June 4, 2015 - We begin our Barcelona learning in earnest

We've decided that we really like our hotel. The Hotel Regencia Colon, just a block from the Placa Nova, has a lovely breakfast room and a lovely breakfast. Everything is fresh, fresh, fresh, and they cater to our American tastes with scrambled eggs, wonderful sausages, plenty of coffee, and real food - whole milk, real sugar, plain Greek yogurt, freshly squeezed juices and freshly cut fruit. Interestingly, we seem to make it from breakfast at 8:00 a.m. to lunch at 1:30 p.m. with no morning letdown. Hm.

Our room is really nice, the water is hot and plentiful, the beds are comfortable, the management is nice, ready to suggest interesting things to do at night - if only we could stay awake ....

This morning we set out at 9:00 a.m. and began our studies as our instructor has intended. We are learning about the architecture and a little bit of the history of Barcelona from Roman times forward. As we sat in the shade in the Placa Nova across from the cathedral, little walkie-talkie thingies tuned in to Channel 2, Arleen began with the Roman walls and towers, and described the building materials and techniques of those wily Romans. It's completely understandable that they conquered the world and ruled for hundreds of years - those guys were masters of design and planning, and tried very hard to build systems that worked. So interesting to see how the city has grown over the last 2,000-plus years, with sediment and new buildings raising the ground level at least 10 feet, and more in some areas where there are hills.

(Above - Our group, lined up on the wall, beginning our journey of architectural exploration. Yes, that's Mike in the foreground. Sorry, honey.)

Just as impressive is the general Spanish and specific Catalan commitment to preservation. Though the city has grown exponentially from its very small outpost beginnings in Roman times, the people have willingly (most of the time) taken great pains to preserve history. The result is a unique mix of ancient and modern, with careful attention paid to details like texture and color. Apartments have been created within the ancient watchtowers, spaces have been filled to accommodate businesses. It's not uncommon to pass a small shop with wonderful clothes and shoes, obviously marketing to Barcelona's hip young folks, with an entrance through an ancient arch, or outside walls sporting ceramic plaques with quotes from the Bible or St. Augustine, and a gargoyle perched on the second floor cornice. As I noted earlier, the result is charming, a testament to the possibilities of design, and true to the idea of form following function. (And form following function is a concept that will be debunked at a later date by our esteemed professor. Sorry, my education is really, really out of date.)

(Above - Modern covered walkway exiting a medieval cathedral - note very modern sculpture. Love this!)

(We will pick up our Roman studies again tomorrow, in Besalu.)

After another outstanding lunch at what is becoming our favorite tapas hangout, we walked greater distances from our home base, becoming more confident as we begin to be familiar with the area. We shopped (mostly just looking), people-watched, then gathered at 2:30 and marched to meet our bus for a trip to Montserrat.

Montserrat is a mountain, a basilica and a monastery. The name means "the serrated mountain," and it looks like the giant teeth of Grendl, sprouting from the earth. Our guide on both the bus trip and the walking tour, a delightful young man called Julio, shared this: the Pyrenees (which are somewhat to the north) will grow taller over the next millennia, as the tectonic plate of Africa pushes against the Iberian peninsula and makes those mountains move. Who knew?

Montserrat itself is a lovely locale, inhabited on a permanent basis by only 80 monks, but host to hundreds of thousands of tourists and pilgrims. It's a very sacred spot to Catalan's Catholic faithful (and others from around the world), and houses the Black Virgin, which legend says was discovered as a result of divine direction by a group of children in the year 980. Then the original was hidden in a cave to protect it from enemies, and somehow the Catalans just forgot exactly where it was. So a replica was carved in the 12th century. While this sounds a bit odd, the fact is that the statute in the basilica is very, very old.

The Madonna is a wood carving, darkened over the centuries, which sits behind glass high above the altar of the magnificent basilica, whose soaring arches and high windows draw the eyes heavenward. The faithful can climb stairs behind the altar and pass very close to the Black Virgin, who holds an orb that extends from behind the glass. Pilgrims are welcome to touch the orb and seek blessings from the Holy Mother.

Outside the church itself are the buildings and library of the monastery. There is a wonderful shop that's attached where one can sample the fine liqueurs produced by the Benedictine order, or perhaps purchase herbs and spices - herbs grown in the monastery gardens. The views from the placa are of the soaring teeth of the mountain, the blue sky, and the valley far below. What a wonderful side trip, one that won't be forgotten! We only wished we had more time, perhaps to take a hike to the cave where the Virgin was discovered, or maybe even take the funicular to the very top - which is very, very high!

After returning to Barcelona, seven of us had dinner in a little restaurant on a side street about halfway back to our hotel. Red wine, cava, pints of local beer - gazpacho, avocado salad - and hamburgers! But what hamburgers - topped with local cheese, local ham, onions, Dijon mustard, special mayonnaise, and accompanied by tiny baskets of just the right number of very small fries.

Truly this is a gastronomic adventure as well as an architectural one.

Tomorrow - Besalu!