Barcelona, Spain

Geography: Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain and is located on the Mediterranean coast.

Distance from Pittsburgh: 6630 km or 4120m


What to see: The Barri Gòtic or “Gothic Quarter” is located in the centre of the old city of Barcelona, there are a wealth of aesthetically beautiful buildings that date right back to the Medieval Period. The Nou Camp is home to the Catalan Giants renowned for playing their own style of fantasy football which takes “pass and move” to the next level.  Picasso Museum with over 3,700 works dedicated to the most famous Spanish artist of the 20th century Pablo Ruiz Picasso, this museum will have you enthralled for many hours. Parc Guell is one of the most aesthetically stunning areas in Barcelona. Constructed between 1900 and 1914, the park benefits from a wealth of unusual architecture with a mosaic tiled dragon that acts as a magnificent fountain on arrival. Sagrada Familia is an iconic Roman Catholic Church designed by Antoni Gaudi who worked constantly on the project for more than 40 years the Sagrada Familia won’t be completed until 2026. Las Ramblas is a multitude of experiences in one area. Originating in the 18th century you’ll come across a host of fascinating acts and stalls on the 1.2km street from human statues, fortune tellers and card sharps to puppeteers, dancers and musicians. Some other places to visit that are situated just off Las Ramblas include Mercat de la Boqueria, the city’s most iconic street market dating back to 1217 and the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona’s renowned opera house which opened in 1847.

Historical Fact: There is a dispute about the founding of Barcelona. There is one camp which claims that Hercules founded the city about 400 years before the building of Rome. The other side believes that Barcelona was built by Hamilcar Barca, the father of Hannibal. The name Barcelona comes from the Barca family of Carthage who ruled the area in the 3rd century before Christ.

Art Fact: Antoni Gaudi is considered one of the great architects who vastly influenced buildings in the city. His La Sagrada Familia, a Roman Catholic Church was begun in 1882 and is still under construction many years after his death.

Sports Fact: The city’s name has become all the more famous recently ever since the football team FC Barcelona won the Champion’s League trophy in May 2009 defeating the very highly regarded Manchester United. The nickname of the team is” blaugrana’, based on the blue and maroon colors that the football team wears for all its games. The same colors are worn by all the teams that represent FC Barcelona in other games like basketball, handball and hockey.

Fun Fact: Saint Georges Day is the national feast day in the region and on this day it is a tradition to present your near and dear ones with roses and books. This was the inspiration for the UNESCO to declare April 23rd as the International Day of Books.

Interesting Fact: Drivers in Barcelona are considered among the worst in the world, with accidents occurring in the city every nineteen seconds! This can go up to ten accidents every second on weekends, which makes it safer to walk than to drive.

Crazy Fact: Walk down the Portal de l’Àngel if you want to walk down the most walked down street in Spain and you will be one among approximately 3500 others who throng the street every hour!

Day 99 - Ajaccio, France

Saturday morning markets in France - if only we had a little place to stay we could have shopped and cooked.  What a treat it is to see the local produce.  It is definitely spring here too! We strolled around admiring the olives, vegetables, baguettes, cheeses, local chacuterie (meats), oils and honey.  There was one particularly beautiful booth of fresh small rounds of goat cheese decorated with beautiful flowers in the middle.  Recipe:  put in an olive oiled pan, drizzle with olive oil, garlic, thyme, in very hot oven for a few minutes. Serve with baguette.   

Four of us wandered the small streets where everything is named after the most famous son, Napoleon Bonaparte.  We just poked in and out of little boutiques, and vintage stores selling  used Chanel bags for 700 euros ($900+).  After being in Asia and India, it was interesting to see European things - orange is the new colour as it was in every window: bags, sweaters, pants, shoes - for women and men.  Jane, my mom and I had a little lunch before our afternoon tour:  local baguette which was the size of a dinner plate, about an inch thick, crusty with olive oil, and topped with emmanthal cheese, tomatoes, and corsican ham.   We ate in an outdoor cafe with an awning covered patio.  The service was achingly slow in typical French style. 

We went back to the ship, and got Barry and Karen and Jonathan and went on a Corsica highlights tour for 3 hours.  On the way out of the port there was a huge line of police cars waiting for the ferries.  Sarkozy had been here the day before as the election is in a few weeks.  Out we went along a beautiful sea side boardwalk with lovely homes overlooking it, palm trees lining it and people out walking and along the windswept coast to a barren spot where the locals like to walk, that overlooks three small islands with Roman lookout points still on the top.  

On the way we passed the typical Corsican cemetery, which takes up valuable waterfront real estate and consists of little family houses with red tile roofs.  

Then we went into the town again to walk around and see the various Napoleon monuments.  In one square there is an imposing statue built high on a hill with stairs up to it, beside the rocks he played on as a child.  In another one on another square he is portrayed as a Roman conqueror with a laurel headdress, and his four brothers as Roman aristocrats.  His mother had 17 children, of whom 5 died, and the other siblings were used by Napoleon to govern territories and make alliances.  

The Corsicans set themselves apart from the French, with a different language and different customs, with a decidedly Roman flavour.  Our guide was very informative and as we walked around the city, she really tried to tell us not only the history, but the thinking of the people.  We mostly stayed in the old town, and went to the house where Napoleon was born, which is a museum, which we did not pay to enter. 

 

Then around the corner to a little walk up where a Corsican philosopher had commented on the special quality of the light in Ajaccio, as had Henri Matisse, before him, who honeymooned here for 6 months.  There are also Corsican knives for sale everywhere, as the "vendetta" is an old custom here too: no trial, just a swift stab to end the squabble.  Our guide said her uncle met his fate this way over a disagreement about a garden.  The architecture in the old town is charming, and all in all this town is inviting and must be marvellous in the summer season. 

We were ravenous for a French pastry, which we had forgone for lunch, so we all ran to a boulangerie, and gobbled down a flaky one filled with lemon creme, and another pain au chocolate.  We did split these gorgeous confections among three of us. 

More sights of France!

Back to the ship to head for two days in Barcelona, Spain.