Wednesday
19 September 2012 Barcelona, Spain
Slower
start as overcast day and by the time Lyndsay and I got off Metro in La Rambla
there was a thunderstorm and torrential rain and we had to shelter for a while before
finding our way to Palau Guell, which was the first house Gaudi had designed and one of the few projects he saw completed.
This house which has been recently completed restored, is now owned by
Barcelona Council and is a World Heritage site. The restoration had been
painstaking down to such details as returning to the original quarry where
stone was sourced for replacement stone.
The €7.50 entry fee was well worth it as came with comprehensive audio
guide and we spent at least an hour there. Rain meant no queue !!
Then
walked eastwards across city, ate lunch sheltering from rain under a portico
and then on past Roman walls to the MEAM ( Museo Europe Art Moderne) to an
exhibition of 250 paintings all done in 21st century by European
artists. The theme of this exhibition was “humanness” with lots of paintings of
whole or parts of bodies.
Home on
Metro for siesta then out again at 7 pm for dinner with Judith and Hiliary at La
Fonda just off La Rambla. Food was
international rather than Spanish, fairly ordinary, populated by other tourists
who were queuing at the door and the waitress lived up to the non smiling
reputation this restaurant has. H and J had just arrived in Barcelona by train from Bilbao
where they stayed at a hotel we will be staying at next week. They had just
walked part of the El Camino walk with Judith’s walking group from Waiheke
Island. Lots of catching up and laughter made for a great evening out.
Note
about safety in Barcelona-there was lots of advice about being careful in this
city but we have not felt unsafe at all, even on the Metro late at night but of
course have taken care when out and about. The Metro here is superb, fast
trains every 2-3 minutes, modern and clean, relatively cheap and easy to
navigate from one line to another.
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