Teatre del Liceu, Casa Batlló and Strange Plants

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Trudy

While we were walking down La Rambla on our way to the Gran Teatre del Liceu my eyes caught site of some very interesting packets of seeds for sale at one of the many sidewalk vendors. We both had quite a chuckle when we took a closer look at these unusual seed packets. However, be warned, these are rather X rated plants! Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu was founded in 1847 and is located on La Ramba, which is the centermost boulevard in Barcelona. It is very popular with tourists and locals and is always crowded with people enjoying the sights. We have a short tour which includes the Vestibule, the Hall of Mirrors and the Auditorium. Our guide explains about the cheapest seats, in the galliner which translates literally to the “henroost” and we buy tickets for Monday night which will be our second last night in Barcelona. The tickets are only €15, we certainly cannot afford the €325 seats! Imagine paying $1,000 CAN for a night at the opera!

This historic theatre has a very interesting history that includes two fires, the latest occurred in 1994 and completely destroyed the Auditorium. There is a good short video and more information about the Gran Teatre del Liceu here.

After our tour, we walk several blocks to one of Antoni Gaudi’s incredible buildings, Casa Batlló. We have tickets to go inside, €22.50 each, expensive, but we really enjoyed the visit.

I took lots of pictures but then found this video that shows almost the same photos as those I took, so I will include the link to the video. Watching it made me feel like I was back there walking through the building. I have also included a second video which is a more fanciful walk through Casa Batlló, but it does give a sense of walking through the rooms. The little balcony at the very top of the building, it is the same one we stood on to take this photo.

Did you notice that the building looks like it has been made from skulls and bones? The “skulls” are the balconies and the “bones” are supporting pillars.The building was designed by Gaudí for Josep Batlló, a wealthy aristocrat. Señor Batlló lived in the lower two floors with his family and the upper floors were rented out as apartments. Today there are still private individuals living in the apartments. Imagine living in such building, and imagine having hundreds, or even thousands of people touring through your apartment building every day! There were several photos of the interior with its original furnishings, which I found very interesting.

We climb up to the roof with its crazy chimneys and its famous ‘Dragon’ spine and great views over the neighbourhood rooftops.

By the time we finally see everything it is getting dark outside and the Casa Batlló is illuminated with coloured lights.

There are many interesting buildings on this street including several shops with beautiful window displays.

We also notice many more police on the streets than when we were in Barcelona in September, no doubt a result of the terrorist attacks in Paris. I don’t know if I will ever get used to seeing police with so many weapons. the picture is blurry as I zoomed in from a distance. I discovered they do not appreciate tourists taking photos!

As we walk back towards La Rambla we come across an area with lots of food trucks so we have supper, enjoy the Christmas lights, and watch all the people. The streets are packed with hundreds of people out enjoying the evening. FullSizeRender_2

The side streets are lined with motorbikes and scooters, row after row of them. They are a very practical mode of transportation in a city that has next to no place to park cars.

A crowd has gathered around a huge Christmas tree and before long a group of young carollers arrive and the lights are turned on.

Hundreds of Swarovski crystal snowflakes decorate the tree! We stay to listen to the carollers and we both start feeling rather Christmassy!

On the way home I had to stop in the Mobile World Centre as there were some great dinosaur displays, it seemed to have something to do with a new Samsung phone? The centre is open to the public and showcases the latest technology, applications and innovations in the area of mobility but I was really only interested in the dinosaurs!

FC Barcelona and Life Drawing

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Trudy

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Bob went to see FC Barcelona play another Spanish soccer team in the Spanish Cup competition. Barcelona easily won 6-1 against this weaker team. Barcelona didn’t play its top three players but it was still exciting to be there. His ticket was in the first row of the 3rd tier near the center so there was no one in front, just the walking aisle. As this wasn’t the Championship League, the crowd was only 67,000 instead of 100,000, and because it wasn’t the Championship League the ticket was only 30 euros instead of 350 euros for this prime seat. Lots of noise and cheerings and drum beating. Everyone (except Bob) either had a FC Barcelona cap, scarf, or jersey, and of course everyone tried to take the same bus home after the game.

The next day we found this picture online. The spectator in the turquoise coat with the white hat, on the right side of the players uplifted hand is Bob!While Bob was at the football (soccer) game I went to a life drawing class at the same studio that I was at the first week of our holiday. This is a great group and it has a couple drawing sessions a week but this was the only one I was able to fit in. Their next meet up is the day we fly home.

I snapped these photos after life drawing. The studio is upstairs in an interesting old building on a street near the Opera House.

From the street all there is to see is an ordinary, graffiti covered door, that opens onto this medieval looking courtyard. I find it quite fascinating that so many Spanish doors open onto courtyards and gardens. You never know what you will see behind a door, which is why whenever I see an open doorway I try to peek inside! This little fellow peeked out to say hello on the subway on my way home. It is the only rodent of any kind that we have seen on this trip. I wondered if we would see any rats, but not a one.

Walking home past one of the narrow side streets in our Sant Andreu neighbourhood. It was late but I felt safe walking home from the metro by myself as there were still lots of little cafés and shops open.

The Christmas lights are pretty even if there isn’t any snow.

Getting Organized

Posted on January 24, 2016 by Trudy

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Our Airbnb host is a retired school teacher who now lives outside Barcelona on a farm. When we arrived at her apartment the fridge was stocked with enough food for several breakfasts and lunches, including these farm fresh eggs and a big bowl of fresh fruit.

We went to the FC Barcelona Stadium to get a ticket for the soccer game tomorrow night and to check out the best way to travel to the stadium. It turns out that it is only one bus from our apartment to the stadium, so it will be easy for Bob find his way there tomorrow night. The team store is huge, three levels of all things soccer!

The stadium is huge as well, it holds 100,000 spectators, and there were several interesting sculptures on the Stadium grounds.

I am going to go to a life drawing session tomorrow night while Bob is at the soccer game, so we head over to the old town, to check out the best route for me to take tomorrow night as well. Turns out that there is a metro line that goes from the drawing studio right to a couple of blocks from home so we rather lucked out on our apartment’s location.

Back in Barcelona!

Posted on January 24, 2016 by Trudy

Monday, November 30, 2015

This is our last Airbnb apartment for this trip. We have been very happy with the selection of accommodations available and we enjoyed staying at all of our apartments. Yes, some were better than others but they were all more than adequate and it was great having a kitchen, living room and bedroom. Prices were very reasonable too, they ranged from $32 to $94 Canadian with an average of about $65 a night. I know it would have been much more expensive to stay in hotels and I really preferred our little apartments. We are located in Sant Andreu, a Barcelona neighbourhood north of the main tourist area of the Old Town. There are not many tourists here, which is rather nice. Lots of little shops in our neighbourhood and easy access to the metro and bus. We are up early to return our rental car, and catch the bus back to our apartment. I took this photo from the bus window and I kind of like the reflections in it.That is quite enough for me today and I am looking forward to staying put the rest of the day and doing a bit of journaling and blogging. As you know, I am rather behind. This little fellow was quite happy to have me take his photo on our walk home from the bus stop.

Bob went exploring while I had a relaxing day. We head back out tonight to check out the local fair as Bob has his heart set on a foot long hot dog for supper.On the way home we peeked into this garage. All the shops here are very tiny, this one isn’t much wider than what you see here, so they need to put one car on top of the other.

Peñiscola, Spain

Posted on January 23, 2016 by Trudy

Sunday, November 29th, 2015.

Our holiday is drawing to a close. We will be in Barcelona tonight so that we can return our rental car tomorrow. Our last nine days in Spain will be spent exploring Barcelona and visiting the sights.

As we left Valencia we were stopped by the police to allow this protest march to cross the road. We later discovered that police had evicted staff from a public broadcasting television station after it was closed by the government due to austerity measures. Check here for a short video and more information.

On the drive to Peñiscola.

There is a castle in Peñiscola, about three hours south of Barcelona, that we want to visit because the Game of Thrones Season Six had some scenes that were shot there. I found a good picture of the castle at www.spain Somehow I missed getting a picture of the castle that shows where it is located on top of the hill in Peñiscola.

We find a place to park, which isn’t always an easy task, and head towards the castle, which is near the port.

Soon we are trudging up steep hills, past narrow streets, looking for the way to the castle, which doesn’t seem to be marked anywhere.

We pass this interesting building which is covered with sea shells. FullSizeRender_3

Quite by luck we find the right road up to the castle and we soon are standing on one of the castle courtyards. The Peñiscola Castle was built between 1294 and 1307 by the Knights Templar. This last great fortress was to become their last refuge as they were evicted and arrested in 1307 by James II of Aragon. In 1411 Pope Benedict XIII converted the castle into his papal seat and lived there until his death in 1423. Remember all this took place years before Colombus even set sail for North America in 1492!

We explore this interesting castle, wondering what areas might have been used for the filming for the Game of Thrones. The castle was never finely finished as the Knights Templar were never able to completely finish its construction.

Can you spot Bob?

Looking down the same step narrow steps.

We think this doorway must be a good candidate for the inclusion in the TV show.

I love how the old stone steps are worn from all the feet that have climbed up and down them over the centuries.

These stairs lead to the dungeon. As we walk down them I imagine the terror so many people must have felt as they were dragged down these very steps.

There was an exhibit in the dungeon about the Knights Templar that was interesting. In one of the photos below you can see a grate in the dungeon floor. Beside it is a photo of the cell with restraints that was under that grate, It was a weird feeling looking down into that cell, and at the table and other torture instruments in that room. I wonder if there are ghosts that linger here?After the dungeon we climb up to the top of the castle for some great views of the town and surrounding countryside. Looking down on the town shows just how close together the houses are, they really are one on top of the other as they climb the hill towards the castle. You can also see the high rise apartment buildings that are being built along the ocean front.

This doorway is on the outside of the castle walls.

Around the corner and down the hill from the above photo, there is a garden area with a refuge for raptors that are wounded, sick, or born in captivity. They are rehabilitated and once well enough they are returned to the wild.

Can you spot the two girls climbing the walls?

On our way back to the car we pass what must be the biggest paella pan ever. They were using what looked like a small shovel to mix and serve the food.We need to reach Barcelona by 6:00 to meet our Airbnb host and we are still three hours away. About 150 km. from Barcelona the odometer on our rental car turns 6,000 kilometres!

It takes us a while to find our apartment. It is located down a narrow side road that looked like an alley so we didn’t think we were in the right place. The only place we could find to park the car so I could go out and look for the apartment is in a handicap parking spot. There really are no parking spots anywhere around here. Just as I was getting concerned that we wouldn’t find the apartment I hear someone call my name. Our host has just arrived and she sees me looking rather lost and confused standing on the sidewalk. Turns out that little alley is indeed where the apartment is located.

We put the car in the garage, which isn’t an easy job, the street is very narrow and the garage is barely big enough for the car, and we get settled in our last apartment of the trip. Later in the evening we go for a little walk and discover a fair only a few blocks from our apartment. This little girl was so intent on catching her ducks to win a prize.

Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences

Posted on January 23, 2016 by Trudy

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Valencia’s Turia river was prone to flooding and after a particularly damaging flood in 1957 that destroyed many buildings and caused numerous deaths it was decided to divert the river to the outskirts of town. The old river bed through the centre of Valencia was developed as a nine kilometre sunken park, called the ‘Garden of the Turia’, complete with paths, ponds, fountains, playgrounds, climbing walls, gardens, trees, cafés and cultural buildings. This photo is from Google Images. I thought this was a brilliant idea.

We walked from the Old Town along this riverbed park all the way to the City of Arts and Sciences.

“The City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia is one of the largest scientific and cultural complexes in Europe. It is made up of impressive buildings such as the Hemisfèric and Oceanogràfic, and stands out because of its avant-garde architecture, designed by renowned architects Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela.

The City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia is situated in a two-kilometre-long area on the old Turia River bed. It is made up of six large elements: the Hemisfèric (IMAX Cinema and digital films) the Umbracle (landscaped vantage point), the Príncipe Felipe Science Museum (an innovative interactive science centre), the Oceanogràfic (Europe’s largest aquarium with over 500 marine species), the Reina Sofía Palace of the Arts (dedicated to opera), and the Ágora (a multipurpose space in which concerts and many activities take place).The different centres here organise conferences, exhibitions, projections, guided tours and workshops related to science, technology, nature and art, designed to stimulate curiosity and learning with different types of audiences.~www.spain.info

We decide not to visit any of the exhibits as we simply don’t have enough time to visit six buildings full of exhibits and activities. So, wander with us as we explore…and if you want, there is even more information here.

Spanish cities are very densely populated as you can see from all these high rise apartments right beside the park. If you live in a Spanish city, you will most likely be living in an apartment!

Here are a few photos of Turia Park taken on our walk back to the metro station near Old Town Valencia.

Under one of the many bridges that carry traffic and pedestrians over the park we looked up and noticed these fantastic water spouts!

Another bridge had pedestrian walkways on each side of the roadway, bordered by these colourful flowers.

Parque Gulliver is the most amazing playground I have ever seen. I found this arial view here. I do need to find out how to properly credit photographs I ‘borrow’ from the internet.

Moda Lisboa|Estoril 30

Gulliver Park is an enormous playground with slides, ramps, caves and stairs based on the novel Gulliver’s Travels. I could not resist joining in on the fun but I was unable to convince Bob to join me. I found it quite interesting that there are no fences or railings anywhere on this giant sculpture of Gulliver even though there were many places where it would have been quite easy to fall from quite a height. I don’t think this playground would be allowed back home. If you Google ‘Valencia Gulliver Playground Images’ there are lots of more interesting photos. The washrooms beside this playground had the cutest signs we on the doors to the facilities.Just as the sun is setting we arrive back at our apartment complex.

Valencia

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Trudy

Friday, November 27, 2015

Our apartment in Valencia is a short metro ride from the old part of town. We bought four tickets to get us into town and home again. However when it came time to go home our tickets weren’t working. Turns out we purchased four tickets that had to be used all at the same time so the other two were no longer valid. It cost us over € 9 for two one way tickets because we had also chosen too many zones. We bought two tickets to get home for only €3, however we later discovered that we could purchase ten tickets for €7.20, only €.72 a ride!

First stop today is the Mercado Central, a market held in a huge iron, glass, and tile Art Nouveau building. The meat and fish aisles are always interesting, so different from our stores back home.

Hams are a big seller in Spain and I still find it strange to see them hanging in shops. No refrigeration seems to be needed, and take a look at the prices, up to €149 a kilogram!

We bought some fruit for a snack and then headed towards the Valencia Cathedral. Yes, another cathedral!

Some refreshments and a rest in this lovely plaza and we are ready to check out the cathedral.

After skirting past the gypsy women begging on the streets and the church steps we enter yet another magnificent cathedral. Originally built in 1262, it has been added to throughout the centuries and it now has three entrances. The one we chose gave us this view of the cathedral as we walked through the doors. FullSizeRender

The day light just before the altar comes from this beautiful octagonal dome.

There is another gorgeous dome over the Chapel of St. Joseph, which is one of twenty eight smaller chapels located in this cathedral. Most of them are incredibly ornate with lots of gold and jewels and carvings. Although these magnificent cathedrals are truly awe inspiring, we wonder about all the money that has been spent building them and we are also quite aware of the church’s role through out history. So many horrors have been perpetrated in the name of religion. It is a strange sort of paradox.The high altarpiece and the frescoes are amazing. We sit for quite some time just in contemplation. This is Bob’s favourite altar of all that we have seen so far. The frescoes of musical angels on the dome above the altar were only discovered in 2004 during some restoration work. They had been covered by a wooden ceiling and no one knew they were even there. Click here if you want to read more.

Here is another view of the main aisle and one of the side aisles with the smaller chapels. FullSizeRender

These life size statues of the Apostles are from one of the entrances to the cathedral. They have been replaced by copies and the originals are now kept inside the cathedral museum for safe keeping, but it was closed for renovations so they were displayed in an alcove.An intricately carved altarpiece, built in the 16th Century holds the Holy Chalice, which is said to be the chalice Christ drank from at the Last Supper.

And here is the Holy Chalice, aka the Holy Grail. There is more information about the history of the cup here. We were told that there is more scientific investigation currently taking place to prove that this is indeed the cup that Christ used at the Last Supper.

We climb 207 steps to get to the top of the Torre Del Micalet. Construction of this bell tower started in 1381 and it is one of the most important landmarks in Valencia.

Here is El Micalet, cast in 1539, and weighing 11,000 kilograms. Shortly after this photo the bell chimed the hour. It was very loud! All cathedral bells have names, and this cathedral has 14 bells ranging in size from 11,000 kg to 260 kg. FullSizeRender

We spend quite some time up here, admiring the view, and enjoying the sunshine. The octagonal tower on the roof in the center of the picture is the outside of the white dome above the altar and the dark domes are above the side chapels.The two curved buildings just visible on the skyline on the far right hand side of the picture are part of the City of Arts and Sciences Complex. We are going there tomorrow.

Now we need to descend the 207 spiral stairs that we climbed to get to the top of the tower. We have certainly done our share of stair climbing this trip. FullSizeRender_3

Valencia has a ‘dragon house’ so of course we have to find it. I’m not sure what I was expecting but I was a bit disappointed to only find one small dragon sculpture over the doorway and two pillars with a little dragon on the bottom of each of them. In case you didn’t know, I love dragons.

Bob finally gets to try the seafood paella he wasn’t able to have on his birthday.

We make our way back to the Cathedral for a concert. Bob thought we would be way too early but when we arrived about forty five minutes before the concert it was already packed. We managed to find seats in the side aisle near the altar, which was actually behind the stage, but there were TV screens so we got to see most of it. We both enjoyed the performance even though we weren’t exactly sure what it was all about. A young boy sang several songs and it seemed to have something to do with Christmas.

The Christmas lights were on after the concert. It still seems strange to see Christmas decorations without any snow.

On the Road to Valencia

Posted on January 19, 2016 by Trudy

Thursday November 26, 2015

Bob is loading the car and we will soon be on our way to Valencia. This is the view from our balcony. As you can see, we were right on the edge of Los Alcázeres, just fields beside us, so it was a nice quiet location. FullSizeRender_3 FullSizeRender_5

Before long we are passing lots of salt pans, which are large shallow ponds of sea water. The water evaporates and leaves behind the sea salt, which is then harvested and piled into these enormous piles of sea salt. Seems strange to think that the salt we eat is produced in this fashion. I had visions of workers out raking up sea salt from the salt pans, not bulldozers and big machinery. A bit naive on my part I think.We stop to stretch our legs and have lunch near this beach. It is certainly not as pretty as other beaches we have visited.The view in the opposite direction. This is an area full of condos and apartments and partially constructed buildings. FullSizeRender

We stopped for another break a bit further on… FullSizeRender

and found these strange hairy balls, hundreds of them all over the beach! Some of them were several inches in diameter. Does anyone know what they are? FullSizeRender_4

We detoured into what we thought was a little town called Alcoi, thinking we could go for a walk in a park area near the town, but we got a bit lost in what turned out to be a rather large city. We also discovered that the park didn’t have any easily accessible areas for walking, so we were soon back on the road. Next stop was the town of Xativa where we visited the ruins of a once grand castle with 30 towers.

It was getting late in the day and we only had just over a half hour before closing so we saw as much of the castle as we could before the sun set and the castle closed. This was one of the water features in the garden area of the castle. The view from the castle was quite spectacular.

There are lots of market gardens visible in this photo.

We still see lots of graffiti along the highways but we also see these murals. Too bad I can only glimpse them flying by in the car.

There are numerous orange orchards and the trees are absolutely loaded with oranges, so many that they are falling on the ground. Sorry for the blurry image, this is another photo taken from the car. I never did find a place to pull over and get a good picture of an orange orchard. Too bad…

Thanks to our trusty iPad and its GPS we find our next Airbnb apartment in Valencia and we were pleasantly surprised to find that our host had very kindly stocked it with all sorts of groceries! It also has lots of artwork as our host’s husband is Nico Munuera, a Spanish artist.

Los Alcázares

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Trudy

Wednesday November 25

Guess whose birthday it is today?

We had a lovely leisurely day walking along the beach. There aren’t many people here this time of the year so we had the beach pretty much to ourselves.We did see a rather interesting sculpture on the beach but had no idea what it was supposed to represent.After a long walk, we stopped at the far end of the beach for tea and tapas on the patio of an old hotel overlooking the ocean. Perhaps we could get used to this!

On the way home we checked out local restaurants for a birthday dinner, but when we went back in the evening we discovered that the restaurants were closed for the season. We had checked out the menus posted outside but hadn’t noticed the closed signs on the doors so we headed back to our apartment for a home cooked birthday dinner. I had some pastries and candles for Bob’s birthday dessert but forgot all about matches…so he had to pretend to blow out his candles and make a wish.

One final birthday gift, the prettiest sunset we have seen yet on this trip.

Cartagena, Spain

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Trudy

Wednesday, November 24, 2015

Cartagena was founded in 223 B.C. and was conquered by the Romans in 209 B.C. It is just a half hour south of where we are staying.

The Ayuntamiento, or Town Hall of Cartagena is a beautiful marble building on the main street.

The Naval Museum nearby was free and an interesting place to visit. Both of us were impressed with the scale model ships, especially this huge one of an 18th century ship from the Royal Armada.

This huge anchor was just begging to have its picture taken.

The Zulo Sculpture by Victor Ochao is a very powerful memorial to victims of terrorism. It is over 16 feet tall and weighs over two tons. Very impressive.We sat and had lunch on this bench overlooking the harbour before we continued exploring the city…

but not before I took a moment for this photo.

Part of the afternoon was spent exploring the Museum of the Roman Theatre of Cartagena. The museum’s entrance is in a building near the Town Hall and is connected by a tunnel to this Roman theatre built in the 1st Century by Emperor Augustus.

Click here to see a video and virtual reality tour of the Theatre and Museum, as well as more information about the archaeological excavation of the theatre.An aerial view shows where the theatre is located in relation to the theatre and gives a good indication of just how large it is. The tunnel went from the building at the bottom of the picture, under the ruins of the Old Cathedral of Santa María la Vieja into the theatre.This photo showed what the theatre looked like before excavations were started in 1988. The arched doorway of the Old Cathedral is visible in the before and after excavation photos. A lot of buildings were built over the seating area of the theatre and all of these were removed as excavations continued.

There are a lot of buildings near the theatre that are under re-construction. It seems that the old façades are being kept but we aren’t sure what will be built behind them.

Conception Castle is a 12th Century fortress on top of the highest of the five hills in Cartagena. This fortress has been a Roman Temple, a Muslim Citadel , a medieval castle and during the Civil War it held the sirens that warned the city’s population of bombings. We climbed the hill to the Castle and were rewarded with amazing panoramic views of Cartagena, the port…

and the old bull fighting arena. We had parked our car way down there!A young man from the Philippines asked us to take his photo and then he took this one for us, as well as several more of us for himself as a ‘souvenir’. I thought I took lots of pictures but he sure had me beat!

One of the exhibits inside the fortress were several dioramas with these little animated computer generated figures that walked and interacted with each other. I found them quite fascinating.

On our way back to the car we pass this building which incorporated a very old building and a very new building. We saw some interesting graffiti, this statue of of Cristóbal Colón, which is Spanish for Christopher Columbus,and a rather clever sign for a coffee shop.

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Travel, Art, Drawing, PaperArts

Monthly Archives: January 2016

Teatre del Liceu, Casa Batlló and Strange Plants

FC Barcelona and Life Drawing

Getting Organized

Back in Barcelona!

Peñiscola, Spain

Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences

Valencia

On the Road to Valencia

Los Alcázares

Cartagena, Spain

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