When I think of a city that lives in 4-D technicolor, with tantalizing flavor oozing from every dish – every musical note – every dance step….and mind-boggling architecture that breaks all boundaries ……. what else is there but Barcelona!! A proper visit to Barcelona has mysteriously eluded me for years (the closest I’ve gotten was a few opera trips to Madrid), but Soenke tossed me a small appetizer when he announced an overnight stay this month. Our evening there felt like just one sip from a glass of fabulous champagne… then the glass was whisked away when we had to leave the following day!

At about 3pm Soenke set down our 737 at the Barcelona airport…the air was fresh (if not quite “warm”), the people friendly and effortlessly fashionable, the mood decidedly light. The flight crew snuck a bottle of red wine onto the crew bus to get in the spirit of things. Our captain totally surprised me by bursting into perfect Spanish with the van driver – I was intrigued by the driver’s own exotic-sounding Spanish, laced with Catalan phrases totally unknown to me.

With time short, my goals were threefold: Strolling down the legendary Las Ramblas, sampling tapas, and soaking up a bit of Gaudi. Soenke’s understanding of the metro system and my painfully rudimentary command of the Spanish language eventually guided us to the top of Las Ramblas, where we soaked up the sun and recharged with cappuccinos at the gigantic Café Zurich. Wide-eyed tourists, chain-smoking locals, uniformed soccer players, mafia-looking guys in slick suits and sunglasses, small-dog-toting ladies with fur-collared coats, and even the rest of the Lufthansa crew were of like mind – chilling & people-watching on the corner occupied by the Café.

For those unfamiliar with Barcelona, Las Ramblas is a legendary boulevard sloping downward towards the marina – in the center area between the driving lanes is a wide walkway filled with street performers, bird markets, flower markets, and an international array of strollers. I chatted with a gold-gilded dude from Venezuela, admired the exterior of a Farmacia building, soaked up the fast-fading sun, and appreciated the teapot-reminiscent trills of the orange canaries in the bird markets. We browsed the famous indoor La Boqueria – an expansive food market selling just about every foodstuff available on earth. While the liqueur-filled chocolates were HEAVEN, the butcher area was entirely gross – with eyeballs, brains, tongues & other parts I’ll leave to your imagination. I guess I can admire the pride with which the butchers displayed their wares, but my soft side wondered how the cows & pigs felt about all this!

We passed the Teatre del Liceu – where my favorite tenor José Cura would be performing in his ever-popular Otello role the following week – he has an incredibly rich, dark, sensual voice that sends souls soaring and hearts aflutter all over operadom - but with his dangerous effect on the ladies, he’s not been a particular favorite of Soenke’s.

A sexy tango performance along the street caught our eyes and ears, but we were soon distracted by the Michael-Jackson lookalike who did a particularly convincing moonwalk to the tune of “Beat It”. Surreal, a little ridiculous…..soooo Las Ramblas!

It was about that moment that time stopped… I stopped… and Soenke groaned. There it was: a gorgeous, voluptuous, rich, passionate, wildly RED leather coat in a store window that just SCREAMED Barcelona! My eyes started spinning… I was trapped in its gravitational field… practically floating past pedestrians and potted plants towards the door of the shop. I could hear - as if underwater - Soenke’s voice in super slow motion saying “NOOOOOOO!!!”…. but it was too late.

I slipped euphorically in the door of “Nomar”, Soenke rolled his eyes and followed with a grin and a shrug…..the owner of the shop spoke beautiful English and draped my receptive shoulders with a wide variety of luxurious leather goods for the next 30 minutes. Of course, the red one in the window was IT. The shopkeeper’s father drifted in to re-sew each of the buttons for me by hand, dressed smartly in a sports jacket and tweed cap. My coat was then folded up delicately and laced into in a soft cloth bag for safekeeping. A small Visa explosion later, and I was the proud owner of ‘Barcelona In Leather’ ! Unfortunately it will take several months before it is warm enough to wear it in Hamburg, but until then I will slip it out of the closet for secret fittings in excited anticipation…

With our Las Ramblas stroll being an obvious success, we retraced our steps to the Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter) and explored its narrow, winding walking streets. Small galleries, specialty stores, and watering holes were aplenty – Soenke (who had caught the shopping spirit) stopped to buy a vibrant aqua-blue sweater. We found the famous “La Seu” cathedral and slipped inside its courtyard for a peek at the gaggles of geese, but unfortunately the exterior was completely under scaffolding. We consoled ourselves by indulging our appetites at a packed-out tapas bar (well, the smoking area was packed – the blessed nonsmoking area was empty save us!) Our waiter filled our table with chickpeas mixed with chorizo, roasted potatoes in aioli sauce, crusty bread, garlic mushrooms, and a tomato/feta/cucumber salad. Taste buds rejoiced; bellies were filled. I resolved to further the art of tapas-making back in our Hamburg kitchen!

Time was nearly gone, so we hopped a taxi to the eye-popping Gaudi temple, the Sagrada Familia. I was overwhelmed by its sheer uniqueness, beauty, even playfulness – all SO larger-than-life. I noticed that some of the secondary church spires were ‘split’ open at the top – as if a banana were being unpeeled – and colorful balls resembling Captain Crunch with Crunchberries, Trix, and SugarPops came bursting out of the top. Next time, I promised myself to scour the city in search of ALL of Gaudi’s delights!

We finally, and reluctantly, headed back to our hotel (the Princessa Sophia) so that Soenke could catch a few hours before his 4:30am wakeup call. I, on the other hand, luxuriously slept in and caught a later flight back to Hamburg… I certainly FELT like a “Princessa” when the hotel’s shiny black Mercedes whisked me to the airport the following morning for only 20 euros!

BRAVA BARCELONA! 

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Soenke pauses at the top of Las Ramblas

Statue or Man?!

A beautiful building, brilliant sky:

La Boqueria tempts the culinary senses:

A poster announces Jose Cura’s upcoming performance:

Dancers entertain the passerby:

LEATHER!

Inside the courtyard of Le Seu Cathedral:

Tantalizing tapas:

Gaudi’s unfinished Sagrada Familia: