Giant statue in a theatre on La Rambla
On we rambled and got caught in a downpour that kept us huddled under an awning amongst the constricted streets for ages. We made it back to the hotel after another huge trek and caught a cab to the train station for the 18-hour trip to Venice via Geneva and the Swiss and Italian Alps.It eventuated that the 17th wasn’t our last day in Barcelona at all. We hadn’t looked closely at the details on the train ticket and were faced with the realisation that we were in Barcelona until 7.40 pm the next day. We had to check out of the apartments on La Rambla at 11am so we had over 8 hours to kill. Luckily the hotel people allowed us to keep our luggage in their locked-up area for the day so we set off again for more exploration. The Gothic Quarter is a wonderful place to explore, with its narrow alleyways and historic buildings. There are castles and churches and Roman walls and cathedrals all over the place.
We stumbled upon the largest Gothic cathedral of all - Sagrada Familia is bigger, of course, but they’re still building that - this one is being restored but they stopped building it about a thousand years ago.
There was a delightful scene being played out amidst all the tourist mayhem: a group of dancers and musicians keeping alive Catalan folk music and dancing. The band were playing an assortment of strange instruments, including large clarinet-type instruments that sounded like crumhorns and a group of ancient Barcelonians were dancing a folk-dance, arms joined together, executing complex dance steps. The average age was around 75 but they were more sprightly in many ways than I am and Annette even commented that she wouldn’t be able to hold her arms up like that for so long, as all the dances seemed to involve linking arms. Then a group of adolescent Catalans joined in, bouncing even higher up in the air than their geriatric compatriots and they really seemed to be enjoying themselves. The whole thing was a real buzz to hear and see.
We stumbled upon the largest Gothic cathedral of all - Sagrada Familia is bigger, of course, but they’re still building that - this one is being restored but they stopped building it about a thousand years ago.
There was a delightful scene being played out amidst all the tourist mayhem: a group of dancers and musicians keeping alive Catalan folk music and dancing. The band were playing an assortment of strange instruments, including large clarinet-type instruments that sounded like crumhorns and a group of ancient Barcelonians were dancing a folk-dance, arms joined together, executing complex dance steps. The average age was around 75 but they were more sprightly in many ways than I am and Annette even commented that she wouldn’t be able to hold her arms up like that for so long, as all the dances seemed to involve linking arms. Then a group of adolescent Catalans joined in, bouncing even higher up in the air than their geriatric compatriots and they really seemed to be enjoying themselves. The whole thing was a real buzz to hear and see.
The overnight trip from Barca to Geneva was only exceptional in that we were seated in front of a young couple from Glenbrook, about 10 minutes drive from where we live! They were very nice and there was a pleasant Swiss girl opposite us who had been one of 20,000 delegates to a Herbalife conference in Barca in the previous couple of days; luckily she didn’t try to sell us any products!
Geneva train station was unexpectedly drab but the train to Venice was sleek and modern. We were seated next to a charming and lovely middle-aged French-Swiss lady who provided good conversation and pointed out landmarks as we travelled through the Alps. Further proof of the stylishness and civility of the French!
The Alps were spectacular, as one would expect, but we hadn’t realised how huge Lake Geneva is - it goes on and on with those massive granite crags in the background. And when you cross the border to Italy there’s Lake Maggiore, which is even more beautiful, absolutely breathtaking scenery!
Net on the train looking at the Italian scenery
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