Exploring Barcelona

Entrance to Parc Guell with a view of the City and the Mediterranean Sea.

During a visit to Barcelona a few years ago, I discovered that Barcelona is a City that have everything. Being the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona, is the capital of the Catalunya region of North Eastern Spain.  From my photo above, it shows why Barcelona have everything: it has magnificent Architecture and parks built mostly by Antoni Gaudi, the city has wonderful museums from the Picasso Museum, Joan Miro Museum and the Museu Nacional D'Arte De Catalunya, it offers the best of Catalan cuisine with mostly fresh seafood, tapas and Monastic Spanish Sweets, there are Centuries old Buildings in the Barri Gothic district to Art Deco Buildings in the Las Ramblas, two grand Cathedrals being the Barcelona Cathedral and the still unfinished Gaudi's masterpiece, La Sagrada Familia, fantastic shopping for Spanish clothes and leather shoes and accessories and most of all, it has the Beach at its own doorstep, known as the Costa de Brava in the Mediterranean Sea. Besides all I have mentioned above, one characteristic unique to Barcelona is the mix of rich cultural heritage with its own Catalan language and culture together with some French flair. 

Mosaic tiles created by Antoni Gaudi in Parc Guell. 

Parc Guell was designed by Antoni Gaudi from 1900 to 1914, commissioned by Count Eusebi Guell as a housing development which turned out unsuccessfully. The only good outcome is that the whole park became a Municipal park full of natural wonders designed by Gaudi now open to the public. The park was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Locals come up here to unwind and to get some fresh air. 

This whole garden in the park was designed by Gaudi using all of the most  natural elements like building the stones as columns.

The whole park showcase many different plants and trees all displayed beside Gaudi's natural masterpieces.

Gaudi designed around nature instead of destroying it. On the right photo, instead of cutting the huge tree trunk, Gaudi spaced the columns between it to save the tree trunk. 

The white Mansion was the residence of Count Eusebi Guell and the Pink mansion was Gaudi's residence now known as Gaudi House Museum.

Another Gaudi masterpiece is the mosaic salamander known as El Drac (the dragon).

All around Barcelona, there are more Buildings designed by Gaudi like the Casa Mila, better known as La Pedrera. Visit the rooftop for more of Gaudi's mosaic creations like the twisted chimneys for smoke to come out better, water tanks shaped as snails and stairs used as water tanks. All of Gaudi's whimsical designs focused around natural elements of plants and animals. They were not placed there for aesthetic purposes only but to make the structure and building function effectively. The shape of the building here was curved so that light will be evenly distributed in all parts of the Building.  A very modern design during that time in the early 1900s. This building was designated UNESCO World Heritage site. 

La Sagrada Familia is the most famous masterpiece of  Antoni Gaudi. It remains unfinished because Gaudi died at an early age of 37 yrs when he was hit by a tram car on the streets of Barcelona. I share here what Gaudi designed and built depicting the Birth of Jesus Christ (left photo). As you can see, it is quite aged and eroding. On this side, Gaudi used natural elements again to build the Cathedral. For example, he built turtles at the bottom to support the Palm Trees trunk which were the columns rising all the way up. You saw from Parc Guell the Palm Trees which was an inspiration for Gaudi. Then on the other side of the Cathedral (right photo) is the newer construction depicting the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ. The new construction still follows Gaudi's vision and principles in designing this Cathedral. Truly magnificent on all sides which you will discover when you get a chance to visit it.

I always believe that we must keep an open mind when it comes to Art. Discover the modernist creations of Joan Miro. On Montjuic area of Barcelona, lies the Fundacio Miro Museum. It showcase a majority of Miro's colourful and modern artworks and sculptures. Here is a view of Barcelona.

It is not E.T.

Miro's interpretation of a Woman and a Man. What do you think?

The Museum's park is perfect for a stroll with great views of the City.

Another Museum to visit with spectacular views of the City is The Museu Nacional D'Art de Catalunya up in the Parc Montjuic area of Barcelona. The Museum exhibits works of art from Catalan artists from the Romanesque to the Gothic collections plus some works of arts from El Greco, Velasquez, Rubens among other famous artists. There are also special Exhibits currently showing like the The Battle of Tetouan of Fortuny.

When in Barcelona, one area you will definitely not miss is the Las Ramblas. The Las Ramblas is a pedestrian only boulevard connecting Placa de Catalunya to the Waterfront. We stayed at the Le Meridien Barcelona which is literally beside the Las Ramblas near the Placa de Catalunya. We walked all the way  passing by gorgeous Art Deco buildings and the Placa Real (many restaurants there) all the way down to Columbus Circle and then the Waterfront. Las Ramblas is a very busy boulevard and even has one of Barcelona's largest market the St Joseph Market.

Inside St Joseph Market, commonly known as La Boqueria. As you know, I love markets so I never miss going in and discovering places like this. Look at the so colourful and exotic fruits here.

Walking along the Las Ramblas, we discovered some Art Deco Buildings (left photo). When we turned on one of the streets along the Las Ramblas, we discovered the area of Barri Gothic (right photo), the oldest part of the City.

A Spanish musician playing with the Guitar in the Barri Gothic area.

The Barcelona Cathedral is located in the Barri Gothic area of Barcelona. Inside is a very Baroque style. One of the highlights of our visit there was on the rooftop for a 360 degrees view of the City.

The glass building on the horizon is the W Hotel Barcelona located by the Barcelona Boardwalk and facing the Mediterranean Sea. As I mentioned above, Barcelona has the Beach at its doorstep. The W Hotel is the best place to stay if you just want to hang out on the Beach.

The famous and historical Els Quatre Gats Restaurant since 1897 located at the Barri Gothic area of Barcelona. Famous Spanish painters would hang out in this restaurant and donate their art works for a free meal. One of the large painting on display was a replica of the self portrait by Ramon Casas: Ramon Casas and Pere Romeu on a Tandem, 1897 (bicycle ride). The original is exhibited at the Museu National Catalunya. Pablo Picasso had his first one man show here in the restaurant. This restaurant was also one of the setting in the Bestseller novel Shadow Of The Wind written by Carlo Ruiz Zafon. I highly recommend reading this book as it is set in Barcelona with a plot full of mystery, thriller and a love story which I believe best describes Barcelona too.


Thank you for reading and exploring Barcelona with me.

May you all have a wonderful weekend.

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Sweets Tour of Spain

Madrid's Plaza Mayor and display of sweets in the Patisseries around Madrid.
In Madrid there are chocolate truffle balls, yemas, almond and honey pastries and custards.

I have travelled all over Spain for many years that I just recently realised that I have accumulated a collection of  various photos of Spanish sweets and confectionery from different areas of Spain. Since I love sweets and comes from a family who loves different cuisines, I cannot resist taking a photo of these beautiful, colourful and delicious sweets displayed in Spanish Cafes and Patisseries. In my opinion, Spanish food and sweets are always under rated as Spain is always eclipsed by other European countries like the United Kingdom, France and Italy in tourism, in food, wine, shopping, culture and the arts. But when you get a chance to visit Spain, you will discover the rich and deep history of the country, its cultural heritage both Spanish and influenced by the Moors, its different geographical areas plus its variety of delicious food, wine and most of all these desserts. Come join me in a short tour of Spanish sweets from Barcelona, Madrid and to Granada in Andalusia. 

More baked sweets from Madrid. The empanada are like baked pies with fillings. The Huesos de Santos  combine the almond marzipan with sweet egg yolks in the centre. The Meringues are your common meringues made from egg whites. There are also the fried sweet honey balls called buñuelos.

Toledo

 A model of Toledo Cathedral all made from Marzipan. 

Toledo is a town near Madrid that combined the Spanish and Moorish cultures both evident in the architecture and also in the cuisine and desserts. The Moors actually brought the olive oil to Spain. Most of their fried desserts are traditionally fried in olive oil.  Toledo's speciality is Marzipan which is made from peeled, grounded almond nuts and sugar. The nuns in Toledo are the famous bakers in town. In the above picture, the nuns master skills in baking were celebrated on this display in a local Toledo patisserie.

Local Toledo sweets from Spanish cookies like the Paciencias de Anis, Vanilla wafers and Toledo's version of Yemas made from egg yolks then coated with white sugar. Yemas is the common confectionery in Spain commonly made from egg yolks. But I discovered that every city in Spain have their own versions of the Yemas. 

Segovia

View of Segovia town and Cathedral. For me, Segovia is such a romantic and beautiful town to walk around and discover its architecture. Declared by UNESCO in 1985 as a World Heritage City. Visit the huge baroque Cathedral, the Aqueduct, the Alcazar from which you will discover some Moorish architecture and also the view of the Castile countryside. Then try their famous Cochinillo Asado, a suckling pig so tenderly delicious, it melts in your mouth. 

Then for dessert,try the famous Yemas de Segovia which is on display and available all around Patisseries in the town.

Granada

In the southern City of Granada in Andalusia, hidden in these White painted buildings are more Spanish sweet delights.

We saw and tasted many different fruit tarts and palmeras covered in chocolate or just plain.

Barcelona

Here is Barcelona, in the Northern Catalan region, we discovered  abundant chocolates and different nuts in the St. Joseph Market which the local patisseries combine to make craquer (lower left photo). The local patisseries bake the chocolates whether white, milk chocolate or dark chocolates combined with usually large almond nuts to make the round cookie like shape. 

In this Barcelona patisserie, I remember seeing some ensaimadas topped with sugar and cheese (Spanish version of the French Brioche), polvorones and more yemas.

The best place to eat sweets, have some Spanish hot chocolate, teas and Spanish coffee, is Caelum, Latin for Heaven. In this Cafe, all of the sweets are heavenly produced by monks and nuns from all over Spain. Even the Menu is divided into Monastic Sweet Temptations and Monastic Sour Temptations. Caelum is located in Barcelona's Gothic quarter at De la Palla 8. Never miss visiting this place and bring home some Monastic yemas and polvorones. The polvorones are usually produced during the Christmas season. A polvoron is a crumbly shortbread made with milk, flour, sugar and grounded nuts. We consider a polvoron more as a candy like confectionery rather than a traditional shortbread cookie.

Guess what these sweets displays were made from?
A storefront display of sweet delicacies made from towels in a Kitchen Store in Barcelona.

I would like to share this best description of Spanish Sweets from Caelum Barcelona:

In the end, all the cakes and wines have a sacred air and every soul is collected in a chamber which Paracelsus called 'olfactory chamber.' Meanwhile, in monasteries are producing high quality wines with healing spirits made by wise monks that pray silently and keep their secret recipes inside the walls. And with three salves, one Our Father and the grace of a hand, a miracle which is dreamed by the Mother Superior is taken to the kitchen. Sweet pumpkin gives you blessed glory...

May you all have a sweet weekend!

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