The Catalan Diaries: Santa Eulalia & La Pedrera

So today is the Patron Saint of Barcelona's day, Santa Eulalia. And back in the cosy, snow-kissed UK, pancakes are the talk of the country once more. Well, I promised my family to make them some, since it's an English tradition, one of which Spain doesn't have. They do have some traditions around Easter though; they eat a cake called caca de something or other which is basically a cake made with a layer of pastry, a layer of roasted pork rind i.e. a whole layer devoted to the pork scratchings you get down the pub - and then another layer of pastry with pine nuts thrown on top. The taste is, well... interesting.

So this past weekend I visited Vic out in the Catalan countryside - felt somewhat like an adventure and images of me and Harry upon The Ghan following a slow and windy route through the great expense of that beautiful, desolate and epic country Australia flooded my mind. Well the red rock was back, big clay cliffs with vegetation and arid grass retreating beyond to kinder soils, and pastures with lazy farms and lazy farmhands resting in the heat and dusty tracks and small, european towns with a cluster of houses and maybe a pub, all these I can pluck from the hazy machine I call my memory. But in all honesty it wasn't as good as that trip on The Ghan, but then again that was both the longest and most amazing journey of my life - 3 or so days to the heart of Australia to see Uluru and then on and upwards to the wet 100% humidity that greeted us in Darwin.

So the rest of the weekend was passed nicely, we stayed at Laura's parents Holiday home with their friends whom I met when they threw that dinner party in the first week. They all seem like a good lot, quite good fun - we played a crazy game at about midnight in the garden where we had scarf's hanging from the back of our trousers and we would pair off, challenge each other, and the first to successful wrench the scarf from the other without loosing their own was the winner. Pere was the champion with his bear-like approach not taking any prisoners. So it was a nice weekend, I sat about in the sun reading Stephen Fry for a while, the only annoyance being my still substandard Spanish/Catalan. It can prove frustrating when you can't really contribute to the conversation much, I mean I broke in at times and we talked in English periodically but I didn't want to keep breaking the flow of the conversation so I had to let most of it wash over me. You do feel a little awkward and like just a 'presence' at times, but oh well, I've signed up to this and I want to get what I can from it, so onwards and upwards!

Today was tiring as per, especially controlling some of the younger kids, but to have greater control I have started marching them about the school, every now & then abruptly stopping, "ATTENTION!!" I would shout and they would stop, clamp their hands by their sides - the usual soldier gestures etc. - giggle a little, and then we'd march on. It proved a good tactic, they didn't just run off and they found it fun. The concerned looks from some of the other teachers as I shouted and marched them down the corridors hopefully will not prove too greater a concern - I do hope they don't think I'm some ex-militia Franco loving Fascist!

After school I went down the Passeig de Gracia to see The Pedrera because as today is the Patron Saint's day many Museums are free. Well at first I mistook the Casa Batllo for La Pedrera, but to be honest, from the outside at least, Casa Battlo is a more striking and interesting building, more beautiful as well. The Pedrera is of course bigger and has more to it and has more enduring fame; so I suppose in this instance brawn wins over brain. Both building's were of course creations of Gaudi anyway. I'll add more details about the exhibition and of course some riveting art history scholarship next time as its late and I have an early start tomorrow, but for the mean time here are some photos of the exhibition, the Casa Batllo, La Pedera, the illustrious Passeig de Gracia which has much fantastic architecture dotted along its course and some of Barcelona's iconic streetlights, enjoy!

Gaudi's Casa, with the last light from a reflected sun.

The view from the ground

The Pedrera in the stillness of the day

Inside the free area, the exhibition is beyond the french windows.

A model of "LoosHaus" built by Adolf Loos for Goldman & Salatsch, the actual artifice is in Vienna I believe. Adolf Loos was one of the six architects featured in the exhibiton.

This was Frank Llloyd Wright's statement, whose most enduring work is Robie House which is in Phoenix. There was a short film showing the house but I don't think its as nice or as good as some of the other architects work; some of whom were instrumental in the Art Nouveau movement with Victor Horta also being part of the later post-WWII Art Deco movement.
Hector Guimard, whose work was on display, was the one who did the famous metropolitan signs in Paris - the ones with the sinuous writing that looks like a snake and the colour is like absinthe and its all hedonistic? I saw these whilst there with my girlfriend, the one at Père Lachaise Cemetery was particularly striking.
The architect who designed and built the Glasgow School of Art was also exhibited.