Barcelona, Barcelona!

For more pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bourlingue/sets/72157616363827182/

Barcelona invokes two things for me: Gaudi and the Spanish Civil war. Both phenomena are well known to most, and certainly have captivated my interest for long.

Gaudi, because of his extravagant architecture and extraordinary realisation; he has fascinated the rest of the world, at different times and for different reasons, the Japanese in particular in the 60’s and later on (see the 2 “witness” films that Japanese director Hiroshi Teshigahara shot, the first, a 16mm amateurish film he did while visiting with his artist father – some scenes at Salvador Dali’s home are particularly taking – the second some 25 years later, retracing his steps http://www.criterion.com/films/536 )

The Civil War, because of the heroism shown by the Republicans, the legitimate “owners” at the time of the “right to rule”, in fighting Franco, the usurper, and his fascist allies, Germany and Italy; for the sympathy they aroused abroad and the support of the “International Brigades” who fought side-by-side with them, to their final defeat. Barcelona captures best the spirit of this unequal fight (this is when and where Bethune came to introduce to the world the idea of taking blood to the wounded right to the front, in a delivery truck.)

This time around in Spain, and for the first time in Barcelona, the history of Barcelona itself is bringing something new. Both fascinations acquired a new dimension, that of history. For Gaudi, it is “Modernista”, this artistic and intellectual movement at the end of the 19th, beginning of 20th century, of which he was very much a part, that was the response to the industrial ascendance of the city, and the long suppression of Catalonia’s culture (http://everything2.com/title/modernista). For the Civil War, it is the political history, marked by an incredible exuberance in social and economic ideas that preceded and indeed led to the war – thanks to a (rush) visit to the “Museu d’Història de Catalunya” (http://www.en.mhcat.net/) nearby in La Barceloneta district.

A quick note on local restaurants. Two examples that illustrate Barcelona’s emergence as a gastronomic destination, which we sampled and highly recommend: Comerç, 24 (http://www.comerc24.com/) with its avant-garde chef, Carles Abellan, a follower of Ferran Adrià, chef of the legendary El Bulli, (rated as “the best restaurant in the world” in 2006 and 2007 by some 500 international critics! Outside of town and no temptation: it is closed for the season); and Cinc Sentits, with its new Catalan cuisine and tasting menu, run by Catalan-Torontonian siblings, the talented chef Jordi Artal, and his sommelier sister Amèlia (http://www.cincsentits.com/en/index.htm) . For something truly of the Catalan tradition, we went to Set Portes in La Barceloneta, where we could not resist, for a last meal in Barcelona, the tasty and melting-in-your-mouth suckling pig! (http://www.7portes.com/castellano/index.htm)

Local wine indulgence: Gran Vina Sol, Miguel Torres, a Chardonnay, (http://www.torres.es/eng/asp/nv_ficha.asp?Cod=21&Ficha=Producto)
and La Calma, a Chenin Blanc, (http://smswine.com/pdf/press/lacalma.pdf)
both from the Catalan wine region, Penedès.