October Daily 19: A Little Trip to Spain

 

We've enjoyed a bit of sunshine the past two days, but this morning's sky was streaked with pink and that reminded me of the saying "Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning." The skies have clouded over once again and another "atmospheric river" is headed our way. So I thought it would be fun to revisit Spain. 

In October 2019, I accompanied a dozen students on a school trip to Barcelona and Madrid. We had a wonderful time. Whenever I encounter those students around town (some of them work as clerks in the grocery store, bakery, and bookstore I frequent), they remind me of what a great trip it was. Then someone always says, "I'm so glad we went when we did." 

Yes, indeed. It was the last major school trip before the pandemic shut down travel. 

Above is the Casa Bruno Cuadros in Barcelona, where the owners used to manufacture umbrellas. And did you notice the brilliant blue sky in the top photo. Ahhh!

We visited both the Park Guell and the Sagrada Familia cathedral, where Gaudi's immense creativity is shown in so many ways. 

Fishing in the Mediterranean Sea. We didn't fish, but we did go swimming, something our guide thought a little crazy since it was October. The water was far, far warmer than our sea ever gets. 

En route to Madrid we stopped at Zaragoza where many spires from the Basilica reached up into those endless blue skies. 

Then to Madrid where the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) impressed us all with its architecture, painted ceilings, and hand-embroidered wall coverings. It was the latter that really impressed me, and I so wished I could have taken photos. 

This photo is taken from the web. The ceiling is painted, but the decoration on the walls is embroidered in silk and gold threads. A little too heavy for my taste, but the workmanship is just amazing. 

We all had some free time one afternoon in Madrid, and on the advice of our guide, I took myself off to a busy little cafe where they served churros and chocolate. Oh my, so delicious. Thick chocolate, too thick for drinking, but perfect for dipping the crisp, hot churros. Worth every calorie!

I'd like to return to Spain one day, with my husband, and explore more of the country. We'd also like to visit Scotland and Ireland, and more of England. For now, we're content to explore our own backyard, for it is indeed a beautiful one.

To where would you like to travel?

Madrid and Window Shopping

Our tour director asked me which city I preferred, Barcelona or Madrid. They are both beautiful, with much to offer in the way of culture, architecture, history, etc. Barcelona is vibrant and has a more casual and touristy feel. Madrid is also vibrant, but perhaps more elegant and serious. I enjoyed both cities, but I would like to take more time exploring Madrid some day. 

While we were there we visited the Prado museum. No photos were allowed inside, and the outside is nothing special. There are some wonderful works of art inside, though. I particularly like Velasquez' "Las Meninas" for its interesting perspectives and the variety of stories that could be told about the painting. While in Barcelona I visited the Picasso Museum during some free time and saw Picasso's interpretation(s) of the same painting. Loved the contrast. 

There were also a number of Bruegels that I enjoyed, especially since I saw several of his paintings in Vienna during our summer trip. I like scenes of everyday life with the details that must have seemed so commonplace long ago, but are interesting and strange to us in the present. 

I spent some free time in Madrid wandering the paths of the El Retiro Park, where royals once went to spend time away from court life. It was shady and cool under the trees and I enjoyed a bit of solitude, something rare on a school trip. 

We visited the Royal Palace in Madrid. It's currently used only for state occasions and is a large complex, of which we saw a very small part. The entrance hall is stunning, with golden light pouring in from the bull's eye windows. Again, there were very few areas where photos were allowed, so I didn't take any. 

However, I was so, so tempted to pull out my phone and surreptitiously snap a few in one room. Our guide kept pointing out the ceilings with their ornate paintings and saying who painted this or that. He offhandedly mentioned the HAND-EMBROIDERED silk wall coverings in the rooms. Now they were gorgeous! So beautifully done. The Chinese Room, so-called because of many Chinese porcelains and decorations, had vines and flowers all over the walls, stitched with a variety of threads thick and thin so that the stitching stood out 1/4-1/2 inch from the walls. And these are large rooms. Room after room was covered with hand-stitched silk. Never mind the paintings, I thought, just think of the many, many women who spent their lives, one stitch at a time, creating this magnificence. They are the ones who should be honoured. 

In the palace gift shop I saw this pretty silk scarf and bought it for myself. It's soft and bright and I love the way it sets off my often grey/black clothing. 

Here are a few shop windows. The accessories are so beautiful, and burgundy is a strong theme for this autumn season. It might be called merlot this year, but it's all rosy hues.

Here's the grey/cream/black basic wardrobe style that I love, and then add coloured accessories. 

So that's a wrap for Spain. I saw and did much more, but it's time to move on. And I have not yet finished posting about our trip in the summer. Hey ho, we'll see what happens. 

I hope your week is going well! Thanks for visiting. 

Architecture from an Untrained Perspective

Antoni Gaudi was a Catalan architect who concentrated his work in Barcelona. The church of the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) represents the pinnacle of his achievement, and it is not yet finished, almost 100 years since his death. He was a man of deep faith who loved nature and melded both in new and sometimes shocking ways through his architecture. 

The church above is a model of what the building will look like when completed. It is ornate, fanciful, and audacious in its design, unlike any building I have ever seen. I don't know if I like it or not, but it makes me think. I do like the stunning stained glass that circles the church with all the colours of nature. 

Gaudi says, "The straight line belongs to men, the curved one to God." In his work a straight line is rarely seen as he imitated the curving branches of trees, the undulating form of waves, and circles of light. 

In my own humble way I disagree with Gaudi's thought about straight and curved lines. The horizon, when seen from a beach or on a flat prairie, is a straight line to the human eye. A tree, round in form, often stretches straight upwards to the sky. I think the combination of curved and straight make for harmony. What do you think?

In the Park Guell, also designed by Gaudi, I was most impressed by the wonderful mosaics displayed on walls, sculptures, and benches throughout the park. They have me wanting to smash a few dishes and create my own. 

On our way to Madrid, we stopped in the town of Zaragoza where a festival honouring the Virgin of the Pillar was starting. I enjoyed sitting in the plaza under a flat blue sky listening to folk music and watching the dancing. Later, I took a walk across the river through a city park where great views of the enormous church were to be seen. 

No photos were permitted within the ornate Baroque-style church, and it was full of people on this special day. 

My architectural preference tends more to the simple, light, and elegant, more Gothic than Romanesque or Baroque. Of course, there is wide variety in any of the styles, and I don't pretend to know very much about any of them, but I do know what I like when I see it. 

After two very relaxing days at home after flying home from Spain, I was at school for two days catching up with my classes. This weekend I've done some regular housecleaning, baked bread, did a little garden cleanup (it's very soggy out there with all the rain), and we went out for dinner with friends on Saturday night. I'm feeling very much back to normal, although I still wake up at 4 am for a bit each night. 

Sunny Spain seems very far away as I watch the clouds scud past my window and pull up my jacket hood as I dash to the car in the rain. Autumn is well and truly here.

Barcelona in the Sunshine

The rain is pouring down here this morning, echoing in the chimney, pattering on the skylight, and dulling the already muted garden. Sunny Spain seems eons ago.  I've spent the past two days doing very little and feel great! Later this morning I'm off to school to see what my students got up to while I was away. 

Our group of 14 arrived in Barcelona around noon, after 24 hours in transit. We all slept more on the plane going there than on the return flights. Our guide, Silvia, met us at the airport and we dropped our luggage off at the hotel, then hit the ground - walking rather than running. 

Barcelona is a beautiful city with the soft air that comes from being near the Mediterranean. Beautiful architecture, interesting sights, great food - there is much to appreciate about it. Narrow streets bordered by tall buildings meant that one had to look up to see sky and trees, while maintaining an eye on the ground for uneven cobblestones, and also looking straight ahead to prevent bumping into the many people on the streets. 

Looking up along La Rambla. 

More looking up - the Umbrella House, also known as Casa Bruno Cuadros - is distinctive for the ceramic umbrellas and fans decorating the house. There is also a dragon. The original owner of the house owned an umbrella shop on the main floor, hence the decor and name. 

Looking up to see intricate light fixtures. They are everywhere in many styles. 

The sheer number of decorative features in this photo make it a busy one, but the busyness typifies the city to me. 

If you've been watching the news recently, you might have heard about protests and demonstrations in Barcelona. They occurred in the square reflected in the photo above. While we were there, quiet groups of people with posters and signs stood in front of the buildings, watched carefully by police, but there was no violence. That changed later, after we left. 

I quite like the distorted shapes of reflected buildings in the window.

Light slants in another narrow passageway. 

We were almost ready to leave the city and head back to our hotel. In the Plaza de la Catedral a talented guitarist had been playing and singing, filling the air with lovely, gentle melodies. A street performer created bubbles that floated up and up before bursting into nothingness. As we prepared to leave the square and head off for dinner, the guitarist began singing a song that my students knew well from Spanish class. I use it for teaching some grammatical concepts, but also for culture. 

The students looked at me, wide-eyed, "Mrs. Orr, - it's Vivir mi Vida!" They started dancing and singing along. Tears pricked my eyes as I thought of how wonderful it was to have these students see that what they had learned in the classroom was a part of real life. That moment was one of the highlights of the trip for me. 

My next post will be about the Gaudi architecture that Barcelona is so famous for.