European Exercise VIII : Books and Roses

St. George's Day, a photo by williamnyk on Flickr.

On our third day in Spain, we visited the hospital. Don't worry, it wasn't due to some sex-related accident the night before. Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau was actually a fully-functioning hospital until mid-2009, but it's now closed for restoration. Sant Pau means Saint Paul. Nothing to do with char siew pau, k? Lluís Domènech i Montaner designed the place and his idea behind the breathtaking complex is that the beauty of its surroundings would help patients to recover quicker. With the closure, we had only access to a small fraction. The interiors were off-limits except for one building that housed an expo-- "9 Conditions for a World Without Poverty". Truth be told, the place looks like a small village with the buildings resembling churches rather than hospital blocks. Lucky for us, the cathedral inside the hospital grounds was open. A small bunch of octogenerians were busy setting up the place for the coming Easter tridiuum. So sad to see the lack of new blood in European churches.







The sun was getting hot and I was getting hungry, so we left. Had a short caffeine stop at Savory Express. Ordered the Vienesse. Hot coffee topped with whipped cream. Not bad at all seeing that whipped cream normally makes me throw up. Made our way to the Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família. The lines were crazy. Snaking all around the side of the building and it ain't no small structure. Awed by the magnificence of the place. Gaudi's masterpiece. Outside, it was crawling with tourists, tourist traps, souvenir shops, street vendors and buskers. One street artist holed himself up in a pram and made high-pitched whines (like a baby with its head getting clamped?!). Looked like something out of a Stephen King novel. Over at the Nativity Facade, a Japano-Hispano ceremony was going on. Security was quite tight with high media presence. Met a Korean tourist who was alone. We obliged when he asked us to help him take a photograph. The moment I put the camera to my face, he flipped up his hoody and up came a faux bear head. And he proceeded to flash a victory sign. I nearly choked.





For lunch, we chose Picasso Restaurant, just a stone's throw from the Sagradia Familia. Obviously a tourist trap but were too lazy to walk. Tasted our first Paella in Barcelona and washed it down with loads of beer. Next we explored the Barri Gòtic. Ended up in Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia-- Barcelona's Gothic Cathedral. The large cathedral was dark and ornate with twenty eight side chapels. With some coins one can light up the LED candles at each chapel. The crypt of Saint Eulalia, Barcelona's patron saint is also found inside. A short elevator ride brought us up to the roof, but the view wasn't that great. At the side was a cloister with a central courtyard, a fountain and more chapels, bathed in streamed in sunlight. KH's colleague told him about a fountain that was featured in a Korean drama-- if you drink from that fountain, you will come back to BCN with your loved one. Luckily we did not drink from the murky water, think he mistook it with the drinking fountain at Las Ramblas!!







From there, we rushed to Palau de la Música Catalana to follow the guided tour. Another masterpiece designed by Montaner. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed due to copyright reasons. Boo. The concert hall was full of glass and it had the feeling of an indoor garden. The most amazing feature was the stained glass skylight that was in the shape of an inverted dome, kinda like the sun nourishing the 'interior garden'. Behind the stage were eighteen muses, representing music from all parts of the world. Coincidentally, the foundation stone of the building was laid on exactly the day we visited some one hundred years ago-- St. George's Day. No wonder people were selling roses with a stalk of wheat (tied with ribbons of yellow and red, the colours of the Catalan flag) and books all over the place!!! And I thought it was related to the Easter Tridiuum. Men are supposed to buy roses for women, and the women are supposed to return the favour with a book! "A rose for love and a book forever". I refused KH's offer of a rose. :P.





Before dinner, we did more wandering around the Gothic Quarter. The whole place was jammed up with tourists and street performers. Went from restaurant to restaurant before deciding to eat at Don Fernando. The owners were definitely big fans of Futbol Club Barcelona. The walls were full of FCB jerseys (a Messi jersey actually costs 90 euros :S) and flags. They would take our order and suddenly zone out looking at the game on TV. Ordered some tapas and sangria. Bumped into a bunch of Malaysian students from Nottingham University who were in town for the long weekend. Immediately recognized a fellow Malaysian when they started asking for set meals at the door. LOL. Was amused that all of them wore two watches on one hand. Took drunk-ish walk down to Las Ramblas. Unfortunately we couldn't explore the La Boqueria Market as they were already closing. Looked very interesting. Before heading home, we visited the Universitat area to check out the gay scene, but we were too early. Had covered a lot of ground that day, so we just headed back to the hotel to explore each other.