Some people compare the Parc de la Ciutadella to Central Park in New York.
I guess they are not thinking about its surface (Central Park is 20 times larger than the Ciutadella) or its origin, but rather about its role in the city.
After the War of the Spanish Succession of 1714, Philip V had a citadel built on the area that the park occupies now to dominate the city of Barcelona, and incidentally, all of Catalonia. The building, which also forced the destruction of the Ribera district, became a symbol that was hated by the locals, until its demolition was decided in the nineteenth century, leaving only some of the interior buildings. One of them was the arsenal, which now houses the Parliament of Catalonia.
Anyway, what I meant is that the Ciutadella Park is now a meeting place for many locals, that go there for a walk, a picnic or just to spend Sunday afternoons.
And...is there anything better than having a nap on the lawn, with the spring sun heating your body?
I would not say that the dividing walls are aesthetically what makes us feel more proud of Barcelona. Actually, I guess we would agree that in general they are pretty ugly, but we are so used to them that I think many of us don't even realize they are there when we walk through the city. The are everywhere, in every neighborhood, and in some streets there are not two contiguous buildings with the same number of stores, so all of them have visible dividing walls.
Dividing walls are supposed to be shared by two buildings, but many of them are visible, shamelessly displaying some kind of secret, a world that should be hidden. They seem to be waiting for someone to cover them, in a state of permanent provisional nature. The urban development rules make it unlikely or impossible to build the missing heights to cover the walls. Thus, some fractures are created, public spaces despised or even ignored.
Similar to what they are doing with the block interiors of the Eixample, the Institute of Urban Landscape of Barcelona is working to restore these walls, and has remodeled more than 100 in the last three years, entrusting graffiti or vertical gardens.
Now, would Barcelona be Barcelona without its brick dividing walls, simple and even rough?
My grandmother used to say that having a cemetery close to home was not a problem at all, but something good: their tenants do not make any noise, they have no complaints and it is very unlikely that something else is ever build there that might disturb you.
Poble Nou Cemetery is the oldest in Barcelona, although it was at first out of town. It was developped because there was the need to bury the dead outside the walls of the city, when Barcelona was still walled and lacked space and hygiene. Now, however, this cemetery lays in the middle of the city, and tenants have many neighbors who seem to have no complaints.
There are many famous Barcelonians buried in Poble Nou, such as the musician Josep Anselm Clave and the politician and engineer Narcis Monturiol or the actress Mary Santpere. But the niche that is the most visited belongs to Francesc Canals Ambrós. It gets so many visits that they had to empty the twelve niches around his to make enough room for the amount of gifts and flowers that he receives. Francesc Canals, known as "The Santet", was a humble boy from Barcelona who died at age 22, victim of tuberculosis. It is said that this young man, who was reputed to have powers of divination, is now able to intercede for miracles or favors (other than economic).
If you want to ask a favor to Francesc, you have to write the wish on a paper note, send it through the glass of the gravestone, say a prayer and go down the right side and not look back. Do not say I didn't warn you.
It is nothing new to say that the differences between the original Plan Cerdà for Barcelona and how the city was finally urbanized are more than remarkable. In fact, even though the locals are now proud of our orthogonal Eixample and can not imagine the city with any other street design, the truth is that the Plan Cerdà was not very appreciated by the people from Barcelona at that time, even less among the middle classes.
Thus, one of his ideas was to leave the central areas of the blocks free of buildings, in order to install gardens, usually as "corridors" between two parallel strips of houses.
It goes without saying that the block interiors were filled with buildings, often family workshops and small factories, and eventually ended up joining the two strips, closing the blocks completely.
And this way was, very briefly, how it was born another typical landscape of Barcelona's Eixample: what we see from the windows overlooking the courtyards in the Eixample.
The good news is that in recent years the City Council is making an effort of recovery of these gardens, and there are 44 block interiors recovered, open to us all.
The bakeries of Barcelona are always full of different types of candies depending on the season. Among others, there are the Lent fritters, the Sant Joan "coca", panellets for All Saints´ Day... But perhaps the king of them all (or rather, the Queen) is the Easter cake. For anyone who likes chocolate, walking past a bakery these days can be a delight. Tradition says it is the godfather or the grandfather who gives it to the godson for Easter.
Initially it was a simple dough made with sugar and other sweets, always topped with boiled eggs. Generally one put as many eggs as the age of the child, until age 12, when he made the Holy Communion.
But with time Easter cakes evolved and natural eggs became chocolate eggs, and Easter cakes were eventually made basically of chocolate. Now we find truly wonders, and must also follow fashion trends each year (although the issue of the Smurfs, such as the one in the photo, is a classic).
Particularly, I have to say I never was very fond of chocolate myself and also my godfather didn't give me my "Mona" because it is not a tradition in the Basque Country...but that does not mean that I stand in front of the bakeries to look at them!
One of the things that amaze me of the houses of Barcelona are the mosaics of many floors of the Eixample. This pavement is closely linked to the Modernist movement, and for that reason it is so commonly found in Barcelona. It was a technique imported from France that was very popular among the families of Barcelona's high society.
One of the leading manufacturers was Escofet, who collaborated with architects as Domènech i Montaner and Gaudí in developing unique hydraulic mosaics, such as those found inside the Pedrera, hexagonally shaped and green-apple coloured, which later inspired the tiles of Passeig de Gràcia.
There was a time when many people, trying to be practical, covered these tiles with other materials such as wood flooring or ceramic which looked more "modern" and uniform. Fortunately, it now appears that there is some consensus in considering these ceramics positively and therefore make the effort to preserve them. Some have beautiful designs, others are more discreet, but they all have their charm, and are still produced using traditional methods, so can be considered unique pieces.
Those of you who have this kind of mosaic at home, take care of it and preserve it!
Petritxol street is special for many reasons. Some reasons why:
- Because, despite being within walking distance of the saturated Rambla, and despite linking the busy Portaferrissa and Plaça del Pi, it conveys a feeling of returning to the past.
- Because it has ceramic tiles along its 130 meters of length, which explain stories that happened in that street.
- Because it was the first entirely pedestrian street of Barcelona. Even its name is said to come from the word "Pedritxol", due to the stones placed at the entrance to the street that prevented the carriages from entering it.
- Because of its unique combination of inimitable and art galleries and what we call "granges". Among the former there is the gallery Parés. It opened in 1840, and was a meeting place for lovers of art, who after the visit used to have something to eat in the area. And among the "granges" there are still surviving the Pallaresa and Dulcinea.
- For the infinite pleasure that gives eating chocolate with sponge fingers, a Swiss chocolate with "churros" or simply a dish of cream while you enjoy all those reasons!
