The Odyssey: 2018: Barcelona, Morocco and the Canary Islands

Park Güell

We spent just over two weeks in Barcelona and ten days on a cruise from Barcelona and back which went to Morocco, the Canary Islands (Spain), Madeira (Portugal) and several cities in Mediterranian Spain. Many of the places that we visited were UNESCO World Heritage sites.

The trip, which encompassed almost all of December, did not see a single day of rain.

Although there are many things to see in Barcelona which are historic (very historic) and/or interesting to see, the UNESCO World Heritage works of architect Antoni Gaudí seem to dominate the tourist attractions from the incomplete Sagrada Familia basilica which towers over the city to the 'broken tile' style of design which Gaudi employed and appears on signs, tee shirts, refrigerator magnets and uncountable tchotchkes in uncountable souvenir shops around the city.

We saw items from Roman times to buildings currently under construction. Note the Gaudí broken tile-style 'men-at-work' sign.

Barcino: Roman Barcelona

Roman tombs (left) from more than 2000 years ago line the old road. Part of the old Roman city (right) which was recently excavated beneath a major plaza.

Sinagoga Mayor

A few decades ago, someone noticed that a building in the old Jewish Quarter was not in line with the others and seemed to face east. A search of ancient tax records led to the discovery of the Sinagoga Mayor, the largest of the five synagogues that were present in Roman times.

The doorway (left) seems low because the street has been built up over the centuries. The interior (right) was small, but so was the community.

Some of the stones used to construct this royal building came from the Jewish cemetery. Note the Hebrew inscriptions.

The Jewish community was long gone when this building was constructed; it was destroyed in 1391 when two Jewish men going to a community well were accused of cursing the water and it devolved into the slaughter of the community.

We learned about the 1391 event and other things concerning the Barcelona Jewish community and saw archeological sites at several museums in the 'Old City.'

A crevice in the doorpost of a building (left) in the Jewish Call (Quarter) indicates a mezuzah niche.

The foundation of a demolished home/shop lies under the floor of one of the Call's museums.

Sagrada Familia

The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família is Gaudí's most extensive and final project. His remains rest in the crypt. In the photo above it can be seen towering over Barcelona and the cranes show that it is still unfinished almost a century after Gaudí's 1926 death in a streetcar accident.

The north and south faces of Sagrada Familia were done decades apart by different architects. One was done by Josep Subiraachs in Arte Deco and the other by Antoni Gaudí in Umgepatched.

The two other faces of the basilica are not yet done (or started). Construction began in 1882; the current projected completion date is 2040.

Antoni Gaudí's other well-known (in Barcelona) projects include the private homes of Casa Batllo and Casa Mila (La Pedrera) and the community of Park Güell.

Casa Batlló

Casa Milà

Park Güell

The entrance

Originally intended to be a naturalistic community for a few dozen wealthy families, Park Güell was a commercial failure as no one wanted to buy in; only two buildings were constructed.

Contrary to popular belief, the word gaudy predates Antoni Gaudí.

We spent a lot of time wandering the narrow streets of the Old City and Gothic neighborhoods.

The Art Nouveau Palau de la Música Catalana

We ate tapas, which is Spanish for small portions at regular portion prices, but usually stuck to foods that we know. We live in New York; we can get any kind of food at almost any hour and it is usually authentic and good; why should we take a chance on tourist-y food in some foreign land?

Spanish tapas buffet

All-you-want Israeli salads at ShaqShuq

We went to many museums and several churches. We went to dozens and dozens of shops which sold the same merchandise. We went to the Picasso Museum which has lots of his early paintings and other items which were made by Pablo Picasso that he was unable to sell. Many were donated by his sister after his death; she probably needed the space and even his death didn't make them more valuable.

One item that Picasso sold is owned by the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. It was currently on loan to the d'Orsay in Paris as was one of the better(?) pieces from the Picasso Museum.

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

Many of the museums on Montjuïc (Jew Mountain) are in buildings constructed for the 1929 International Exposition, Barcelona's second world's fair. In addition to this museum, we also visited the ethnology and anthropology museums.

There were more religious items here than you can shake a stick at but the museum had a unique section (below): To preserve them, frescos had been removed from the walls of rural Catalonian churches and reconstructed in specially built rooms.

Of note: The Museu Frederic Marès contains the collections of Frederic Marès and he was quite a collector. There were rooms and rooms of similar religious items and cabinets of decorative fans, firearms and tin soldiers. And more. It made me feel better about what we have cluttering our home/museum.

To see more of Frederic Marès' collections, click here.

Museum Note: We were the only visitors when we were at the ethnology museum (which exhibits the culture of Catalunya) on Montjuïc. When we went to the main branch of the ethnology museum (which exhibits cultures of the world) in central Barcelona, which is housed in a modernized medieval palace, there was only one other person in the museum with us who was not a staff member. We discussed the lack of visitors with a staff member who told us that it was always like that.

This is understandable. Even though the items on display in the museum are not only interesting and, in some cases, quite rare, few people have any interest in ethnography and when it comes to tourists who have a limited amount of time (especially those who come on cruise ships), there are not enough hours to see it all and one must concentrate on the biggest attractions.

Spending two weeks in Barcelona gave us the time to not only tour the less visited museums but to relax and wander, even to sit in the park and people-watch. Below are some of the sights that we saw.

Public water fountains (left) are scattered around town. The water tastes fine contrary to what several waiters told us when we asked for tap water. To the right is the monument at Columbus Circle near the waterfront a few blocks down La Rambla from our apartment.

Arc de Triomf: I assume that Spain won. I don't know who lost.

The Dogs of War?

These planters border the park where the Arc de Triomf is located.

The Cascada (above & right) in Citadel Park was put on display for the 1888 Universal Exposition, Spain's first world's fair. Also in the park are the natural history museum and the zoo, both of which use buildings from the 1888 exposition.

Quadriga de l'Aurora on the top of the Font de la Cascada.

As with many of the museums on Montjuïc, this theatre was built for the 1929 exposition.

Our Barcelona digs:

As is our practice, we try to rent an apartment when we stay for a while. For this trip, we took the penthouse of an apartment hotel which came with a private rooftop terrace and housekeeping.

Our apartment was one block from La Rambla and two from the Metro. There was a supermercado on our block where we bought most of our groceries and three others in a half-block radius.

La Rambla is a well-known pedestrian walkway and people seemed to be walking at all hours. Across the roadway on both sides of the Ramblas are restaurants and shops. Many of the restaurants have canopied eating areas with waitstaff on La Rambla.

Around the block was Palau Güell, a Gaudí-designed mansion. We could see the iconic chimneys from our rooftop terrace.

The apartment, however, was on the less favorable side of La Rambla. One could tell this because the ladies of the evening at our end of the block were less well-dressed than those on La Rambla end of the block.

As it was Chanukkah while we were in Barcelona, we constructed a Chanukkia from the glassware in our apartment. We also incorporated a symbol that the Catalonians use at this time of year, the Caganer.

Chag-aner Chanukkah

A few blocks up La Rambla was La Boqueria, Barcelona's most famous market. Stalls sell tapas, meats, produce, wine, cheese, souvenirs and a wide variety of other products. Sarah, left, selects some cheeses.

Our other digs:

Relaxing after a day of sightseeing.

And that's Sarah in the elevator above the gingerbread village.

Medina of Tétouan, Morocco

"What are you willing to pay?"

The Canary Islands and Madeira

These volcanic islands are in the Atlantic off the west coast of North Africa. We saw palm trees, volcanic peaks, palm trees, fishing villages and, did I mention, palm trees.

We went up 7,000 feet on Mt. Teide on Tenerife. (We were supposed to go up to 11,000 ft. but the cable car was not running.) Mt. Teide is the highest volcano in Europe. We went to a volcanic crater and several botanic gardens on Gran Canaria.

We saw a fishing village (which Churchill painted) and drank madeira on Madeira. The waterfront now has a parking lot, souvenir stand and tourist restaurant; it was probably more picturesque when Churchill was there. We stopped at the highest sea cliff in Europe.

It's a bit of a stretch to describe these islands as 'Europe' as they are in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa; they just happen to be territories of European countries.

That canaries came from the Canary Islands must be a myth as we saw no canaries; maybe they went extinct.

ALCAZABA: (Arabic for citadel) The Moors from North Africa controlled southern Spain for centuries until the Reconquista in 1491 by the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella. The Moors left behind palaces/fortresses. The best-known alcazaba is the Alhambra in Granada. As we had already been to the Alhambra several years ago, we visited the smaller Alcazaba in Málaga. This is considered the best-preserved acazaba in Spain.

Our final Barcelona digs:

The Hotel Continental Palacete started out as a mansion (1863) on a nearby street which became too commercial; the owners had the building disassembled and rebuilt at its present location to avoid the congestion. (It's good to be rich!)

Two decades ago, the property was purchased and converted into a hotel which boasts a 24/7 buffet. The food is not hot after breakfast ends (noon) unless you use the microwave. Wine and soda are included and beer is on tap. The food choices were so extensive that we ate no meals outside the hotel during our stay.