Barcelona

The Cathedral by the Sea

~ Kate Wilson ~ 6 Comments

Today I visited Santa Maria del Mar – Saint Mary of the Sea – the incredible 14th century church which is at the centre of the novel Cathedral by the Sea by Ildefonse Falcones.
The title in Catalan is L’Esglesia Del Mar

I am reading this great fat heavy weight of a book in Catalan at the moment – slowly, like the progress of the medieval men who had to carry each stone on their backs from Montjuic to the Born.
The church, which at that time was by the edge of the sea, was designed by the architect Berenguer de Montagut and the foundation stone was laid on 25th March 1329 – the last stone put in place in 1383.

I sat on one of the benches and looked up at the beautiful ceilings. High up, flying between window ledges, there was a bird, too far away to see what it was. I wondered if this was its home or was it trapped?

24 Hours in Barcelona

~ Kate Wilson ~ Leave a comment

I never forget how lucky I am to be able to do this.
Jump on a train and after 45 minutes I can arrive in the middle of Barcelona on Passeig de Gracia.
For those of you who always think of me basking in the sunshine, I just need to tell you – today it rained – all the time.
But I still went to Barcelona for the day

You have to start the day with a little something

Then I went to visit Santa Maria Del Mar.

We are reading a novel about the life and times of a boy who helped with the construction of this church – all the stones had to be carried from the quarries at Montjuic down to the site near the harbour where the cathedral was being built.

‘Una catedral construida pel poble i per al poble en la Barcelona medieval és l’escenari d’una trepidant història d’intriga, violència i passió.’

I am amazing myself by reading it in Catalan- missing some of the nuances but understanding the general drift. I am very slow and not only because of the language – it is not a book that I imagine has a happy ending!

Medieval life was hard.

Today the doors were closed so I walked around the outside.
Drinking fountains opposite the front door.  I expect when the stone carriers arrived they were always thirsty

Something that looked like a baseball net on one wall but I imagine it was an old lamp holder.

And at the back the view up to the old Born market hall.

Next stop was the Santa Llucia Christmas market to search for small figures to decorate the cake. Most of the stalls sell all that you need for creating a Pessebre – the Catalan nativity scene – including the famous caganers.

The tackiest ones have piles of Tiòs ready for December 24th

All day I hunted for these very comfortable house shoes

This shoe shop was very stylish and friendly but didn’t have what I wanted.

In the end I found them back in Granollers!
Where I also caught sight of Santa Claus shopping in the rain.





 

 

Barcelona – Madrid

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

The streets are  unusually empty. Where are all the cars and people and dogs?
No mystery – there is a big football match tonight.
It started at 9pm local time – Barcelona is playing Madrid at Nou Camp Barcelona.
Now if you are a big football fan, STOP reading now – there will be nothing to interest you here.
I am writing for those people who like me know very little but have a slight interest.
The matches between Barcelona and Madrid are classics. Like Celtic v Rangers. They are about more than football. You can be a passionate supporter but not really interested in the game.
Barcelona FC is worshipped here in Catalunya. I am Scottish and I remember how important the team was to our sense of identity but here – it is different – it affects more people, it crosses gender and class and age. It also helps that they are so good. They win!
I decided a few weeks ago that as I live here I really must take it all more seriously. And become a fan.
So here is my first idiots guide to the team
1. The slogan ‘Mes que un club’  
What does that mean?  The web site says it means many things – that the club represents the ‘country’ (remember that officially Catalunya is not a country but used to be and wants to be again) It is like an emblem, a vision and a symbol of Catalunya. There are also many thousands of supporters worldwide who feel passionate about the team and so the club is not just for Catalans but for anyone who resonates with their ideals.
The club has a special relationship with UNICEF and wears the logo on their shirts, donating money to the charity and also giving a percentage of income to support international development.They have never advertised any commercial on their shirts which makes them unique in the football world.
2. History
The club founder was Joan Gamper who in 1908 announced he wanted to run it as more than a football club, he wanted it to be pro-Catalan and work to serve the country. Many people became Barça supporters because of its role in defending and supporting democratic rights and freedoms. One famous episode was when in 1951, in Francos time, there was a tram strike and all the supporters who left the stadium after the match refused to take trams home, preferring to walk.
3. The Coach and Team
Now if I am to become a serious supporter I need to know at the very least all the names  but I’m still only a beginner so I’ll admit that I can only recognise the coach Pep Guardiola and also Messi. Guardiola is very attractive, is Catalan and used to play for Barça. He may be leaving soon as his contract runs out next January.  Messi has a wonderful name, is not the one with curly hair and scores goals and more goals and more goals. And I think he’s Argentinian. (I’ve just looked it up and the one with curly hair is Puyol who is Catalan)
4. Interesting Fact
According to Wikipedia the supporters of Barça are called culés, which comes from the Català word cul=arse. It’s thought to have come from the early stadium where supporters sat with their bottoms hanging over the stand.

It is all silent outside. The score at the moment is 4-0 to Barça.  I am writing this instead of watching it on TV because of a father-son standoff about homework. Sometime this season I will go to watch a reall game live – my first football game ever.
Will let you know how it goes.  But now I am waiting for the blaring horns and scarf waving cars to blast the silence of the evening.

3 Nice Things To Do on a Day Out in Barcelona

~ Kate Wilson ~ 8 Comments

 

First go to a cafe and relax with a drink, a plate of almonds, a notebook of vocabulary to memorize and an ipod.Yes I am also having a cigarette (still also possible inside cafes here until after Christmas)
And what was I listening to? A podcast of Thinking Aloud which, I know, doesn’t fit in well with my intention to immerse myself in non-english but I need to relax sometimes.
Second, wander through the streets and look at the variety of interesting buildings- not only Gaudi.Third – go to another cafe – this one Granja M Viader is the oldest granja (milk bar) in Barcelona – and enjoy a drink of hot chocolate with melindros (large sponge fingers). Thanks to Marta for introducing me to a new place.That must be more than 3 nice things- more like 100!

Blue and Red and Gold

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

 

Two big pieces of news here.
One is the World Cup final which takes place tonight and will be a match between Spain and Holland. As a Scot I always have to resolve the vexed question of who to support when England has qualified and Scotland has not. I’m not very interested in football but I do get annoyed when people assume that I want England to win when it really doesn’t feel like my country. And something rather similar is the case here in Catalunya but it is also more complicated. As the graffiti says, Catalunya is Not Espanya! Catalunya is officially an Autonomous Region but to the majority of Catalans it is a country with its own language, culture, customs and history. Catalans do not feel they are Spanish which is why it feels complicated to support La Roja. At the start of play in the semi final 7 out of the team of 11 were players from Barça – the Barcelona football team inspires love, respect, admiration, adoration, obsession from people of all ages here and beyond. On nights when Barça plays you don’t need to watch TV – you know when there is a goal as the streets thunder with explosions and horns tooting. And if they win – cars stream along with horns never stopping and scarves and shirts hanging from the windows. Sounds from the streets after the match were loud and excited but to my ears rather less than after a Barça/Madrid game. Four of the eleven players in the semi final were Catalan. So although it is not the national team which would swell the hearts of people here it is also hard to ignore the match tonight. Mixed and complicated emotions.

Connected to this and even more complicated is the news of the demonstration yesterday which took place in Barcelona. I have struggled to get a good enough grip on the facts so I can write about it here. But in brief, the Catalunian government created a constitutional law called the Estatut. It describes how the people want the country to be organised and what is the vision for the future. But while Catalan people see themselves as a nation the Spanish government see Catalunya as no more than a region and herein lies a quagmire of power struggles, reactions, fear and anger, frustration and suppression. Within the Spanish state there is a lot of fear of Catalan independence. Financially Catalunya is a wealthy region and pays a lot into the central coffers while receiving less in return. What things make up a separate identity? Culture, history, laws, taxes, self determination, education and language. If you want to suppress a culture these are the areas to try and control. And as the Estatut gives the Catalan people rights to organise and control these areas there was a reaction from the Spanish government especially in the guise of the PP – the Spanish Right Wing party. They took the Estatut to court and in the past few days the verdict has been announced. Some parts are deemed unacceptable and others need to be changed. Now that I have read through more of the detail I can see why yesterday more than one million people – ONE MILLION – marched through the streets of Barcelona to protest that Catalunya should decide on its future. That Catalunya is not a small region of Spain and that now it seems that full independence is the only way forward.
All the areas I mentioned above are under attack –
* Catalunya should not call itself a nation
* Catalan language should not take precedence in Catalunya
* Catalan government cannot make decisions on creation of taxes
* Only the Spanish government can control and oversee Catalan banks
* As it is not a nation it cannot possess a national flag nor a national anthem
….and more…look at this site if you want to know more – its in english written by a Catalan man who lives in Holland.
I watch all this of course from the outer edges – it is interesting and also another little minefield to tread and I try to remember not to say the wrong things or put my foot in it too deeply. After years of being ‘anti english’ in Scotland, ‘anti carnivores’ as a vegetarian and more than a little ‘anti men’ as a feminist I am now more pro things than anti and I don’t like to feel carried along on emotions which make me forget my humanity or stop thinking critically. But…I can see there is a problem here – there is something out of balance and eventually there will be a shift.
The newspaper headline at the beginning of this post says ‘Catalunya shouts ENOUGH!’ I begin to think an independent Catalunya could be a positive way forward and it is an interesting time to be here and part of the story.