The Hole of Shame

There is a square near our flat which has a very sordid past with the government of Barcelona.  This is fascinating article about it.  

For my purposes, though, it is a place where a very different side of Barcelona can be seen.  On the weekends, it is bustling with activity.  Just walking a few hundred yards into this square removes you from the tourist-heavy Borne and into a much more local environment.  It is yet another example of Barcelona trying to preserve its own culture.  

Fiesta!

I mentioned in yesterday's post about the fin de semana (weekend) fiesta.  As we were standing by the Mercat de Santa Caterina where a food and wine festival was also taking place, this group of folks walked through.  

They are actually Castellers from Castelldelfels, but unfortunately I failed to get any pictures of the human towers.  It was fun to see many of them playing instruments as they walked through the crowd.  I will get them at some point this summer, though.  The group was led by these two.

This culture consistently amazes me.  They are working so hard through multiple generations to preserve their cultural identity.  An identity that Franco and some before him have tried to wipe out.

Sardana

I was having a chat with the man who owns the bakery just downstairs from our flat last night and he said in Spanish, "Are you enjoying the fiesta?"  And I said, "Yes, which fiesta is it?"  He replied, "It's a summer weekend in Barcelona."  He then proceeded to tell me to be careful with my camera because of the thieves.  The bread we bought was delicious.  His statement was so true, though.  On any given weekend you can walk into several neighborhoods and see so many different amazing activities taking place.  

One of the great cultural experiences in Catalunya is to walk down to the Barcelona Cathedral plaza on one of these days and watch the live band play while young and old dance the traditional Sardana. They all hold hands while dancing in a circle.  

If there are benches nearby and something special going on, people just lineup on the benches, chat, watch, and wait their turn.

Here is the beauty of the whole scene.

Still Useful

I am amazed at how old much of this city is, especially coming from the US.  It still surprises me to see things like this electrical panel cover on the street that looks so old, but likely still serves a purpose.

This is a working water fountain where people fill up water bottles, or hydrate their pets, yet it's so old, beautiful, and artistic.

I feel fortunate to be in a city that is embracing its artistic and beautiful past, rather than trying desperately to modernize (although the remnants of those efforts can also be seen throughout the city).

Repurposed

As I've mentioned before, you can get a lot of stuff from the streets in Barcelona.  In fact, the majority of our apartment is furnished from the streets*.  We found this old chest of drawers which had woodworm, which I had to eradicate immediately.  Last week, we were walking and found this volume of books that have the perfect amount of wear and tear.  Our friend Manuela found a shoot of this plant laying in the street and she gave it to us with the instructions to put it in water.  We found this vase in the back of one of our cabinets when we moved in.  It's amazing what can be done with the stuff that no one else wants.

*Check out these blogs for other posts about this: Memory Board, Texas-Shaped Table, Ikea Book Shelf

The Passage Way

There is an old passage that connects Sant Pere Mes Alt and Trafalgar.  It is completely enclosed and used to be a place with Kiosks and shops.  Now there is a bar at the front of it.  There is something so retro about this picture and I really liked how it turned out.  I may be the only one.

Sadie attempted to guide us through it but didn't get very far.

The Small Things

I am always overwhelmed when I step into a cathedral in Barcelona.  It seems like any tiny piece of it is worthy of staring at for hours, but they are made up of thousands of things.  It's almost too much for the senses.  I can't figure out what to look at.  Is this what they had in mind when they were building them?  "Maybe if we can put in enough cool stuff then people will be focused on God, or won't drift off so easily."  Anyway, it brings up a lot of crazy questions that I don't want to get into here.  Here is the view of the Montserrat Cathedral as you walk in.

This is just one light hanging from the ceiling.  It's in the left side of the larger picture, but completely lost.  In and of itself, it is a magnificent work of art.

I wonder how many of the small things we miss in life because we're too focused on all the big things going on around us.