Eating with Picasso

“To travel across Spain and finally to reach Barcelona is like drinking a respectable red wine and finishing up with a bottle of champagne.”

– James A. Michener

March 18-19, 2022

It is so easy to just walk in this city and find wonderful things. We explored the Exiample neighborhood two days ago. As described, this area was Barcelona’s ‘expansion’, an attempt to modernize beyond its ancient past and reach into modernity.

The last two days we have turned once again to the past. We visited Barri Gotic and El Born neighborhoods. These areas of the city date back to the Romans and are full of gothic alleys and plazas surrounded by small shops and cafe’s.

The weather has grown much cooler. It is in the 50’s, very overcast, with a cold wind blowing in from the Mediterranean. Rain has come at intervals. It looks like it will remain that way until we leave.

‘Tis no matter, we were not deterred. There was to much to see. Even the grey sunlight, this city is enchanting.

We tried to follow a set out path, but soon abandoned it and just got lost. Below is a meandering series of pictures and small stories as we walked the cobblestone alleys.

Here is Plaza de Catalonia. This is the large central plaza of Barcelona. In many ways, it is the “Times Square” of the city. We saw some war protests here. The conflict is on the news everyday here.

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This large citadel is actually a huge department store. Think of Macy’s, Bloomingdales, and Harrod’s all rolled into one. It is nine floors of “everything you can think of”. All of it is very high end merchandise.

Top of Los Ramblas

Los Ramblas is a legendary tourist street here. In ancient times, this was a stream bed. Now it is a large pedestrian walkway that goes all the way to the harbor. The Barcelona soccer team which has legions of fans celebrate games here. It is rowdy, full of young people, peddlers, and tourist shops all the way down. It is also notorious for pickpockets.

Monument to Columbus at the end of Los Ramblas

The shaded square below serves as a playground for a local elementary school. The church is Saint Felip Neri, the home church of Gaudi. Notice the pock marked sides. During the Spanish Civil War, Catalans strongly opposed the fascist dictator Franco. A bomb was dropped here in this square. As people rushed out to save the children, a second bomb was dropped to increase the carnage. Forty two children died.

They left the damage to serve as a memorial to what happened here. It does make you pause and consider what is happening right now in Ukraine.

Here is an ancient old church that dates to the 1300’s

Barcelona’s Cathedral has been the city’s holiest spot for 2,000 years. It is a classic gothic motif. The Roman’s built their Temple to Jupiter on this spot as well.

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Below is the Tomb of Eulalia. It is just below the main altar. She is Barcelona’s most beloved saint and known locally as “Laia”. In AD 300, the Romans ruled here. She was the daughter of. local prominent family

The Emperor then was Diocletian, a man notorious for his cruelty. The panels of the coffin tell the story. She was brought before him and asked to bow and accept him as a god. She refused declaring she was a Christian. Diocletian decided he would make an example of her. She had her placed in a barrel filled with sharp poles and daggers and rolled her down a hill. Somehow she survived this torture. Enraged, the Emperor ordered her crucified.

She was 13 years old.

The Els Quatre Gats has been here for over 100 years. This old restaurant and bar in a alley off the main drag was famous as a bohemian artist hangout in the 1900’s. Picasso, as a teenager and young man used to hang out here.

We had lunch here with Picasso, well kind of - at least in my mind we did. It was the best meal of the trip.

There is a well known Picasso museum here. Picasso lived here when he was very young. He would move to Paris later and where he would spend the majority of his very creative career.

I do not pretend to have any deep knowledge of art. Taking pictures of art on a wall does not show the true beauty of any work. Yet I took some shots to show the wide ability of this man. Although he is known as the founding father of modern art, Picasso could paint anything. He could do realistic scenes of the great masters to impressionist work. When you see his work laid out like this, it really is a marvel to see the breadth of his genius.

Here are more of the alleys and streets we explored.

They love dogs here of every size and shape

There was a lego store!. I love legos.

Here is a scale model of the Sagrada Familia! Amazing!

Unfortunately they do not sell this as a kit.