Saturday 19 April 1997

Today we will take a look at the Horta district. There we visit the Monasterio de Pedralbes. This monastary was founded in 1326 for the sisters of the order of Santa Clara. Especially the cloister is very beautiful.  A mass is celebrated In the church attached to the monastary. A first communion by the looks of it. Not far from the monastery is a sacred place of another order:: the Camp Nou. This is the stadium of  Club de Futbol Barcelona. The magnificent stadium holds more than 100.000 spectators. In the stadium we visit the museum dedicated to the history of the club, showing all the highllights, including the Dutch contributions to Barcelona's glorious past  (Cruijff, Neeskens, Koeman) . On the stadiums grounds there has to be a souvenirs shop selling every thinkable trincket carrying the club colours or players names and face. Ronaldo seems to be the hottest item.  Tomorrow La Barça will play against Bilbao and we are able to get tickets. Not cheap and on the remotest ring of the stadium.

At night we eat in another gay restaurant, but we are not very lucky with the food, which is far worse than reasonable. After that we dive into the scene. We start off in  Punto BCN, which is extremely busy (don't arrive before midnight), after which we continue to Arena, the gay dance club in Barcelona. 

Snday 20 April 1997

It is a rainy day and after a lovely coffee at Café Opera we go and look for some indoor activity. We find it in the  Fundació Joán Miró. This museum is on top of the  Montjuic, where we get with the funicular. . The exhibition has a good collection of the Artist.  Miró is one of the most famous Catalan artist (1893-1983). The paintings, tapestries and sculptures have been donated by the artist himself. The most important items are a series of 50 black&white lithographies made imediately after the civil war.

Early evening we head for the  Camp Nou stadium to watch the game against Bilbao. We are seated in what seems to be the stadium's attic, and can barely distinguish the players from one another. It is not a good match and the fans regularly wave their white handkerchiefs showing their disapproval.  But the team wins the game nevertheless with 2-0, both goals scored by Ronaldo.

Monday 21 April 1997

Today we pick up the Gaudi trail again. We head for the Gracía district.. First we take al look at the Casa Vicens, Gaudí's first commision for a mansion. He was clearly inspired by the Mudejar style (moorish/spanish), with a touch of Art Nouveau. After that we walk to the Parque Güell. This park was a social gesture by the industrialist  Güell, patron of Gaudí, towards the less fortunate. The park was constructed in an area with housing projects. The park has all the typical Gaudí characteristics. There is not a straight line to be found, lots of colours and imaginative shapes and forms, including the sculpted hedges and trees. It looks a bit like a amusement park without the rides.  The view from the long bench over the city is magnificent. The bench itself is adorned with pieces of broken ceramics. 

We spend the afternoon in Sitges, an hours train ride south. This beach resort with a visible gay slant to it has woke up at this time a day and in the year. We stroll the empty streets and get a little bit bored. It is a sunny day, but not warm enough for the beach. We return to Barcelona by the end of the afternoon.

At night we have a delicious dinner at the Café de l'Academia in de Barri Gotíc and end the evening with a drink in a nice grand cafe called Schilling (mixed trendy crowd, rather gay) on the Carrer de Ferran.

Tuesday 22 April 1997

Our last day in Barcelona is spent at a low pace. We do some shopping in the big stores along Passeig de Gracia like  Cortes Ingles en  Casa Vinçon. The latter has a lot of trendy household stuff. We stroll along the avenue and sit down at the side walk of Fashion Café for drinks and taking in the passing crowd. The view on the Casa Báttlo opposite is great. Very Barcelona. Then it is time to leave for the airport. Our flight goes according to plan and we arrive in Amsterdam around six pm.