Some Advise for Visiting

Barcelona is a beautiful city which I highly recommend if you are visiting Spain.  I have a few suggestions I hope will make your visit more enjoyable.

First, be prepared to encounter expert pick-pockets on the streets and in the subways.  We did not personally experience an attempt but several in our group did.  I suggest you lock up your valuables in the hotel safe of carry your goods in front of you.  Be aware of your surroundings especially in crowds and on the subway.

Experience tapas but also stay up late enough to dine at a restaurant serving full meals.  The Catalans love their cured ham but also have a fine offering of fish available everywhere.  Also find a bar that makes their own Vermouth and enjoy it during Vermouth hour dressed with a slice of orange and a skewer of olives.

Enjoy the fine shopping available in the Gothic Quarter.  These shops likely are selling goods handmade in Spain.  I found their sweaters and shoes to be very nice and well worth their price.  There’s also lovely handmade jewelry available.

Talk to the people about their Catalan history.  They are very proud of the heritage and love to share it with you.  During our visit, independence was in the forefront but hopefully some compromise can be found to keep the country together.

Finally, get out into the countryside.  Montserrat is quite beautiful and spiritual.  The Cava region is also worth a visit.  I’ve heard but not experienced many of the smaller cities across the country are lovely and worth a drive and a few days.

Thank you for following along with me on my journey. I hope to share more with you in the future.

Gothic Quarter

For our final day, we left early to visit the Le Seu Cathedral and the Gothic Quarter.  Since we had visited the cathedral last Saturday, we opted to wonder around the Gothic Quarter.  Since it was early there were very few people out on the streets.  Shop keepers were opening up mid-morning preparing for the tourists that would be out later.

We made our way back to La Boqueria market bustling with activity.  Since it was morning, the shop keepers had all their goods out for the local shoppers.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen the variety of fish presented in the fish market section.  Shell fish, crustaceans and fish were nestled in ice for the shoppers to inspect.  Large cutting blocks were used to prep the fish once they were purchased.  We purchased sandwiches to take back to our room while we prepared for our final class.

Our fourth critique was the best of the week with everyone showing outstanding work.  These critiques are a big reason why we attend these workshops. It is very helpful to both see other’s work and also to hear how our own photos could be better with a different composition or a shifting of light.  My skills have grown since my first workshop in Istanbul but I still have much to learn.

We had a couple of hours before our final slideshow and dinner.  We took advantage of the time to pack our bags, which took a little rearrangement since I had taken advantage of the fine shopping to be had here.  One of our friends would be leaving this evening due to prior commitments, so we went out for a final drink before his departure.

Liza accumulates a sampling of photos during the week to place into our final slideshow.  It’s a great reminder of our week and the skills we’ve accumulated as a group.  Our final dinner was at Winsor where we had an excellent meal of fish or beef and plenty of wine to accompany it.  We had a 10 o’clock flight so we went straight to bed when we arrived back at Hotel 62.

Next: A few final thoughts

Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia

We had our third critique this morning then had a break for lunch.  The weather was quite nice which should make our visit to Sagrada Familia very nice this afternoon.

I have previously mentioned Gaudí, one of Barcelona’s greatest architects   This afternoon we visited the project that occupied the last years of his life, the great Catholic cathedral Sagrada Familia.  While not the original architect on the cathedral, Gaudí made it his own with his organic curves and soaring towers.  The façade is adorned with biblical scenes with the grandest being the birth of Jesus and the stations of the cross.  The later are the work of a modern sculpture with a very blackish style and hollowed out features.  It is quite dramatic.

Inside resides a multitude of rounded arches that reach into air.  The church is to be completed for the anniversary of Gaudi’s death in 2026.  Enough of the interior is completed to give you a full picture of how grand it will be.  A pipe organ played a piece of Bach and masses are occasionally masses are said.

An elevator whisks you to the top of the cathedral where you can look over the city.  Circle stairs take you back down to the bottom.  The stained glass windows were glowing in the late afternoon light with different color hues in each section.  They are very beautiful.  Upon exiting the church the spires were aglow from the final few minutes of light from the setting sun.  Lasting only a few minutes our timing was excellent.

Tomorrow: The final day of the workshop

The Heart of Catalonya

The travel gods were with us today, no strikes and lots of sunshine.  Our large bus provided lots of room to spread out on our way to Montserrat.  The drive through the working section of the country was interesting and then turned into beautiful scenery as we drove into the mountains.

Montserrat houses several religious institutions with the largest being the Benedictine monastery on the Main Street.  There are several options to ascend to the monastery, including a sky tram and train. Funiculars offer a trip further up the mountain but were down for repairs during our visit.

The Basilica was quite beautiful inside.  The center piece is the black Madonna that looks down onto the congregation.  A cue had formed to take the stairs past the virgin but we satisfied to view it from below.  Also available is a beautiful museum with some well known artists’ works.  A boys choir sings two songs at 1:00 but we opted for a bite of lunch in the cafeteria instead.

A funicular climbs the side of the mountain and we were curious what the views would be up there.  Unfortunately it was currently closed due to repairs.  A path led up the side of the mountain and we needed the exercise. When we set out on our little hike we had no idea where the path led but we soon found out the cross in the distance would be our final destination.  Standing 30 feet in the air, the cross attracted memorial flowers and other items people had left.  There were also lots of selfie activity going on.  We enjoyed the spectacular views looking down into the valley and looking back to the monastery.  We hiked back down and onto the bus for our next activity.

Cava is produced only in Catalonya so it seemed appropriate to visit a boutique winery called Art Cava.  The winery includes a very old house which was the focus of the first part of the tour.  Centuries old, the house told the history of the region including how to tell the status of the family living there, the daily life of a Catalan and how important wine is in the Spanish culture.

Next came a lesson in Cava.  Cava can be made from many different types of grapes and can also be a blend.  The general method of producing it is very similar to champagne.  Yeast and clay(more on that in a minute) is introduce to the bottle for fermenting which can be a short or relatively long process depending on year.  Once it is ready to be corked, the dead yeast which has been absorbed by the clay is removed by freezing a small portion of the cava which is shot out of the bottle when the bottle cap is removed (an extreme amount of pressure builds during the aging).  The cork is then placed in the bottle, a wire cage a fixed to the top and the label is applied after a thorough cleaning. Cava is meant to be consumed within a year of its corkage.  The sample we had had been corked only a few days before.  This winery only produces the driest of Cava and it was quite delicious.

Art Cava is probably the best wine tour/tasting I have experienced.  I would highly recommend a visit if you find yourself in the area.

Tomorrow: A man’s life work

Give Me Liberty

Up early for our trip to Montserrat Monestary, we encountered our first hiccup from the independence protests.  The farmers blocked the roads in protest this morning preventing our bus from reaching our hotel.  Always flexible, we swapped our plans for Thursday to today.  We scrambled to prepare images for a critique this morning.

The protest in the square was scheduled at noon, so after class we took the metro down towards the Cathedral to see what it was all about.  It was clear the minute we emerged from the metro that something was happening.  People clothed in the independence flag of Catalan, red and gold strips with a blue triangle containing a star, were traveling towards the protest.  Reaching the square, we could barely enter the perimeter because of the crowds that had turned out to voice their desire for independence.  

The non-violent protestors waved flags, sang songs and chanted support for independence.  I saw one woman waving the Spanish flag, yelling at the protestors, very emotional about her stance.  The crowds started to disperse mid-afternoon which was our cue to continue our tour of the city.

The first Worlds Fair was held in Barcelona in the late 1800’s.  The park still exists with many buildings still standing although many are abandoned.  A beautiful fountain looked newly restored, gold leaf sparkling at the top.  It appeared the park serves as a gathering spot for some of the city’s homeless, but it is still a spot for families to enjoy the out of doors.

A short walk further brought us to the port flanked by old apartment buildings that once housed a large population of port workers.  It’s an area where laundry hangs from balcony alongside flags of both independence and Spain.  

We stopped in a little bar, lured in by one of the patrons that wanted to visit with us.  In his early 30’s, Carlos had a great command of geography naming cities from our native countries (USA, Australia and England).  He spent a year in Australia, was a contestant on a game show (he had the video on his phone) and made an excellent model for us.  I marked off a trip goal here by ordering a red vermouth adorned with an orange slice and a single olive.  Unlike the vermouth at home, this one was slightly sweet and reminded me a little of wine.  It was delicious.

We dined at 7 Porter tonight, a large restaurant at the edge of the port area right next to Oaxaca.  The menu had a large variety of dishes but most of our group chose the paella.  Both locals and tourists mixed in the dining room, filling the several dining rooms that made up the restaurant.

We walked back to our hotel for a relatively early turn in.

Tomorrow: Montserrat and Cava

La Ramble

This morning was our first photo critique.  Ira usually starts out a little more gentle on the first day, but since we all had taken previous classes he held nothing back.  What he’s looking for are not typical tourist photos of statutes and buildings, but us recognizing good light and moments with people.  The group seemed up to the task.

We had yet another tapas meal for lunch, this one with slightly different options.  We all seem pretty hooked on fried artichoke hearts and are determined to find a recipe for them when we get home.  Because we’re sharing small plates it’s a little hard to judge if you’ve had enough or too much.  Somehow it all works out.

La Ramble was featured prominently in the news in late August when a terrorist drove a truck down the pedestrian walkway killing somewhere around 13 people and injuring over a 100.  Today in the bright sun you would never know there had been an incident.  This is probably the most popular street with shops and restaurants lining the pedestrian way with street hawkers selling a variety of goods.  One area housed the flower market with both fresh cut flowers and seeds to plant your own.

The Boqueria sits near the end of La Rambles in a huge open air space.  Like markets the world over, vendors offer a variety of goods from fruits and vegetables, seafood, meats, sweets and condiments.  Several restaurants offer bar seating where you can order tapas for a snack or meal.  I love these kinds of places!  I could wonder for hours thinking about all the great meals I could prepare with the very fresh offerings.  I had not sampled one of my favorites, Pimento de Padrons (small peppers that are sautéed in olive oil and sprinkled with salt), so I found an open bar seats and enjoyed a plate full.  The were fabulous, none containing the heat we often encountered with the varieties we find back home.

After a couple of hours at the market, we traveled a few short blocks to our evening’s entertainment, Flamenco.  In order to fully appreciate what we were going to enjoy this evening, we started with a lesson.  This reminded me very much of them time I attempted Zumba and realized I didn’t have quite as much rhythm as I had created myself with.  We burned some calories which made our selections at the buffet dinner a little easier.

Seated below the stage, we were excited to see our award winning dancers really do it.  How impressive!  Our dancers, two men and a woman, were accompanied by an equally talented group of guitarist and singers.  Such emotion is on display in flamenco.  For the most part, the dancers each have their own set, leaving the stage breathless from the tremendous amount of energy they have expended during the performance.

We wondered back down La Reamble to the hotel.  After a quick glass of wine we retired for the evening.

Tomorrow: Protests

Gaudí and More Gaudí

After breakfast, we meet in the space that will serve as our classroom for the week.  This apartment next to our hotel has beautiful light and space for us to share our work.  As an introduction, we each presented some images we’ve recently shot and feel represent what we like to shoot.  This is a very talented group that also appears to be well traveled.

We broke for lunch which gave us an opportunity to visit another Gaudí, La Pedrera.  This building houses apartments and businesses.  The rooftop, attic and an apartment are open to the public for viewing with an audio guide adding to the visit.  The rooftop is filled with organic chimneys that served the fireplaces in the apartments below.  However, I’m not sure you would have immediately identified them as such.  The attic revealed the planning Gaudí undertook to insure the comfort of the residents with open brick arches that provided support and cooled the living quarters below.  The apartment gave a peak into the early residents in the building.

Our group was meeting at Park Güell mid afternoon, so we decided to climb the slowly ascending streets to meet them there.  We stopped along the way for a light lunch and more street photos.  The last little climb was accomplished by a much appreciated escalator.  We met our group before proceeding into the park.

Park Güell was initially designed as a residential community with lots ling the crescent shaped hill overlooking the community space below.  Curved benches lined the open plaza providing gathering spots for families.  Roads curved up to the top allowing residents access to their homes.  Gaudí was a little before his time however, and only one home was built.  The citizens didn’t want to live out in the woods, preferring to live in the city and it prestigious addresses.  The park attracts lots of tourists which makes photography a little challenging.

We were tired by the end of a long day and opted for a quick tapas meal which would allow an early turn-in.  We still had photos to review before our first critique in the morning.

Tomorrow: Our first class