MONDAY MARKETS …

As with many European places it was more limited in terms of where we could go as it was Monday. Not far from the hotel is the Mercado de La Boqueria. The first mention of it being a market dates back to 1217 when it was recorded that meat was sold from tables. I love wandering the aisles taking in the sounds, smells and sights of markets when we are on holiday. La Boqueria was an explosion of colours and products.

Then there were the meat stalls which turned my stomach but at least there was some honesty about them -, literally every bit of the animal is sold, not hiding behind sanitised wrapping with a complete disconnect in Tesco’s.

We didn’t buy anything at all,the browsing is the thing!

A bit more window shopping ensued down La Rambla. Some things seem to defy belief and made me wonder who would be tempted into the shops to buy things after seeing a pooping boy statue.

As a tourist it makes no sense but for someone from Catalan it does. It’s a caganer somehow linked to the Nativity. It represents not a boy as I first assumed but a peasant dressed in traditional Catalan clothes having a dump, for good measure they will sometimes incorporate a pig having a good sniff!

Placed at the edge of the Navity scene some people believe that it symbolises the earth being re-fertilised and in so doing so represents prosperity and good luck. The church accepts this tradition dating back to the 17th century. Not putting the caganer out during Christmas will signify bad luck for the coming year. Nowadays this has now extended to models of famous people being depicted in the same way. From Angela Merkel to Batman, they are collectors items and an Association of Caganer Collectors exists. I can imagine anything worse than having a Trump or Boris Johnson one!

Some things are downright tacky. There are lots of sex shops and even innocuous things like food and seeds take on a risque take.

It does seem at odds with Catholicism.

We did however find a great shop called Ale Hop and that was great, a bit like Tiger.

Got presents for Bea, a hot water bottle and a vibrating neck massager. There were all types of hot water covers, which considering how warm it is I don’t know why there would be such an array of them. That said as I have been walking round I haven’t been wearing a coat as it is so warm, yet all the locals are wearing lots of layers and scarfs as if they are wading through two foot of snow in minus 10.

On that note of the massager, casing was slightly broken and on our way back to the hotel today Pete shouted towards me ( I am always a few feet from him as he walks very quickly) – can I take my vibrator back. Was glad that no-one was around! Well there were a few but will never see them again. It’s Valentine’s day today – maybe they thought it was an unwanted gift.

We were interested in seeing George Orwell Square, not too far from us. Although the square has existed for some time it was nameless and only honoured George Orwell, who long had links with the region, in the 90s. Ironically it was the first place that Barcelona council installed CCTV due to the high degree of anti social behaviour..

In the centre is has a surrealist sculpture by Leander Cristofel, it’s supposed to represent women and sex I couldn’t really see it though.

There was a great bar opposite called Bahia, definitely like somewhere I would have frequented years ago. The music was great. The Sparks, New York Dolls. David Bowie etc. I felt so hip and trendy getting jiggy with the young underbelly of Barcelona. Of course later that came crashing down in the Metro when I was offered a seat. In my head I feel like a youngster but on the outside I think I look like a little old lady who sips tea, reads People’s Friend and likes nothing better than a rich tea biscuit.

We had booked to go inside Sagrada Familia. It’s hard to choose which one of Gaudi’s places to go to but as the outside is so impressive we felt that this was the one to go to.

The Sagrada Familia is still being built in fact the Egyptian pyramids too less time to build than this. Seeing it from the outside was one thing but being up close and inside alleviated it to a completely different level. The columns representing trees to support the immense structures above were spectacular, Pete said it felt like walking through a forest,I think I would agree. Everything Gaudi designed is so other worldly it is hard to imagine where his creativity came from which utterly bucked the trends of the day.

Even the door of the entrance pays homage to Gaudi’s deep love of nature.

Inside it was breathtaking, we spent over two hours which was interesting because as the light changed outside the light coming through the stained glass windows threw out warm oranges yellows and green hues. Pete said he felt he was being bathed in light, which it did feel like. Not being religious it felt like a spiritual experience, certainly not anything we would associate with Catholicism.

So many small details, such as this Sudoku type stone engraving outside.

Whichever way you count it comes to 33 the age Christ died. But is seems to odd and incongruous there.

Gaudi used real people and animals for his sculptures. This Roman soldier was sculpted from one of the workmen. He had 6 toes. Gaudi debated what to do but eventually decided that he would stay true to life. Following a bad storm his toe and leg were damaged, so now there is only 5 toes.

Gaudi at the end of his life lived in the Sagrada and would walk a few kilometres every day to church. He was knocked over by a tram. Because he looked so dishevelled the tram driver got out and just moved his unconscious body off the tracks. Eventually he was taken to the paupers hospital, refusing to move from it when his friends found him. He died days later.

inside I will admit to a lot of people watching, interesting to see the number of selfies happening. I may have picked up a few ideas! Gaudi as a very religious man could not have envisaged this I am sure.

We sat down for a while and got chatting to a young woman from Chicago, an architect. Pete was sketching as was she. She said that she was part of a group called Urban Sketchers, a global group with groups all over the first large symposium was held in Manchester. She was encouraging Pete to join. Her enthusiasm was infectious. It was interesting to hear an architects perspective of the church, there were some parts she really didn’t like, especially the tops of the columns. In many ways I was glad that this isn’t my background because I could just appreciate it for what it is without having any theoretical knowledge to cloud my perspective.

Under the church they had displays including many models for blind people to touch and gain some level of understanding of what he had produced.

i don’t think I will ever not look at how accessible places are for the visually impaired.

After a very busy day and a better grasp of the Metro we headed home towards the hotel. Later we had an amazing vegan Cantonese meal – I couldn’t walk any further! Felt bad to eat Cantonese in Spain but it was really tasty and saved my feet from further blisters!