Adios, Barcelona

And one last building not designed by anyone famous (that I know of) with some very Gaudiesque reflections next door.

La Pedrera

This is considered Gaudi's masterpiece since, unlike the huge messy Sagrada Familia, he actually finished it. And I love the curves and the wrought iron on the facade.

 


But the terrace! It's weird and wonderful, with the scales probably tipping more towards weird. You can't help thinking, What made Gaudi think the world was ready for this -- or needed this -- in 1905. 1905! I grew up in an apartment building in San Francisco that was built in 1906 and it was square and squat and post-Victorian and doesn't appear to be part of the same universe as this, much less the same decade. Not that there is much, anywhere, ever, that looks anything like this.

On the other hand, that little tower is so perfect it takes my breath away.

Field trip

Schoolkids lined up outside La Pedrera, where they are going to learn about...Gaudi? Modernist architecture? Nationalist and religious symbolism?
Or not very much while they are mostly grateful to be out of the classroom on a beautiful morning?

More balconies in Barcelona

Balconies in Barcelona

Laundry day

These are two of the streets in La Ribera, a medieval labyrinth of alleys where it's almost impossible not to get lost (and let's just say I speak from experience.) I loved that almost every balcony had laundry hanging from it. In Paris, where there are balconies on almost every building it's illegal to hang laundry from them, but they're apparently more practical in Barcelona. Every street seemed to be celebrating some exuberant holiday with dozens of multi-colored flags waving in the breeze.

Even if you live in Eixample, in a spacious building with a view of Gaudi's La Pedrera, apparently you never want to let a good balcony go to waste.

Vicky Kathleena Barcelona

It's not exactly new to say that Barcelona has amazing architecture (hello, Gaudi!). It's a very walkable city, so you can go from the Modernist-bestrewned octagonal blocks of Eixample to medieval mazes to Port Vell long before your brain has time to create any kind of context. Two favorite photos: some of the plethora of gargoyles, all of which look as seriously irritated as a gargoyle should, and boats in the port.

In the wake of a month of rain

I've been trying to avoid the easy coastline pictures here, although I took many, but this picture from Erice, in Sicily, was irresistible, because it's so unSicilian.

Everywhere we've been, we've heard about the month of rain that all but ruined the two previous cruises on the ship, and preceded our arrival in every port. We've had perfect weather, and unusually clear skies everywhere as a result. Our guide said Sicily hasn't been this green in forty years.

Cathedral Church, Erice

This is the bell tower of the 14th century cathedral, which, from the outside at least, looks more like a fortress than a church.

The inside is lovely, though, with a wonderful vaulted ceiling, and a face above the columns that reminds me of the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland.

Yeah, I could live there (Sicilian version)

Except for the commute.  Several people on our tour bus had been nervous about the cable car we were taking to Erice, a medieval town at the top of a mountain, and were relieved when they told us it was too windy and the bus was going to drive up there instead. 

Until the bus actually started up the narrow road, tilting ominously as it navigated the thousand or so switchbacks, gears grinding on the steeper portions as we seemed to hang in space for a minute and then suddenly leap forward. Erice was worth it. 

But I wasn't the only one who had a few extra glasses of wine at lunch, thinking about the trip back down.

Life at sea

After five days in various ports, it was wonderful to have a day at sea while we sailed from Athens to Palermo. I did the Sunday crossword in the Herald Tribune I bought in Athens, read a paperback mystery cover to cover, walked two miles on the track on the top deck, and drank coffee on the balcony.

Last night, we sailed through the Strait of Messina, which separates Sicily from the Italian mainland, so slowly we hardly seemed to be moving. Everything was suspended: the lights of Calabria, Orion hanging in the sky above, the ship barely rolling. I fell asleep long before we were through.

Lunch at the Acropolis

I don't think it was the Parthenon that had them so engrossed, but they didn't even notice me taking their picture.