Avignon and Barcelona

I'm hoping to have steady work this week, so want to finish off my Europe blogs now, before I lose the motivation to do so. On Aug 26, we we got up at 9 and left our luggage at the hotel while we wandered around Avignon. After a breakfast of French pastries (eaten as we walked), we got some pictures of the Palais des Papes, from the days in the late-fourteenth/early fifteenth centuries when Avignon was the seat of a rival pope to Rome. Then we walked on to the Pont St. Benezet, more popularly known as the Pont D'Avignon. Built in the twelfth centry, the original wooden structure was partially destroyed by a siege. Rebuilt as a Gothic stone bridge during the Middle Ages, regular flooding by the Rhone River took their toll on the bridge and after successive attempts at repair, when much of the bridge was washed away during the seventeenth century, it was abandoned. Today 4 of the original 22 arches remain. We took the tour of the St Nicholas Chapel (on the bridge) and walked out to the end of the bridge, partway across the river. For more information or photos of the bridge see the below websites:

http://www.palais-des-papes.com/anglais/ponthistoire.html

http://www.avignon-et-provence.com/avignon-tourism/monuments/avignon-bridge.htm

After picking up some yummy pastries at La Mie Calime, we got on the train again for our second-longest travel day. We caught the 1:27 pm train from Avignon to Montpellier St. Roch, arriving at 2:40. We were told upon arrival that the 3:09 direct train to Barcelona was full so we must take the 5:15 train to Port Bou (Spain) and transfer there to another train arriving in Barcelona at 10:39. For the record, that's 9 hours on 3 trains this day, or 21 hours on 10 train in two days. We found our hostel in Barcelona without difficulty. It was beautifully decorated and had some nice hangout spots. I went to bed, while Karen went out to get some proper dinner.

The next morning, Karen and I split up after breakfast and I went on a walking tour of the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona, while Karen went to the beach. My tour was scheduled from 11-1 so Karen and I planned to meet up at 1. Our English (as in, British) tour guide told us a bit about the history of Catalan, which is different than Spain. Wilfred the Hairy is an important figure for Catalan nationalists, "the de facto founder of the House of Barcelona" (according to Wikipedia. He was a count who, according to legend, was awarded a coat of arms by King Charles the Bald for his bravery in fighting (either the Moors or the Normans, we're not sure which). When the king slid Willy's blood-stained fingers over his copper shield the new flag of the Catalans was born, as seen below.

We walked by the impressive Palau de la Musica Catalanya with busts of Wagner and Beethoven outside.

fWe saw a church that bore bullet pockmarks a visible reminder of the mass executions carried out during the Spanish Civil War. We also saw La Seu Cathedral, and beside it, a wall which was built from pieces of Jewish gravestones. I've forgotten exactly why, but in my diary I have note about anti-Jewish sentiment by the Christians during the time of the plague. Our guide connected the dots for me, in noting that since the Muslims and Jews both had regular washing rituals embedded in their religious lives, they were less susceptible to the plague than were Christians who had no such rituals nor any understanding of the importance of proper hygiene. Barcelona's most famous sons include Picasso and Gaudi and Salvador Dali. We saw evidence of Gaudi in much of the architecture we saw around the city, and a sketch of Picasso's was represented on the front facade of the Architectural School. We walked through the former Red Light District, where our guide told us that Picasso's "Ladies of Avignon" probably refers to Baixa Avinyo, the territory of the prostitutes, which Picasso himself was known to visit. It was a very interesting tour, but we didn't start until 11:20 and didn't get back until 2, rather later than the 1 pm that Karen and I had arranged to meet. I sat at the travel bar (our meeting spot) and had a drink with the other walkers, and when I hadn't seen Karen by 2:30, went out to get some lunch. As it turned out, Karen and I both made a few trips to the travel bar but always missed each other. So we both decided to do our own thing. She spent the afternoon at the beach, while I bought some postcards, walked around La Rambla (a broad pedestrian path, filled with outdoor market stands) for a bit (and picked up some lovely fruit skewers for breakfast) before returning to our hostel to read and relax.

Karen got back about 7 pm and we went out for dinner. On the way home, we got some more pastries at La Mie Calime (Karen's favourite bakery!) for the plane the next day.