Excursion

My Spanish teacher arranged for her students to take an excursion to the national museum to see the special exhibit about the Catalonian aritst Lluïsa Vidal.  She grew up the daughter of a painter and learned a lot about Vidal and was happy to share her knowledge with us.

 Afterward we were able to walk around the rooftop terrace

and have great views of the building and surroundings.

Most people went back to Sant Cugat at the end of the field trip, but I was not in a rush.  I headed uphill and strolled around a bit.

Olympian with torch

Olympic Stadium at Plaça de Nemesi Ponsati (a swimmer!).

Torre Telefónica (in addition to other names) was built to broadcast the Olympics in 1992.

This little spot looked inviting but the clouds were rolling in.

I got on the funicular and headed home.

Under foot

I didn't feel up to a long blog post so I thought I would just write about sidewalks.  As I do before each post I did some looking around, which made me realize the idea of, "just writing about sidewalks," was not as simple as it sounds.

For a thorough and historical look at sidewalks take a look at this site , and this one may also be of interest.  One of them even lists a place to go sidewalk tile spotting, which sounds like my kind of activity.

In our town the most common sidewalk tiles, squares that are 20cm x 20cm, are in the 9 x 9 pattern ( 2 x 2 lines perpendicular to each other).  Often at intersections there are tiles with parallel lines and then bumpy tiles at the curb.  It seems fine unless they are covered with leaves and you can't see where a tile is missing.

The flower tile, or panot, is so famous in Barcelona

that you can buy it as a souvenir, along with mouse pads, scarves, placemats, and more!

I had not noticed the circle tiles until I started reading about them,

and also hadn't realized the 1 x 1 (single perpendicular lines) tiles existed.

These caught my eye since they were so different from everything else.

I have yet to see these, but I am looking.

A lot has been written by these Guadi tiles, which used
to be greenish-bluish and were attractive to thieves and collectors.

Of course there are still cobblestones, which are probably as durable as they are uncomfortable.

They are giants!

I had seen the giant puppets through the window, but last week I saw someone come out the door, which I had no idea was open!  I went in and snapped a picture (with people in the background for scale).

On the way home today I glanced in and saw that the puppets had changed outfits!  I am guessing this is what the giants wore for the performance last week since this is what the bastoners were wearing.

I'll let you know if I see any more changes!  Maybe this is the Catalonian version of the concrete goose in the U.S.

That time of year

According to the local magazine Black Friday started here two years ago since it worked in the U.S. and because November is a quiet month.  There are signs all over town.

This one says, "Black Chocolate Friday."

Not to be left out, here is a Danish email D. received.

"This year's biggest trading day in the US is Black Friday, where shops and consumers going crazy in a veritable shopping. Now the phenomenon hit for real in Denmark, and in CyclingShop.dk bikes we again this year with the black wave. The "official" start is tonight at. 00.00, but receives mail allows you to jump the gun now."

We did not participate, although I was tempted by airline tickets until I realized the blackout dates were the same as our travel dates.

Doors

Just a teeny, tiny sampling of the doors we see on our excursions.  I would encourage you to click on the image to enlarge it.

What I did not buy

I had seen wine in a box, but this was the first time I had seen in single-serving size.

Your Christmas shopping can be done at the grocery store with a price range of 70-170€.

Percebes (Gooseneck Barnacles) - most common in Portugal and Spain,
but expensive because they difficult to harvest.

Of course there are lots more things, but these caught my eye today.

But wait, there's more!

We are so lucky to be able to learn about the Catalonian traditions right here in town.  Last week we saw the human towers and this week the sardana dancers were in front of the monastery.

 The events were hosted by Correllengua in honor of the writer Monterrat Roig, who passed away twenty-five years ago.  They "aim to recall the commitment Roig language and country. In addition, disclose the invaluable journalistic work by the author to recover the historical memory of the crimes of Nazism and emphasize its essence distinctly feminist left. All this, to continue spreading the legacy of one of the most important figures of the country".

"The country is not only the children,

but it is the language.

The country is both at once.

If you forget and use the other one, we lack breath."

This map and the one on the banner above do not look like the traditional shape of Catalonia. These people suggest that an independent Catalonia would include these additional areas. I was not under the impression that places like Mallorca consider themselves Catalonian because they speak Mallorquín, which they say is not the same at Catalan.

At the top of this booth are signs for indepencia, feminisme, and socialisme, which are the platforms promoted by this youth organization.

This is pretty typical graffiti.

Independence shoes!

In addition to the dancing and the booths there were bastoners, which is more complex and and faster-moving than the sardana.

Here is a little video from last year's National Day of Catalonia.

And then I headed home.

I did not go back for the giant heads (Caparrots) or devils and torches (Diables i Tabalers). It is good to save something to look forward to next time!

Dancing

A friend sent a snippet from the local AAA magazine, which encouraged visitors to watch the traditional sardana dance outside the cathedral in Barcelona.  Yes, they have a lot of dancers there, but there are also a lot of tourists.  If that had been our only option I would have definitely gone, but lucky for us there was a performance at the cathedral just ten minutes from our place.

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The view of the dancers from the orchestra.

Many people complain that the dance is simple, repetitive, and boring.  The first two are definitely true, but I had no problem enjoying it for about an hour.  On the other hand once was enough.

Most people had regular flat shoes, but some people had shoes
with straw soles, some with ribbons that wrapped around one's ankle.

The traditional orchestra has eleven players and twelve instruments. One person plays a recorder-like instrument (flabiol) and drum (tambori), two play tibles (like an oboe), two play tenores (like bigger tibles), two trumpets, one trombone, two fiscorns (like flugelhorn), and a three-string double bass.

This video is ten years old, but it gives you a sense of the instruments and the dancing.