Flamenco

Watching flamenco dancers perform on a wooden stage over a delicious dinner was absolutely one of the most romantic things we have done throughout our travels. At the suggestion of our friend and Madrileña Kyra, we made reservations at the swanky El Corral de la Morería for a true flamenco show. The dancers were fabulous and the intimate setting made me feel like a part of the show. The whole experience was wonderful, but our personal highlights are below:

The clappers: Palmas (clapping) are a crucial part of the show. I honestly do not know how the three men were able to produce such consistent sounding claps in harmony with each other for over an hour. Their hands must get tired!
The tourists: There was a man sitting on the front row with his iPad propped on the stage. He literally filmed the entire show. Even the dancers were laughing at him. If you're reading this: don't be that guy.
The male dancer: Though he was an amazing dancer, his fly was down during the entire 30 minute solo. Call me childish, but it almost appeared intentional when he would take dramatically long strides, emphasizing the issue.
The guitarists: I have never seen such impressive guitar playing. These guys played from the heart - alone on the stage on a wooden stool without sheet music. At one point I even counted the fingers on one of the guitarists - I was certain he had an extra in there to help him make those sounds!

Madrid Spotlight: Rejoneo

San Isidro = Madrid's patron saint

Madrid = famous for bullfighting

Therefore, attending a bullfight in Madrid during the annual San Isidro festival = a guaranteed good show!

We were lucky enough to get tickets to a Saturday night fight at the famous La Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas del Espíritu Santo (aka "Las Ventas") in the middle of town. The whole ordeal very much reminded me of Gladiator and the Colosseum we visited just a few months ago. Every seat in the stadium was packed, even the "cheap," €50 seats directly in the sun, and people were chanting the names of the famous fighters as they took the stage.




We attended a rejoneo, a bullfight in which the fighter, the rejoneador, is on horseback. The skill of controlling horses millimeters away from a bull's horn to the thigh was incredible. Apparently, the horses are blinded, but even after a couple of the horses received a swift jab, the rejoneadors maintained control. These horses could easily outrun the bull, so the rejoneador would have the horses side step to taunt the bull - I was amazed at how fast and steady the horses were with this seemingly awkward movement.






Earlier that day, we stopped at the Torre del Oro Bar Andalú in Madrid's Plaza Mayor to get excited about the fight, educated on the sport, and of course a glass of sangria. We saw how large a bull's head and horns actually are, read about the famous matador El Cordobés, and found out that even the most skilled fighter can end up with a horn through their chin. This made it even more impressive when the rejoneadors hung off the horses and literally grabbed the bulls by their horns.






Bottom line: Saturday night rejoneo during the San Isidro festival = the ultimate Madrid experience!

What I love about Barcelona: History

Those of you who know me are probably thinking I made a typo, but I am serious. The history of Barcelona is truly interesting. Though this cuts out a significant amount of what my 7th grade history teacher would like me to know, below is a little of what I learned on our trip.

15 BC: Barcelona was a Roman colony. We went inside the Museu d'Història de la Ciutat to see the ancient ruins and learn about life as a citizen at this time. The city was surprisingly advanced (city-wide sewage system, laundry rooms bigger than mine, and large wine-making facilities to name a few) and the museum does a good job of laying them out so you actually know what you are looking at unlike many European ruins sites. 

3rd Century: Saint Eulalia. During the Roman times in Barcelona, a 13 year old girl named Eulalia was murdered by the Romans for being a Christian. She was tortured thirteen times, but never recanted her Christianity. Her body is buried in the crypt of the beautiful, Gothic Catedral de Barcelona (also known as the Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia). Thank goodness our friend Caitlin had a guide book, or we would have overlooked the cathedral's cloister, which houses 13 white geese that represent Eulalia's age when she was killed and also served as an alarm system when the cathedral was first built. 

15th Century: Christopher Columbus and Barcelona. Patrick and I enjoyed the Monument a Colom  that honors Columbus' return to Barcelona from his first voyage to the new world, but found the legend of the baptism of natives from the new world in Catedral de Barcelona to be even more interesting.

19th Century: Gaudi. I honestly enjoyed learning about each of Gaudi's works of art around Barcelona (see previous post)

20th Century: Picasso. At the tender age of 14, Pablo Picasso moved to Barcelona with his family. He continued to spend a significant amount of his time in the city throughout his later years. The Picasso Museum in Barcelona was an unexpected hit for 3 reasons: 1) The Picasso Museum is free on Sundays after 3:00. We got in line around 2:45 and waited for about 20 minutes - well worth it! 2) The museum divided their extensive collection between his many periods and focused more heavily on his earlier works. For those that doubt his talent, this is a must see. 3) There were fabulous explanations of each period of Picasso's life and art in multiple languages, enhancing the free art history lesson!

1992: the beach! It is hard to believe that the beautiful Barcelona beach was just recently a heavily industrial port. When the city won the 1992 Olympics, they decided to literally change the face of their shoreline. Not only did they create the beach, but they built the Olympic sites around it, providing an instant injection of money from the city, private developers, and tourists. It is very well laid out and beautiful, and true to Barcelona style, they even have some art lining the coast! 

What I love about Barcelona: Gaudi

Though I am not a fancy architect like Dianne, it does not take much training to be in awe of the Gaudi architecture sprinkled around Barcelona. We had the pleasure of hitting the highlights below:

Sagrada Família

My jaw literally dropped when I laid eyes on this magnificent church. I can only pray that it will be done sometime in my lifetime, and before I am too old to hobble out there and see it, but I'm sure that is what people thought in the 1880s when they started building it. There is so much history in every nook and cranny, and the details are absolutely amazing. 

Park Güell

It's almost heartbreaking to enjoy the park so much and think that it was considered a failure during Gaudi's lifetime. Originally built to be a housing development, only two houses were built, and Gaudi bought one! We loved the wall designed to look like a surfing wave and the sculptures everywhere, though I had to explain to Patrick that the dragon spitting out water was not, in fact, a public water fountain. If you have time, this is a relaxing break from the city - Gaudi even designed the benches to be exceptionally comfortable. I can only imagine what the houses would cost if they redeveloped it today... 

Casa Batlló

Along with purchasing a big house in Park Güell, I would love to go back in time and be the middle class family for whom Gaudi designed this house! I can't decide if I liked the mosaics covering the front or the skull balconies better. Either way, this is worth gazing at for a good while! 

La Pedrera

At the advice of our friend Caitlin, we actually paid the steep entrance fee to see the inside of La Perera (also known as Casa Milà). The apartment furnished in early 1900s style showed just how painfully meticulous Gaudi was. He even designed the door handles to fit your hand as you opened the door or window. The attic houses a small museum of Gaudi's works. The real gem; however, was at the top. Not only were the rooftop views fabulous, but the architecture of the roof showed, yet again, how Gaudi thought his projects all the way through. The chimneys were even beautiful and looked like women looking over the city in a cluster. In the picture above, Patrick and I are standing next to one such chimney that was decorated in a broken wine bottle mosaic. The rooftop alone was definitely worth the entrance fee! 

What I love about Barcelona: Culture

I fell in love during our recent trip to Barcelona - and not with a beautiful Catalan dancer, but with the amazing city! We saw so much during our four day weekend in the warm, gorgeous city that I had a hard time dissecting the best pieces. First and foremost: the culture.

The pride of Barcelona runs deep. As a Texan, I thought I would understand that, but I feel as though Texas has met its European match, and I'm pretty sure the Catalan people have us beat. Yes, some Texan mustered up enough signatures for an official petition to gain independence from the USA, but our Governor quickly shot it down. Catalonia, on the other-hand, is dead serious. Just a couple days ago, their regional president actually had the people of Catalonia vote on whether or not they want to seek independence (though it did not pass). They have their own Catalan language and even their own Catalan sign language. Their soccer team, FC Barcelona, is even perhaps more loved than our new favorite FC Bayern Munich.

Their culture has some interesting history as well. When Francisco Franco took over Spain in 1939, he was threatened by the Catalan pride. He tried to destroy parts of their culture to secure his position of power, which included banning the language and their traditional dance, the Sardana. Though he was in power for over 30 years, the Catalan culture prevailed.

All of this leads to my hands-down favorite part of our Barcelona trip. On Saturday nights and Sunday mornings in front of the amazing Catedral de Barcelona, a band sets up and hundreds of people, teenagers to deep-80s, gather in circles to dance the traditional Catalan folk dance, the Sardana. This video does not do it justice. This is a must-see in Barcelona, and an amazing demonstration of what makes Barcelona so fabulous!