Naples Step By Step: May 2011

Sagrada Familia - Gaudi's Nativity Facade

Font Magica

There really hasn’t been much rhyme or reason as far as which of European cities and countries I’ve visited since I moved over here. I made a list of places that I am going to try to make it to in the time I have left and I have been doing my best to make my way through it. Once the upcoming month’s call schedule has made, I find what weekends I have off and head to Skyscanner.com looking for the most reasonable flights out of Naples. (Not that Naples isn’t a charming city, but I’ll take a flight going anywhere. Except maybe Libya… at least for now.) This past month, Barcelona came up as the cheapest and most convenient flights for my given weekend. I had heard good things about Barcelona and it was on my list, so the decision was easy. I broke out my “Rick Steves’ Spain” guidebook and made a reservation at a recommended, and reasonable, hotel right in what seemed to be a central neighborhood. And that was pretty much the extent of my planning. When traveling by myself, I don’t stress much and my itinerary usually falls into place along the way as I decide what I want to see and experience. It isn’t until the flight that I turn to the “Arriving in….” page in the guidebook and go from there.

Placa de Catalunya

After plowing through Friday clinic (My favorite clinic day by far: post-ops and fractures. Quick, easy, and real.), I headed to the Naples airport for the two hour flight to Barcelona. Upon arrival, I was struck by how modernity and expansiveness of the Barcelona airport. The Aerobus is a bus service between the airport and 4 main stops in downtown Barcelona (approximately 30 minutes away) and it runs every 10-15 minutes. Having learned from previous mistakes, I purchased a round trip ticket to make my life easier on my return trip in a few days. (The most stinging mistake was just from the previous day when I met my buddy Josh in Rome. After a long night out, I made it to the station in time for the early train back to Naples only to find that all the automated machines were out of service and there was a huge line for the ticket agent. As the early train pulled away, I cursed myself for not having bought a return ticket when I arrived the night before. Fortunately, the trains run fairly often, but it was a lesson learned.)

The bus was very easy to use and it dropped me off right in Placa de Catalunya, the large square that divides the old and new Barcelona. After briefly getting my directions oriented on a map, I made the ten minute walk down the large boulevard, Las Ramblas, and checked in at the El Jardi Hotel (simple, clean, great location).

Placa de Catalunya

View from my hotel room

It was only 4:30 PM, so I still had a lot of daylight utilize as I began my exploration of the city. I began wandering down Las Ramblas. It is a wide, tree-lined boulevard that is devoted to pedestrians in the center, yet has one lane on either side of the pedestrian islands for cars. It was a beautiful walk with people everywhere enjoying the afternoon. The street is filled with various little shops, artists painting, and numerous street performers. (In Arabic, rambla means “stream” and apparently there used to be a drainage ditch along the city’s old medieval wall that once stood where the street is today.)

Las Ramblas

At the bottom of Las Ramblas, just prior to reaching the harbor, is a 200-foot-tall monument to Christopher Columbus. When Columbus returned from his first trip to the New World, it was here in Barcelona that he was welcomed by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.

Montjuic overlooking the port and city

After taking a few moments to relax and enjoy the view of the harbor, I turned to the west and began making my way towards the large hill overlooking the port - Montjuic (“Mount of the Jews”). It is a fairly significant hill and, fortunately, there is a funicular that runs a good way to the top. I found the appropriate Metro stop, bought a pass to last me through the weekend, and jumped on to the funicular. I had never encountered a funicular before living in Europe (apparently, there is one in Pittsburgh), but it is pretty much an inclined railway pulled up by a cable. The funicular dropped me off at the entrance of a beautiful park, but there was still quite a distance to go to reach the hilltop where Montjuic Castle loomed above. A series of cable cars was available to get to the summit, but I didn’t feel like paying for it, I wasn’t in a hurry, and I knew the hike would be good exercise. I had the whole park to myself as I walked up the hill. Every turn, there was a better view of the city below.

Finally, I made it up to the top of the hill and crossed the drawbridge to enter the castle. Montjuic Castle was built in 1640 and has been utilized in various ways over history (it was the site of hundreds of political executions when Franco was in power). The 360 degree view was impressive and it included a bustling shipping yard, the harbor/beach resort area, seemingly endless hills inland, and the city of Barcelona below.

I then began making my way back downhill through the park, but instead of taking the funicular the rest of the way down, I explored a little more of the hill on foot. The Olympic Stadium from the 1992 Summer Games is still there and is used today by one of the local soccer teams.

Gardens of Palau Nacional

Estadi Olimpic de Montjuic

At the end of the path, I approached the Catalan Art Museum, a large domed building sitting atop a series of grand staircases and fountains with the square, Placa d’Espayna, below.

PICS

The highlight of the various fountains (and one of my favorite sites in Barcelona) was the Magic Fountain (Font Magica) at the bottom of the staircases. In the evenings (every half hour), there is a water and light show coordinated to music that is very impressive. I joined the hundreds of people already there and enjoyed the large waterworks display set to classical music, some Spanish music, and a lot of classic rock (Queen, The Police, Dire Straits). I really could have sat there all night watching it.

From there, it was an easy Metro ride back to Placa de Catalunya (Barcelona’s Metro/Bus system is great - very modern, clean, and user-friendly). It was only 9 PM, so I had some time to kill before it was time to eat dinner. I thought that the Neapolitans ate late, but the Spanish easily win. During my three nights there, I didn’t eat dinner before 11 PM. (For those of you who are foodies and are curious: my dinners consisted of 1). Spanish chicken/rice/soup, 2). seafood paella, 3). hamburger/fries at Hard Rock Café. I am not ashamed at all, I wanted a burger. It still counts as a cultural experience since the Barcelona-Real Madrid soccer game was on television during dinner.)

Police vans lined up and prepared for potent soccer hooligans after the Barcelona-Madrid game.
The game ended in a 1-1 tie and no craziness occurred. Which was fine by me.

The next morning, I took the Metro to the Sagrada Familia church. I had seen the magnificent structure from a distance the previous day, and it certainly didn’t disappoint upon closer inspection. Despite arriving early, there already was a long line of people wrapped along the block waiting to get inside.

The church’s construction began in 1882 and continues to this day with its completion anticipated somewhere between 2017 and 2026. There are several grand central spires still underway. (Despite the outer construction, Pope Benedict XVI did officially consecrate the church this past fall and its interior is open for Mass). The project is exclusively funded by admission fees and private donations. Barcelona’s local hero, Antoni Gaudi worked on the church from 1883 until his death in 1926 (and his tomb is inside the church). The main entrance, which will one day be a side entrance) is on the side of the Passion Façade. There the story of Christ’s Passion is depicted in the shape of a “S,” from bottom to top.

Construction of his façade began in 1954 and was completed in 1987 under the direction of Josep Maria Subirachs. The simple, yet harsh, designs of the scenes are striking. I particularly enjoyed the large doors which displayed words of the Bible in various languages along with artwork interspersed between the words.

The Nave of the church was expansive and surprisingly bright with sunlight filtering in through several large stained glass windows. The closed center doors lead to the Glory Façade, which is still under construction, but will one day be the main entrance (and this will require the demolition of one of the nearby apartments buildings).

The other side of the church is dominated by the Nativity Façade. This was the only part of the church that Gaudi actually worked on with his naturalistic, “cake-in-the-rain” style.

An elevator runs to the top of one of the Nativity facade spires. From there, a high-altitude catwalk runs between spires. Walk across that and then down the narrow spiraling staircase provides an interesting perspective of the church, the city, and the crowds below.

The next stop was at Gaudi’s beautiful Parc Guell. He originally intended this 30-acre garden to be a gated community for wealthy Barcelonans. Apparently, it didn’t work out very well in that capacity, but today it is a wonderful park enjoyed by both locals and tourists. The highlights are the colorful gate houses (that look like they’re from the game Candy Land), the famous ceramic dragon on the main staircase, the “Hall of 100 Columns,” and the terrace with its comfortable seating and grand views of the city below.

Casa Mila

That might seem like enough Gaudi for one day… but I was in Barcelona and appreciating Modernista architecture is apparently what you do there. So I was off to Casa Mila! Also known as La Pedrera (“The Quarry”), this apartment building was Gaudi’s last major work before focusing on the Sagrada Familia. It was pretty interesting building (that contained very few straight lines). The rooftop was particularly striking with its sculpted chimneys that are called “espantabruixes” (witch-scarers).

View from rooftop of Casa Mila

That is probably all the play-by-play that anyone can take (me included). The rest of my weekend was spent just relaxing and taking in the city. It was just nice to walk throughout the various neighborhoods, especially the older Barri Gotic area. To the east, there is a beautiful beach with a version of a “boardwalk” for pedestrians and bicyclists. I could imagine coming back to Barcelona, skipping everything else, and only hanging out at the beach. Overall, Barcelona is just a nice, colorful, clean, and friendly city that I thoroughly enjoyed.