I Am From Barcelona

We are in Barcelona, home of Gaudi, Barcelona FC star Lionel Messi and Manuel, the Fawlty Towers waiter who coined that famous phrase.

Barcelona is big, vibrant and modern.  The city celebrates the arts and sport, so both Tom and I are happy.  The Olympic village, from the 1992 games (who can forget Sarah Brightman singing Amigos para siempre ?  I wish I could) still stands proudly over the city.  Barcelona manages to be ancient and elegant as well as modern and edgy.  The old bull ring exemplifies the city:  the Catalans eschew bull fighting, a Southern Spanish indulgence, and they have converted their bull ring into a modern shopping mall with trendy restaurants and rooftop promenade.  

Detail from a Gaudi design in Barcelona

We have had the privilege of seeing a little of Barcelona through the eye of locals: family friends of Jan & Dave who have made Barcelona their home, having made the move here 10 years ago.  They live in an apartment in central Barcelona and for their young daughters Spain is really the only home they have known.  We enjoyed Sunday lunch on their terrace, a luxury only a minority of the city's population enjoy.  Barcelona residential prices are high, on par, or higher, than overpriced Melbourne.  Because almost all the city residents live in apartments there are many parks and squares and people live a large proportion of their lives in these respites and the many bars and cafes.  Families are seen out strolling and chatting until well into the night, including the children.  I was given a tour of the apartment, which was typically small, but well appointed.  No lift, so everything, groceries, water, prams and children are all carried up and down the stairs.  However, when the living area French doors were throw open to reveal the balustraded balcony overlooking the quaint square the charm of the urban European city experience became obvious.  I was ready to sell up my Melbourne house and move straight in.

Barcelona is a big and crowded city

We are just home from our last Spanish dinner - tapas in a Basque tapas bar.  This was a tapas bar where they bring around dishes and you select what you want - just like yum cha.  All the tapas pieces are held together by a tooth pick and at the end of the meal you pay according to the number of toothpicks on your plate.  Excellent food, and I have marked the last two epicurean must-dos from my list; sangria and Catalan cream, a type of creme brulee. Metro home and now to bed before flying to Dubai tomorrow.

View of Barcelona looking toward Mont Jusic

Just on the Barcelona metro - Tom intends to write to Dr Napthine on his return home.  It is incredulous that in Melbourne we are still travelling on infrastructure that belongs to the Victorian era.  We got the metro home tonight around 11.30pm and the wait time for our train, having arrived at the station as one was leaving, was 4.39 minutes!