 |
| La Sagrada Familia by Antoni Gaudi |
Sometimes
you just need to be there for your friends. And so it was when David D. phoned
to ask if he could visit me for a week because he just needed to get out of
town. I said “Yes, of course,” but he’d have to visit me in Barcelona since
that’s where I was going to be at the end of the month. So, we flew in to “BCN” on the same day and
spent 7 days kicking around a city neither of us had been to before.
 |
| Gaudi's La Pedrera |
I
have a lacquered poster in my apartment back in Toronto of a stylized painting
of La Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi’s
still unfinished basilica, which for the past 15 or so years has been my only reference
point about Barcelona – that and the fact that the 1992 Summer Olympics were
held there and I remember a lot of press coverage about how BCN cleaned up its
waterfront for the Games. It was, at the
time, considered a model for what Toronto could do if there was any “vision” at
City Hall. Many friends have visited BCN
and raved about it, but it never made it onto my vacation radar. So when I saw cheap
direct flights to BCN from Firenze I decided to go. I was not disappointed.
 |
| David, seaside, relaxing in Barcelona |
David
and I did the touristy city bus tour the first day to get a lay of the land. We
hopped off the bus at one of the many seaside beaches at the Olympic Port, and
David got to dip his toes in the Mediterranean Sea for the first time. It was a
hot afternoon so we had ice cream and walked the beach and we decided, then and
there, that we both really liked Barcelona.
 |
| David on the beach! Oooo, the water's a bit cool |
 |
| Zak on the beach! |
And
there is a lot to love. The architecture
is always interesting. The food was great, the booze was cheap, and the
Catalonians are incredibly nice people.
One of those incredibly nice Catalonians is my friend Carmen N, who I
had met in Toronto a couple of years ago when she was there visiting to learn
how North American hospitals did their fundraising. I hosted a dinner for Carmen at my place, and
we kept in touch over the years. Carmen
made our visit to her hometown a very special experience.
 |
| Carmen and David, post-dinner |
Carmen
gave us directions, advice and lots of insider knowledge about Barcelona,
Catalonia, and Spain. We reconnected
over a wonderful dinner at a restaurant called “Gresca” – the kind of place
foodies and chef’s go to eat. The
following night we went to Carmen’s apartment for drinks (which turned into
dinner.) Carmen lives on the 5th floor of a modern building in the
Gothic Quarter, and her rooftop deck has stunning views of the city’s
“landmarks”. We arrived at dusk, just in
time to see the landmarks light up at night. It was magical. It was also just light enough to see the
smoke rising from the riots that occurred that day – the end result of a
national strike in Spain.
 |
| Burnt-out Starbucks - post-riot |
The
centre of Barcelona was “locked down” and the main plaza was action central for
the protesters. Carmen warned us that
almost everything would be closed, and indeed it was. We found a Starbucks open
and had a coffee around noon. Later that
day, that very Starbucks was fire bombed during the riots, and the following
day we saw the aftermath of the strike: lots of smashed windows downtown. It was reminiscent of the G8 Summit riots in
Toronto two years ago. Luckily, we
managed to stay out of the fray which seemed to be all around us, all thanks to
Carmen’s gracious hospitality, and good timing.
 |
| Il Corte Ingles (a fab department store) - post-riot. |
The
weather was warm and sunny the whole week, so we did what Barcelonians do when
the weather’s great – we went to the beach on two separate afternoons. David got some sun, and I got a bit darker
which always feels nice. We also got
into the whole Spanish routine of dining late (9 or 10pm), eating tapas,
enjoying Cava, having an afternoon “siesta” (which is apparently a disappearing
tradition), and walking everywhere. We even found the gaybourhood and did a bit
of a bar crawl one night.
 |
| Cheap booze will do this to you every time! |
What
we didn’t do was anything remotely touristy (other than the bus tour): no
museums, no art galleries, no standing in line for anything. David wasn’t
particularly interested and really just needed to SLOW DOWN.
 |
| David...slowing down.... |
I seemed not to really care very much because
I knew that I’d come back to Barcelona and do the sightseeing another
time. It worked for both of us, plus the
beach was more fun and relaxing.
 |
| Palau De La Musica |
We DID,
however, manage to get tickets to hear Mozart’s Requiem at the Palau de la Musica, a gorgeous 1908 concert hall
built in the Catalan modernista
style, and just one of many UNESCO world heritage sites in BCN. The concert was excellent and it was a huge
treat.
 |
| Interior, Palau De La Musica |
Our
final full day in Barcelona was an interesting “return to work” for both of
us. I spent the day touring Carmen’s
hospital and talking to her about her fundraising efforts. It was the first time I had put on a shirt
and tie in 5 months, and boy, did that feel strange. Luckily, I had not
forgotten anything about my craft while on sabbatical, so that was nice.
 |
| David in the Jardins de Fontserè i Mestre |
David got an invitation to a photo shoot at a
local museum which was documenting a patron’s hat collection, so he helped
style three dozen vintage hats and was in milliner heaven. It was nice to see David smiling and laughing
and relaxed at the end of the week. It’s what he needed and it’s what going on
holiday is all about. And just like Cape
Town, I can’t wait to go back!
 |
David walking to dinner on our final night.
Doesn't he look nice and relaxed? |
