June 1, 1969 Barcelona, Spain

Back in Barcelona.  Today we went to the bullfights.   Another memory that stays with me along with the many pictures I took.  I recorded that we saw one fight Portuguese style and five fights Spanish style.  I have no idea what that means unless I Google it.

Spanish style     By Valerio Capello (ElfQrin) [CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons


Portuguese Style   By TKnoxB from Chemainus, BC, Canada (Lagos Bullfight) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

During the last fight it started to rain and when we left the arena we got soaked.  A dry off and change and we went to spend the evening watching flamenco dancing.  I was not impressed apparently.

I recorded that as we enter our second month of travel, we have two months to go before returning home.  Tomorrow morning we board the train for the Spanish border and onto France.

Expenses today total $8.13.

May 28, 1969 Barcelona, Spain

Whirlwind.  Let me assure you that I no longer travel in this whirlwind fashion.  I am amazed when I read this diary that I actually did this.  So, on we go.

Having spent all day yesterday catching up on my sleep, I now have a day to see Barcelona.  We start by walking down the Ramblas, a long pedestrian mall.

Jens Cederskjold [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

I am pretty sure it was not nearly that crowded.  We visited the Plaza de Cataluna (too many licenses to attach for photo).  We also walked down the Via Laietana.

By Stavros1 [CC BY 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons
This street was chosen since we needed to buy our tickets for an upcoming trip.  It's a surprise.

From here we went to the Cathedral of Barcelona.  This cathedral was finished in the 15th century.

By Mromanchenko [CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons

This is the original facade of the church that was changed in the late 19th century from this

to this:

By Enfo [CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons

I previously mentioned Dan Brown's "Origin" as my inspiration for revisiting this trip.  The basilica mentioned in the novel is Sagrada Familia and is a 20th century unfinished work.  We did not visit it. Like many things in Spain it seems to be rather controversial.  Ya think?

By C messier [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons

Now, have you ever had a meal you will never forget?  Well, this was the day for me.  I even recorded it in the diary.  We had paella for lunch along with a wonderful white wine.  Nowadays, a lunch of paella and wine and I would be out for the count.  Nap time!  But I was 50 years younger then.  So....

We walked off the calories by climbing up to Montjuic Park.  We spent most of our time in the Spanish Village on the west side of the mountain.

I spent $10.28 including the cost of the tickets for our upcoming excursion.

Let me now say that until a few years ago when I went to Montreaux, I had no idea who Freddie Mercury was.  Ask me to sing a song from the Big Band era of the 40's and I have no problem.  Pick anything after 1960 and I can often give you a strange look.  But once I heard Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe sing together, I bought the CD.  This is one of the songs: "Barcelona".

May 27, 1969 Barcelona, Spain

We arrive in Barcelona and check into the Hotel Rialto, Fernando 40 y 42.  The hotel is still there and still cheap at $55-65/night.

We had breakfast and went to bed.  Apparently there were six people in our train compartment and we had a 'terrible night'.

On the upside, we only spent $1.21.  If you want to actually find out anything about Barcelona, you will have to wait a day.