Thursday, 2nd May 2019 The Sagrada Familia is perhaps the more famous basilica, but Barcelona also has its own gothic cathedral: officially known as the Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Barcelona. Work started in 1298 and there are rows of secondary chapels within the buttresses as well as a cimborio – an octagonal lantern built over the crossing of a gothic cathedral. The entry fee includes a lift to the roof for the panoramic views . . . . . . and there is also a secluded cloister, with a pond which would have been a haven of peace and quiet were it not for the 13 white geese who are kept here, representing Saint Eulalia’s age when she was martyred. When we visited there seemed to be some rather loud and unsaintly goose behaviour going on. We had pre-booked our tickets for the Sagrada Familia, but as this is obviously a very popular attraction, we were limited to tickets quite late in the afternoon. You are advised to arrive 15 minutes before your allotted entry time to allow for the strict security checks. No liquids are allowed and bags and ruc sacs have to go through an airport security style […]
2019 Catalonia
Wednesday, 1st May 2019 Returning by train to Barcelona, we had again planned ahead and booked tickets online, this time to visit the Palau de la Musica Catalana in the afternoon. This beautiful modernist building was designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner as a venue for the Orfeo Catala to perform a repertoire of Catalan choral music. Located on the site of a former monastery, the building is compact and views of the exterior were limited by the proximity of the surrounding buildings. However, in 2003 the parish church adjacent to the Palau which was originally part of the monastery, was demolished to allow for extensions to the Palau and you can now sit in a square drinking coffee and admiring the huge stained glass windows designed by Domènech. Opened in 1908, the facade features an imposing sculpture, almost like the figurehead on the prow of a ship, showing Saint George [the patron saint of both Catalonia and England] looking protective above an allegory of popular music. The concert hall itself is lavishly decorated with sculptures, stained glass and mosaics. This is an unusual concert hall with natural light streaming in through stained glass windows and an enormous skylight […]
Monday 29th to Tuesday 30th April 2019 Figueres is an old market town a short train ride from Barcelona and nowadays it has an extensive pedestrianised area where you can stroll around window-shopping and looking at the buildings. As the birth place of Salvador Dalí, Figueres is a tourist attraction and we wisely booked tickets for the Teatro-Museo Dalí online in advance. The queue for tickets snaked across the square but we were able to join a shorter line to enter at our allotted time. Dalí himself bought the town’s disused theatre, which he had visited as a child and which was burnt out during the Spanish Civil War, as a venue to showcase his art and that of certain other artists. The city council approved the plans in 1968 and in 1974 this “great surrealist object” opened. The museum continued to expand and now incorporates the Torre Galatea, a tower named after Dalí’s wife Gala and the only surviving structure from the town’s medieval fort. It is now transformed with giant eggs adorning the roof which are said to symbolise future life while . . . . . . the walls are studded with loaves of traditional bread […]
Sunday 28th and Monday 29th April 2019 Having booked relatively early flights from Southend Airport for Monday morning, we decided to stay in the airport hotel the night before to avoid the stress of the M25 during rush hour. With time to spare, Matilda persuaded Robert that a trip to Southend Pier would be a pleasant way to pass the afternoon. Travelling to Southend Airport Station from Liverpool Street is straightforward [and is much cheaper than the fare to Stansted]. It is then a very short walk to the terminal or the hotel. Having deposited our luggage, we returned to the station to get the train into Southend itself. There is a lift down to the promenade which features a row of arches housing almost exclusively fish and chip shops extending into the distance and which probably has not changed for decades. Southend Pier is the longest leisure pier in the world at 1.33 miles or 7,080 feet. As the estuary is quite shallow at the edges, the tide goes out a long way stranding boats as the waters recede. There is a train along the pier so it is strange that we have not visited before now. We opted […]