BCN010

Nouvel on the left, Gaudi in the middle, SOM the right. Gehry not quite visible.

This summer I decided to visit a friend in Barcelona. He moved over there some year and a half ago, and an invitation to visit was open. Now was as good a time to visit as ever, and it had already been more than a dozen years since my last visit; it would be interesting to observe if and how the City might have changed in the meanwhile!

My friends recided in the neighborhood of Poble Sec, which my Guide Book, borrowed from a colleague and admittedly quite old, i.e. from last Millenium, described as "somewhat unpleasant". Fortunately things had moved on since the book rolled off the presses, and I found the neighborhood to be quite nice and lively. That said, of course there are even nicer neighborhoods, such as L'Eixample and Gracia, with leafy streets, Gaudi's buildings and parks, and so on.

One is able to whisk about very handily with the free-ish bicycles. I was very happy with this service, and was able to see parts of the City left unseen last time.

Some sites I did visit again; naturally I had to see how they were getting ahead with Gaudi's Sagrada Famiglia. Well, I can report that it is still unfinished, but they are working on it. The nave is now covered. The spiral staircases in the towers are still one of my favourite spatial experiences ever, but these days you must pay an elevator fee to get up to the towers... Overall, still a very worthwhile visit, despite nearly 2 hrs spent in queues.

Also Mies' little pavilion was still quite the crisp and clean masterpiece it was before!

But as nice as Barcelona is, I also wanted to visit other near-by towns. For one thing, I wanted a "country point" from Andorra. For another, as I had played the game Carcassonne and realised it was an actual, historical town, I had to visit it! So I arranged for a hired carriage, and off I went. Along the way, I stopped in Girona and Mirepoix, both very beautiful olde towns in their own rights!


Carcassonne is really nice for history buffs. It is a closed citadel, fairly compact in size. I stayed right in the middle of it all in a Hostel. The citadel is naturally very touristy, has almost no vehicular traffic, and has good views over the surrounding landscape and modern quarters. It is similar to the top of San Marino, which I visited last year!

Carcassonne from the new town

One of the main gates into the citadel

A nice small plaza

The actual castle within the citadel

Andorra was a good surprise; I had heard mostly dismissing reports of it's value as a stopping point: a tax-free strip mall for the French and Spaniards. However, the ride up the Pyrenees, from the French side, was quite an experience. Great views, hairpin turns on serpentine roads... Then, after the pass, a long descent through cute little villages and hamlets into the capital. Well, the capital was a little too modern, and indeed a brashly commercial affair. Nevertheless, one point added to the List!

That is it for this report. Once again, hearty thank-yous to the hosts! Stay "tuned" for Wensworth's reportage from the Greek mountainside, etc!

Ta ta & tally-ho!
Paddlewick, Esq

It pleases your correspondent to report that the Ports of Douro continue to fare quite well, and to provide the most pleasant evenings musing on the Origins of Nearly Anything.

The Antipodean chapter, having abandoned the old A and looking to settle for a change in the more cosmopolitan atmosphere and offerings of the Old World, found it convenient to take a leisurely ride along the Douro River to sample said atmosphere and offerings, as exemplified by the fabled quintas of old. The mysterious Lady M, with her keen eye for the travelogical details, delivers once again, and off we flit, lightly packed trunks and crates accompanying us on a merest hop from the land of neutral gnomes to the riverside.

Picturesque port region village

A view off the balcony, Casa Canilhas

Castelo de Guimaraes

Pay no heed to the various Travelogues and Promotioneers: they may be quite correct in that the Valley is best enjoyed from the private carriage on the riverside train, but this leaves one with the problem of access to the more remote Quintas once the rail journey is done. Hiking from quinta to quinta is undoubtedly picturesque and rewarding, but one tends to accumulate the occasional bottle of vintage or late-bottled faster than the Jeeveses follow to pick them up. No, a horseless carriage of your own is the ideal solution; just make sure to hire a chauffeur with nerves of steel, reactions of quicksilver, and the directional sense of a messenger pigeon, and nothing can hinder the joy of discovery. As an added delight, descending the frequent serpentine way under heavy load has any old circus ride quivering in shame.

Must refrain from breaking

Must refrain from stealing all

Quality control

One must comment that New World profiteers have, during the years, shamelessly and baselessly driven the value of decent Vintage port into the aetheric layers. They have, however, made an oversight - by so concentrating on Vintage, the perfectly good LBV has been left in piece, to be picked up by the sharp (and budget conscious) tacks.

Too much monotony is always unhealthy, and accordingly we punctuated the quinta spree with suitable sojourns to nearby castles, ruins, and other notable locales. We observed with appreciation the nation's continuing interest in wind power, and remain satisfied with the reasonable fees of accommodation. The daily fare is hale and hearty; one might pine for variety after a while, but staying healthy and on budget is simple enough with assorted deep sea monster bits and part.

Pleasant interlude at Father Geronimo's balcony

Tentacles

Trunks, "portway" indeed

On return, the trunks, heavy as they are, remain woefully inadequate in their supply.