The AVE High Speed Rail took us to Barcelona in a bit over 3 hours from Madrid. Strangely, it seemed a bit longer than that. For some reason, the Shinkansen in Japan felt more comfortable and faster. Regardless, we ended up at Barcelona Sants Station and with no trouble were able to get a T10 mulit-person metro card, which was great because we could both use the card for fares and also saved us a bit.
In one of my Madrid posts, I mentioned how the dogs in that city seemed quite rambunctious. Meanwhile, in Barcelona, the dogs seemed more relaxed. We saw several, like this one, riding the metro with no problem.
We were staying in the rather large, rambling Eixample neighborhood, close to one of Barcelona's most famous Architect's and Master of what is deemed Catalan Modernism, Antoni Gaudi, his unfinished, always under construction Sagrada Familia, the Church of the Holy Family.
As much as I had read, or heard, nothing prepared me for the first time I set eyes on the place. We exited the metro station and headed off in the direction of the apartment we were staying at. I turned around and was just awestruck at the sight of Sagrada Familia. The Missus was busy heading up the street when I told Her, "turn around......turn around." Her eyes got quite large, jaw agape, all She could mutter was "oh my god......" As we just stood and stared for a few moments.
Such is the effect of Sagrada Familia. Love it or hate it, I doubt you'll ever see anything quite like it.
We had a bit of time before checking in and were getting hungry. We had "big" dinner plans so finding something simple and unpretentious like this little shop fit the bill. It was quiet, an older gentleman reading the paper having lunch, another guy having a beer at the bar.
The young man working the front bar was very nice and we took a table in the rear of the place so as not to get in the way. There was a menu "del dia" - menu of the day available, along with various small dishes which we felt was more suitable for us.
The Missus was still feeling like Pimientos Padrons so we got that.
Not as salty as other versions, this had a nice "zing" due to the addition of red peppers. Nothing amazing or surprising, but simple and tasty.
At this point, we had a little travelers malfunction. I had done a bit of research on Catalan Charcuturie and was excited when I saw this:
What the Missus and I didn't pay attention to was the top part which said......
Entrepans....."between bread", Freds "cold", so we were caught off guard when sandwiches arrived. What could we do but just laugh at ourselves and be happy we ordered "petit". Simply meat and bread.
Fuet is a dry cured thin sausage that reminds me of pepperoni.
The butifarra is the serious sausage in Catalonia. This was the "blanca" or the white version.
Soft, coarse ground pork, with no paprika, which is why it's called "blanco". Nice and ham like.
The Catalana reminded me of salami.
It was more than enough for lunch and would hold us over until our 830 pm dinner. We finished off with some espresso and headed off to the apartment.
We were located 1 block from Sagrada Familia. In fact, you could see the one of the spires from the window!
After settling in and freshening up, we decided to walk over to Sagrada Familia, just to take a look around.
Even though Antoni Gaudi's grand work is not yet finished; he became involved in the project in 1883 and worked on it until his death in 1926; 43 years, the Church has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was only 25 percent completed at the time of Gaudi's death and work continues to this day.
The church is made up of three facades and will have 18 spires, when and if it is ever finished. Only one of the facades bears Gaudi's direct influence; that is, was almost complete at the time of his death. My least favorite façade is the Passion Façade which was completed by 2005. It is quite plain, but somewhat dark and grim.
I could write another two thousand words on the place, but why not read this or this.
My favorite view from the other side of the pond in Placa de Gaudi. It shows the rich and complex design of the structure as it seems to reach for the sky.
It's also far enough to escape the tour buses and the masses, where you can watch the old-timers playing bocce.
Or just shooting the breeze.
We ended up not doing the interior of Sagrada Familia, perhaps on another trip...you need tickets and all that. We headed back to the apartment for a short nap before dinner. And oh what a dinner it would be......
can just imagine how amazing sagrada familia is, looking forward to seeing what you had for dinner.
Posted by: kat | Thursday, 18 June 2015 at 03:41 AM
It's quite a sight to see Kat!
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 18 June 2015 at 06:31 AM
If you have Netflix there's a really cool documentary called "Sagrada: The Mystery of Creation." I learned that one of the chief sculptors is Japanese!
Posted by: Junichi | Thursday, 18 June 2015 at 11:52 AM
I think the Missus saw that Junichi, because she mentioned that as well.
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 18 June 2015 at 12:25 PM
I remember being constantly disappointed by the sandwiches in Barcelona when I went. It seemed like everywhere it was just plain bread with cold charcuterie and maybe at best a swipe of tomato juices. I think I would appreciate them more now but at the time being 21 and ending most of our nights at 6 am (given the bars only get lively around 1 am) the last thing I wanted after a night out was a cold sandwich with a single slice of jamon. Luckily doner kebab seems to be popular in Barcelona.
Posted by: J.S. @ Sun Diego Eats | Friday, 19 June 2015 at 07:39 AM
Hi JS.....though Entrepans Freds means meat in bread - cold. I liked the variety of charcuterie though nothing was amazing in Barcelona. Also, they really didn't know how to slice Jamon at the places we tried. We didn't try any bocadillos or flautas so I really can't comment on those.
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 19 June 2015 at 08:44 AM