Meandering With Murphy

Walking Tour with Rosa, Festival and the Giants Parade, Great Lunch and Getting to Dinner Around Police and Fire Trucks

We met Rosa in front of the Olivia Plaza Hotel at the Catalunya Square. We found out it’s not always easy to follow Google maps on my phone, back and forth until we found the square. This is the Catalunya region of Spain. They have a separate flag and language. Rosa lives in a neighborhood within the City of Barcelona similar to my Fulton neighborhood in Minneapolis. When she was young her mother would always say “we’re going to Barcelona” when they already lived there. She also explained that when she was in school they taught Catalan but her mother learned Spanish. The languages are similar but not the same. We observed this in many of the signs, menus and other postings around. During Franco’s dictatorship (1939–1975) the use of Catalan was banned in schools and in public administration.

We started to walk down one of Barcelona’s main boulevards, the Ramblas. It runs from Place de Catalunya to the sea. It is lined with Plane Trees that provide shade in the summer and let sun in during the winter.

Rosa pointed out the Fountain of Canaletes. Legend has it that if you drink from the fountain it ensures you’ll come back to Barcelona one day. It is also a popular place for fans of the Barcelona soccer team to party after winning a big game. Rosa told us that they show big matches on screens here and it is mobbed during big games.

We next passed the Church of Betlem (Bethlehem) an example of baroque architecture. Rosa told us during Christmas there are several stable scenes inside the church.

We walked further and passed flower stalls, the La Boqueria Market, palaces and church towers. The La Boqueria Market was closed because of the holiday (more later). This market is the largest one and visited by most tourists. We will visit it later.

More images from our walk.

We decided we needed a break for coffee at one of Rosa’s favorite places the chocolate shop, Granja La Pallaresa. It smelled like chocolate and sweet treats.

Walking further we passed several of these plaques on building along the way. Beautifully done.

We encountered the street festival, La Merce Festival. This event is one of the highlights of the Mercè festival and takes place in Plaça de Jaume. It started in 1902 to say goodbye to summer and welcome in autumn.

Thousands of people pack the streets and the square to see the Castellers. The aim of the Castellers is to build a human tower and have a young child climb to the top of the tower and stand up. It requires a tremendous amount of planning and teamwork to build a human tower and it is quite an amazing sight to see. It is a competition and each group represents a different neighborhood and tries to get higher than the next. The tower has three parts: The base which is largest and stabilizes the structure. Next are the rings which have specific number of people depending on the height. Finally, the tower dome. The smallest and lightest person is on top. That person has to raise their arms to salute the crowd. Rosa explained that the tower depends on the base which represents the cooperation we all need to survive. Unfortunately, the square was so packed we could only see a smaller version of one of the towers. This photo is from the internet.

The Giants parade is a popular event for the whole family. Huge giants with effigies of kings, queens and nobles march through the streets. These huge figures tower above the crowds and spin around and around so the crowds can see them in all their glory. The Parade is often accompanied by small percussion groups that beat out a rhythm on drums as the Giants go by. There are also fat head or Capgrosses. These Giants represent the different neighborhoods of Barcelona. Each Giant is carried by one person and they are heavy. When they stop they are able to sit on a bench which is part of the structure.

Dancing figures. Scott would have enjoyed the dancing pigeons!

Giants marching down the street. A fisherman and his wife.

We left these festivities to walk to see the old Roman walls.

As some of you know I am interested in the history of Jews in Europe. A little history of Jews in Spain. Archaeological evidence suggests that there was a Jewish community in Barcelona as early as the first century AD, shortly after the city was founded. At first, Jews were allowed to live wherever they chose but during the Middle Ages, they were confined to a small area just inside the city walls called El Call. They had to enter and exit through a small gate. Eventually, during the Spanish Inquisition (1492 and 1502) Jews and Muslims were ordered to convert to Catholicism, be executed or leave. They fled to Portugal, France or North Africa. Before the Spanish Inquisition in the 15th Century about 300,00 Jews lived in Spain. Today an estimated 13,000 to 50,000 Jews live in Spain.

We walked toward the Roman wall and Passeig del Born.

Roman wall from about the 4th Century and a doorway in the wall.

The Passeig del Born has been El Born’s center for thousands of years. At one end is the church above and at the other end is the neighborhood market.

This is the Monument of Catalan Independence. The square is called Place del Fossar de les Moreres (The Burial Place of the Mulberry Tree). The lone mulberry tree (see part of the tree on the left above) and modern monument honor a 300 year old massacre which happened in 1714. Catalans still remember this today. The square marks the site of a mass grave of the massacred Catalans. An eternal flame burns atop.

Well, it was time to end our tour. We said goodbye to Rosa. We were tired and hungry so we took Rosa’s suggestion and had lunch at Bodega La Puntual. An excellent place to eat.

We had the tuna tartare (excellent), bread with tomatoes (this was popular and we found it everywhere but it was not great), Iberian ham croquettes (still not our favorite) and Padron peppers (tasted great until Mary bit into one and it was burning hot!) Padron peppers are small and the taste is mild (except the one Mary got). They were grilled and sprinkled with salt.

We were tired so went back to the apartment to rest before dinner. It was about 5 and dinner was at 8. The restaurant which was highly recommended by Tom’s brother Rick Steves! was called Restaurant la Palmera. We had a reservation and as he suggested I asked for the classic room. Well it was an easy metro ride, 2 stops, and short 10 minuet walk to the restaurant. But not so fast. We started walking and around the corner the streets were blocked, there were fire and police cars. We found out that there had been a fire in one of the restaurants (ours????) and we could not pass. The police officer could not tell us which restaurant it was. We went around the block and passed some rather seedy restaurants and the patrons looked rather rowdy and not so welcoming. We turned the corner and walked further. Of course out phone Google map was leading us across the street. Now the fire trucks were still blocking. We asked some people outside and low and behold were were right in front of the restaurant!!!

As recommended we had a great table in the classic room. It had bottle lined walls.

According to Tom, we had to have dessert! The lemon tarte was tart and delicious and the lemon sorbet added a great flavor. My cappuccino was excellent. We had about 1/3 bottle of wine so instead of trying to take the metro we took a cab. Brilliant idea!

All and all this day we walked a total of 7 miles!