In the park
June
18 was a Sunday. On weekends Barcelona is even louder, more joyful and
more overcrowded than on weekdays. But also more dangerous. You have to
take care of your bag quite a lot. On this day I could avoid two obvious
attacks on my camera bag, what seemed to have failed a bit later on June
20 with my handbag. Before noon we made a walk through the Parc de la Ciutadella,
which I knew already. We didn’t visit the zoo which is next to the park.
I’m sure that „Snowflake“, the famous white gorilla wasn’t sad about this.
Finally a lot of tourists stare at him everyday. He is so famous, that
you can get a picture postcard of him at each stand with newspapers in
Barcelona. I haven’t seen any picture postcards with José Carreras.
Today the water of the huge fountain
of the park (Cascada Monumental) was flowing. The fountain had been constructed
assisted by –who else- Gaudi.
Palau de Nacional und Font Màgica
Sunday
was without any doubts our fountain day. From the park de la Ciutadella
we went by metro to the Plaça Espanya.
From this place you have a very
nice view on the Palau de Nacional. The palau was the main building of
the World Exhibition in 1929 and is nowadays a museum. On that day the
view was a bit blocked off by an accumulation of vehicles and cars for
TV broadcast. We figured out, that there was a cycle racing that day and
the road which led up to the Palau was the finish of the cycle racing.
I think the name of the racing was Tour Catalunya, but I’m not one hundred
per cent sure about it.
Anyhow the victorious cyclists were
not yet visible and so we went to the base of the long stairway which leds
up to the Palau.
In
front of the Palau is a huge fountain, which is called Font Magica. Those
who saw the fountain on weekend evenings, know why. In summer the whole
fountain shines with a water and light show. Unfortunately we were not
there in the evening, for that would have forced my opinion that Catalans
have a good sense of taste once more. I was told, that they were playing
songs with Carreras, Caballé and Mercury to this water and light
show, which is actually a water, light and music show, during the time
of our stay in Barcelona. Freddy Mercury wasn’t a Catalan, but he and Montserrat
Caballé had once given a concert in Barcelona. Montserrat Caballé
is in each aspect a remarkable artist.
Whether
with or without music and light, the fountain is sure an attraction. We
had just reached the fountain, when the water startet to flow. The drizzle
was a wonderful cooling on a hot day. The view from the Palau over the
town and the fountain is very impressive. Inside of the Palau we visited
an exhibition of romanic and gothic frescos. On our way back to town we
passed the victorious group of the cycle racing.
Sardana
On
Sunday evenings a Sardana dance accompanied by an orchester takes place
on the square in front of the Palau de la Generalitat.The Sardana is the
traditional dance of the Catalans. When the music starts the people (from
18 to 80) put their bags on the ground in the middle of the circle, which
takes form. They grab the hands of their neighbours and start to dance.The
musical pieces change during the dance, but not the sequence of the paces,
which is starting new time after time. Within the sequence slow paces change
with fast paces, but the dancer don’t move in circles. The faces of the
dancers are staying serious and concentrated. My guide book is telling,
that the difficulty of the paces is supposed be the reason for this seriousness.
Maybe, however, it is simply because the Catalans take this dance, which
shall symbolize the bond of the people, seriously.Though the Catalans have
nothing against foreigners taking part in their dance, we stayed in a safety
distance for the dance didn’t look just easy.
