But then I decided I would consider this a quick little BONUS blog post on the architecture of the city, outside of Gaudi....
Parts of the original Roman walls still stand in what is now
the Gothic Quarter.
For centuries, Barcelona lived inside those walls.
The streets were narrow and irregular, built for defense and shade rather than beauty.
His name is most associated with being the architect of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.
Gaudí was influenced by his observations of nature since a child. He studied plants, animals,
rock formations, shells, etc.
Instead of straight lines, he preferred curves. Instead of
classical symmetry, he used organic forms.
He was deeply religious and very proud of his Catalan
identity.
He combined all of these elements in his designs.
Think of Scotch, tequila, rum, rye, whiskey, etc.
In Spain, it is vermouth, or, as it is called locally, vermut.
Vermut began in Spain in the 1800's.
By the early 1900's it had become very popular in Spanish life.
Traditionally, almost every town had a bodega (local lingo
for a bar) serving its own house vermouth, often drawn straight from a barrel.
For purely educational purposes, we decided it would be a good idea to go visit a vermut distillery to learn more.
Our first village to visit was Besalú, a medieval
center in the lower foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains.
In its heyday, Besalú was a political, religious and commercial hub serving the surrounding countryside.
Its 12th-century Romanesque bridge over the Fluvià River is picturesque.
But it is more than just pretty.
Barcelona's main Christmas Market is the Fira de Santa Llúcia in the
square in front of Barcelona’s Cathedral.
It goes back almost 250 years when the Christmas Market was first documented in 1786.
It is one of Spain’s
oldest Christmas markets and one of the oldest continuously held markets in Europe.
But it is different than the other European Christmas Markets.
