A Bit of Catching Up

Gruss Gott from Vienna!

Let me pick up where I left off.
You may be wondering how the tapas tour went...so am I, I missed it, but thats alright. I was exhausted that night and went for a walk grabbed a bit of dinner and then took a shower and went to bed.

The next day was Christmas Eve. I woke up after a good night's sleep to rain. I wasn't excited to go out, the weariness and anxiety of the day before not yet worn off but I went anyway. I headed to Parc Gruell, another one of Antoni Gaudi's creations. Maybe I should give a background on Gaudi. He was a great architect and defines a lot of the style and feel of Barcelona. His style is considered Art Nouveau and it can fall under those headings at times, especially his use of nature and natural physics within his creations, but its all a bit more surreal. Dali was a fan of his. Its hard to describe his works to you, but they were one of the reasons I really wanted to come to Barcelona and I concentrated most of my time on his works. There will eventually be pictures.

I get to Parc Gruell and enter one of the side gates. It has been raining for the past couple days and the ground is already somewhat flooded, its sand pathways with large puddles. The Parc seems deserted from where I am, and the view of Barcelona is misty and dreary. I was worried about travelling around Christmas that it would prove to be lonely and boring, with everything closed. I thought my beliefs had been confirmed with the quiet metro ride over and the abandoned park, but then I turned a corner, literally. Suddenly there were more people, as I made my way through the park and spent more time more people showed up, a lot of them tourists like myself. The cafe was open and so I stopped and had a cafe con leche.

My next stop was the Picasso Museum. It doesn't feature any of his major works, but a lot of his early stuff. It was interesting to see his impressionistic things, and although he may have been somewhat of an asshole (from what I gather) he was a genius as an artist. The paintings they have on display start from his early teens and they were quite impressive. The museum was displaying a special exhibit called Secret Images. It was an exhibit of Picasso's erotic Japanese prints and also some of his own drawings that had obviously been influenced by the Japanese artists. It was quite graphic, I found I'm more conservative than I would have imagined, or maybe after the first two dozen prints of...actually I won't go into detail, but honestly it was odd to read these enthusiastic apprasials of very very pornographic pictures, is it really art?

When I emerged from the museum I found dry blue skies. I stopped at a local cafe and ordered chocolate and churros and then wandered around the neighborhood a bit. When trying to find the museum I had accidentally stumbled upon this large indoor food market, mostly meat but some produce. It was really busy and it was fun to see everyone working and talking, carrying on with their normal lives. These women behind one counter would use long grabbers to point and grab at things in their long display cases, and people would brightly greet regular customers. I tried going back after the museum but it was shutting down, I stopped at a grocery store anyways and picked up some food to make at the hostel.

The next day was Christmas, my flight didn't leave for Zurich until five in the evening. I was pleased to find that Casa Batllo, one of Gaudi's works was open on Christmas so I planned on going there. I awoke to fifty degree weather and a beautiful cloudless blue sky. I had heard a lot about Las Ramblas a long street of markets and was told not to miss it. So before going to the Casa I decided to try the markets. I was somewhat early and it was pretty quiet, the stands just being set up and the street performers still applying their make-up. The stands were limited to flowers and pets, yes pets, turtles, birds, rats, fish, iguanas, rabbits, they were all there. So there was no temptation for me to buy anything. It didn't take me too long to walk the whole thing and as I walked back to the top things had picked up. A gambling game had started up, the one where you have to guess where the ball is under three containers, I started to take pictures of it and a woman came up to me telling me, "no photos, no photos" so I moved on. I got some more shots of the animals, but all in all I was not impressed with Las Ramblas, but I won't fault Barcelona for it.

Casa Batllo was amazing. My dream house. Most people will think Tim Burton when they see it and definitely from the outside thats the effect it gives. But I like to phrase it that its where Glinda the good witch would live in a Roald Dahl novel. A lot of the rooms are curved and all of them feature some way for natural light. The courtyard is enclosed by a large skylight and features blue tiles that fade in depth of color as you go from the top to the bottom. The woodwork and windows are ingenious, screens and vents built in they can create separate rooms and open up others. The roof is wonderful, a terrace that features mosaic chimneys and a garlic clove cross. Like I said its hard to explain, and if you think I'm being effusive in my praise you should have heard the commentary on the audioguide. I'm mean I like Gaudi and I think he was really original, but is the comment "the most ingineous and beautiful room you will ever see" really necessary for a storage closet that features an arched roof? Regardless I loved it and it was a great way to spend Christmas.

My flights left without a hitch. I had a connection in Palma Mallorca and I'll admit I didn't know where that was. I figured it was in Spain but I couldn't find in the map. Turns out its an island next to Ibiza off the coast. The Zurich airport was beautiful, I don't know if it was just because it was Christmas but I hope they keep those lights up all year round. I stopped a grocery store and picked up a big bag of cookies and some milk for my Christmas treat. I took the train in to the main station and from there was planning on finding a taxi, but it was so difficult that I decided I would try the instructions provided by the Hostel. It required getting on the tram, but I didn't know which direction, and I initially took it the wrong way, but only one stop. I eventually got off at the right stop and easily found my hostel, actually hotel, well more like boutique hotel. I got there but no one was there to ring me in, it was close to eleven and I was supposed to skype with my family at twelve. There was a crowded bar that seemed to be attached and so I reluctantly went in, backpack and bags and all. At first I was ignored and somewhat stared at, so I left and tried buzzing again, and then calling but no luck. I went back in and the bartender helped me out. The room was nice, it was lovely to have my own room and chat with my family.

The next day was beautiful and blue. It was a bit crisp but nothing I couldn't handle. Everything was closed, at least most of the shops which was fine. I spent the morning wandering around the area taking pictures. Zurich is a lovely city, and I would have loved to spend more time there but I didn't schedule it. So I moved on to the train station. I got a train to Vienna and it seemed like all was going well, but then we got to Innsbruk. It was around seven and we weren't scheduled to get into Vienna until a little after ten so I knew we had a while to go. A man kept coming over the loudspeaker and speaking gruffly in German. At first a couple people left and then suddenly there was a mad exodus. I asked someone what was going on and they assured me our train was going to get to Vienna just twenty minutes late. Then a conductor came through stopping at every occupied seat and yelling at them in German to get to platform four. I in my shy apologetic tone that I adopt everytime I have to use english asked, "Even if we are going to Vienna?" "Platform 4!" was his reply. The train there was already crowded and it took a while for me to find a seat. I eventually did and got to Vienna around 11:30.

I only had today in Vienna, which is okay because we really haven't clicked. Maybe I'm in my traveller's fatigue and lull or maybe it just wasn't meant to be. I went out this morning to Stephenplatz which has a large church there. Being a Sunday it held mass pretty regularly. I didn't think about this and felt a bit ashamed as I watched earnest Church goers have to wade through the throng of holiday tourists. I felt even more ashamed as I was only looking for the catacombs, but it wasn't meant to be so I left. I was sitting in a cafe having coffee and had just written in my journal "I feel I haven't given myself enough time in Vienna" when an older gentleman and his toddler grandson sit down next to me. He starts up a conversation and when he finds out I only have the day he says "stop drinking coffee and get out there!" He then jots down the things I have to do and feeling invigorated I go out and do them.

First up was the Hapsburg palace and the imperial apartments. The first part was a rather dull and extensive trip through the many china sets of the Hapsburgs, I kid you not, about twelve rooms of eloquent tableware, it got old after the first two rooms. Then next up was a museum on Empress Elizabeth. A moody empress who became a legend after her death. It seemed a bit ironic that a woman who so hated the fame and restrictions that came along with being royalty has her own museum that ends in a gift shop filled in dozens of items featuring her face, including a child's t-shirt that has rendered her in a Disney princess fashion cartoon. The royal apartments were next and compared to Versailles were elegant but spartan, no frescoes and only very tasteful gilding. That being said looking around Austria I can see how and where Marie Antoinette got her tastes. In no other European city have I seen so many monuments to Royalty, although looking back they would have been destroyed in the revolution in Paris and similarly during communist rule in Budapest. Anyways every building is regal and baroque and worthy of royalty.

I stumbled upon a poster for an Annie Leibovitz exhibit and being a fan of photography I headed out there. It was a bit of a disppointment, but still neat to see. It was a similar feeling as the concert I went to tonight. It featured a small orchestra, two opera singers and two ballet dancers, all on a stage much too small for them. My only comment is it featured audience participation which is nice for crusie ships and state fairs but wasn't exactly what I was looking for when I wanted to enjoy some classical music in Vienna.

Well I leave tomorrow for Prague, a city I'm very excited for. I'm going to retry my theater going experience and try and get tickets for Swan Lake. Til next time, Auf Wiedershen.