Today we embark on a self-guided walking tour to get a little history lesson about the city we are in - off to the Gothic Quarter “Barri Gòtic". It is Barcelona' s birthplace and most historic neighborhood - where the ancient Romans built a city, the medieval Christians built their cathedral, where Jews gathered together and where Barcelonans lived within a ring of protective walls until 1850 when the city expanded.
The L3 green south metro train takes us to the Catalunya stop where we make our escape into the sunny and 80+ degree weather from the hot underground tunnel. Throughout our whole trip we have been very lucky in the weather department, knock on old wood. We start the adventure at "Plaça de Catalunya," a busy intersection with large buildings on all sides and at one end a pedestrian walkway begins.
We grab a pastry at an outdoor cafe and review Rick Steves’ directions on where to start the walking tour. The giant El Corte Inglés department store encompasses a complete block - we pop in to give it a quick look. This place is amazing and has everything anyone could ever need - including a grocery store within a department store. We refocus and find our way out to get back on track towards the walkway.
The guide tells us about the angel gate with a sculpture on it. We don't see it but enter the busy pedestrian only zone anyway. It is the most expensive retail space in the city and there are people moving in every direction. Sensory overload hits immediately.
The tour continues with photos below.
A green sign marks the shop called Planelles Donat. It is a historical shop selling ice cream, sweet turró (or turrón, almond-and-honey candy), refreshing orxata (or horchata, almond-flavored drink), and granissat (or granizado, ice slush). Stores like this one started selling goods they made out of a basket on the street then evolving into the shop they are today. We go in and order one horchata take-away to share and enjoy the sweat taste as we continue our walk.
On the next corner farther down is an Art Nouveau awning at another El Corte Inglés department store. We take a few pictures.
From there we go right and about half way down we are told to look for a narrow street to the right. Of course we walk right by distracted by all the displays in the store windows - like legs of aged Iberian ham.
We backtrack and enter Carrer de Santa Anna and a small courtyard appears. Tucked way inside the courtyard is the Church of Santa Anna. It is a 12th-century church that was outside the city walls. It's marker cross still stands today as it did back then. Newer construction was built on all sides completely enclosing it. It's pretty cool finding it hidden among the new world shopping community. We meet another couple from the US doing the same tour - Rick Steves is a popular guy.
We return to the main drag and further down we turn left onto Carrer de Montsió and half a block down is our next stop - Els Quatre Gats. The restaurant is a historic monument and is famous for being the circa-1900 bohemian-artist hangout where Picasso drank with friends and had his first one-man show (in 1900). Picasso spent his formative years (1895-1904, ages 14-23) here in the old town.
The building itself is also note worthy and was designed by prominent architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch. The building is a great example of Neo-Gothic Modernism. We enter and look around. The kitchen is not serving but we could have a drink. We decline being aware of our time available. We have a schedule to keep.
We continue down Avinguda del Portal de l’Angel and arrive at a fork in the road. There is a fountain with blue-and-yellow tilework, a circa-1918 addition to this even older fountain. The tiles show woman carrying jugs of water and in the 17th century, it was the last stop for watering horses on the way out of town. The fountains you find scattered around town have drinkable water - nice!
There is a band with a banjo, a piano and a trumpet playing bluegrass sounding music. We stop and listen and enjoy.
We go left at the fork and next arrive at “Plaça Nova." Two bold Roman towers flank the main street. These once guarded the entrance gate of the ancient Roman city of Barcino. The Roman wall was 25 feet high and a mile around, with 74 towers. It enclosed a population of 4,000 inhabitants. The wall is has been removed over time. The towers are a reconstruction but the blocks at the base of the towers are actually Roman.
We go left just down from the towers and get a good look at the facade of the Cathedral of Barcelona. This place has been a center of Christian worship since the fourth century. The cathedral we see today dates from the 14th century, with a 19th-century Neo-Gothic facade. The facade shows all of the Gothic motifs. A pointed arch over the entrance, statues in flowing robes, tracery in the windows, gargoyles, and bell towers with winged angels. This Gothic variation is called French Flamboyant. The roofline protrudes with prickly spires meant to give the impression of a church flickering with spiritual fires. It does flicker in the sun.
We go back and follow the road between the towers called "Carrer del Bisbe." We turn left go up a ramp and enter Casa de l’Ardiaca. It is a mansion that now contains the city archives. The elaborately carved doorway is Renaissance. To the right of the doorway is a carved mail slot by 19th-century Modernista architect. We enter the small courtyard that has a fountain. There is a century-old palm tree held in place with cables above. At the left end of the lobby, go through the archway and look down into the stairwell—this is the back side of the ancient Roman wall.
We return to Carrer del Bisbe and turn left. We find a small square with a bronze statue called the Monument to the Martyrs of Independence. Five Barcelona patriots calmly receive their last rites before being strangled for resisting Napoleon’s occupation of Spain in the early 19th century.
Next we enter the “Plaça Sant Felip Neri." The square serves as the playground of an elementary school with the next generation learning Catalan that just a generation ago would have been illegal. In the courtyard is the The Church of Sant Felip Neri, which Gaudí attended, is still pocked with bomb damage from the Spanish Civil War. There is a plaque on the wall that honors the 42 killed—mostly children—in that 1938 aerial bombardment.
We exit the square and turn right onto Carrer de Sant Sever, then immediately left on Carrer de Sant Domènec del Call. We enter the Jewish Quarter. In Catalan, a Jewish quarter goes by the name El Call meaning a“narrow passage." These very tight streets are where some 4,000 medieval Jews were crammed in to be under the watchful eye of the cathedral.
We are out of time and need to eat lunch and head over to the Picasso museum. We walked buy a noisy hole in the wall on one of the narrow streets. We go in, find a seat, get a menu and read that they don't take credit cards. We are low on cash. The place looks and smells great so we go find a cash machine and return. We have a glass of white wine while we wait. They are not fast and when the food finally arrives we munch it down. We agree it is the best food we have had in Spain so far.
We use google to direct us right to our next stop on the tour - the Picasso Museum. Pablo Picasso may have made his career in Paris, but his formative years in Barcelona set the stage. From his early representative years you see his talent at 15 years old. Then to the carefully craftedart-school pieces, the gloomy hues of his Blue Period to the revitalized cheer of his Rose Period. There are works showing the beginning of his cubist ideas. You also see works from his twilight years, including dozens of wild improvisations inspired by Diego Velázquez’s seminal Las Meninas. It is the top collection of Picasso's anywhere showing his early works. We are lucky to see his work this way. We saw his paintings at a museum in Paris and now here in Barcelona. When you are an artist at heart this really feeds the soul. (no photos allowed)
Quick Metro back to the hotel with a stop for a bottle of "Cava" similar to the Italian "Prosecco" and a couple of tall boy beers. We know where to shop so it is inexpensive. We ate a late lunch like the people do here. I wonder if we will go out at 10 pm for dinner? Our dogs are tired, my guess is we will not.