guell. This was designed by Gaudi to be an urban development of some 40 plus homes set in a park. Only two homes were ever built, however. Interesting to note how things remain the same through out the history of man.

Also built was an amazing covered structure that was to be for an open market, supported by 84, out of a stated 100, immense columns, with a sensuously articulated, vaulted ceiling, covered in the signature broken mosaic of the Modernist period.

Above the covered space is an open plaza area, surrounded on the three cantilevered sides overlooking all of barcelona from it’s hillside site, by a serpentine bench / railing. This railing / bench is also decorated with the abstracted, broken, mosaic tiles.

In front of this wondrous, organic construction is a fountain in the shape of a lizard. A friendly, blue tile lizard of about 6 feet in length. At the base of the steps leading from this grotisserie are the 2 houses that were constructed. Fantasy, ginger bread houses. One almost expects Hanzel and Grettle to emerge at any moment.

The whole is fronted on the street by bizarrly wrought iron gates, and a serpentine, tile capped wall.

What a wondrous confection all of this presents. It has the appearance of a huge cake decorated by a baker high on l s d, who has seen one too many loony toones. We loved it !!

In the evening we Metroed to the Olympic Village, snacked in a very, very decorated cafe / bar in the Art Hotel and admired a huge Frank Geary fish sculpture on the beach side of it.

We then strolled down a long pedestrian median strip and admired some wonderful sculpture, created for the Barcelona Olympiad held in ‘92’. Afterwards, we cruzed the board walk to Barceloneta and supped on tappas and spirit, ours and those of the adult beverage variety.

A Day's Itinerary:

1) Market for breakfast; 2) Post Office; 3) Iglesia Santa Maria; 4) Musee de Art Moderne; 5) Casa Vicens; 6) 80’s & 90’s Spanish painters show; 7) Palau de Musica for a concert.

Surprisingly, we did indeed, do all of our planed events. 1) Our previous bistro was full up at the Marcat, so we looked around and found another, "Mario’s",  very gratefully so !  The food was incredible and very artistically arranged on the plate. So beautiful in fact, that we photographed everything, including the furred rabbits, and feathered pheasants hanging in the next stall and the head of a little piglet in it’s case.

There was sausage, sections of sautéed red bell pepper with tomato rubbed, toasted and oiled french bread (or is that spanish bread ?). A tostada (omelet) of veggies, garnished with the same bread / pepper combo and anchovies plus two large chanterelle mushrooms. Fresh squeezed orange juice and of course cafe latte.

These were perhaps the most artfully arranged and pleasant to look at platters I have ever had the pleasure to receive and wonder of wonders, all from a market stall!!

2) Post Office to send home two weeks of accumulated goods and items we’ve decided we don’t really need to weight us down on THIS journey through life.

3) The Iglesia Santa Maria was first begun in the 900’s and the present structure was built in the 1300’s, with additions in 1700 and as late as 1901. It is a fine example of Catalonian Gothic. Huge and spartan.   While we were there, a wedding was about to take place. The bride, lovely in a long white gown, of course, with a train of manageable proportions.....a small entourage.....way too modest to fill such a grand orifice as this. To be married in a church of such age and stature must indeed give one the feeling of being "MARRIED" !!!

4) Musee de Art Modern.....set in an inner city park that also contains the zoo.....This museum does not contain much in the way of Modern Art. It houses a collection of paintings, sculpture, furniture, ceramics and decorative architectural adornments from the Modernist period of the turn of the last century. A quick tour here, quite enjoyable.

5) Casa Vicens.....another of Gaudi’s works.....this one a private residence and the first of his truly Modernist works. Unique in that it consists mostly of straight lines, which his later work was almost devoid of. Covered in green tiles , this brick home, surrounded by a characteristic wrought iron fence, has a very moorish feel and was constructed for a manufacturer of ceramics.

6) Modern Spanish Painters Show.....There was one piece here that I could live with and Rosemary was heard to exclaim....."why is it that the only abstract work that I seem to enjoy is my own." This show was not particularly impressive, actually it sucked, big time !!  I'm sure there are good modern Spanish painters, they just weren't exhibiting here.

As this was very near the Mercat, we returned for a late lunch to Mario’s.....the home of our great breakfast.....it also was great.....we had haricots (beans) with bacon and blood sausage.....green beans with boiled, sliced, potatoes.....calimeri with the formerly mentioned toast rubbed with tomato and garnished with breaded and fried eggplant and of course the ubiquitous sautéed, red bell pepper (another photo op for sure).

Palau de Musica

7) Palau de Musica.....On our last evening in Barcelona and in Spain we indulged in a special treat.....we attended a performance of Wolfgang A. Mozart’s: La Flauta Magica and El Simfonia Concertant per Violi, Viola i Orquestra k364 with Gil Sharon, Violi and Shlomo Mintz, Viola. Also performed was El Simfonia Sum 4, op. 98 por Johannes Brahms. This was at the Palau de Musica Catalana, which is the most amazing space to hear music this reporter has encountered to date. A fantazema of Art Nouveau, with grande fluted columns, topped with Modernist garlands of roses in pastel hues of pink, green and yellow. The ceiling is covered in a like manner with a grand arch of a heard of horses on one side and the benefactor on the other surrounded by nude wood nymphs with long flowing hair and yet more roses. (this is how i’ve always seen myself immortalized for posterity.) The balustrade is made up of spiraling metal columns encased in amber glass tubes. An incredibly beautiful house with great acoustics. We purchased out tickets but two days before the event and the only seats left were behind and above the orchestra, which gave us a bird’s eye view of the conductor guiding his performers. After the Mozart piece for violin and viola, on which the conductor, Schlomo Mintz, played viola, there were 3 curtain calls, following which there was an impromptu encore number by just the two soloists. This also received a warm reception.

During the Brahms symphony, we noticed a young, female triangle player, who just sat and grooved to the tunes during the first 2 movements and who finally with the allegre giocoso movement was given the reigns and performed with allegre. During the coughing and seat shifting pause before the final allegro energico e passionato movement, she left the stage, never to be seen again. This, of course, made me wonder, what a triangle player thinks about being a triangle player and if perhaps they wish they had grown up to play bassoon or french horn and also what are their world views and the meaning of life in general.

Another large round of clap for the players by a very receptive and responsive audience. When the conductor, who had been given a large bouquet of red roses, in turn gave them to one of the violinists on the distaff side, the ovation swelled. Nice gesture. Looked like crowd control to me, yet sweet.

Being anarchists and having been told, "No Photos !", we took lots. What a fine performance in a bizarre, wonderfully artistic room !!

Up at 4:15 am, on the 8th anniversary of our first date.....how quickly the years have sped by.....ah love.....it’s grande !! By taxi to the train and depart Barcelona at 6:20 for the Dardogne River  Valley to meet up with Antje and Hans, friends from the Netherlands. All the shops are closed and we shall have no coffee till 2 pm or 1400, if you will for $2.50 a cup, U.S., a fine first introduction to the rudeness that is France.