The Western Mediterranean is one of the most diverse cruise region including
ports of calls in Spain, Italy, and France. From vibrant arts and culture,
ancient legacy and heritage, to stunning and luxurious coastal resorts, any one
of them alone could be the destination of our dream vacation. Combining
all of them in a land-cruise trip is a nice highlight of the region that we can
get the tastes of different places in as short as ten days.
Getting there ...
Linus
and Iris were with ECYS international
tour to Spain, and we decided to meet them there for their final concert in
Barcelona. We took this chance to have one last family vacation before
Linus heads to college after this summer, and we also wanted to try going on a
cruise one more time since this western Mediterranean itinerary was more intense
(5 ports in 7 days) with more interesting destinations (Pompeii, Rome, Florence,
Monaco, etc.) compared to our Mexican
cruise 2 years ago (too relaxed to be interesting).
Woanyu and I
arrived in Barcelona 2 days before their concert, which not only gave us some
time to adjust the jetlag, but also let us have time to re-visit this
magnificent city. Although we just visited
Spain and Barcelona a year ago, there
were still plenty of places in Barcelona we had not seen or worth visiting
again. We rented an apartment on
La Rambla that provided us a convenient base for our 4-day stay in Barcelona
(and we could easily do laundry for Linus and Iris after their 2-week Spain
tour).
[7/1 -- 7/4 Barcelona] [7/5 -- 7/6 Norwegian EPIC]
[7/7 Naples/Pompeii, 7/8 Rome]
[7/9
Pisa/Florence, 7/10 Cannes/Monaco, 7/11 Palma]
July 1 Barcelona ...
- Palau Güell
Palau Güell was one of the first important commissions Antoni Gaudí
received at the start of his career. Eusebi Güell (industrialist, politician
and patron of the arts) wanted Gaudí to build him this peculiar urban palace
as an extension of the family home on La Rambla. It was built between 1886
and 1890, and was considered as a grand example of domestic architecture in
the context of Art Nouveau. From the
basement (where served as the stable), ground floor (with the
main staircase), to the main
floor (where it looks like a palace with a
magnificent organ) and the
roof top (where Gaudi turned
chimneys into sculptures), Gaudi showed his genius to use a variety of
solutions based on very personal approaches and created exceptional
expressive forms.
- La Rambla
We randomly picked a restaurant on La Rambla for our first meal in
Barcelona. After dinner, we had a nice stroll to the Port Vell and a few
detours to the side streets along La Rambla.
July 2 ...
- Sunrise at Port Vell
I woke up early and walked alone on La Rambla,
which was surprisingly active at this time of the day. I was
approached by a stranger soliciting something I did not quite understand.
It turned out to be my first pocket picker encounter, and thankfully I was
aware enough to catch him before any he got away with anything...
- Gothic Quarter
The Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter) is one of three neighborhoods in the
Ciutat Vella, Barcelona's Old Town. This oldest part of the city was the site
chosen by the Romans in the reign of Augustus (27BC -- AD14), and has been the
location of the city's administrative buildings ever since. We walked through
the quiet Plaça Sant Felip Neri in the early morning. This tiny charming
square was the tragic place where a bombing raid by fascist planes ended the
lives of 42 people, many of them were children who had sought refuge in the
air-raid shelter below the church.
- Barcelona Cathedral
Barcelona Cathedral was built over six centuries.
Work on the church started on 1 May 1298 in the reign of King James II. It
was provisionally completed in 1450 under the rule of Alfonso V. The
main façade and bell tower were completed around 1890, following the
original plans, in the neo-Gothic style. Although we were here last year,
we found ourself drawn back to this ageless place. I was planning to
go to the rooftop, but it did not open until 10AM and was closed during
service hour, so we ended up missing the time window to visit the rooftop
this time.
- Plaça del Rei -- Museu d'Historia de Barcelona
Plaça del Rei (King's
Square), located in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona, is bordered by a number
of historic buildings that were once part of the Palau Reial Major, the
residence of the Counts of Barcelona. The History Museum of Barcelona has
4000 m^2 of archaeological remains under the square, and its collections
mainly comprise objects taken from archaeological digs and feature such
diverse materials and objects as ceramics, stone, epigraphs, glass, silver
and gold, marble and stone sculptures, architectural elements, organic
materials, coins, etc... spanning the Neolithic period to the late Middle
Ages.
We then took a short walk to one of the best kept secret in the
Gothic Quarter: Temple d'August, where four of columns from the Temple of
Augustus have survived for more than 2000 years. The temple was built
in the 1st century BC and was dedicated to the worship of Emperor Augustus
(I was reading about
Augustus before this trip since I planned to visit these columns...).
- Santa Maria del Mar
The Santa Maria del Mar - Church of St Mary of
the Sea - was built in the fourteenth century, during the medieval heyday of
Catalonia, when Barcelona was the capital of a Mediterranean empire.
It was built in just 55 years, from 1329 to 1384, and is the only
surviving church in the pure Catalan Gothic style. The interior is sparsely
decorated since most of the monuments were lost during the Spanish Civil War
when a fire destroyed the central choir and the Baroque high altar, which,
in fact, highlights its magnificent interior, spacious and harmonious, with
a very wide nave.
- La Ribera & Museu Picasso
After lunch, we walked around La Ribera neighborhood, and headed to Museu
Picasso, which was housed in 5 adjoining medieval palaces on Carrer
Montcada. The museum opened in 1963 with over 3,800 of Picasso's works in
the permanent collection from different periods, but with particular
emphasis on works from his formative years and youth.
- La Rambla & Mirador de Colom
After back to La Rambla for an early
dinner, we went up to the top of the Columbus Monument. It was
surprising not many people know there is a small lift (really very
small...) which can take visitors to a small viewing platform at the top
of the 60-m cast iron monument, where a 7-m bronze statue of Columbus
points out to sea.
- Plaça de Catalunya
We took an easy walk from the southern end of
La Rambla (Mirador de Colom) to the northern end, Plaça de Catalunya,
where the colorful fountains was a nice place to hang around after dark.
July 3 ...
- La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona
Sagrada Familia is another must-see
place in Barcelona worth visitng again. The pond on its north-east side
provides an ideal open space for viewing its reflection in the early
morning. With its construction still going on (to be completed in 2028?), we
were amazed again by Gaudi's grand and bold designs. My fisheye lens
really gave a new perspective for this magnificent place.
- Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site
After more than a century as the home of the Hospital de la Santa
Creu i Sant Pau, an ambitious restoration project (began in 2009)
following the transfer of all healthcare activities to the new Hospital
has restored the cultural and artistic glories of the Sant Pau Art Nouveau
Site, the most important work of Catalan architect Lluís Domènech i
Montaner. In 1902, work began on the first twelve buildings of the
new complex. Although Domènech's original scheme comprised a total of 48
buildings, only 27 were actually constructed (with all the connecting
corridors and service areas hidden underground) and the Hospital de la
Santa Creu i Sant Pau was formally opened in 1930.
- Casa Amatller
The so-called
Manzana de la Discordia – the Block of Discord – is the most famous
collection of modernist buildings sharing the same facade in Barcelona.
The three most famous houses in this block were remodeled in Modernista
style from existing houses early in the 20th century: No. 35 is
Casa Lleò Morera, designed by
Domènech i Montaner; No. 41 is Casa
Amatller, designed by Puig i Cadafalch; and finally, Casa
Batlló (most popular and crowded, which we visited last year), a work by
Gaudí.
The original building was constructed by Antoni Robert in 1875,
and in 1898 the Amatller family commissioned the Catalan architect and
politician Josep Puig i Cadafalch (1867-1956) to refurbish the building.
- Casa Lleó i Morera
From 1902 to 1905, the Lleó Morera family commissioned the architect Lluís
Domènech i Montaner (who also designed the Hospital de la Santa Creu i
Sant Pau) to totally refurbish their home which had stood on the Passeig
de Gràcia since 1864. The creative endeavours of a considerable number of
artists and artisans, who worked closely together under the supervision of
the architect, resulted in an ensemble of outstanding quality.
- Palau Nacional -- Museu
Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC)
The MNAC is housed in the Palau
Nacional (National Palace), an imposing edifice built on the north flank
of the Montjuïc Hill as the main pavilion for the World Exhibition of
1929. The museum collection includes Medieval Romanesque Art, Gothic
Art, Renaissance and Baroque Art, and Modern Art. It is one of the
best museum we have ever visited: wide range of collection, large and
spacious exhibit rooms, no crowds (some rooms had no other people around),
plenty of chairs to let you take a rest, freedom to take any pictures, and
even live music in the museum (some one was playing Bach for his guitar
concert rehearsal).
- Palau de la Música Catalana
The Palau de la Música Catalana was
built between 1905 and 1908 by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner as
a home for the Orfeó Català. The Palau is an architectural jewel of
Catalan Art Nouveau, the only concert venue in this style to be listed as
a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The Concert Auditorium – one of the most
distinctive in the world – is a landmark symphonic and choral music of the
city of Barcelona. Dominated by the organ over the stage and with
a central skylight portraying the sun, the auditorium is filled with
natural light in the early evening before the concert started.
ECYS
(El Camino Youth Symphony) final concert in Barcelona (Appalachian Spring
Suite by Aaron Copland, Noches en los Jardines de Espana by Manuel de
Falla, "Perseus" from Three Astral Poems by Miguel Roig-Francoli, Daphnis
et Chloe Suite No.2 by Maurice Ravel, and 2 more encores: Hungarian Dance
No.5 by Johannes Brahms and Mambo (from West Side Story) by Leonard
Bernstein) was such a big success that they got the standing ovation
from the audience several times.
July 4 ...
- Plaça d'Espanya -- Palau Nacional
Before we went to pick up Linus and
Iris from their hotel, Woanyu and I got up early to walk to Palau Nacional
for some morning exercises and fresh cool air.
- Segway tour
After
a break in the apartment (Linus and Iris were so exhausted from their
farewell dinner party last night that both fell asleep in our bed when we
took them back to our apartment...), we went on a Segway tour at 12:30PM.
The Barcelona Segway Tour took us on a fun sightseeing trip from the
city's old town to the modern beach promenade, covering Barcelona's
maritime districts between the Ramblas and Olympic Harbour. Although I had
my GoPro with me, it turned out that those cobbled streets created too
much vibration and jitter for any decent video.
- Poble Espanyol --
Tablao de Carmen
The Poble
Espanyol (Spanish Village) was built on the Montjuïc hill for the 1929
International Exhibition in Barcelona. El Poble Espanyol was only built for
the duration of the Exhibition, but due to its popularity it was not
demolished. In 1988 the village was renovated and is now a focus on
traditional arts with artisans creating glass, decorative paintings,
ceramics, embroidery, and many other handmade objects in about forty
workshops. The village also features a number of shops, bars, and
restaurants, including Tablao de
Carmen where a tapa dinner was served before a traditional Flamenco
show.
[7/1 -- 7/4 Barcelona] [7/5 -- 7/6 Norwegian EPIC]
[7/7 Naples/Pompeii, 7/8 Rome]
[7/9
Pisa/Florence, 7/10 Cannes/Monaco, 7/11 Palma]
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