Gaudí is Good

If you are not familiar with architect Antoni Gaudí then you are missing out. His work under the Modernisme is some of the most unique that you will ever see. The city of Barcelona is a showcase for his work.

Lampposts around Barcelona

Casa Batlló

La Pedrera (Casa Mila)
We were able to tour the inside of La Pedrera or Casa Mila, an apartment building in Barcelona.

One of the most impressive examples of Gaudi’s work is the still unfinished la Sagrada Família. There really is nothing else like it in the world. Unfortunately the only day we were able to see it, it was closed for some special event. One day I will return to see the inside and maybe it will be complete then.

We both got sick at the end of the trip (nasty stomach virus) so we never made it to Park Güell. I have many reasons to return to Barcelona sometime in the future.

La Boqueria in Barcelona

My second favorite market in Spain is La Boqueria in Barcelona. While it did not have all the late night drinking options that the Mercado de San Miguel had in Madrid, one could still pick up a sandwich, fruit bowl, and juice there. I enjoyed looking over all the food options. I wish we had a market this big where I live.

Sardana in Barcelona

One of the most interesting cultural things we witnessed while in Barcelona was the Sardana dance. It is a dance unique to the Catalan culture. It is a dance to show their pride to their Catalan heritage. Catalans have a separate language and culture from the rest of Spain. We got to witness this inclusive dance that is done at noon every Sunday at the cathedral of Barcelona.

Mercado de San Miguel

One of my favorite food places in the world is the Mercado de San Miguel in Madrid. The mercado is what I would call food heaven. After our first visit all I wanted to do is return again and again while we were in Madrid. You can get small samples of anything you can think of Spanish related. We had so much fun going from booth to booth tasting things. We ended up spending a large amount of time at the Vermut (Vermouth) and Sherry tasting booth. It is there that I discovered my new love for Vermouth. Evenings there are fun but crowded. Serious eaters should arrive earlier to avoid the lines.

My favorite was the Vermut tasting. A glass of sweet, dry or semi-sweet vermouth was great with a plate of olives.

It wasn’t until the end of our Madrid stay did I discovered that I liked Sherries as well.

One mustn’t forget desserts as well. There were plenty of those to try.

Walk Bike Spain

I have many interests. Some of my interests include biking, walking and running. I am delighted when I discover communities that are friendly to those interests. My current city is adopting bike and pedestrian friendly measures but we are not quite there yet.

On the other hand, Spain seems to have caught on to bike and pedestrian friendliness. Every city we visited took measures to be bike friendly. All of them were pedestrian centric (Perhaps because the cities were developed prior to the invention of the automobile-unlike many cities in the U.S.).

Madrid

In Madrid I failed to take pictures of the bike lanes in the city but I did snap some pictures of some of the evening paseo (walks). In Madrid many streets are pedestrian only. Families, couples, and groups spend most evenings walking the streets and socializing.

Puerta del Sol

Cava Baja, Madrid

Sevilla

Sevilla has some spectacular bike-only paths through its core. Easy bike rental kiosks are available if you don’t wish to have the burden of purchasing, locking up and maintaining your own bike.

Woman on a rental