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Bridging Spanish Backgrounds
Catalunya
is said to be a province/ region of Spain, although it has a totally,
individualistic and specific character of its own. It is situated in the
north eastern region of Spain and facing the mild Mediterranean Sea.
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Barcelona
is one of the liveliest cities in Europe, often likened to Paris for its
wide avenues and designer shopping. Nearly everyone who visits, is
immediately impressed, particularly those who appreciate fine art. This is
the city of Picasso, Joan Miró
and, above all, art nouveau master Antoni Gaudi. Museums and their
works vie for attention with the city’s wonderful old center,
Barrigothic, and revitalised areas provided by the 1992 Olympic Games.
The
city’s greatest artistic talent, however, was the Modernist architect
and designer Antoni Gaudi. He used the city as his canvas, swirling
masterpieces such as Sagrada Familia, to which he dedicated the last years
of his life, and which is still not finished 70 years later. This is
Barcelona’s controversial ‘Cathedral of the 20th
century’, a love-it-or-hate-it mélange of architectural styles and
religious symbolism. It’s an incredible sight. Other buildings in
Barcelona by Gaudi can be visited with the help of an excellent pamphlet
from the tourist board. |
For
the best view over the city, take the cable car up to Tibidabo. Just
across the hillside is the Olympic Stadium and the Spanish Village, Poble
Espanyol, a showcase of architecture and creative shops.
Down,
near the seafront, is the series of pulsating streets known as La Rambla.
Buskers and dancers work their way around the flower stalls and street
cafes to entertain the public. Barcelona has an unusually large number of
restaurants. From the sophisticated feast to the simple tapa. Fresh
ingredients are usually in evidence as Catalans tend to despise
convenience food.
An
excellent venue, serving true traditional Catalonian food, is the Los
Caracolos, just off the Rambla. Also seek out the magnificent opera house
and stroll down to the Columbus Monument on the revitalised harbourfront.
An elevator to the explorer’s head affords an excellent view back across
the city. A contemporary shopping centre, Rambla de Mar, is reached via a
wooden bridge.
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Be
careful with Barcelona, it can afflict you with a case of sensory
overload. The art and architecture are phenomenal and the vibrant streets
never seem to let up. It’s a city with something for everyone and yet
it’s somewhere where, if you prefer, you needn’t do anything at all.
It’s enough to soak up the atmosphere. But give yourself at least three
days to do it.
Well
worth visiting, some 80 kilometres north of Barcelona, lies the
“Serrated Mountain” (mont serrat). A superb setting for
Catalonia’s holiest place, the Monastery of Montserrat, which is
surrounded by chapels and hermits’ caves. |
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Today
Benedictine monks live here. Visitors can hear the Escolania singing the Virolai
(the Montserrat hymn) at 1pm and the Salve Regina at 7:10pm every
day, except in July and during the Christmas period, in the Basilica.
Figueres
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Figueres
is the market town of the Empordà plain. Beside the plane-tree-shaded
Rambla is the former Hotel de Paris, now home to the Museu de Joguets (Toy
Museum). At the bottom of the Rambla is a statue of Narcis Monturiol I
Estarriol (1819-95) whom it is said, invented the submarine.
Figueres
was the birthplace of Salvador Dali, who in 1974 turned the town theatre
into the Teatre-Museu Dali. This museum is one of Europe’s best visited
art galleries; strange, comical, sinister and yet an experience not to be
missed at any cost by travellers to Catalonia. |
Cadaqué
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This
pretty, whitewashed resort, overlooked by the Baroque Església de Santa
Maria, is the most easterly in the Iberian Peninsula. In the 1960’s it
was dubbed the “St Tropez of Spain”, largely because of the young
crowd that sought out Salvador Dali in nearby Port Lligat.
Romantic
cafes and tapas bars overlook the everchanging face of the fishing harbour
from noon till late in the evening. Both hotel Rocamar and Playa Sol face
the scenic coastline of Costa Brava and provide
excellent accommodation. |
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