Day 2: A Holiday in Barcelona

I may have regrets about all that walking. Fuck you, calves. Double fuck you, feet.

Today is the only day we have firm plans for anything. Air tour, Music Palace, and fancy dinner, spaced far apart in time and location. It's a holiday here, and I wasn't sure what would be open. So anything I could schedule, I did for today. 

Our first stop today is the heliport at the port for a sky tour of the city. We get an early start and decide it isn’t that far to walk. This is a mistake. It is, in fact, that far. This becomes apparent somewhere along the giant bridge over the harbor, but it’s a bit too late to correct.

View from the bridge we should not have walked across.

The heliport.

Everything about this area makes me think of GTA. Is that a strange reference point?We’re still way early – so early that the entrance isn’t open yet. This entrance actually looks pretty sketchy and not secure, and we can see another, more official looking entrance lower to the ground, but it’s a fifteen minute walk to get there. 

And it’s locked. And the gate we were at is now open, and very much uphill. 

Fortunately, we get the attention of some other tourists, who ask the receptionist to let us in. Thank you, random tourists!

Neither of us has actually flown in a helicopter before. I know, I know.

I loved it. Everything from running through the rotor downwash, to the sharp banking turns, to (obviously) the view was great. We’ll have to do this sort of thing in the future.

Ready for take-off!

Gaining altitude.

See? Yesterday's view was for suckers.

Montjuic from above.

More of the city.

Back on the ground.

We wisely take a taxi back to the not apparently called Barcelona Monument and head out to grab a sandwich before our next tour. My feet are killing me. These shoes are great for my normal amount of office and airfield walking, but not for vacation walking. Also, there are protest parades starting up around town.

Our next stop is the Palau de la Musica Catalana, a concert hall designed by Lluis Domenech I Montaner, funded entirely through private donations to a local group dedicated to choral arts. In spite of how enclosed a location the building occupies, there is an amazing amount of natural lighting in the performance space, through several stained glass windows and a sky light structure I swear the tour guide called “the glow worm” for obvious reasons. The ticket said no photography, but fortunately meant no flash photography.

The giant "glow worm" stained glass structure. The shape is apparently part of the acoustical design for the space.

More stained glass work to let light in.

Window with the Catalan flag.

On the ground floor, directly under the giant glow worm.

The stage with it's muses now restored to their original colors.

This place is a ridiculously ornate mix of Gothic and art nouveau styles combined with Greek tiling techniques, terracotta sculptures holding wooden instruments, at no cost to the amazing acoustics. Touring it with the faint sound of protesters marching nearby helped underscore some of the history our guide discussed. The building has weathered the century fairly unscathed by the movement against this style of architecture (at some point, the terracotta sculptures were painted to blend into the wall rather than removed) and even against the period when it was illegal to speak Catalan (the stained glass flags were covered with curtains rather than destroyed), it’s also a reminder of all the other contemporary structures that were destroyed by civil war and backlash against the ostentatious architecture styles of the time.

We followed this stop with a power nap, shoe shopping, and a couple of hours of wiling away the afternoon in a shaded café, people watching and writing up our first two days. Actually, I don’t know what Bill is doing  – but I’m writing this. 

Apparently, Bill was photographing me.

We have dinner reservations this evening. I will be wearing my new shoes.

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Back to the blog. On our walk to Hotel Omm for dinner at the Roca’s concept restaurant, Moo, I noticed that the marquee on a building nearby is actually a functioning thermometer.

Building with a giant thermometer marquis reading just under 20 degrees C.

As I suspected, the weather is darn near Sabados Temperature Perfection.

We arrive a little early for our reservations. That is, we arrive at 8:15 and they don’t even open until 8:30. Alas, we’ll have to hang out in the bar. Bill took pictures of everything, which was excellent. I asked to see the menu again so we could photograph the list of wine parings. We tried a few new varietals this evening. Of course, one of my favorite dishes isn't on the menu – a “cod infusion” that was basically the best ever clam chowder with a mousse texture. Really glad we got to try that. 

Bill in his natural habitat.

Casa Batllo at night as seen on our walk back to the hotel.