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Breathless in Barcelona

With its awesome architectural marvels, lush-green hills and beautiful boulevards, Barcelona simply takes your breath away

PHOTOS: AFP

IN WITH IT Barcelona is a wonderful mixture of the new and the old

"Welcome to my beautiful city, Barrrrrrrcelona," trilled the enthusiastic guide in the open-bus tour and all of us tourists promptly collapsed into giggles. Barcelona was proving to be, five minutes into the city tour, a distinctly different experience. Not only was the rapid fire Catalan (the dialect of Spanish spoken there) mesmerising, if a tad mystifying, the topography, the sun-drenched streets, swaying palms and the dark-haired people made us wonder where we were! And that's when the guide reminded us to look out of the bus - "to the right, you can see the shimmering Mar Mediterráneo". Of course, the Med! Once we had factored its influence, it was easy to understand why it was so balmy.

The guided tour was a great way to savour, albeit from a distance, all the important monuments in Barcelona, many of them built by an architect called Gaudi. Considering that we hadn't (not being the arty sort) so much as heard of him before, the few days spent in Barcelona transformed us into hardcore Gaudi-devotees! That man clearly had vision; and given the highly complex nature of his designs, we marvelled how he had even dreamt them, let alone get a set of masons to execute them! And all of it without computers and animation tools.

La Cathedral

La Pedrera was the first of his buildings that we visited. Incorporating many elements of nature, his favourite muse, in its design - waveform façade, wrought iron grillwork resembling leaping tongues of flame, the attic's ceiling, curved and ribbed like the spine of a snake - it was truly incredible!

From the rooftop we caught our first glimpse of the soaring steeples of La Sagrada Familia - the only cathedral in the world that's still under construction (Gaudi died in 1926, when only one of the towers were completed), and arguably the most famous monument in all of Barcelona.

Up close, the cathedral was simply breathtaking. It was tall, humungous and ... bizarre, and yet, in its magnificence, evoked a sense of awe, even piety.

Inside, sunlight streamed in through the riotously stained glass windows, and though construction work was proceeding, it didn't take away much from the experience.

Going up the temple by lift was thrilling, and offered panoramic views. But getting back to the return-elevator meant a short, dizzying climb up the spiral staircase, evidently modelled from the shell of the Nautilus. It didn't help our cause that there were little windows along the way, through which we could clearly see the ground way, way below!

Barcelona's other important church - an imposing Gothic one, dominated the Barri Gotic area, in the `old' part of the city. Surrounded by dark, narrow, cobble-stoned streets, containing remnants of the old city-wall, it was dramatically different from the rest of the glitzy city.

Parc Guell was our last Gaudi stop. Picturesquely situated atop a little hillock, with commanding views of the city and its environs, the park was truly a lovely getaway, except for one little hitch - getting there was an uphill task. Though a series of escalators (yes, on the road!) whisked people half-way-up, the residual ascent ensured that everybody reached the top completely breathless!

But the giant mosaic lizard - a much-photographed spot in the city - was a sight to behold!

By then, as you might have guessed, we had had our fill of architecture, divine or otherwise. We moved on to explore the Rambla (or rather, La Rrrrrrrrambla, as our guide pronounced it!). As the Champs Elysées of Barcelona, this beautiful boulevard stretches from the centre of the city to the port. Besides with the regulation souvenir shops, every morning, it comes alive with brilliantly painted statues, which late in the evening, are dutifully packed up and go home. Yes! The statues are street artists, blessed with exceptional skills for striking poses, and of course, make-up. Not surprisingly, they are hugely popular, and when a coin dropped into the hat/bowl in front of them, they make a sudden/swift movement that often frightens the very young and delights the rest.

The other good thing about Barcelona is that it has two lush-green hills, Montjuic and Tibidabo. Montjuic is the one with the Olympic village (from the 1992 Summer Olympics), important museums and parks. But Tibidabo is more appealing, especially because getting there is half the fun; first, you take the well-preserved, old-fashioned tram "Tramvia Blau", for a leisurely, scenic ride, halfway up. And then, a funicular takes you the rest of the way, where a grand old church, an amusement park and spectacular views keep tourists happy.

Noisy but pretty

Barcelona was big, beautiful and clearly takes great pride in its culture and history. But it is also chaotic and crowded with people jaywalking and traffic screeching to a halt!

We came away feeling it is a colourful, warm city, with friendly inhabitants, who, despite speaking little or no English, readily help tourists find their way around by using their hands eloquently!

But ask anybody who had visited the city, even decades ago, and they're likely to say that they loved the city for Gaudi and his extraordinary architecture. That's how much it impresses you...

* * *

Snapshots

Every souvenir shop is clearly making the most of the Gaudi-mania that automatically grips tourists when they get there. You likely to go home laden with mosaic cows/lizards, La Sagrada in miniature, and handcrafted ceramics.

Be warned - if you attempt to take a photograph of a `statue' in the Rambla without dropping a coin, it rudely sticks its tongue out at you!

Vegetarian food is hard to find; stock up on fruits and yoghurts from a supermarket.

APARNA KARTHIKEYAN

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