I was ready to visit Gaudí’s famous chapel on our last day in Barcelona. I figured a modern Gothic landmark would be a nice capstone to our trip. But I’ve always been influenced by photos of the exterior and the design seemed too busy in an ornamental way. And when we approached the building, the dull brown terra…
Author: Grubb
Catamaran ride
Once we had taken in the large warships in the Marine Museum (the size of the oars, the image of being in the galley rowing—yikes), it seemed like we should cruise the bay in a catamaran. Get refreshed by the sea breeze, gaze at the splendor of the city sweeping by. Looking down from the upper…
Pests in the park
Ella and I were outside the gate of Park Güell waiting for our guide to show up when we were distracted by the loud screech-chattering of birds up in the drooping leaves of the short palm trees. We aimed our cellphones and caught two green parakeets working on their nest. What a beautiful bird, we thought,…
Homage to Catalunya
The Museu National d’Art de Catalunya had quite a lead up with an avenue of decorated steps rising to the terraced columnar entrance below its dome. The approach was a cross between Versailles and Monte Carlo. The museum had the size of one of Chicago’s Columbian Exposition buildings. Inside it was sectioned off into four large gallery…
Pablo in Barcelona
Today (Saturday) was a different story when it came to wandering the streets of Barcelona. There was breathing room to the boulevards and back alleys. It was like a stadium full of people had been dispersed through a multiplicity of exits and spread out. We paused at a building designed by Gaudi where a crowd was waiting…
La Rambla
Getting off the Blah Blah bus in Barcelona was like waking up from a medieval dream and finding myself in Buenos Aires. A big busy city where the high stone apartments shadowed the streets. A lot of people were out marching at a quick pace. After we checked in the fifth floor apartment with our Ukrainian host,…
Medieval matryoshka
We trooped out the Aude gate of Cité Carcassonne this morning. Then took a steep path down to the walking bridge spanning the Aude River. We were headed towards the Bastide Saint-Louis, a section of the old city settled around 1260 by Cathar citizens expelled from their homes in the fortress where we were currently…
Arrival at the castle
We made it to our castle in Carcassonne where we’ll be staying a couple of nights. This will our final chance to go medieval before we take bus to Barcelona. The cobbled paths of the castle were pretty quiet last night. The moon was rising over the battlements. And a big bowl of cassoulet was waiting…
Ah, no, it’s not the Parthenon
The Maison Carré in Nimes is a Roman temple built in 19-16 BC. I had read about it and thought we should stop in Nimes on our way to Carcassonne to take a look. Nimes is not an easy city to negotiate by car. It seemed like there was a roundabout every two meters where we were supposed…
Sur Le Pont d’Avignon
Only four spans remain of St. Benézet bridge built in the 12th century over the Rhône. Considered a marvel in its time with twenty-two spans, it was a major pilgrimage route in the Middle Ages between Italy and Spain. Damaged by flooding over the centuries, the stone bridge became too expensive to maintain. Now it juts into…