Seriously. The last few days are actually a total blur. After S and my’s marathon of Gaudi sights, I was totally inspired. I wish I’d learned about Gaudi sooner. His buildings are incredible in their use of biomimicry and green design. It actually reminded me a lot of being back at the Biosphere, talking about Bucky’s designs and inventions (Buckminster Fuller for the uninitiated ;). Bucky was obviously a lot less organic than Gaudi in his designs, but I feel like they would have gotten along. You know that game where you have to decide who you want to have a dinner party with? I would love to have sat at a table with Buckmister Fuller and Gaudi. Their styles are so drastically different, and yet they have so much in common. Having grown up in the country, in a geodesic dome and then having worked in THE geodesic dome, I feel like I can’t get away from arches and high ceilings. I felt totally at home and at peace looking at these incredible designs that mimic nature. The design of the inside of the Sagrada with the tree-like pillars and columns reminded me of Bucky’s use of triangles in the domes… the whole “using less to support more”. I dig. Dug? Digged?
S’s last day here was the last day I was going to see her in ? how long. We had a slow start to the day. Several days of whirlwind sightseeing had worn us out more than we thought.
We finally got going and hit up the market. I love markets. I adore markets. They are my favourite part of any city, town, village, road-side shanty-town etc. Have I mentioned that I love markets? This one was possibly one of the most exciting ones I’ve been in, second maybe only to the Banana market in Tanzania. I was absolutely in heaven. I couldn’t stop taking pictures. I felt like a kid in some kind of a store. Especially since the first alley we walked down was stock full of CANDY!SO MUCH CANDY. Drool-worthy piles of candy.
The candy aisle turned into the meat aisle, with a quick pit stop in the produce section. I could smell the fish stalls that were just around the next corner and unfortunately had to move away from it. I’m not that squeamish about the dead stuff, but the smell of fish is waayyyyy too much for me.The meat stalls had parts of the animal that I’d never seen on display before. Everything from pig heads, feet, sweetbreads and a lot of things I couldn’t even identify. The produce stalls had the usual assortment of gorgeous looking fruits and veggies. After a cappuccino in the first stall at the entrance to the market, we bought some fresh juices and then purchased some food for our picnic lunch.
I almost had to be dragged away from the market, but I was looking forward to the next part of the day… MONTJUIC! The name is old school Catalan for “Mountain of the Jews”. Obviously we had to check it out!
We took the funicular up to the top and giggled the entire way. I think more places should have funiculars. You can’t spell funicular without FUN! HA. Sorry, I had to… But for real, I love those things! They are in my top 10 favourite modes of transport. Maybe even top 8.
We got to the top and explored the old castle. My favourite part was the water cistern. There was a narrow stone hallway and at the end of it was a window that looked onto this massive stone room with beautiful clear water. To the right of the window were two little pipes that were pouring water into the large stone room. I asked the only two people working there about the water. It turns out the water comes from the river and is pumped up through the old pipes that used to supply the castle. I had trouble understanding the next part, but they seemed to explain that the water passes through some kind of filtering system on the way up and by the time it gets stored in the cistern, it is potable and used for the gardens and drinking water.
The gardens were beautiful and I’m sure they are gorgeous when they are in full bloom during the summer. The castle itself paled in comparison to the views around it. On the far side of the hill was the more industrial, commercial/port side of Barcelona. We had a great view of the port and the container-unloading part. My favourite view was this one section where you could still see the green gardens on the mountain and then it sloped down to the containers. City meets countryside. I took some fun pics. At least I think they’re fun?
After Montjuic, we headed back down and made our way to the Miró museum. It was cool for the first 15 minutes and then I have to admit that I got kinda… bored? Disinterested may be a better word. I do believe that S felt the same. Sooooo, we left after having done a quick tour of the main pieces and made our way back downtown.
The rest of that night was a mix of shopping, tapas, cerveza and vino. S, charmer that she is, made quite the impression at the restaurant we ended up at and the waiters allowed her behind the bar. It may have had a little to do with the fact that she’s vertically challenged and may have had trouble reaching the tapas. ;) I think mainly it’s her smile that can melt the coldest of hearts and loosen the strictest of rules.
That night ended with us cutting a rug on the local dance floor. It’s always an interesting exercise in modesty when you’re a white chick dancing in a latin country. Oh well. We had fun! S had to leave the hostel around 4 to make it to the airport for her flight. A teary early morning goodbye and then… I was on my own.
My first step? Catching up on ten days worth of sleep.
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