K+K Travels: June 2015

Sunday we were up early and on our way to the Sants train station for our high-speed train to Paris. We started off across from a young couple from a country we could not identify by language but after a couple of stops moved over to vacant seats facing each other. We enjoyed a day of just sitting and watching the scenery rush by at speeds up to 180 mph. Arriving in Paris we took a taxi to our hotel, the Renaissance near the Arc d’Triomphe. Our room (411) has its own private balcony, the only one in the hotel! After a restful afternoon, we stayed in and had room service for dinner.

Playing Scrabble on the train from Barca to Paris

Our hotel was near the Arc de Triomphe

The happy couple in Paris

Kathy near a pont on the Seine

Tour Effiel

Strawberry pie was delicious at Cafe Trocadero

Our own private balcony at the Renaissance Hotel

Montmarte

The Metro

Figuring out the Metro

Monday Kurt attended the conference that was the purpose for our trip. Kathy and Kurt then spent some time touring walking to the Arc d’Triomphe, down the length of the Champs Elysees, to the Place de la Concorde obelisk and took a break at the Jardin des Tuileries. We then walked along the Seine past the Grand Palais and over to the Tour Eiffel. The lines were too long to try to get a ticket so we crossed back over the Seine through the Jardine du Trocadero and had a very late lunch at the Café Trocadero. We hoped on the Metro back to our hotel. Soon we were back on the Metro and visited Montmarte. We saw the Sacre-Coeure basilica and wandered through the ancient town that saw Rodin, Van Gogh and Picasso as residents. On the way back to the subway we passed by the Café des Deux Moulins (where part of the movie Amelie was filmed) and the Moulin Rouge.

Tuesday Kathy headed out on an electric bicycle tour of Paris's "Charms and Secrets" while Kurt was back at the conference.

Olivier Kathy's guide to the Charms and Secrets of Paris electric bicycle tour

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

When Paris was the center of the world, this was the prime meridian

Wednesday afternoon we took the train to Versailles and ended the day eating crepes at the restaurant down the street from our hotel.

Someone's bedroom at Versailles

Subtle decor

Lunch near the Grand Canal

Kathy looking like a local with her scarf

The gardens

The Hall of Mirrors

The creperie near our hotel

Crepes for our last meal in Paris

Thursday we were up and on our way to the airport. We left Paris at 1:30 PM and arrived in Seattle at 2:50 PM! A connection to SFO and we were home.

Thursday we took the train from Madrid to Barcelona. The high-speed train reached speeds in excess of 300 kph or 180 mph. The cab ride to our hotel started off on broad avenues then went along the port. After a quick u-turn our cab driver turned onto a “sidewalk” full of pedestrians. We slowly followed the narrow, winding road as the pedestrians moved to allow us to pass. We stopped in front of a narrow entrance to the Banys Orientals Hotel, our new home in Barca. After depositing our bags in our room, we walked through the old gothic district of buildings built on the 2000 year old Roman ruins past a medieval cathedral with Modernista towers. Kurt bought a collection of Franco-era pesetas from a small, pipe-smoke filled used bookstore in a maze of alleyways. We then entered the Placa de Catalunya, Barca’s main square. From there we ambled down the Ramblas, the main shopping and people-watching avenue to the Columbus Monument. We used Yelp to find a nearby Italian restaurant hidden down another alley. The food and service was wonderful. Then we wandered back to the hotel.

The market off the Ramblas

We found this great Italian restaurant on Yelp down a narrow, cobblestone alley.
The food was great! (the couple behind Kathy were from Denmark and also found it on Yelp!)

Columbus

Friday we got a two-day ticket on the hop-on, hop-off tourist bus. Barcelona is the home to Modernista architecture created by Gaudi starting in the late 1800s into the early 1900s. It is a cross between Dr. Seuss and Disneyland. In Barca, there are a number of buildings designed in that style including the iconic Sagrada Familia basilica. The cathedral was packed so we went online and reserved tickets for entrance Saturday evening. We then went to visit Parc Guell, a failed real estate development designed by Gaudi. Again we went online to get tickets. We waited for our time to enter by having a nice lunch at a restaurant right next door to the entrance to the park. As our first close-up view of Gaudi’s vision, we enjoyed seeing all the details of his architectural philosophy on full display. From there we went to the Camp Nou, home to FC Barcelona. On Saturday, Barca is playing Atletico Bilboa in the final of the Copa del Rey. The town is filled with fans of the underdog Atletico but they seem friendly with the Barca fans. The two team represent the independence seeking Spanish regions of Catalan and Basque. We are amazed that Catalan is the primary language of Barca and that Catalan flags outnumber Spanish flags 100 to 1.

Back on the bus we are off to the Spanish Village. Built for a 1929 expo of some kind it has facades representing the typical architecture found throughout the different regions and eras of Spain. Now shops, restaurants, workshops and even a nice little museum are located there. Kathy finds a few scarfs to buy and a nice shopkeeper to give some tips on new ways to wear them. Back on the bus and we head to another Gaudi designed building, the Catalan Palace of Music and we buy tickets for a concert by three classical guitarists. For dinner we enjoy empanadas at an Argentinian restaurant. The evening is taken over by Atletico fans signing, chanting and yelling. Every bar in El Born, the district we are staying in, seems full of them, including one near our hotel. We don’t sleep much that night.

Modernista architecture; the one on the right designed by Gaudi

These fountains put on a show every night

A salamander by Gaudi in Parc Guell

The view from Parc Guell

At the Camp Nou

Atletico Bilbao fans were everywhere singing and chanting.
(They lost to Barca in the Copa del Rey final the next day)

Saturday we had a restful morning then got back on the bus and headed over to Jew Mountain (Montjuic). We rode the cable car up to the old fortress that was a prison in Franco’s time. Back on the bus we transferred to another route and ate lunch at a modern mall. We then rode to Valencia Street that had been recommended to us by some people we sat next to at the Flamenco show but our walk down Valencia did not reveal what they found interesting. We walked all the way to Sagrada Familia and toured the interior of the basilica. The “highlight” was the elevator ride up one of the towers for a view of Barcelona. The quality of construction did not inspire much confidence and we quickly rode back down. While the Gaudi designed and inspired (the basilica is unfinished, he died in 1926 and his blueprints were destroyed in 1939 in the Spanish Civil War) building was interesting, neither of us was completely convinced it was appropriate for a place of worship. We took a cab back to hotel and rested for our late evening. We had dinner at our hotel then at 10:00 pm we were on our way to the Palace of Catalan Music, another Gaudi designed building. We loved the building and Kathy remarked that the Modernista style seemed most appropriate for a place of entertainment. We saw three classical guitarists perform a medley of wonderful songs.

A statute representing Catalan

Scarf hunting in the Spanish Village

The view of the roman and gothic area of Barcelona from our hotel room

We used the hop-on, hop-off bus for two days
to tour the sights of Barcelona

Sagrada Familia basilica designed by Gaudi.
Gaudi died in 1926, the plans were destroyed in the Spanish Civil War in 1939,
but the construction continues!
We took the elevator to the top of the tower on the right