May 12 – 14

Placa de Sant Jaume is set at the intersection of ancient Barcino’s main thoroughfares, and this square was once a Roman forum and is home to the he Palace of the Generalitat of Cataloni, an historic palace that for more than six centuries has housed the offices of the Presidency of the Generalitat de Catalunya.  It is one of the few buildings of medieval origin in Europe that still functions as a seat of government and is home to the institution that originally built it.  In that sense, it’s been the seat of city government for 2,000 years.  It always flies the Catalan flag next to the obligatory Spanish one.  Above the building’s doorway is Catalunya’s patron saint—St. George (Jordi), slaying the dragon.

Our next stop was the Temple of Augustus in Barcelon, a Roman temple built during the Imperial period in what was then the colony of Barcino.  The temple was the central building on Tàber Hill, and it currently is housed in Carrer del Paradís number 10.  All that’s left are four columns and some fragments of the transept and its plinth.  The huge columns, dating from the late first century BC, were part of the ancient town’s biggest structure, dedicated to Augustus, who was worshipped as a god.  These Corinthian columns (with deep fluting and topped with leafy capitals) were the back corner of a 120-foot-long temple that extended from here to Barcino’s forum (Plaça de Sant Jaume).

Leaving the temple, we walked down Carrer del Bisbe which has been a main street since the days of ancient Barcino.  The Romans built straight streets on a rectangular grid plan, and this one led to their town center.  Arching across this pedestrian street is a medieval looking skybridge.  This structure. reminiscent of Venice’s Bridge of Sighs, connects the Catalan government building (on the right) with what was the Catalan president’s ceremonial residence (on the left).  Though the bridge appears to be centuries old, it was constructed in the 1920s by Catalan architect Joan Rubió (a follower of Gaudí), who also did the carved ornamentation on the buildings.

We continued down Carrer del Bisbe through the Jewish Quarter until we reached Pla de la Seu, the square in front of Barcelona’s Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia.  This has been Barcelona’s holiest spot for 2,000 years.  The Romans built their temple of Jupiter here and in AD 343, that pagan temple was replaced by a Christian cathedral.  Around the year 1000, that building was replaced again, this time by a Romanesque-style church. The current Gothic structurewas constructed from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, with the principal work done in the fourteenth century.  The cloister, which encloses the Well of the Geese, was completed in 1448.  In the late nineteenth century, the neo-Gothic façade was constructed over the undistinguished exterior that was common to Catalan churches.

We opted not to tour the cathedral, instead enjoying for the moment a group of street musicians, a common sight in the square.  I recall when we visited here, either in 2014 or 2017 that a sizable market operated, featuring all kinds of merchandise, from junk to antiques to inexpensive clothing.  We left the square and feeling peckish, walked to Els Quatre Gats (the Four Cats).  This restaurant (at #3) is a historic monument, tourist attraction, nightspot, and recommended eatery.  It’s famous for being the circa-1900 bohemian-artist hangout where Picasso nursed drinks with friends and had his first one-man show.  The building itself, by prominent architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch, represents Neo-Gothic Modernisme.

Rich Barcelona elites and would-be avant-garde artists looked to Paris (not Madrid) for cultural inspiration.  This place was clearly influenced by Paris’ Le Chat Noir, a cabaret/café and the hangout of Montmartre intellectuals.  Like Le Chat Noir, Els Quatre Gats even published its own artsy magazine for a while.  The story of the name?  When the proprietor told his friends that he’d stay open 24 hours a day, they said, “No one will come.” Using a popular Catalan phrase, they told him, “It’ll just be you and four cats.”  When we arrived, it was quite crowded in the entry dining room, with more space in a larger adjacent room, but we chose to sit at the one vacant table and enjoyed a round of drinks. 

We walked back towards the Ramblas, with Joanna stopping in at the yarn store she had located at earlier to pick up supplies for Jessica and Bev stopping at a few places for last minute souvenirs.  Returning to the Airbnb, we lit into drinks and food as we’d all be flying the next day and wouldn’t be able to take much of it with us.  For dinner, we’d chosen Gloria Osteria, a nice looking restaurant not far from the apartment, which we were able to walk to, a nice break from taking taxis. Soon seated at an upstairs balcony overlooking the main dining floor, we were greeted in English by a friendly and attentive waiter and began our meal.  As Beverly paid for this meal to square her up in our shared expense app (Cost Split, available on Apple.  I have used this handy app since 2014 and best of all, it is free) I didn’t get to keep the final bill, so can’t completely recall all that was consumed that night. 

I would start with a delicious dish of Fazzoletti Ricotta e Spinaci (Home-made ravioli filled with lemony ricotta and spinach, served with burro e salvia and Parmigiano Reggiano foam) reminiscent of a similar dish we had in Siena in 2014 that first night when Lyndsey joined us.  For my main it would be the Tagliata di Pollo (Boneless ecological chicken marinated with spices, grilled, and served with herb butter cream).  It was all nicely done and a perfect way to wrap up our time in Barcelona and with Bev, who would fly home in the morning.  And the best part was the total bill came in at 210 Euros ($241), roughly $60 apiece for multiple courses and drinks all around. 

While Bev flies’ home, Francois, Joanna and I would take a short flight to the island of Majorca.  We’d be staying in its main city, Parma and looked forward to exploring this new territory.  We’ll start our visit there in the next post. 

Links

Barcelona Cathedral: https://catedralbcn.org/

Els Quatre Gats: https://4gats.com/

Gloria Osteria: https://gloria-osteria.com/gloria-osteria-barcelona

Cost Split: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cost-split/id524132764