Barcelona from an LA Perspective

This blog is basically our version of a Barcelona travelogue -- seen through the eyes of Dale’s sister Sheri and her long-time friend Barbara who visited us from Los Angeles during November. We hope you enjoy it. We had a wonderful time sharing the city of Barcelona with them.

Sheri (on the left) and Barb
We met them at the airport and after briefly settling in, we were off to explore
our neighborhood a little and have some tapas – after all, it was only 9:30 p.m.

We went to Sagardi, one of our favorite spots, and satisfied our hunger from the long and impressive bar where tray after tray of tapas are displayed. Sheri and Barb were appropriately impressed and had no trouble sleeping that night, although they woke early, as expected.




And on our way we stopped in at El Xampanyet, an old and famous tapas bar that serves sparkling cava mixed with who knows what -- a drink pronounced, phonetically , “champinyette”, but probably spelled as the name of the bar. (Our favorite guidebook, 24 Walks in Barcelona, pronounced this cocktail “undrinkable”
and recommended that NO ONE visit this bar.) But we loved it and, if the crowds always spilling out onto the street are any indication, so do others.

The next morning we took Sheri and Barb on a more extensive walking tour of our
neighborhood and the nearby Barri Gotic.

The Plaza St. Jaume,

site of the Roman Forum

At the top of the Cathedral we had a glorious view including, far back on the right, the spires of Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia.

Sheri and Barb took the double decker on-off tour bus that goes around the city, as
we did soon after we arrived. We all thought it was a great way to get oriented to the city.

From the bus they saw the Art Nouveau buildings along the Passeig de Gràcia –
BCN’s answer to 5th Avenue – these three being the most renowned.

La Pedrera – one of the most famous Gaudí buildings. Upon completion it was not well-received – either by its owners or the general public – so henceforth Gaudí – in a bit of a snit – decided he would no longer design buildings for private parties. Instead he concentrated on the Sagrada Familia.

Casa Battló, another very famous Gaudí building, its façade being created about 1904. Purportedly the theme is that of Sant Jordi (Saint George), the patron saint of Catalonia and the dragon he killed, thus saving the fair maiden. For instance, the rooftop resembles the dragon's scales.

Casa Amatller, designed by Josef Puig i Cadafalch, completes the trilogy.

Sheri and Barb got off the bus and walked up to Park Guell, designed by Gaudí and associates and originally conceived to be a planned community nestled up close to the mountains. The concept didn’t sell, so the Park was donated to Barcelona. Tourists say, "Thank you very much!"

The space itself is smaller than we thought it would be, and was full of people when we visited with Karen, Peter, and Asta, although there were less tourists when Sheri and Barb arrived.

The famous dragon, looking more like a lizard to us, viewed in all its glory below.

The view is amazing, and particularly the curved mosaic seating was lovely (though not necessarily its occupants).

The tour moves on! Next stop -- the Sagrada Familia. But first Dale needed to help Sheri and Barb master the Metro – the underground subway system in the city. After purchasing tickets in the large electronic vending machine, Dale escorted our two visitors by Metro to the site – Antonio Gaudí’s magnificent and still uncompleted church.

Sagrada Familia Interior

Another day, we all went to the Miró Museum. Jean Miró, of course, is one of the 20th century’s most accomplished and appreciated artists, and the museum is a large and beautiful building specifically designed for Miró’s works. It is truly a memorable museum to experience, especially because the temporary exhibit, Ladder of Escape, is the largest of his work ever displayed.

The building was designed in the 1970s by Josep Lluis Sert, a noted Catalan architect.

The Miró Museum is located on Montjuïc, a large hill overlooking BCN. It is filled with green spaces, walking paths, museums, and the Stadium built for the 1992 Olympic games. Views of the city are wonderful!

We proceeded back to our area and had tapas at another one of our favorite spots –
Taller de Tapas. Even though the weather was a little cool, we sat on the outdoor square and shared a variety of delectable small dishes – mushrooms, chorizo, artichokes, roasted peppers, grilled asparagus, and chicken brochettes. We left stuffed and ready for siesta.


We had an evening out – 1st for drinks on the top floor of the W hotel with a fabulour view overlooking the harbor, then on to a concert at the Palau de la Musica, a famous modernist building designed by Domènech i Montaner and built early in the 20th century. The concert was wonderful and, if had not been, we could always look at the building. This was our 3rd concert there, with one more to go, so we feel very lucky – it is really a building to be experienced many times with thousands of details everywhere!

We had not yet been to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona so we set out to the Raval area of the city just west of Las Ramblas – the famous long
walking street. The museum was designed by Richard Meier, the architect who created the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The building is quite spectacular; the art displayed is very engaging and interesting; and the fronting plaza is the hot spot for budding skateboarders. All-in-all, a must-see venue.







The interplay of light and glass, interior and exterior, reminded us of the Gehry Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

On our way to lunch we stopped to view one of the most wonderful Gothic interiors in Barcelona -- the Biblioteca de Catalunya.

And, fyi, the library is housed in what was an historic medieval hospital -- the very hospital where Gaudí died in 1926 after being hit by a trolley while daydreaming crossing a street near the Sagrada Familia.

It was only short distance to the Hotel España for a wonderful lunch at the
Fonda España Restaurant. It was a three-course menu del día with wine included. And the art deco setting was very apropos as we processed what we had experienced both at the Museum of Contemporary Art and in the modernist buildings of BCN. Barb is a working artist, and her perspective on what we saw was particularly insightful.

The museum, the library, the Hotel España, Las Ramblas -- fantastic architecture, art, history, street performers, food -- all within 20 minutes walking distance from our flat. Who could believe it? Lucky us!
(Our grandchildren would be terrified of this scary street dude!)

Sheri and Barb left early in the morning, as the sun was coming up, bags stuffed with souvenirs, exhausted but happy -- we were sad to see them go. It was a wonderful visit!

We hope all of you have enjoyed seeing Barcelona through their eyes.

Love, Elsa and Dale