True Colours (Barcelona)

After a long and stressful transit day I slept well and I'd like to add long, but, you know, 6:30 am and I was awake. It was probably a good thing, dear reader, because today we were off to the Gaudi Cathedral, Sagrada Familia. Our ticket access was for 30 minutes from 9:45 am.

A slow paced morning was planned with a brief stop for breakfast. Ah, the best laid plans. I had downloaded the tickets purchased through a third party supplier - I thought I was on the official site. Why is it so difficult to purchase tix through the actual website? Anyway. The tix were safely on my phone. I hadn't downloaded the audio guide because, well it doesn't matter. I thought it would be best to do this on the day.

Inspiration in the foyer of the hotel.

Until I tried to load the guide onto my phone. It wanted me to download an app first. Epic fail. It didn't recognise my Apple ID and I couldn't change the password and go through the process again because there was a 60 minute delay because I'm overseas. Curse you Apple. You haven't worked that out from where my phone pings?

Still not sure what it is, but we passed it on the way.

Brain wave. Jayne could load the app so I bluetoothed my headphones to her phone. Problem solved. We could both listen via her phone while she hot spotted the network from me. Simple eh? As we were heading out for the 11 minute walk to the Cathedral, Jayne decided to check with the doorman. No, no, no, he said. We have many Cathedrals, he said. That is not the right one, he said. Straight down this street, 8 or 9 blocks and turn left - you can't miss it.

He was right. You can't miss it.

He was correct. You couldn't miss it and maybe the 8 or 9 was 10, I can't remember. Turning left, there it was in all its cranes and scaffolding and unfinishedness. And another four or five blocks to the entrance. The 11 minutes was closer to 30 and we were on the outer limit of our time but it was all good. And crowded. Not Dubrovnik crowded, but it was up there.

The exterior from the main entrance.

We passed through the security, akin to an airport and made the forecourt where the next drama unfolded. The app downloaded from our tickets was from the dodgy third party supplier and was redundant. A wonderfully helpful young man in a red shirt, assisted with the correct procedure and the audio guide was loaded onto Jayne's phone. Problem averted.

The nativity.

Momentarily. It appears that Apple only allows one set of headphones to be connected at any one time. If I was connected, Jayne could hear nothing and vice versa. Once again, curse you Apple. Back to the nice young man in the red shirt. I explained the issue and he sent me to another person who ushered me down a ramp to an office where they stored the old audio guides. Apparently they kept them for inept old people like me.

Audio guide around my neck, the next problem was averted. And so the pushing of buttons and juggling of camera commenced as we listened to the commentary about Gaudi and the ongoing construction of the Cathedral. The exterior of the building is, well, unusual. Yes it borrows its curves and structural styles from nature but it looks weird to anyone from a straight lined world. It is difficult to imagine how his ideas came to be accepted all those years ago.

The ornate outside is a mass of towers and sculptures depicting scenes from the Bible. The Jesus tower, still under construction is planned to be 172.5m high only .5m shorter than the nearest peak. Man made things should never tower over those made by God, according to Gaudi.

One of the many stained glass windows.

The photo doesn't capture the riot of colour.

If you think the outside is spectacular nothing prepares you for the riot of colour when you walk inside. And there lies the inspiration for today's title. True Colours by Cyndi Lauper from 1986. There are stained glass windows everywhere in varying hues of the cooler blues and greens (the dawn of the Nativity) as well as the warmer oranges and yellows (the sunset of the Passion). It is impossible to know where to look first. Unlike a traditional artwork that draws your eye to a point, this was a sensation. The windows, the massive pillars, the floating crucifix and the hundreds of vapid morons posing in front of anything worthy of their attention, because it's about them really. Duck face, lift a leg, pout, smile.

Towering pillars.

There were people inside the Cathedral that would never have been allowed into a Synagogue for example. Uncovered shoulders, bare midriffs, Gosford skirts. It's about respect and they had very little.

Above the altar.

The centre of the space contained some pews where people could sit and reflect. LOL. Between the noise of the visitors and the sounds from the construction site, there was very little about the interior of the Cathedral that was contemplative. 

Seriously?

As I said in the last post, travelling makes it easier to be less tolerant of others. I watched as entire families, disregarding those around them, blocked views for everyone as all members of their family individually took the same video footage. Or those that were in such a hurry that they had ditched their audio guides and were just talking at the top of their voices as they walked through. Then there were the cruise ship crowds. It was like the Biblical scene in the temple with the money changers except Jesus didn't turn up with a whip. I would have paid more to see that.

The skylight above the altar.

With a minor detour to the sacristy - over the top, and an opportunity to peer down into the crypt and spy on the true worshippers, we were soon out the other side. The space here was even more limited and it was no easy task to see what the audio guide was describing to us. Even crossing the street for a photo did not prove successful. The Cathedral is massive on any scale and is difficult to photograph.

The exit from across the street.

The façade on this side revealed more statues depicting Christ's passion. Unusually, Jesus on the cross is without loin cloth. I'd not seen that previously. His head was typically facing downwards, in contrast to the crucifix above the altar where he is facing skyward.

Unclothed. 

My audio guide was deposited in the receptacle and we commenced the walk back to the hotel, determined to pause for breakfast on the way. Well, a coffee and croissant for an early lunch then. We finally found a café, not a bar, and enjoyed our very late breakfast.

A series of graphics on the floor near the exit doors.

After a brief stop at our room, we spoke with the Concierge about what places we should visit. He booked both Gaudi houses for us for tomorrow and recommended a number of other sights, some of which had not appeared on our radar. That was Thursday sorted. Time for domesticity and a couple of hours at the Lakely Bugaderia Laundry. Time well spent, the owner was lovely and helpful and we were back at the hotel in the afternoon with clean clothes.

In preparation for our trip to Sitges, we decided to check out the train station from where we would be departing on Monday. Passeig de Gracia Station is only about 10 minutes walk from the hotel, but it houses both the Metro and some suburban trains. We eventually found what we were after and a lift to allow easy access from street level. Although I was still uncertain about the train times. A problem for another day.

Back to the hotel, we decided to check out the rooftop bar and enjoy a couple of cervezas while surveying Barcelona. Then it was time to change for an earlier dinner than last evening. We strolled back to Ciutat Comtal in the hope of getting a table to discover the outdoor section is for tourists and there were two stories of seating inside, and what appeared to be a corner bar.

Unlike last night, the tapas was sensational. Beef and foie montinados, prawn skewers and a baguette with jamon, chicken and a delightfully messy, tasty sauce. Oh, and a bottle of local verdello all for €50. I was happy.

Because we had eaten early, we walked down La Rambla. It is recommended on just about every travel guide. In reality it is little more than say a long Pitt Street Mall, with less buskers. Although it extends further than we walked. There are lots of designer label stores and people strutting their finest. Unimaginative and uninteresting. Except for the Pandora store, dear reader. A Pandora Spanish fan charm firmly secured on Jayne's wrist, we walked the short distance home.

One of the art pieces in the hotel.

A very full first full day in Barcelona. I love it. And I haven't even mentioned the amazing architecture. No, not that the Gaudi stuff.

Until tomorrow, or the day after ...

All through the night (Efate Island, Vanuatu)

As you would have read in the last post, my dear reader, we had much rain overnight and again in the morning. Hence today's title with a nod to the great Cyndi Lauper and her She's So Unusual album of 1983. Goodness, it seems like yesterday. As does the rain. It poured through breakfast and we lingered waiting for a break in the rain. In the end, we gave up, unfurled the industrial sized resort umbrella and puddled our way back to our villa.

The outlook is still delightful, even with the rain and we sat on the (interior) day bed and watched the rain fall. At some point, I decided it was time to evict Sebastian, our crab visitor. I could see him, but encouraging him out from his hideaway was something else. In the end I dragged the daybed out from the wall and tried to prompt him to leave via the door by flicking my computer cable in his general direction. No luck. He reared up and snapped his little claws at me. Hardly intimidating - he's not big enough to hurt me and I was trying to save his life. Surely he must be missing the moisture of the shoreline and a regular food source? A couple of attempts saw Sebastian scuttle back underneath the daybed to the protection and darkness it afforded.

Always a risk of thunderstorms. The view from the deck.

The rain had started to ease off so we ventured out to the water sports hut to secure some snorkelling equipment, should the clouds clear. There had been someone stationed there since around 6am but with the torrential rain they didn't see much business. Equipment in hand, we looked to the sky, east and west (we have no idea where their weather comes from) and hoped for a similar afternoon to yesterday.

A single chain. Well it is unattached.

With the rain lessening we opted to walk the beach heading away from the resort, at least as far as where the beach kicked back around and we couldn't see any further. Who knows what lies beyond there? The warning to wear reef shoes at all times was good advice. There were sharp pieces of broken coral everywhere, not to mention glass and rock. The walk to the point was uneventful as was most of the walk back. We passed another couple from the resort who asked had we seen any snakes. We thought they were taking the piss. Apparently not. They'd seen a small snake on beach the day before. Harmless they were told.

Not more than 50 metres later I almost stepped on a snake. It was about half a metre in length, the body was banded black and white with a yellow mouth. A Banded Sea Krait. Harmless? No. Venomous? Yes. Fortunately not aggressive and rather docile. It just kept snaking along (see what I did there?) the shore line, doing whatever it wanted to do. I waited for a while for it to catch a wave back into the water, to no avail. It's not our first encounter with a sea snake but it's certainly the first time on land. Apparently these snakes breed and lay their eggs on land. Google it.

The Banded Sea Krait

The god of weather smiled on us. While we watched other brave souls make use of stand up paddle boards, pedal boards and hobby cats, we sat on the deck and cooled off in the plunge pool, as required. Around 1pm the clouds cleared and the sun smiled down at us and said, sunscreen. We didn't need to be told twice. Slathered in that slimy disgusting substance, we grabbed our goggles and flippers and headed for the water.  Coral always looks so much better in full sun.

Pawpaws grow wild. Everywhere.

We were not disappointed. There was an amazing display of a range of corals in brilliant colours from iridescent purple and pinks to yellow. They grew in clumps, on their own, covered the seabed en masse, and in single formation. Large areas had been damaged, I assume by anchors, but there was as much regrowth as there appeared to be death and destruction. There were also lots of trepang (sea slugs), huge iridescent blue starfish and tropical fish of all colours and sizes. The two most interesting sightings, from my perspective, were numerous pipefish, members of the seahorse family and a crown of thorns starfish. We spent around 45 minutes in the water and it was the best snorkelling we have experienced for quite a while. Fiji does not compare, well, not where we were, earlier this year.

Looking back to the villa from the beach.

Après snorkelling, it was back into the plunge pool and then to lunch. Not really. I can't imagine how anyone could eat a cooked breakfast and then a three course lunch and a three course dinner. I swear I'd explode. No, we went to the restaurant in the hope of something small and were confronted with a three course menu. Sensibly we both opted for the 'starter' of Vietnamese paper rolls to tide us over until dinner. That and a French rosé. Then, yes dear reader, you guessed it, back to the plunge pool to watch the passing parade on the beach and in the water.

Despite the forecast storms, the sun remained shining. And we remained close to the pool. People returned from snorkelling and sailing, the sun started to dip, the sunset cruise departed and life continued. Until dinner. Inevitable and delicious, I feel I need to do more to justify the food.

But first it was time for Sebastian to go. I was concerned that he might come out when we were not here but be unable to make good his escape. Armed with the strongest of weapons, a hand towel, I moved the day bed. As Sebastian scuttled along the wall, I threw the towel on top of him, scooped him up and delivered him safely to the garden. Mission accomplished.

Dinner. Still very good, although we preferred the previous night's fare. An amuse bouche of kumara chips with coriander yoghurt and a balsamic reduction. Tasty. Tonight's entrees: crab bisque and prawn salad, the mains were pan fried fish and spicy chicken breast followed by a nougat glacé and a cheese plate. Somewhat different to the buffet we didn't enjoy in Fiji, every night.

The sunsets were more spectacular in Fiji.

Another days ends. Until next time.